Inside Águila Coffee in Orlando. Photo by Anthony Ballinas, courtesy of Águila Coffee.
A new cafe called Águila Coffee recently opened in Orlando’s Ivanhoe Village district, offering a cozy, off-the-beaten-path enclave filled with fresh coffee and Mexican flavors.
Overlooking Lake Ivanhoe from an 800-square-foot spot within the Swanson’s Ivanhoe Row complex, the cafe run by co-owners Artie Burer and Antonio Rodriguez welcomes guests through a brick patio entrance.
Inside, adjoining rooms are awash in cobalt blue and hacienda-style yellow. At a natural-wood bar supported by earthy hollow bricks, customers pair conchas and soft Mexican gingerbread puerquitos with drinks served in cups emblazoned with the brand’s Aztec eagle logo.
Photo by Anthony Ballinas, courtesy of Águila Coffee.
Textiles, framed pieces and posters line the walls, while house-made horchata and piloncillo show up in drinks made with coffee sourced from Chiapas, Mexico.
“A lot of very clean, sleek establishments are popping up in Orlando, which are great. I do love those places,” Antonio Rodriguez told Daily Coffee News. “But I did want to do something a bit different and showcase a lot of the vibrant colors that come with Mexican culture.”
Rodriguez’s mother moved to the United States from Tampico, Mexico, in the late 1980s. His grandparents remain in Mexico, where his grandmother ran a restaurant while raising the family. Two generations and more than 1,000 miles later, Rodriguez said that thread of flavor and hospitality continues, shaped by his own years working in bars, clubs and restaurants around Orlando
Burer and Rodriguez both have barista experience, though they were primarily working as bartenders before joining forces on a coffee concept built around Rodriguez’s Mexican heritage.
Photo by Anthony Ballinas, courtesy of Águila Coffee.
A single Chiapas-grown coffee is available through various brew methods, including drip, espresso and 22-hour cold brew. Águila turns to friends at Maitland-based Kos Coffee for roasting. The two businesses previously collaborated through a pop-up before the buildout of the Ivanhoe cafe.
“We really wanted to take a crack at some of our recipes and get a feel for using our machine and everything, so we just joined them,” said Rodriguez.
Today’s menu includes a Topo Espresso, featuring a shot poured over Topo Chico sparkling water with a squeeze of fresh lemon, matcha blended with fresh guava puree, and a Mexican hot chocolate spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, guajillo and cayenne pepper.
“It’s a little off-putting to some, but we’re okay with it being a little spicy,” said Rodriguez. “We feel that we hit most people’s coffee palates, but also it’s all very influenced by some Mexican flavor or product involved in there.”
Águila Coffee Co-Founder Antonio Rodriguez. Photo by Anthony Ballinas, courtesy of Águila Coffee.
Since opening the shop in late 2025, Burer and Rodriguez have identified Águila’s cold brew concentrate as a candidate for wholesale scaling, particularly for bars and hospitality settings.
“Having a lot of experience in the bar industry as well, we package it and market it in a certain way that we think is very easy and approachable for bars,” said Rodriguez. “Literally, they can just buy cases from us and put it straight in their well to get it going.”
The cafe itself is not meant to be replicated, Rodriguez said, but the founders are open to collaborating with other entrepreneurs on new concepts, especially in a market they believe still has room to grow.
Photo by Anthony Ballinas, courtesy of Águila Coffee.
“In my opinion, Orlando is very behind on its supply for the demand. There aren’t enough coffee shops, and I really would like some way to support unique ideas,” said Rodriguez. “Hopefully in the future, we can work with some other talented people that have an idea, they don’t really know where to start, and maybe bring about another concept that is completely different from this one.”
Águila Coffee is located at 1215 N. Orange Ave in Orlando.
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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.
