Painted Leopard, the Bay Area roaster built around single-origin coffees from El Salvador, has quietly opened its first brick-and-mortar café inside The RealReal’s newly reopened Union Square flagship. The weekend-only counter is already pouring signature drinks like a brown-sugar latte, and the owners say they plan to expand to seven-day service in early April.
According to The San Francisco Standard, the shop sits inside The RealReal at 253 Post Street and is currently open on Saturdays and Sundays. The team plans a grand opening and a full week of events in early April. Owners Claudia Campos, Daniel Ortiz and Octavio Vargas told The Standard they saw an opportunity to tell our story in coffee and that they truly want to help the farmers, as they put a lot of work in.
From pop-ups to Union Square
Painted Leopard first made its name as a roaming pop-up, with stops at Presidio Tunnel Tops, Dolores Deluxe and Oakland’s Local Economy, as documented by Foodwise. The founders formally launched the brand at the San Francisco Coffee Festival in November 2023, and the Union Square counter now gives them a rare, permanent downtown stage.
Farm-to-cup from Osicala
The roaster sources its beans through Cooperativa San Carlos Dos in Osicala, Morazán, Monte Cacahuatique, and promotes single-origin micro-lots meant to highlight local processing. Painted Leopard’s Dulzura single-origin lists flavor notes of Fuji apple, brown sugar and cacao nib on the company’s product page (Painted Leopard), and the brand emphasizes small-batch, roast-to-order production.
Why it matters for Union Square
The RealReal reopened a reimagined two-story, roughly 8,100-square-foot flagship at 253 Post Street on Feb. 26 and said it will host Painted Leopard coffee on weekends as part of the store’s relaunch. That detail appears in a press release from The RealReal.
Menu, hours and what’s next
So far the counter is serving a brown-sugar latte and espresso drinks, with pour-overs, cold brew and rotating specialty drinks expected after the grand opening. No bites are available yet, but Campos says pastry partners are on the way, and Painted Leopard will open 8 AM to 4 PM Saturdays and Sundays before expanding to daily service, per The San Francisco Standard.
Union Square has seen a recent uptick in leasing and foot traffic, and local touches like a woman-owned Salvadoran roaster inside a national resale brand are the kind of pairings developers say can help revive the shopping district. The San Francisco Chronicle has covered that trend.
