La Jefa in Rittenhouse is part-cafe and part-lounge, where every beverage, whether caffeinated, decaffeinated, fermented, or alcoholic, is worth sampling. It’s a mix of Mexico and Philly; owner Dan Suro calls it “Guadaladelphian,” with drinks that call to mind rich chocolate and sweet agave flavors back that up. And Suro knows what he’s talking about: His father, David, is the owner of Tequilas and passed on a love for agave-based spirits. After sipping on a variety of creative coffee drinks, stick around for the cafe to turn into La Jefa Milpa, where cocktails become the main course, but the rich Guadalajarian-influenced palette persists.
While La Jefa is a daytime cafe, its upbeat vibe continues after dark when cocktails replace coffee, and it becomes La Jefa Milpa. Heavily influenced by Mesoamerican farming using corn and native plants, cocktails include an Old Fashioned made with agave cocido-infused Cascahuin blanco, koji fermented agavezake, and bitters, with an orange twist.
With so many specialties, don’t sleep on the drip coffee ($3). Beans sourced through a partnership with Cafe Estelar, a roaster in Guadalajara, and are rich and nutty.