Kaffe Haus Old San Juan — Restaurant in San Juan

I want to preface this review with an overall statement: many times when you research where to go in a place, you get a lot of bad information. I am proud to be a guide and bring my many years of travel to bear. So trust me when I tell you, Kaffe Haus is MUST VISIT!!! Where do I start? I could start with Jose and I could tell you that this owner is fully engaged with his restaurant, fully invested into bringing excellence to every table, and fully committed to excellence. I could start by talking about the staff; I could mention their extreme kindness and personal attention. I might even mention the fact that I NEVER had to wave anyone down for service (even though the place was packed), and I might actually say that more than one of them came over and shared precious conversation with me. But I won't mention any of the above, because when it comes to dining, it is all about the food and drink. So, without any exaggeration, I must say that the dish I was served was so frikin amazing that words escape me...but before those words run away, allow me to take them prisoner. I had brunch here today, and I ordered the Lobster Benedict. At first, this seems a complete contradiction in culinary terms, but I am a lover of contradictions. This dish was simply AMAZING!!!!! The delicate balance of seafood, egg, and just the right touch of greens put a smile on my face. Honestly, as a world traveler, I don't expect much when it comes to "good restaurants". 90% of the time, average is the best I can muster. I don't review "average" and I never will. I live here in Puerto Rico, and most of the time I am disappointed by "suggested" restaurants. Let me tell you, Kaffe Haus is the BEST KEPT SECRET on the island. The meal I had today while the live jazz played in the background, was absolutely superb. The marriage of the flavors of the dish, the perfect Mojito, and the friendliness of the staff was so perfect today! I just returned from a long journey to Asia and I was so missing my island! The cherry on top of my homecoming was my experience here at Kaffe Haus! Thank you to the staff, the kitchen, and most especially my new friend Jose....

We stopped here for food and drinks before heading back home. The hostess had a nasty attitude from the start when we asked if there were any seats for two available. She said there were none at the moment, and it would be a 40-minute wait, so we decided to take the two remaining seats at the bar until a table opened up.

When a table opened up, we asked our server to switch us to it, but the hostess came over with an attitude and told him no. A party that arrived after us got seated right away without waiting at all. We questioned the hostess, and she responded with an attitude, saying that we couldn't switch from bar seating to a table; when our server said we would be able to. Then the bartender jumped into the conversation, saying not to talk to the hostess that way, even though she was the only one with the attitude.

I told the bartender it was none of her business what I was explaining to the hostess. The bartender then got louder, cursing at us and saying that we were rude. I was in shock. This place has nasty customer service. I closed out my bill and left. I will never come to this place again. There is poor management and customer service here. You don't treat paying customers that way. We asked to speak to a manager and no one came. I'm sure they knew if they went for one, they would have been reprimanded for their behavior.

To the owner: You will lose a lot of business by having employees with nasty attitudes working there. We came for food and drinks and ended up cutting my bill to just half a drink because I couldn't enjoy the rest due to the nasty customer service.

To those who go there, be aware of their...

If coming here for brunch make sure you book ahead of time. We talked to a few people while we waited for a reservation time and they all confirmed it's very busy for brunch. I ordered The Tropic Nut and my girlfriend got a Latte. The quality of the coffee was impeccable, if a bit on the strong side (we like strong coffee so no issues there). We ordered the Surf and Turf Eggs Benedict and it was top 5 best Benedicts I've ever had -- the skirt steak was perfectly seasoned and cooked, the lobster melted in our mouth. I also appreciated the quality and freshness of the accompanying greens, onions, and peppers. We asked for some hot sauce and our very nice server brought us a salsa that was amazing -- it was sweet but very complex in flavor and heat. Too often salsas that utilize a pepper for heat end up being overpowered and without much other flavor. Not the case here. We tried to convince her to sell us a bottle but she only agreed to give us two to-go ramekins.

The staff were also great and very accommodating. Their POS system was having connectivity issues and so they politely asked if we could walk to the wired station (vs use the handheld credit card reader). It was no problem at all but they were so worried about inconveniencing us (even though we assured them it wasn't an inconvenience) which was sweet, if unnecessary. I also appreciated the flavored water they provided and beautiful artwork murals throughout the space. We plan to return here again before we leave the island. Great...