A Taste of Colombia in Orlando

There is a new name in coffee and pastries on the Central Florida scene, and we thought it was about time to feature this caffeine hot-spot and highlight its great value – and tastes – among a growing Latin fiesta of dining outlets.

Mecatos Café & Bakery is a home-grown brand that dates back to 2015 but has become one of the fastest-growing outlets for barista brilliance in the Sunshine State. Their nine Orlando outlets will soon become 10 when they open an eye-catching new location in ritzy Winter Park this spring, and there is a LOT to like about their menu – and style – when it comes to cortaditos, coladas and café con leches, plus empanadas, arepas and buñuelos.

The Mecatos story

We flagged up the Mecatos brand last year when we highlighted the dazzling array of new and independent coffee shops throughout Orlando, but didn’t go much beyond a brief mention from a couple of visits to their downtown location. Well, we’ve now had a chance to sample some of their newer coffee shops and we have to say, this goes way beyond mere coffee!

Regular Orlando visitors will know that Florida is a genuine mix of Latin and European cultures, many of them from the Spanish-speaking parts of the Caribbean as well as Central America, Colombia and Venezuela, hence it is no surprise to see those influences spin off into new ventures. Colombian-inspired Mecatos was established in 2015 by Edwin Lurduy, its current CEO, opening the doors of their first café on April 1, 2016. But Edwin was no April fool. The creativeness of this new concept – authentic food and drinks, super-delicious baked hot bites and desserts, all offered in a welcoming, relaxed and modern setting – led to instant love from a surging customer base, which resulted in the opening of three more locations.

From there, Lurduy and Mecatos have expanded throughout much of metro Orlando, and their move into Winter Park – in the building formerly occupied by the Southern food specialist The Coop – should firmly establish them as one of Central Florida’s premier brands. Their current nine locations include Orange Avenue in downtown, up-and-coming Lake Nona, MetroWest (just north of Universal Orlando), West Colonial Drive in Ocoee and their most recent location in Apopka.

The Coffees at Mecatos

When it comes to the menu, the coffees definitely take pride of place amid a bright and fresh selection. Importantly, all the coffee beans are freshly harvested and come direct from Colombian farms, to be roasted at Mecatos’ central distribution centre in downtown Orlando. This makes for a distinctly fresh and satisfying cup of coffee, whether you’re after just a regular cup or something more fancy.

They still offer the fairly common cappuccinos, lattes, espressos and mochas, but the more adventurous might like to try a sweet cortadito (two ounces of espresso, two of steamed milk and three teaspoons of sugar), a colada (served in a four-ounce cup, with two ounces of espresso and three teaspoons of sugar) or a Latin favourite, the café con leche, which is made from a medium roast Colombian speciality house blend served with milk, in sizes from eight to 20 ounces.

Then there is a Colombian-style hot chocolate, made by taking a pure chocolate bar and slowly melting it in milk via stove fire, and a chai latte (spiced tea and steamed milk), as well as single and double espressos made from their speciality house blend. Even better, if you’re dining in, all drinks come in a proper cup and saucer, which just makes everything taste that much better.

Mecatos Pastries

You’ll probably already have noticed that the Colombian style is very much on the sweet side, and that trend continues with a truly delicious array of pastries, cakes and breads. The flavours of dulce de leche (a caramel-like sweet milk), guava, vanilla and chocolate are firmly to the fore, and the temptations include Tres Leches Cake, Cannoli Arequipe (cannoli stuffed with dulce de leche), Mango Fusion (mango and coconut mousse in a vanilla shell basket), Quesitos (a pastry stuffed with cream cheese and sugar and oven baked), Chicharons (puff pastry stuffed with guava jam filling, topped with sugar and oven baked) and Alfajores (dulce de leche filled cookies with coconut flakes).

All these Colombian delicacies are also backed up by a more cosmopolitan selection that adds the likes of meringues, Linzer tarts, apple turnovers and many more varieties of cakes to the menu, while there are another 17 types of bread, again using additives such as guava, cheese, ham and even Nutella. Can’t decide what to have? Mecatos offers a selection of combo platters where you can pick up to four different empanadas or other items so you can sample a good cross-section of the fare on offer, all of which is well worth trying.

Hot Bites

Having mentioned the empanadas, it’s worth pointing out Mecatos is an option for each of breakfast, lunch and dinner, with most of their cafes open from 6 or 7am until 8 or 9pm, offering an equally authentic array of Latin-influenced savoury hot dishes and bites. Their arepas (flatbread patties made from ground maize dough) are especially tasty, along with tequenos (cheese sticks) and avocado toast, while you’ll also find several different kinds of Colombian sausage and croissants.

All in all, it is a heady mix of rich, powerful flavours, all boosted by the fresh, inviting and airy spaces of their cafes. This is also the place to come to buy some of the dazzling varieties of original and freshly-roasted coffees that normally don’t find their way out of Colombia. Choose from a range of crafted farm blends, single-origin estate coffees and their Golden Line of varietals and exotics. All are roasted in their main Orlando facility, hence they are among the freshest roasts you’ll find hereabouts. And, while Brazil used to dominate the South American coffee scene, Colombia now boasts more than its fair share of the barista business, and you can be sure of some supreme tastes. For more details and opening times, visit https://mecatoscafe.com/.

Have you tried a Mecatos coffee shop yet?