It's the question we've been asked more than any other in our first year. Guests ask at the bar. People message us on Instagram. New regulars bring it up after a few visits when they've finally gotten curious enough to ask out loud.

We ask it ourselves, in a way — we printed a small round card with the question on the front and the answer on the back, because the question comes up so often that having something to hand to a curious guest felt like the right response. Hundreds of times in one year.

So here is the full answer.

Where the name came from

When we were deciding on a name for the café, we went through many options the way anyone does — testing words for how they sound, how they look on a sign, whether they mean something or just feel like something. A lot of names that seem interesting at first don't survive the question: what does this actually say about who we are?

Three Sixteen came up as an option early in the process. Before the café, we had run a youth camp and named it Three Sixteen. When the same name came up for the café, something felt right about it — not just as a word or a number, but as an idea.

The name is a reference to John 3:16 — the most well-known verse in the Bible, sometimes called the Gospel in a nutshell. For a non-religious reader: it is a single sentence that captures the central message of Christianity. It has been printed on signs, worn on jerseys, held up at sporting events, and recognized across cultures by people who may not know anything else about the Bible. It is, in terms of recognition, the most widely known verse in the world.

We named the café Three Sixteen because the verse matters to us personally. Faith is central to who we are — to how we think about work, about people, about what we're building and why. We did not want to build something that hid that.

The assumption that turned out to be right

When we chose the name, there was a specific hope behind it: that the name would create conversations. That guests would ask — genuinely curious — why a café in Naples, Florida was called Three Sixteen. And that the question would give us a natural, unforced opportunity to share something that matters to us.

This was an assumption. We didn't know if it would work. A name is not a guarantee of conversation.

The assumption turned out to be right. Hundreds of times in our first year, guests — regulars and first-timers, people from Naples and people passing through — have stopped to ask. Sometimes at the bar, sometimes after finishing their coffee, sometimes through a message or a comment. The question is always the same: why Three Sixteen?

The card we made is a simple thing — a small round card with the question on the front and the answer on the back. We keep them at the counter. Guests take them, read them, sometimes bring them back the next day to say they looked it up. The name opens a door that wouldn't otherwise open, in a context — a café, a morning, a conversation over coffee — where it feels entirely natural.

We didn't want to build something that hid who we are. The name was a way of being honest about it from the beginning — without making it the only thing.

What the name is not

Three Sixteen is not a religious café. We don't have Bible verses on the walls. We don't play worship music. We don't make guests feel like they've walked into a church when they come in for a flat white and a croissant.

The name carries meaning for us and invites conversation for anyone curious enough to ask. But the café itself is for everyone — regardless of faith, background, or any other dimension of who you are. The welcome is unconditional. The coffee and the food are made to the same standard for every guest who walks through the door.

We've had conversations at the bar with people of every background and belief. Some are moved by the connection to the verse. Some find it interesting as a historical or cultural reference. Some just think it's a good name for a café and don't think further about it. All of them are welcome. All of them get the same experience.

The name is not a statement about who belongs here. It's a statement about who we are — and an open invitation to ask about it if you want to know more.

Why it matters that we didn't hide it

There's a version of building a business where you keep the personal things — faith, values, the reasons behind decisions — out of the brand entirely. Neutral, professional, accessible to everyone precisely because it commits to nothing.

We thought about that version. And we chose differently.

Not because we want to impose anything on anyone — we don't. But because a business built on hiding what the founder actually believes is a business with a hollow center. The standard we hold, the way we treat the team, the refusal to cut corners when cutting corners would be easier, the decision to build something for the long run rather than the quick win — all of these things connect to something deeper than business strategy. They connect to how we believe people and work should be treated.

The name Three Sixteen doesn't tell the whole story. But it signals, to anyone paying attention, that there is a story — that this is not a business built around nothing. And in a world full of brands that stand for very little, that signal matters.

If you've ever been curious about the name and didn't ask — now you know.

And if you want to know more, the card is at the counter. Take one.