Chapala, Jalisco
Phone: 376 765 3908
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 8am - 3pm
Directions: From Walmart head east on the Carratera approximately 4 1/2 miles. El Arbol de Cafe is on the right (lakeside) of the road, across from the murals and next to the entrance of El Quetzal Restaurant. Parking along the road is limited, but El Arbol de Cafe is a short walk from the malecon where parking is plentiful.
First Impressions
El Arbol de Café is a neighborhood coffee shop with a limited breakfast menu. I have driven by here many times without paying attention to this art-filled shop when on the way to Chapala from Ajijic. One day we were walking up the sidewalk from Chapala and spotted a friend coming out of the shop with a bag of coffee beans.
"Best coffee lakeside," he said. Instead of taking his word for it, we stopped in to try it for ourselves and it is, indeed, very good coffee. There are tables inside the café and outside. The café has a lot of original art displayed on the walls and also for sale.
Menu
El Arbol de Café is mainly a coffee shop. You can order your cup of java and sit at an outdoor table to take in some people watching, order a bag of whole beans to take home, or have it ground as you wait. There is also a limited breakfast menu available and a few sweet treats offered to accompany your cup of coffee.
Ambiance and Service
This is the kind of place you can come to linger over a cup of coffee and read the newspaper, or check your email.We ordered our coffee at the counter, but the barrista brought it to our table and checked back later to make sure that we were satisfied.
El Arbol de Café has the air of a small, independent coffee shop in the states - cool, serene and just a little bit funky.
