Kitanda Espresso & Acai - Greenlake — Restaurant in Seattle

I’m really torn leaving this review bc the food and the overall atmosphere is really nice.

But good lord- the Cuban Espresso made my ancestors roll over in their graves. I get that businesses like to put a little spin and razzle dazzle on foreign things- but putting a piece of cinnamon stick in Cuban coffee oughta be illegal. You guys, please, it’s so bad. Every cell in my body rejected that- I’ve never in my life had such a bad espresso. I would hate someone to try the Cuban espresso and think that’s actually what they taste like.

It ruined my whole day. Had to call my mom about it - all my aunties wondering where the heck this awful idea came from.

Pls Cuban espresso is simple. Straight black coffee, the first little bit of coffee gets stirred up with 2-3 little spoons of regular sugar- there’s your sugar foam. Pour it back into the coffee.

Pls fix this, man. Pls. That’s like someone in Cuba adding a cinnamon stick to a hot dog. Could you imagine?

Otherwise it’s a great place and I’m sorry - I just, I’ll lose my Cuban card if I don’t...

I'm always on the lookout for places that have good açaí bowls, and the açaí bowls here were better than I expected.

I literally just sat down at a random table waiting for my friends when I saw a sign on the windows of Kitanda and it had a picture of an açaí bowl, and so I decided to check it out while I waited. I never even knew this place existed until today. (August of 2020)

I got a normal açaí bowl with strawberries, granola, and cacao nibs. I was pretty disappointed in the size and amount of the strawberries. I was really wishing for more strawberries and they were quite small too so there wasn't much fresh components. The granola and cacao nibs did add a nice crunch and the cacao added a slight richness. The açaí itself was pretty good, not too sweet, and it was fresh and refreshing.

Overall, pretty solid place. I really didn't expect it to be as good as it was. Slightly on the expensive side, but I would definetly get an...

The first time I came here I found a giant piece of plastic that I nearly choked on in my acai bowl. The owner didn't much care to reach out to me, to see if I was okay.

The second and third time (can you believe I came back?): my pre-ordered order of an acai bowl and Romeo & Juliet were done 24 minutes after my specified pick up time. This is absolutely unacceptable when I'm relying on the accuracy of the time and my work schedule. The kicker is both times they forgot my Romeo & Juliet sandwich, and I had to insert myself in a line of people waiting to order to let them know. Then they tell me they're out of that and can refund me. The refund never comes and I have to call several times again to get the $ back.

On top of all of this, I've tried getting a hold of the owner on several occasions to share my experience with her instead of writing this review, but she claims she's too busy to take calls. Truly...