Cafés with Terraces in Pereira

Calle 21 to Calle 25 in the Centro

Arataka Café Bar, on Calle 21 at 6-52, is two blocks from Plaza de Bolívar. The square is ringed with bars, cafés and restaurants, and it fills up in the evening as a place to sit out, with the Bolívar Desnudo statue as the meeting point.³ Two blocks up, María Antonia Café has tables outside at the corner of Calle 23 and Carrera 6, and adds Wi-Fi.

El Café de Cristina is farther west at Calle 25 #9-56, a couple of blocks from Lago Uribe Uribe. In the afternoon the Lago Uribe sector stays busy with cafés, restaurants and shops,⁶ so a table on the pavement there is rarely a quiet one.

Coffee from Belén de Umbría at María Antonia

Of the cafés with terraces, María Antonia Café is the one that grows its own coffee. The farm is in Belén de Umbría, Risaralda, at 1,700 m, and the company exports what it grows besides selling it in the shop, along with milk jugs, drippers and gift boxes.⁴

For something less purist, the Eje Cafetero has its own names: a pintadito is coffee with a dash of milk, and a chaqueta is black coffee stretched with hot aguapanela (panela, or unrefined cane sugar, in water), both drinks of the farm morning.⁵

A bakery patio and Carrera 12 Bis

Cafetería y Panadería Orus, at Carrera 13 Bis #32B-37 in the Brasilia barrio, is a bakery first: bread to take away, a few seats outside for a coffee with it. Cafe Journal is on Carrera 12 Bis near the Avenida del Ferrocarril, on the southeastern side of the Centro.

Evenings on Calle 70

Rumi Café & Bar, at Calle 70 #38-327 in Consotá, opens at 16:30 and closes at 23:30, Wednesday to Monday; it is shut on Tuesdays. It has outdoor seats and Wi-Fi, which makes it the evening choice among Pereira's café terraces. It is about 4 km from the Centro, so plan on a taxi back after closing.

The Avenida Circunvalar has an outdoor scene of its own: the Balcones de la Circunvalar are known for terraces with views over the lit-up city at night.³