Casa Robino

Gainesville’s eclectic culture has spawned several co-operative businesses in recent years, providing the community with access to good food and great art, creating great places to gather and giving members pride of ownership.
Three prominent local co-ops include Citizens Co-op, the Doris Bardon Community Cultural Center and Civilization Restaurant, which also operates Terranova Catering. The founders of all three were inspired by the recent national surge in co-ops, which are loosely defined as entities that are owned by their members (see story on page 15)—and they have found enthusiastic colleagues to join them in their ventures.