Came in around 10:30am today (Tuesday). The place was empty except for two customers. The baked items looked very pretty in the display case. The atmosphere was calm, and the interior design was great.
I ordered a flat white with oat milk and a charcoal latte with almond milk. Both non-dairy options received an upcharge of $1, which I wasn’t notified of prior to ordering. It was fine, though, as I could see them on the screen—just thought it was a bit odd the cashier said nothing about this as I made the choices.
I received the flat white first, and when I went to the counter to get it, the barista/cashier notified me that the table I’d been waiting at was reserved for parties of 4 or more, so if a group came in I’d need to move. I found this a tad overly militant, since I could simply ask the incoming party if I could sit at the table with them. In any case, the shop only had two people in it.
There were also stickers on the tabletops proclaiming no outside food & beverages and no Wi-Fi use without a purchase. These are understandable asks, but all of these factors started adding up to make this place feel cold, off-putting, and oddly overbearing for a cute little coffee/dessert shop.
As for the coffee itself—it was nothing to rave about. The espresso wasn’t remarkable, and the balance of milks in each drink were a bit off. The charcoal latte—called a “special drink”—on the menu, was only slightly darker than a regular coffee, and had nothing special to it at all.
I think LAB could be a great place if they stepped up customer service, were a little less hypervigilant about minor customer behaviors like seating choices, and did A/B testing on their espresso drinks to really bring them up a notch.
Update: Came in for a retry today and was the only customer in the store. Owner was pleasant and easygoing today. Ordered a peppermint mocha and stepped outside for a bit. The owner handed me my drink when I came back in—it was not bad, though the peppermint flavoring was slightly off on the back-end, just a bit artificial tasting. All-in-all, a better experience today, but also I ordered to-go and waited outside. I’ll try a third time to see what happens!
Alex Zer0
Things were nice and quiet and the music was good. The coffee is average and the staff is kind. I just wish they’d given me a fork to eat my cake with. Then only other things I don’t care for is that a table blocks the dessert case so it would be nice if they had a cake menu since you can’t see half the signs for dessert to order any. Also the bathroom could be cleaner. The plant in the bathroom had months-years of dust on it and couldn’t breathe through the pores and hadn’t appeared to have been watered in just as long. I felt bad for it so I washed all the dust off in the sink and watered it. Hopefully it makes it.
Uttam Kumar
The dessert was good but the guy taking the order in the register seemed least interested in selling . No smile, no courtesy , lacked enthusiasm and energy . Went there at 10 pm yesterday
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Kyung Soo Hong
Plenty of awsome dessert and perfect coffee.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
SEAN PARK
Best coffee in San Diego.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Claire Hsu
Wanna gatekeep this place but it deserves 5 stars!! I tried their strawberry ice cream it’s pretty decent. It’s quiet, has cozy music, perfect for studying (almost every seat has outlet). Will try desserts next time!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Strawberry
Jules
The desserts are really beautiful but overpriced at $11 for a tiny sugary dollop (the size of a macaroon)
I had the dulce de leche which had a great layer of caramel but otherwise too sweet. The cakes are actually outsourced from another bakery
The taro shaved ice was ok- came w 2 scoops of ice cream…but no fresh taro chunks…I think it’s just syrup on ice…so not as much variety on the texture-
Saturday afternoon: Most of the tables were filled w students studying - so they have a pretty quiet atmosphere w outlets
Cute coffee table books
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Mai Style
Sweet Mango cake was sweet and fluffy.. Really enjoyed itDulce de leche cake was delicious!Charcoal latte was good! The charcoal settled at the bottom like gravity.. It did give a darker hue for the drink. The coffee was just alright..Dirty matcha was just okay. It's strong, but the flavor was too unique for me .The "large" cakes were extremely expensive.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Elizabeth Berrigan
Atmosphere is very nice for working
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Serena Low
All the drinks were amazing, we got a hazelnut oat latte and white mocha. Plant-based milks available and they use very cute glass cups. Was thinking of getting two lattes instead of one :) we’ll be back!
Maybe I just had a bad experience.Got an espresso, it was fine. It was the other parts that turned me off. I asked for drinking water. The older guy working said buy a bottle of water or take tap water. I asked for a cup of ice and he said they charge 50 cents for cups of ice.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
Zulema Gomez
Everything we had was amazing! Definitely recommend the cotton candy ice cream burrito and their chocolate hazelnut cake.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cotton Candy and Ice Cream Burrito
michael ding
Great ambiance if you like a jazzy cafe vibe.
Atmosphere: 5
T R
Good desserts. The cotton candy burrito was surprisingly delicious. The place itself is pretty low frills, but the desserts are worth the visit.
