Painted Leopard, a Bay Area coffee pop-up specializing in El Salvadoran beans, has launched its first permanent cafe inside The RealReal's flagship store in San Francisco's Union Square. The cafe is currently open on weekends, with plans for a grand opening and expanded hours in early April. Owned by three El Salvadoran Americans, the business aims to showcase its unique coffees and story in the competitive local market.
Painted Leopard, the Bay Area's only coffee roaster focused exclusively on El Salvadoran beans, began as a roaming pop-up in 2021. Founders Claudia Campos and Daniel Ortiz, who are cousins, started brainstorming the business that year after visiting family in El Salvador's Osicala region in Morazán, where Campos' mother lives. They later partnered with Octavio Vargas, who handles roasting at the East Bay's 444 Collaborative facility. The brand formally launched at the SF Coffee Festival in November 2023 and has appeared at venues like Tunnel Tops park in the Presidio, Dolores Deluxe in the Mission District, and Local Economy in Oakland. Known for its edgy, social media-friendly designs, Painted Leopard sources beans from a cooperative in the Monte Cacahuatique area of Osicala.
The new cafe opened this month at 253 Post Street inside The RealReal's two-story flagship store, which reopened after a nearly three-year closure. The RealReal selected Painted Leopard, a San Francisco- and woman-owned company, as its official coffee partner. For now, the cafe operates Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with pour-overs, cold brew, and rotating specialty drinks to be added after the grand opening in early April, when service will expand to seven days a week.
The menu currently features espresso drinks, including the signature brown sugar latte made with housemade brown sugar and Dulzura beans, which offer notes of Fuji apple and cacao nib. Experimental offerings like the anaerobic-processed Cometa, best as a pour-over, and the honey-processed Abejas single-origin, with tamarind and wine flavors, will gain more prominence in the fixed space. Pastry partners are planned to complement these, focusing on pairings that highlight tropical notes. The cafe integrates with the store's local art, high-fashion racks, Wi-Fi, plants, couches, and tables.
"We saw an opportunity to tell our story in coffee," Campos said. The owners envision Painted Leopard as a central hub for El Salvadoran coffees, supporting farmers. "We truly want to help the farmers, as they put a lot of work in," Campos added. This opening occurs amid Union Square's mix of global brands and local businesses.