Better Buzz Coffee La Mesa

I love that better buzz has moved to the east county. This location is always busy but the drive through moves fast. Bring one to Santee soon.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Killer Bee

1 barrista with 7-8 cars in line, all tables full inside and 4 others standing and waiting. We saw at least 5 orders given to the drive through with nothing being delivered inside. I guess the staff was oblivious. No "sorry for the wait." Restroom had paper all over the floor, probably because the air hand dryer didn't work. The floors and counters all over were sticky. My chai tea latte must have gotten a double dose of sweetener. Not drinkable. I'll be going somewhere else next time. Very sad...

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

waited forever for a super sweetened burnt Americano. some more training would do them well.

Haven't tried the food itself but attitudes were topnotch

Atmosphere: 5

Service: 5

I went through the drive-thru at around 1:15-1:20 pm today (10/20/2024), there was about 6 cars ahead of me. I waited in line for what felt like about 15-20 minutes, which is understandable because they were very busy. I got a bit distracted and just followed the truck in front of me completely missing the speaker box to order, by the time I realized, the car behind me was already at the speaker box and I could not back up anymore. I pull forward to the window and apologize and tell the girl, Ashley, I’m sorry I missed the speaker box to order can I order here. She said I have to go all the way around again to place my order because they are on a timer. Mind you, the line is already out to the street at this point. I told her the line is way too long, can I just place my order and park so they can bring me my order. She asked me with an attitude, “well why did you skip ordering at the speaker?” Again I tell her I completely missed it! She proceeds to tell me I have to go around again to place my order. I tell her I’m not going all the way around again to place my order. She then places my order, closes the window and talks to a Hispanic guy with long curly hair, it seems he may be her supervisor, the guy comes to the window and tells me, you will need to go park because there is now orders in front of you and you just “cut in front of a lot of people”. I let him know I did not cut in front of anyone, I simply missed the speaker box to order. He proceeds to tell me that I did cut in front of a lot of people and they have cameras. Well, if they have cameras they can look back and clearly see I DID NOT cut in front of anybody. (Check your damn cameras for 10/20/2024 at around 1:15-1:20 pm, White Nissan Sentra). At this point I’m shocked at the lack of customer service these people have and I ask for a refund. I did not mind parking to get my order, the issue was the lack of customer service and the audacity of accusing me of cutting people in line. Anyway, I went to Starbucks and it was like night and day. Needless to say I won’t be coming here anymore.

Service: 1

Done coming to this place. Their thermostat are always having problems and it seems every time I get my drink too cold I mention that and instead of checking it or warm my drink I get attitude. It has happened before and last time they even offered a free drink when I came back admitting that their thermostat was reading incorrectly and had to be replaced. Wasted 30 minutes here just to get my coffee cold. Go somewhere better, this place sucks

Tried something new tonight and I didn't like it. My first complaint was that the coffee was barely Luke warm .... I also didn't like the flavor and the barista was so nice to take care of it for me. I did tell her (cashier/barista) that it was Luke warm. My husband Aldo told me his was barely warm. When they handed me my usual drink I tried it and it was less warm than before. There is no doubt the coffee is good here but if you're not prepping it right why am I wasting my money on this??? I didn't come here just to take my coffee home and pop it I'm the microwave.... because again I'm not paying for that, I'm paying for the coffee amd the quality amd the service. The cashier was great though. But i have to ask why is my hot coffee not hot? It's a HOT COFFEE. And you made THREE OF THEM THAT WAY IN A ROW!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 5

Good coffee and there turkey pesto is delicious

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I won't be back long lines and horrible customer service they don't give you anything else you didn't ask for

Service: 1

This was my second (and last) time visiting this location.

We drove up to the drive-thru using a side entrance, and it seems the notification was not sent to the crew despite us sitting by the window for 5+ minutes with no one stopping by to ask us for our orders.

Management needs to do something about this, like ask for a sensor to be placed by the window OR mark the side entrance as an exit ONLY, enforcing that all drive thru customers must use the other entrance. The GPS took us this way. No such markers exist.

Once the workers finally noticed us (after we got out of the car and called to them through the small window for a few minutes, it was very awkward), they apologized & finally took our order, and when we finally got it another 5 minutes later, they kinda messed it up.

I requested coconut milk and definitely got regular milk in my matcha buzz (I have a sensitivity so this wasn’t ideal), and asked for drinks to be put in those cup protectors due to the heat & hoping to slow melting, but they failed to provide any.

I highly recommend going to the Mission Gorge location instead, I’ve never had a bad experience there, quality & service are quick & consistent.

Something is very off here, possibly low staffing, but that lack of sensors at the window of the drive thru truly made for a waste of time for us (15+ mins for what typically takes around 5, we were first in line) & a line of cars began to build behind us as a result, so it was not ideal for anyone.

Dietary restrictions: Dairy (milk) sensitivity

Food: 3

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: Mocha Buzz

I love this location, so happy we have a better buzz in La Mesa now! Today I had a triple shot vanilla bean iced latte with whole milk and it was absolutely amazing! Was around $7 but worth it when the quality is so good! The lavender tea buzz (half sweet), iced caramel latte, and hot or iced matcha are my other favorites to get here.

Dietary restrictions: Lots of gluten free options kept separate from the regular items which is great

Parking: Was busy but I got a spot right away!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Hazelnut Divinity, Caramel Buzz

My favorite location now ! I switched from Point Loma (by my house) to this one (next to work). It’s so much easier to navigate through and quicker in my opinion. Jillian was wonderful for recommending the matcha with lavender, my new favorite rather than just vanilla. Thank you Jillian for being so sweet and bubbly !

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Ariana is the best employee, she is so nice and gets everything done in a timely manner! ??

Food: 5

Eh I was disappointed with this location. The employees aren’t very welcoming or nice for that matter (especially the cashier with the crutches) My coffee was okay all the mocha was sitting at the bottom of the cup. I ordered a warmed chocolate croissant and got it cold. I’m not coming back I rather drive a bit further and spend my money at a more friendly place

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 1

I have to say I love Starbucks, but this place is better way better.

Parking: Their parking lot is a nice size.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Hazelnut Divinity, Mocha Buzz, Blueberry Lavender Lemonade Buzzinger, Caramel Buzz