I'll preface this review by stating that I'm not a coffee drinker. I depend on coffeeshops to provide me a chill place to relax and read a book while sipping a hot cocoa or the like.
With that in mind, I'm okay with Cartel, but not enamoured with it. The drink choices for folks like me who don't drink coffee are fairly limited and more expensive that I'd prefer, but tasty enough to not raise my ire. I'm okay with the layout of the place, but feel like the couches are in an area that's too busy to allow someone to relax. I'm also not wild about the music selections, but I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to my grooves, so I won't hold that against them.
If I was making the calls, I'd move or just add more couches/chill area to the back and spend some quality time researching acid jazz for the sound system to create a place with real soul.