Cafeography
Panaderías y pastelerías · San José

Bakery cafés in San José

Kam and Vallecito on Avenida 9, Sphaera on Calle 7, Sweet Treats' sugar-free queques in Curridabat.

Photo: Natalia Olivera, Pexels License

Costa Ricans eat about 27 kg of bread per person a year, one of the highest rates anywhere, according to Puratos' Taste Tomorrow research reported in 2024.1 Eight in ten consumers there put bakery, pastry or chocolate products in their monthly budget.1 San José's bakery cafés range from a sugar-free specialist in Curridabat to two panaderías (bakeries) on a short stretch of Avenida 9.

Bread and coffee belong together at home as well. Café con leche goes with breakfast and the afternoon break, and in rural Costa Rica neighbors used to fire clay ovens during Holy Week to bake pan casero (homemade bread) and rosquillas (ring-shaped biscuits), served with coffee at the same meal.23

Local tip: Pair a pastry with coffee next door: Kam Breakfast & Bakery and Café del Barista, which opens daily at 07:00, are a few doors apart on Avenida 9 in Aranjuez.

Where these cafés are: Barrio Aranjuez (2), Guadalupe, Tibás & Moravia (1), Centro (1), Curridabat & Zapote (1), Los Yoses & San Pedro (1), Barrio Escalante & La California (1).

At a glance

7Cafés listed
1With opening hours
10:00Earliest opening
19:00Latest closing

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What is on the counter

Empanadas, corn turnovers filled with beef, chicken, cheese or fruit, are a standard snack, and tres leches, a cake soaked in three kinds of milk, is the usual dessert after lunch or dinner.2 At Christmas the queque navideño, a dried-fruit cake soaked in rum for a few days before baking, is given to friends and family.2

Tastes are moving toward simpler bread: in the same 2024 survey, 77% of Costa Rican consumers said they prefer bakeries that bake with more natural ingredients, and 75% considered sourdough healthier.1 Almost as many, 79%, wanted to know where their food comes from and how it is made.1

Inclúyeme, an inclusive café in the center, opened in 2017 with a menu of sandwiches, savory pastries, queques, tamales and hot and cold coffee, adding a new product every week.4

Avenida 9 in Barrio Aranjuez

Two bakery cafés sit on Avenida 9 in Barrio Aranjuez, east of Barrio Amón: Kam Breakfast & Bakery at number 69 and Panadería Vallecito de los Ángeles a couple of blocks west. Café del Barista, at number 30 on the same avenue, opens daily 07:00–17:00.

Aranjuez began as the finca (farm) of a Spaniard, Juan Aranjuez, who sold it to Bernardo Soto in the late 19th century; Soto split it into lots bought mostly by well-off families.5 The neighborhood's Hospital Calderón Guardia was built in 1942, the year the social-security fund, the CCSS, was created.5 The railway from Limón reached San José in December 1891, and the Estación del Atlántico and the main customs house went up nearby.5

Sugar-free in Curridabat, and the rest of the city

Sweet Treats has made baked goods without sugar since 1999, from cookies and breads to queques (cakes), and added a line free of both sugar and gluten.6 Its café in Curridabat opens every day: 10:30–19:00 on Mondays, 10:00–19:00 Tuesday to Saturday and 11:30–19:00 on Sundays.

Downtown, Sphaera Coffee Bakery on Calle 7 has Wi-Fi as well as its bakery counter. Kaldi Cafetería y Pastelería, a café and pastry shop on Calle Damiana northeast of the center, has wheelchair access. Witches Bakery is on Avenida 10, and Panadería el Sauce on Avenida 15, on the San Pedro side.

Sources

  1. Investigación muestra creciente interés por la salud gastrointestinal y los alimentos basados en plantas, Delfino.cr (July 4, 2024, citing Puratos Taste Tomorrow), accessed October 2026
  2. Costa Rican cuisine, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Costa Rica, su cultura y tradiciones, La República (Siany Villalobos, March 27, 2018), accessed October 2026
  4. Cafetería rompe esquemas sociales en el centro de San José, La República (October 3, 2017), accessed October 2026
  5. Aranjuez: su historia y transformación, La República (José Francisco Bolaños Arquín, August 4, 2012), accessed October 2026
  6. Sweet Treats: repostería sin azúcar y sin gluten, Sweet Treats (website), accessed October 2026
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Cafés con wifi

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7 cafés

By area: Barrio Escalante & La California Centro Los Yoses & San Pedro

FAQ

Bakery cafés in San José: questions

Where are the bakery cafés in San José, Costa Rica?

In San José, Kam Breakfast & Bakery and Panadería Vallecito de los Ángeles are on Avenida 9 in Barrio Aranjuez, near Café del Barista. Sphaera Coffee Bakery is on Calle 7 downtown, Sweet Treats has a sugar-free café in Curridabat, Kaldi Cafetería y Pastelería is northeast of the center, and Panadería el Sauce is on Avenida 15.

Is there a sugar-free bakery café in San José, Costa Rica?

Sweet Treats, a Costa Rican bakery that has made products without sugar since 1999, has a café in Curridabat, on the east side of San José. Its range runs from cookies and breads to queques (cakes), with a line free of both sugar and gluten. The café opens daily, 10:00–19:00 from Tuesday to Saturday.

What do people in San José, Costa Rica, eat from the bakery with coffee?

Costa Ricans eat about 27 kg of bread per person a year. Empanadas, corn turnovers filled with beef, chicken, cheese or fruit, are a standard snack, and tres leches, a cake soaked in three kinds of milk, a common dessert. At Christmas the rum-soaked queque navideño is given as a present, and café con leche goes with breakfast and the afternoon.

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