Café Cuatro Sombras — Restaurant in San Juan

Absolutely pitiful service. I placed an order for two iced lattes and two pastries (already made and sitting on display) and waited 34 minutes. I know the service in PR is pretty slow, so I asked at the 21 minute mark what the situation was. Well, these folks served someone behind us and gave them the last 'quesitos guava'. I literally (in the literal sense), stood next to another couple who was waiting for their lemonade and coffee for 30 minutes. I'm really not sure if they handpicked who got expedited service, but it seems as though it was the tourists who were kept waiting (I say that because the folks behind me were locals who had coffee brewed sooner than we did. In any case, it took these folks an additional 15ish minutes to complete my order after having gone up to complain. They gave us a small box with bread and cheese to make up for it. My suggestion, come here if you're not too hungry, or if you have all the time in the world because 5 people taking this long to make coffee is alarming. Also, tip ONLY after you get your order(they ask for your gratuity when you pay up front with card). I'm not an avid coffee drinker, so I can say that was alright, but the guy did put the cream on top after I asked for it to be put in the bottom. My wife had hers with vanilla and she enjoyed it. Cinnamon roll was kind of hard so I ate it...

We visited Cuatro Sombras on our last day in Puerto Rico, looking for something quick and light before heading to the airport. The café has great reviews, so we decided to give it a try.

The space was packed when we walked in, mostly with tourists, and prices reflected more of an American standard than local café pricing. For two paninis, two iced lattes, and a cinnamon bread pastry, our bill came out to about $50.

The food itself was decent, but the service flow left much to be desired. The lattes were overly sweet for our taste, and only one was brought out initially. After waiting about 10 minutes, I went back to ask, and staff admitted they had forgotten the second one. They quickly made it, but it was a noticeable oversight. Additionally, we waited close to 30 minutes for our paninis despite the order being simple.

If you’re on a time crunch, I wouldn’t recommend this spot since the wait times can be long even for small orders. That said, there is convenient parking across the street in a garage, which makes access easy.

Overall, not a bad experience, but not one I’d return to given the prices, slow service, and overly...

I make an effort to try every coffee shop I can when I go somewhere new, and I tend to prefer more "third wave" coffee. This is it: the best coffee you are going to find in Viejo San Juan. Although you order outside, you are welcome to sit inside or in the walled garden; you just need to ask the barista to let you in (if they have an open table). Once inside, you can order additional food or coffe, grounds or merch.

I had a number of drinks from a proper 6ozish cappuccino with oat milk to espresso shots, an iced mocha, and a cortado or two. The baristas are well-trained and texture the milk beautifully. Temperature was generally spot-on, though maybe they took the oat milk a little too hot (which I bet half of you prefer). Espresso was always properly dialed-in. Roasting happens in-house.

I also got avocado toast with scrambled egg three or so times. It's so good; they use a great piece of flavorful rustic bread, generous ripe avocado, and perfect fluffy eggs. I recommend asking for a salt packet on the side though to give it...