Practical information : Take a break Colombia
Timetable
Cafés and cafeterias usually open around 7am and close around 7pm, Monday to Saturday, but there are no real rules, some only open in the afternoon. Many also open on Sundays, where Colombians often gather with their families for a typical breakfast. In the trendy cafés, happy hours are common, at the time of the exit of the offices, or in the beginning of the evening.
Colombians take two almost obligatory snack breaks during the day, around 10-11am and 4-5pm. This is called " las onces" . You buy an arepa or an empanada from a stand in the street, which you accompany with a tinto (black coffee), or an agua de panela, or you go to a café for a hot chocolate
Budget & Tips
Drinks are cheap even in tourist places. On average, for a tinto or espresso, count on $4-5,000 in a café, a little more for a cappuccino. A large natural fruit juice(a jugo) is around $5-6,000. A local beer in a 330 ml bottle, about $5,000; almost double that for an imported or craft beer. Beer is rarely served on draught, but some establishments are slowly moving toward it, especially when they distribute craft beer.
Age restrictions
The legal drinking age is 18. Consumption of alcohol in the street and other public places (parks, village squares...) is prohibited.
What's very local
The markets(plazas de mercado) usually have a food court, with lots of small stands offering fruit juices to be enjoyed on small stools. This is an opportunity to try new flavors:guanábana, granadilla, feijoa, níspero, borojó, zapote, etc., in addition to the usual lulo, maracuyá, tomate de arból, mango or guava, which you have probably already experienced at breakfast in your hotel, or in the restaurant.
Another curiosity is that hot chocolate is traditionally accompanied by cheese with rolls, or better yet, pan de yuca, buñuelos, or almojábanas, or even a tamal.
Kids
Minors are welcome in cafés and bars if accompanied by a parent.
Smokers
As with restaurants, smoking is not allowed inside a café or bar(espacio libre de humo). When there is an outdoor terrace where smoking is not prohibited (rare), Colombians are used to asking permission from their neighbors at nearby tables. Smoking in the presence of children is also frowned upon.