The Painted Leopard coffee bar inside The RealReal flagship in San Francisco. All images courtesy of Painted Leopard.
El Salvador-focused coffee company Painted Leopard has entered its first permanent den in San Francisco, inside the Union Square flagship store of luxury consignment brand The RealReal.
Following a series of Bay Area pop-ups, the new shop’s debut menu features Painted Leopard’s brown sugar lattes and other espresso staples in a 1,550-square-foot area within the two-story, 8,100-square-foot store.
Designed by The RealReal team, the coffee space reflects both companies’ sustainability messaging through natural materials and an earthy palette of soft greens and neutral colors. Wood floors, open shelves and an airy layout make room for about two dozen guests, while baristas work from a compact service nook using coffees grown around Monte Cacahuatique near Osicala in Morazán, El Salvador.
Painted Leopard’s co-founding cousins Claudia Campos and Daniel Ortiz are both first-generation children of immigrants forced to flee Osicala during the Salvadoran civil war. Both traveled frequently with relatives back to their hometown on Mount Cacahuatique throughout their childhoods, forming bonds that today guide the sourcing of coffees from coffee producer members of Cooperativa San Carlos Dos.
“We feel a deep personal connection to the region,” Claudia Campos told Daily Coffee News. “Being able to return today through our work with coffee gives us a meaningful opportunity to reconnect with the community and contribute with a larger purpose.”
Octavio Vargas, a Painted Leopard business partner and head roaster, travels to the cooperative each year to cup and select the coffees, which are brought in with the help of Oakland-based Royal Coffee. Vargas browns the greens on a Probat P25 roaster at the 444 Collaborative co-roasting facility in Oakland.
Launched in 2023 with a stand at the San Francisco Coffee Festival, Painted Leopard soon opened pop-ups at Presidio Tunnel Tops, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and Local Economy in Oakland, with select pop-ups continuing seasonally.
The RealReal location welcomed its first customers in late February and remains in a soft-opening phase, gradually expanding the menu.
“We’re currently operating on Saturdays and Sundays with a limited espresso-based menu while finishing the final build-out to showcase our full offerings, including our signature Dulzura beans, washed single-origin Bourbon and light-roast experimental lots for espresso, pourovers and cold brews,” Campos said. “We will share [grand opening] updates soon and are excited to continue expanding Painted Leopard’s offerings in the Bay Area.”
Painted Leopard is located inside RealReal at 253 Post St. in San Francisco.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
