I came here to study this past week, excited by the beautiful latte art I've seen on Yelp. For those of you who are familiar with the U-District coffee scene, Leon Coffee House took over the old Slate Coffee Roasters spot on 45th. Their logo is a cute lion (note that Leon is lion in Spanish) that reminds me of the Hawaiian Lion Coffee logo.
I came here at around 9am on a weekday and there were only a few other people dining there. The barista was friendly and was patient while I figured out what I wanted to order.
Cafe Leon has a variety of waffles and sandwiches (all $9-$10), desserts/pastries (muffins, macrons, mousse), bagels, etc.. I ended up ordering a 12-oz horchata latte (+$4.85) with oat milk (+$0.50) and a Brie and berries waffle ($9). With tip, my total came to about $17, which is definitely on the steeper side, but not outrageous for U-District prices. One unique thing about Leon is that they have a stamp card and a stamp card rack organized by name so that you don't have to remember to bring it with you; I believe the deal is buy ten drinks, get one free.
While I waited for my order, I explored the renovated interior of the cafe. Unlike Slate's minimalistic interior, Cafe Leon is bursting with bright vibrant colors, Frida Kahlo paintings, a rainbow staircase, a neon pink Barbie themed upstairs, crystal chandeliers, neon signs, and an old TV with a static screen just for decoration. They also blast Latino music that is almost too loud to study to. Besides the layout of the cafe, the place was almost unrecognizable.
I got my order within 15 minutes of ordering and took it upstairs where no one else was seated.
I give the barista an A+ for the cute snowman latte art, but the latte barely tasted of horchata (cinnamon rice milk drink). Maybe it was just me, but I tasted notes of peppermint and barely any cinnamon (might've just been a psychological effect of associating the snowman with peppermint but still strange). It was also really sweet and so I should've asked for half sweetness; I acknowledge that was on me though. However, I liked that they give a complimentary cookie with your drink- definitely a nice added touch even if it's just a basic Lotus cookie that you get on Delta Airlines.
The waffles were fluffy and homemade, but they only give you two of them which in my opinion, are not worth $9, especially since they're the size of freezer waffles you get at the grocery store. I also was confused of why my waffles didn't have brie and instead just had a small condiment container of Eggo maple syrup, but I now realize now that they got my order wrong and gave me the Waffles with Fruit instead. Although the fruit was fresh, they give you only a small handful. The plating was nice with the chocolate drizzle on the side, but not enough to justify the cost.
Overall: 3/5 for food/drinks, 3/5 for service, 3.5/5 for atmosphere read more