La Cleta sits at Lugo N24-250 in La Floresta, a bicycle themed pizza cafe and beer room that has worked the same corner since 2010. Furniture built from old bike parts fills the space, and the kitchen runs on stone baked pizza and a tap list that mixes Ecuadorian craft labels with everyday lagers.
Who would love it: cyclists, students and anyone who wants a relaxed beer and a pizza without a dress code or a cover charge. Who would hate it: people after a polished cocktail room or a late club, since this closes by 11pm and keeps things plain.
The room reads as a workshop as much as a bar. Bike frames hang on the walls, the bench seating is welded from old parts, and an open patio sits out front. The De La Floresta merchants guide lists the cafe under its food section and flags the patio as a pet friendly outdoor space with room for workshops.
The neighbourhood matters here. La Floresta is the city's cultural quarter, home to galleries, the Ochoymedio cinema and a weekend street market, and La Cleta has grown into one of its steady meeting points. El Comercio profiled the cafe for building its own pedal powered bici machines and folding cycling culture into the way it runs.
The crowd skews local and creative, the kind of regulars who fold a beer into a ride across the south of the city. Weekday afternoons stay calm and good for a quiet table, while Friday and Saturday evenings fill the patio and keep the kitchen busy. Service runs informal and unhurried.
Order a glass of Ecuadorian craft beer with a stone baked pizza, which the venue names as its two specialities. The beer list runs from local artisan labels to standard industrial lagers, so it suits both a careful drinker and a casual one. Vegetarian and vegan pizzas sit on the menu, which makes a mixed group easy to feed.
Prices stay moderate, in keeping with the student and cyclist crowd that fills the benches. The cafe also runs delivery and pick up, and it keeps bike parking out front, details the De La Floresta listing sets out in full. Cash and card both work.
Best time to go is a Friday or Saturday evening when the patio runs full and the kitchen stays busy. La Cleta keeps weekday hours from noon to about 11pm, opens later at 5pm on Saturdays, and closes on Sundays, so a midweek visit rewards anyone after a calmer table.
It belongs among the city's best craft beer bars and the wider best bars in Quito. Pair a beer here with a German style night at Cherusker, a brewery visit to Bandido Brewing, or a pub round at Turtle's Head. For a list led night, see the city's best cocktail bars.
The cafe doubles as a small events space. The De La Floresta guide notes room to run workshops, and the venue has tied talks and repair sessions to the cycling community it grew from. That keeps the calendar varied beyond food and drink.
For a visitor, La Cleta works as a low key first stop in La Floresta before a film at the Ochoymedio cinema or a wander through the weekend market. It pairs a beer and a slice with a seat among locals, which is the whole idea. Tables outside go first on warm evenings.
One practical note for first timers: the corner can be easy to miss, marked mainly by the bikes out front and the painted sign. Wanderlog and Foodyas both list the Lugo and Guipuzcoa cross street, which is the cleanest way to find the door.
