Café Don Juan — Restaurant in Winter Park

I never write reviews, but this just really bothered me to the point where I feel I had to say something. This has been my favourite cafe for a while, the food the atmosphere and the service have always been great. I went in the other morning, I was having a really bad day and just wanted to go somewhere I loved to lift my spirits. I was the only person in the entire restaurant. I was waiting off to the side deciding what to order, the cashier was standing in the corner not acknowledging me at all. I figured maybe she just wanted to give me space. I went up to order, I don’t get a hello or a smile or anything of that nature, she didn’t even ask what I would like to order. She just stared at me until I spoke. I was cordial I said hello, I smiled I said please and thank you but I was met with short answers and an RBF. The whole experience was just odd and unsettling, it made me feel like I was the one doing something wrong. I get it, maybe she was having a bad day, but so was I which is why I chose to come here in the first place. If this was McDonalds I wouldn’t mind but if im paying almost $30 for a sandwich and small coffee at least a smile or acknowledgement would’ve been nice. I just sat in a corner and ate my food on the verge of tears since I was already upset and this just exacerbated that. Anytime the cashier would come out to fix something or take out the trash she would deadpan stare at me like and even when I smiled she wouldn’t smile back. I know im not owed anything but my food, but it just made me feel so uneasy and weird, as someone with really bad anxiety I kept overthinking and trying to figure out what I had done so wrong to get her upset. A family came in after me and she was super nice to them so im not really sure what the issue was. The food and coffee was amazing as always, but im leaving feeling so disappointed and like im...

Café Don Juan is a really nice cafe/coffee shop in Winter Park. I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time because I’ve heard their sandwiches are really good, and they were! We came for lunch and had: an iced caramel salted chai, slice of guava bread, Tripleta open-faced sandwich, and Don Felipe sandwich. There is a reason my review is not a perfect 5/5 though.

The iced caramel salted chai was excellent. It had a great chai flavor and wasn’t overly fake-tasting or overly-sweet like other chai drinks. Definitely would recommend! The guava bread wasn’t anything to write home about - we personally found it pretty dry, and perhaps that could’ve just been because we got a bad or older slice. Maybe it’s much better when it’s fresher.

The two sandwiches were excellent. We would recommend either - and the taro chips on the side were great as well! However, I’ve only given 4/5 for Café Don Juan because their prices are really a bit ridiculous. They are much more expensive then just 10 months ago (as you can see from pictures people have previously taken of the menu on Google Maps) - the Don Felipe was basically $16 and the Tripleta open-faced sandwich was $17! That is really expensive for a sandwich! So I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to come back here, and unfortunately, due to (assumed) high rent cost, I doubt the prices will go down at all - they’ll likely only continue to go up.

I guess if you have a lot of money to spend, and $17 isn’t a big deal for a sandwich at lunch, I would say go right ahead and come here. Food-wise, this place nails it. Maybe stay away from the guava bread, but their drinks and sandwiches are excellent. I just hope they can do something about their...

In Orlando, Florida is now a significant Puertorrican population, which I am sure creates opportunities for Puertorrican businesses to flourish. Everyone has to eat, and the choices to try the cuisine of the island are multiplying. Café Don Juan, located in Winter Park, brings typical Puertorrican breakfast, snacks and pastries, but presented in an elevated setting, and with small tweaks and details that offer cool reinterpretation. This is their first location in Orlando, Florida, but they have seven other stores in Puerto Rico. I had a large, latte (which is really a fancyfied "café con leche"), a breakfast sandwich made with "mallorca" bread(and egg-based sweet bread, similar to brioche) and one fried egg, crispy bacon, a green "criollo" sauce. The bread was originally "pan sobao" (a PR bread made with lard that is heavenly) but I had a hunkerin' for the Mallorca! The Mallorca sandwich was delicious, but they added a lot of raw white onions, which I had to take out of the sandwich. The "quesito" (a cheese filled flaky baked pastry) was good, but slightly underbaked, which did not produced the crispy sugary exterior that is typical of this island delight. The service was incredibly friendly and very expedicious. The staff English, Spanish and Portuguese (Obrigado). The café setting is modern, clean and pleasant, with whites, woods and green colors...