Gonjiam café with squid-ink cheese bread and drawing corner: La Cuesta

A stop at La Cuesta in Gonjiam after the Icheon ceramics village

La Cuesta Gwangju is a large bakery café at 278 Gyeongchung-daero, Gonjiam-eup, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. We'd taken our kid to the Icheon ceramics village, and it was an awkward time for dinner, so we headed to La Cuesta, a big Gonjiam café in Gwangju with good bakery items and drinks.

Let me share a first-hand review of La Cuesta — the tasty bakery and coffee, the menu, prices, and parking info.

La Cuesta hours, parking and the route from Hwadam Botanic Garden

• ⏰ Daily 10:00–22:00 (last order 21:30)
• 🚗 278 Gyeongchung-daero, Gonjiam-eup, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do (La Cuesta)

La Cuesta, this large Gonjiam café in Gwangju, is close to Hwadam Botanic Garden, famous for autumn foliage, so it's a great stop to pair with a garden visit.

Just enter 'La Cuesta' into your navigation and follow the green sign on the right to get there. The parking lot is roomy, so it's an easy drive-up visit.

A cute panda family and a carriage model greet you at the entrance. We visited La Cuesta, this big Gonjiam café in Gwangju, following the sound of a cool waterfall.

Inside La Cuesta: group tables and an outdoor terrace

The clean, spacious interior has group seating too, so it seems good for gatherings, and with this cool weather, the outdoor terrace is great for enjoying tasty bakery items with a warm latte.

What bread does the La Cuesta bakery counter have?

La Cuesta has a wide variety of breads, from a 100% rice white roll to fig campagne, custard cream bread, melon bread, scones, mini rolled sausage bread, and croissants.

There are also popular large-café classics like salt bread, baguette, kouign-amann, meringue cookies, bagels and mont blanc.

There's squid-ink triple cheese bread loaded with different cheeses, addictive corn bread, injeolmi (sweet rice cake) roll, campagne, and La Cuesta's signature — mejubread (메주식빵), shaped like a block of fermented soybean paste.

Cookie-making sets and drinks for kids at La Cuesta

There are cookie-making sets kids love, cookie sets great for Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving) gifts, various slice cakes and kids' drinks, making it a nice place to visit with children.

La Cuesta also has a wide range of coffee, lattes, seasonal bingsu (shaved ice dessert) and tea, smoothies, and ades.

This large Gonjiam café in Gwangju also has a brunch menu, so it's nice for a light brunch after visiting Hwadam Botanic Garden.

New menu items can be tried for free before purchase, which felt like a really thoughtful way to reflect customer feedback.

Squid-ink triple cheese bread with a La Cuesta latte: sweet meets salty

At La Cuesta we bought the salt bread our kid loves, the squid-ink triple cheese bread with Emmental, parmesan and roll cheese, and the signature loaf, mejubread.

We also ordered our kid's favorite strawberry smoothie and the signature La Cuesta latte, which goes well with the salty cheese bread.

Eating the cheese-loaded squid-ink triple cheese bread together with the sweet, creamy La Cuesta latte, the sweet-and-salty flavors balanced out nicely.

The kids' drawing corner while the adults have coffee

La Cuesta has a space for drawing, so while the adults enjoy coffee and bread, the kids can happily draw. Join the themed drawing contest — two winners are picked every month and get a small prize, so don't miss it!

Signature mejubread, eaten for breakfast at home

We ate La Cuesta's signature mejubread for breakfast at home — it's packed with sweet kidney beans and green peas, and being low-carb, high-protein, it makes a filling meal.

If you're planning a Hwadam Botanic Garden trip this fall, stop by La Cuesta, this large Gonjiam café in Gwangju, and enjoy tasty bread, drinks, and brunch.