Cafe San Marco is one of the newest coffee shop in General Santos City. This cozy nook is nestled beside Hotel San Marco in JP Laurel Street. The cafe is hard to miss as you can instantly see the beautiful interior across the street with its large glass window giving a peek on what’s stored inside.
This beautifully Italian inspired aesthetic cafe painted with cream and white colors offers delicious pastries, coffee, and bread at an affordable price. The price is budget friendly for students and the place offers a lot of outlets for charging which is very helpful for students and working people looking for a new place to be productive and have a cup of coffee.
Their coffee will jolt you and provide you the energy to conquer the mass of tasks you have for the day.
How to Get There
The location of Cafe San Marco is strategic as it is close to SM Mall of Gensan and would be a great alternative if prime coffee shop branches are full at the mall.
It is located close to schools and universities as well which is a good place for students who are looking for a hub to be productive at school.
It is located in JP Laurel Street and can ask the tricycle driver to drop you at Hotel San Marco as it is anchored next to the hotel.
It’s open from 9AM to 9PM, everyday and accepts G-CASH, cash, and other cashlesss payment method.
The Place and The Ambiance
The place is really cozy and clean. The cream color palette choice makes the place bright and beautiful especially when going there during the day. There are walls filled with shelves of local bread and selection of pastries.
The smell of coffee wafts through the place as you enter. It has a lot of tables and chairs but are greatly spaced apart for privacy and offers long tables for students who aim to study. There are also areas wherein you can pick up books to read and enjoy with your coffee.
Their book selections are great as well. They provide selection of novels, coffee books, and etc.
The choice of furniture is also beautiful with a hint of Italian aesthetic inspiration. The walls are decorated with fun neon signs in Italian.
The location of the cafe is very strategic as well. Close to SM City Mall, located next to a hotel, and fairly close vicinity to schools. They offer outlets for charging your phones, laptops, and other devices. The place can accommodate an estimate of 30 pax or more at full capacity.
The Spending
Cafe San Marco is one of the cafes in General Santos City that offers coffee at an affordable price. Unlike other coffee franchises that costs around P200 for a cup of coffee, Cafe San Marco offers their cup as low as P100. The most expensive coffee selection they have does not cost more than P200.
Their standard coffee drink ranging from Americano to Flat White costs P100 to P135. Their flavored coffee and sweeter concoction costs around P135 to P155. They only serve two matcha drinks though for the matcha lover. They only have Dirty Matcha which is matcha with a shot of espresso to double the caffeine boost and iced matcha latte if you prefer non-caffeine drinks.
They offer coffee with oreo cream. So if you like the sweeter things in life, then this might be your choice of drink. They also offer really affordable breads and pastries like their revel bars at P35 per piece, cookies – P50, Garlic Cream Cheese – P70 and other breads not costing P100 per piece.
They also offer breakfast plates and food choices like chicken adobo flakes, pork tocino, beef tapa, corned beef and the likes at P195. They offer a short list of selection of pasta as well.
Review
Going to Cafe San Marco was a treat for the family.
It was a short trip from SM City Gensan and had the space to accommodate eight people. My family and I ordered their drinks ranging from dirty matcha, which no one orders except me, to their oreo cream based coffee.
Most of us opt for an iced cold drink but my father opt for a hot cappuccino. Fun fact, in Italy, cappuccino is a drink best served during breakfast. Italians will judge you if you order it after 11:00AM. I actually found this fun fact not because I’ve been to Italy but because I like to watch food and culture media and this is an unspoken rule in Italian coffee culture. Add this little fun fact to your TIL (today I learned) in case you’ll be travelling to Italy.
I am not a coffee aficionado and merely a person who knows a thing or two about coffee but I can say that if you are looking for a coffee in General Santos City that can jolt you up and provide you the energy you need for the day, then go to Cafe San Marco as their coffee is strong.
My family and I, who doesn’t have high tolerance for caffeine, was not able to sleep properly and had to toss and turn at night. My brother who has the highest tolerance among us, even had acid reflux after and was not able to attend church because he was not able to sleep. He usually drinks an unhealthy amount of coffee, around four to five coffee cups a day.
I don’t think that’s a bad thing as our bodies react differently to coffee but that is to provide you expectation. As to the coffee taste, their coffee tends to be strong and on the acidic side. The aroma has this smell of caffeine acid to it and the taste leaves a hint of sourness. Perhaps, the coffee bean they use. It has a citrusy taste. Again, this is an uncommon ground for me to review coffee.
Their matcha isn’t that good though but at least it’s one of the matcha drink I can see myself ordering a lot and enjoy here in Gensan. It is not sweet but rather taste earthy pair with the shot of espresso.
Their garlic bread is delicious too. It is soft and fluffy and the garlic spread melts in your mouth. Their revel bar is nice to pair with their coffee to balance out the rich flavor of caffeine. We also ordered their pasta and it’s delicious.
Considering we were dining at 8 pax, our overall cost would be around P1,500 which is average cost of P187.5 per person. Actually not bad comparing it to the cost you’ll pay at big coffee chains. I also like to support local cafes to promote and develop food diversity and culture in Gensan.
- Payment Method: GCash, QRPH, Alipay, Cash, UnionPay
- Budget: P400-P500 per 2 pax
- Business Hours: 9:00AM to 9:00PM everyday
- Type: Cafe, Coffee
- Facebook Page: Cafe San Marco Ph
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Eats Me, Jax! 