Parking: Not in a one of the crazy busy convoy lots
Came in around 10:30am today (Tuesday). The place was empty except for two customers. The baked items looked very pretty in the display case. The atmosphere was calm, and the interior design was great.
I ordered a flat white with oat milk and a charcoal latte with almond milk. Both non-dairy options received an upcharge of $1, which I wasn’t notified of prior to ordering. It was fine, though, as I could see them on the screen—just thought it was a bit odd the cashier said nothing about this as I made the choices.
I received the flat white first, and when I went to the counter to get it, the barista/cashier notified me that the table I’d been waiting at was reserved for parties of 4 or more, so if a group came in I’d need to move. I found this a tad overly militant, since I could simply ask the incoming party if I could sit at the table with them. In any case, the shop only had two people in it.
There were also stickers on the tabletops proclaiming no outside food & beverages and no Wi-Fi use without a purchase. These are understandable asks, but all of these factors started adding up to make this place feel cold, off-putting, and oddly overbearing for a cute little coffee/dessert shop.
As for the coffee itself—it was nothing to rave about. The espresso wasn’t remarkable, and the balance of milks in each drink were a bit off. The charcoal latte—called a “special drink”—on the menu, was only slightly darker than a regular coffee, and had nothing special to it at all.
I think LAB could be a great place if they stepped up customer service, were a little less hypervigilant about minor customer behaviors like seating choices, and did A/B testing on their espresso drinks to really bring them up a notch.
Update: Came in for a retry today and was the only customer in the store. Owner was pleasant and easygoing today. Ordered a peppermint mocha and stepped outside for a bit. The owner handed me my drink when I came back in—it was not bad, though the peppermint flavoring was slightly off on the back-end, just a bit artificial tasting. All-in-all, a better experience today, but also I ordered to-go and waited outside. I’ll try a third time to see what happens!
Things were nice and quiet and the music was good. The coffee is average and the staff is kind. I just wish they’d given me a fork to eat my cake with. Then only other things I don’t care for is that a table blocks the dessert case so it would be nice if they had a cake menu since you can’t see half the signs for dessert to order any.
Also the bathroom could be cleaner.
The plant in the bathroom had months-years of dust on it and couldn’t breathe through the pores and hadn’t appeared to have been watered in just as long. I felt bad for it so I washed all the dust off in the sink and watered it. Hopefully it makes it.
The dessert was good but the guy taking the order in the register seemed least interested in selling . No smile, no courtesy , lacked enthusiasm and energy . Went there at 10 pm yesterday
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Plenty of awsome dessert and perfect coffee.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best coffee in San Diego.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wanna gatekeep this place but it deserves 5 stars!! I tried their strawberry ice cream it’s pretty decent. It’s quiet, has cozy music, perfect for studying (almost every seat has outlet). Will try desserts next time!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Strawberry
The desserts are really beautiful but overpriced at $11 for a tiny sugary dollop (the size of a macaroon)
I had the dulce de leche which had a great layer of caramel but otherwise too sweet.
The cakes are actually outsourced from another bakery
The taro shaved ice was ok- came w 2 scoops of ice cream…but no fresh taro chunks…I think it’s just syrup on ice…so not as much variety on the texture-
Saturday afternoon:
Most of the tables were filled w students studying - so they have a pretty quiet atmosphere w outlets
Cute coffee table books
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Sweet Mango cake was sweet and fluffy.. Really enjoyed itDulce de leche cake was delicious!Charcoal latte was good! The charcoal settled at the bottom like gravity.. It did give a darker hue for the drink. The coffee was just alright..Dirty matcha was just okay. It's strong, but the flavor was too unique for me .The "large" cakes were extremely expensive.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere is very nice for working
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
All the drinks were amazing, we got a hazelnut oat latte and white mocha. Plant-based milks available and they use very cute glass cups. Was thinking of getting two lattes instead of one :) we’ll be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Awesome desserts!!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Maybe I just had a bad experience.Got an espresso, it was fine. It was the other parts that turned me off. I asked for drinking water. The older guy working said buy a bottle of water or take tap water. I asked for a cup of ice and he said they charge 50 cents for cups of ice.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
Everything we had was amazing! Definitely recommend the cotton candy ice cream burrito and their chocolate hazelnut cake.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cotton Candy and Ice Cream Burrito
Great ambiance if you like a jazzy cafe vibe.
Atmosphere: 5
Good desserts. The cotton candy burrito was surprisingly delicious. The place itself is pretty low frills, but the desserts are worth the visit.
Parking: Not in a one of the crazy busy convoy lots
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cotton Candy Burrito
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