Cafeography
La Paz · San Miguel

Cafés in San Miguel

The Zona Sur café strip on Avenida Montenegro and Gabriel René Moreno: Roaster’s coffee lab, 21grs, waffles and bakeries.

Photo: Robert Acevedo, Pexels License

San Miguel is in the Zona Sur, which sits at about 3,250 m, lower and milder than the center, and has become the second commercial and financial hub of La Paz.2 The neighborhood was built in the 1970s as housing for upper-middle-class families on the site of an old racecourse, and Avenida Montenegro traces the track’s former perimeter.1

Family houses have since given way to tower blocks of offices, banks and restaurants, and property here is among the most expensive in the city.1 At this height January is the wettest month, with about 114 mm of rain, and July the driest, with 8 mm.2 Cafés cluster on the Montenegro loop and on Calle Gabriel René Moreno. San Miguel is a close second to Sopocachi for cafés overall and has the most specialty coffee bars in La Paz.

Local tip: Ask at Roaster which Yungas farm the day’s coffee comes from; it buys from several and roasts every batch itself.3

At a glance

32Cafés listed
3With opening hours
08:00Earliest opening
21:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Healthy Choice, from 08:00 (Mon–Fri 08:00–21:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–19:00).
  • Most listed streets: Avenida Montenegro (6), Calle Gabriel René Moreno (2).
  • Most common features: specialty (9%), bakery café (6%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in La Paz.

Coffee chains in San Miguel

Roaster and its coffee lab

Roaster, at Gabriel René Moreno 20, is run by Mauricio Diez de Medina, who left finance to roast coffee and had been open six years by 2018. He buys beans from several farms in the Yungas, roasts them himself, and opened his laboratory to any barista training for the championship, describing his team as pioneers of barismo de altura (high-altitude barista work).3

21grs and the other specialty bars

21grscompany & Lab is the café of 21 Grams Company, which trades Bolivian specialty coffee from more than 400 producers and roasts it by hand, air-cooled and without additives.4 Its espresso blend is washed Caturra Rojo, Typica and Catuaí from Caranavi at 1,500 m; on its 2026 shop page a 250 g bag costs Bs 80 and a Finca El Porvenir Geisha Bs 230.4

Cafeina Specialty Coffee Shop is the neighborhood’s third specialty bar.

Avenida Montenegro

Healthy Choice, at Montenegro 1223, opens 08:00–21:00 Monday to Friday and 09:00–19:00 at weekends. Café Esencia is at 1017, and Aquí todo es rico and Caramelau Bakery Shop share number 990. Lucky Cup, Terradentro, Fiera, Caribeña, Sweet Fit and a Waffles & friends are also on the avenue, as is a branch of Alexander Coffee.

Gordini’s, a bakery café, is at Calle Jaime Mendoza 988, and Birdie Play Café is on the same street. On the numbered calles to the south, Waffles & Friends has a second address at Calle 16 8232 and WOBA is on Calle 18; Kangurú is at Calle Enrique Peñaranda 11, the street where Typica has a branch at 1075.

Gabriel René Moreno and the side streets

Gabriel René Moreno has Macabeo at 1091, Rosse Coffee at 1080, LUVA at 1025 and Los Qñapès at 1223, with Mamá, Yucatan and la creperie nearby. Kafétika Coffee & Cookie bar on Claudio Aliaga opens 12:00–19:00 Tuesday to Friday, and Kafétika on Avenida Julio Patiño 11:00–20:00 daily.

On Calle 23, yauchas yungueñas takes its name from the llaucha, the cheese pastry La Paz eats at breakfast with api, tea or coffee.5 The main way in is Calle 21 of Calacoto, which runs off Avenida Ballivián, and the Avenida Costanera links San Miguel with Obrajes, La Florida, Calacoto and Cota Cota.1

Sources

  1. San Miguel (La Paz), Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
  2. La Paz, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Coffee in the Veins, Bolivian Express (Sophia Vahdati, April 26, 2018), accessed October 2026
  4. 21 Grams Company: cafés bolivianos de especialidad, 21 Grams Company, accessed October 2026
  5. Llaucha, Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of La Paz

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El Prado & San Pedro

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Miraflores

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Sopocachi

33 cafés

In San Miguel, also browse: Specialty coffee Bakery cafés

FAQ

San Miguel cafés: questions

Where are the specialty coffee shops in San Miguel, La Paz?

Roaster, at Gabriel René Moreno 20, roasts beans from several Yungas farms and runs a coffee lab for competition baristas. 21grscompany & Lab is the café of 21 Grams Company, which sells Caranavi espresso blends and a Finca El Porvenir Geisha. Cafeina Specialty Coffee Shop is also in San Miguel.

Why does Avenida Montenegro in San Miguel, La Paz curve in a loop?

San Miguel was built in the 1970s on the site of an old racecourse, and Avenida Montenegro follows the track’s former perimeter. Healthy Choice at number 1223, Café Esencia at 1017 and Caramelau Bakery Shop at 990 are on the avenue.

How do you get to San Miguel in La Paz’s Zona Sur?

The main way in is Calle 21 of Calacoto, which runs off Avenida Ballivián, and the Avenida Costanera links San Miguel with Obrajes, La Florida, Calacoto and Cota Cota. The Zona Sur sits at about 3,250 m, lower and milder than the center.

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