El Salvadoran coffees are generally lesser known in specialty coffee circles, despite the fact that the coffee history of the country is both rich and damning.
Introduced by an English colonist in the 19th century, the crop followed a familiar colonial arc. Today, the country’s volcanic growing conditions produce coffees that make El Salvador a distinctive origin for importers.
Now, three El Salvadoran Americans are reclaiming and remixing that history. Painted Leopard (opens in new tab), the Bay Area’s sole El Salvador-only coffee roaster, is opening its first cafe.
The cafe has opened inside the flagship brick-and-mortar location of luxury consignment brand The RealReal (opens in new tab) at 253 Post Street in Union Square, which itself reopened this month after a nearly three-year closure.
For now, the cafe is open on the weekends, with plans to host a grand opening and expand to seven-day-a-week service in early April. The three owners — Claudia Campos, Daniel Ortiz, and Octavio Vargas — say they’re ready to take center stage in San Francisco’s competitive coffee world. “We saw an opportunity to tell our story in coffee,” Campos says.
Painted Leopard has sopent most of its life as a roaming pop-up. The company, known for its edgy, social media-friendly designs, first appeared at the Presidio’s Tunnel Tops park, and has since served at Mission District sandwich shop Dolores Deluxe (opens in new tab) and journalist-run Oakland hub Local Economy (opens in new tab).
The cafe isn’t an afterthought in The RealReal’s two-story flagship, which features local art and racks and racks of high fashion. There’s wi-fi for the remote worker perusing designer watches on their lunch, aesthetic plants, and couches and tables throughout. The owners say the new physical space will allow the company to showcase much of what makes it special.
Campos said that the limitations of running pop-ups have meant most of their coffees have rarely been available. For instance, Campos and her colleagues believe the Cometa (opens in new tab) — a limited-time anaerobic processed coffee — shines brightest as a pour-over. But their pop-ups have generally featured only espresso drinks.
At first, the RealReal menu will also be limited; pour-overs, cold brew, and rotating specialty drinks will land on the menu after the grand opening.
Source: Courtesy Painted Leopard
However, the brown sugar latte, a Painted Leopard favorite, is on offer. That drink includes housemade brown sugar that highlights the brand’s Dulzura beans (opens in new tab), which boast Fuji apple and cacao nib notes.
No bites are available just yet, but Campos said pastry partners are on the way. She wants to focus on pairings that highlight the tropical notes of Painted Leopard’s more experimental roasts like the single-origin Abejas, a honey-processed natural coffee. A proper light roast, Vargas described it as carrying notes of tamarind and wine.
When The RealReal was planning its reopening, Campos says the brand sought out a San Francisco- and woman-owned coffee company to be part of its return. The re-opening comes at a strange time for Union Square, which is balancing the return of major global brands with an influx of local small businesses.
Campos’ mom lives in the Osicala region, known for its coffee origin Monte Cacahuatique in Morazán, El Salvador. A cooperative there supplies Painted Leopard with its beans.
Growing up, Campos and Ortiz — who are cousins — would travel to visit family in the area. It wasn’t until 2021 that Campos and Ortiz began brainstorming business plans. They met Vargas along the way. Ge now handles roasting for the business at the East Bay’s roasting facility 444 Collaborative (opens in new tab).
Campos says she and the team want to keep growing and telling their story. It was at the SF Coffee Festival in November 2023 where Painted Leopard formally launched, and Campos says that’s really been the only venue to showcase all their coffees.
This new cafe is set to give the trio a brick-and-mortar stage for Painted Leopard’s second act. “We truly want to help the farmers, as they put a lot of work in,” Campos says. “We really envision ourselves as a centeal hub for all coffees from El Salvador.”
Painted Leopard (opens in new tab) will open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday before expanding operations to seven days a week.