Cafés in Provenza & Parque Lleras

Getting to Provenza

The nearest metro stop is Poblado station. From there, Vía Primavera is about a 20-minute walk uphill, or a short taxi ride.⁴ The street, at Carrera 37 and Calle 8, opened in 2010 as an open-air run of shops where young Antioquian designers set up together as an alternative to the malls; it now also holds cafés, restaurants, perfumeries and a hotel.⁴ The name comes from the plants and trees that shade its sidewalks.⁴

Pergamino on Carrera 37

Pedro Echavarría opened Pergamino in El Poblado in 2012. His family started growing coffee in Antioquia nearly 40 years ago with a single farm and now runs four, plus wet and dry mills, and he also buys from more than 600 smallholders in Antioquia, Cauca and Nariño.⁵ The Carrera 37 shop, at 8A-37, is the flagship, and Barista Magazine describes its breezy patio filling with brunch customers from all over the world.³⁵

Pergamino's second Provenza shop, on Calle 10B at 36-38, is set up for sitting and working, with bags of coffee from origin on sale.⁵ Opposite the flagship, at Carrera 37 8A-46, Café Velvet had been open just over a year when Barista Magazine came by in 2015; its owner was a Belgian pastry chef.³ Most of its customers then ordered filter coffee, brewed on a V60, Chemex or AeroPress.⁶ The company now trades as Velvet Coffee and roasts in Itagüí and in Jodoigne, Belgium.⁷

Calle 8, Calle 10 and the rest of the grid

At the lower edge, Calle 8 has two cafés a few doors apart: Al Alma, a bakery café with brunch, at 35-37, and Master Sandwich and Co at 35-33. MIND Caffe & Lounge is on Carrera 37, a few steps from Pergamino. Versos café, at Carrera 36 #7-10, serves brunch and has Wi-Fi.

Higher up, Buñuelos, on Calle 10 at 36-47, fries from 06:00 to 20:00 every day. Garaje Café is on Calle 10B at 36-31, a few doors from Pergamino's second shop.

When to go to Provenza

Medellín's tourism bureau recommends Vía Primavera between 15:00 and 19:00, when the shops are open and an iced coffee or a fruit drink makes the break.⁴ Time Out's citation put restaurants, cafés and bars at the heart of the street,¹ and after dark the trade moves toward the bars of the Zona Rosa around Parque Lleras.²

For a quiet coffee, come early. Buñuelos is open from 06:00 every day, Sunday included, well before most of Vía Primavera's shops raise their shutters.