My spouse and I dined at La Pausa Cafeteria for an early
dinner on a Saturday afternoon in late March 2017 during our few hours layover
at the airport between our domestic and international flights. Because we were
landside and unable to check in early for our overnight flight, we chose a
table at La Pausa that had a view of our airline check-in counters. La Pausa is
open daily from 7:30 am until 11:00 pm. Note that the staff speaks no English,
nor is an English menu available. Although we are not Spanish-speakers, we were
able to communicate adequately. (In general, we found a lack of English speakers
in the landside restaurants, whereas at the airside establishments, the staff
spoke a little English.)
La Pausa is located on the third level of the airport (which
holds the airline check-in counters and security checkpoint) between the
international and the domestic security gates (although closer to the
international gates). It offers an airy atmosphere because it adjoins the
spacious check-in lobby area of the airport terminal with its soaring ceilings
and glass walls. La Pausa has an open kitchen and primarily table seating, plus
two booths. “La Pausa” means “The Pause”. (It does NOT refer to Coco Chanel's villa on the
French Riviera!) Other locations (besides the airport) include Guayaquil Ecuador and Lisbon
Portugal.
La Pausa serves continental cuisine. Although the food was not
inexpensive, the prices were on par with other dining choices at the airport.
Our meal cost about $45 USD for two burgers (each with a side of fries) and two
rounds of drinks (two beers and two sodas). When it was time to pay our bill,
the server motioned that she would add a 10% gratuity if acceptable, and when
we indicated that it was, she ran our credit card through a portable machine
that she brought to the table.
We enjoyed our “gringo” meal of burgers and fries at La Pausa
as we waited to check in for our flight.
