General Cafe Bar Medellín — Restaurant in Medellín

El General Café markets itself as a refined, cozy spot for breakfast or brunch, but beneath the charming aesthetic lies a deeply flawed operation that fails to deliver on even the most basic expectations.

The food? Mediocre at best. The omelet was bland and lifeless, lacking the seasoning and texture one would expect from such a simple dish. The accompanying salad was a sad afterthought—uninspired, meager, and tossed together with little care. To round off this underwhelming plate came two tiny pieces of bread, more appropriate for a child’s tea party than a full-priced meal.

Service, however, was the real disaster.

My food arrived cold. Not lukewarm—cold. The coffee I ordered never even made it to the table. We had to ask multiple times for basic items like salt and pepper, which were only brought after an unreasonable delay, and shared between three people. Meanwhile, the staff seemed more interested in socializing than serving. A group of waiters stood off to the side, loudly chatting, laughing, and sipping energy drinks, while customers waited impatiently for attention. The complete lack of professionalism was glaring.

With service this poor, food this uninspired, and prices this high, El General Café becomes a masterclass in how not to run a hospitality business. The only thing they seem to serve in generous portions is disappointment.

Not recommended. There are far better cafés in the city where your time, money, and taste buds will be treated with the respect...

I was not pleased with my experience here. I was a guest at the hotel attached to this establishment. The servers were nice but the food was not good at all. We noticed everyone sitting down was just doing work from home work and not eating. No wonder why. With that said, i returned a meal that i ordered and asked for something else instead. Naturally, a restaurant would just comp the meal because it’s not like i ate half of the food and then decided i didn’t like it. I took like two bites and sent it back. Upon doing so, the waiter didn’t tell me that i would still be charged for the nasty food i sent back. So when i got the bill and asked to remove it, i was told that i couldn’t. He asked the manager and allegedly he was told that it would come out of his pay if i did so. Well guess what? I don’t give a damn. What about your paying customers? How ridiculous. Initially my friend i was with convinced me to just pay it and complain later. But i was so turned off and disappointed that i couldn’t let it go. The next thing i did was march to the hotel desk and speak to the manager there. That was when he actually gave me back my money in pesos. Whether it was from the guys payment or Not, i have no idea. That should have been done in the first place so thank you to...

He estado aquí dos veces. La comida es buena, pero el servicio es terrible.

La primera vez, nadie vino a tomar mi pedido durante 10 minutos, hasta que tuve que levantarme y pedirlo. Luego tardaron otros 15–20 minutos en traerme agua, y 20 minutos más para que llegara la comida.

La segunda vez, otra vez tardaron 10 minutos solo para tomar mi pedido. Pedí un café y un bowl de açaí — no llegó nada ni siquiera después de 35 minutos, así que tuve que preguntar. Finalmente lo trajeron 15 minutos después de eso, o sea que tardaron ~60 minutos en total. Y esta vez ni siquiera me dieron agua en ningún momento. El lugar no estaba muy lleno, así que no hay excusa para un servicio tan lento y poco atento. Se disculparon y dijeron que hubo un problema con el pedido, pero sinceramente, no debería tomar casi una hora para algo tan simple como un café y un bowl de frutas.

Después pedí la cuenta. El mesero la trajo 10 minutos después, y luego tardó otros 10 minutos en traerme el cambio — porque, aparentemente, “no tiene permiso para tocar la caja registradora”.

Además, el WiFi no funciona.

Otra razón por la que le doy 2 estrellas en vez de 1: el mesero hablaba inglés perfectamente, así que no hubo barrera de idioma ni malentendidos. Sabían que yo era extranjero y aun así ofrecieron un servicio pésimo, lo que lo hizo sentir aún peor.

La única razón por la que no doy una sola estrella es porque el lugar es bonito y la comida realmente es de buena calidad. Pero el servicio… absolutamente terrible.

English version:

I’ve been here twice. The food is good, but the service is terrible.

The first time, no one came to take my order for 10 minutes until I had to go ask. Then it took another 15–20 minutes just to get water, and 20 more for the food to arrive.

The second time, again they took 10 minutes just to take my order. I asked for a coffee and an açaí bowl—neither arrived even after 35 minutes, so I followed up. They finally brought the order 15 minutes after that, meaning it took ~60 minutes in total. And I never received any water at all. The place wasn’t even that busy, so there was no excuse for such slow and inattentive service. They apologized and said there was an issue with the order, but honestly, it shouldn’t take nearly an hour for something as simple as coffee and a fruit bowl.

Then I asked for the check. The waiter brought it 10 minutes later, and it took another 10 minutes after that to return with my change—because apparently he “isn’t allowed to touch the cash register.”

The WiFi also doesn’t work.

Another reason I’m giving 2 stars instead of 1: the waiter clearly spoke English, so there was no language barrier or misunderstanding. They knew I was a foreigner and still gave poor service, which made it feel even more disappointing.

The only reason this isn’t a 1-star review is because the space is nice and the food is genuinely high quality. But the service?...