Dining out in Bogota

La Hamburguesería

On Sunday, several of us got together for burgers at La Hamburguesería in the Parque de la 93 in honor of the 4th of July. I brought my friend Sofía and Maggie brought along Paula ("the crazy Spaniard") and her friend María Victoria ("the quiet human rights lawyer"), Shane ("that nice guy from New Jersey"), Ivan ("the man"), a mother and daughter duo ("las artistas"), and Liz ("Cali girl"). Paula was super hungry and I was worried that she might eat the waitress. Maggie made sure that she didn't. And María Victoria reminded us that eating the waitress would be a grave violation of international human rights law.

Juan Valdez versus Starbucks

After downing our burgers we wandered over to Juan Valdez Café, a favorite "watering hole" of ours in the Parque 93. Juan Valdéz is a ubiquitous coffee chain that makes a mean "café con leche." While this chain is Colombia's answer to Starbucks, I just don't see them overtaking Starbucks anytime soon. I mean, just look at the sizes of their drinks. At Starbucks, the sizes are Tall (12 oz.), Grande (16 oz.) and Venti (20 oz.). In contrast, the sizes at Juan Valdez are Pequeño (7 oz.), Mediano (9 oz.), and Grande (12 oz.). To maintain his or her daily intake of caffeine, a Starbucks addict would likely go crazy if suddenly transplanted in the land of Juan Valdez.