The Palm Coffee Bar — Restaurant in Burbank

This place prides itself on inclusivity. I called ahead multiple times to see if I could order and request that the barista wear a mask. They said they could mask for us while making drinks. I’m living with my mother who has been in the hospital three times this year for COPD and almost didn’t make it. She was hospitalized for over a month unable to speak to interact after getting sick and having her blood oxygen hit 23%.

I ordered online and came to pick it up. When I showed up they didn’t mask. I came to the front and let them know I really needed them to mask and they blatantly said no and that “it was no longer required”. All they did was apologize and give us a $5 off coupon, which is offensive. Why give me a coupon for a place I can’t safely return to without putting my mother at risk?

I literally only came here because they claim they are disability friendly all over their website. This place is absolutely appalling and should be ashamed of how exclusive they were. I will never recommend this place and will be sure to tell everyone that I see post about this place that they are falsely advertising their care for the underprivileged, disabled, and underrepresented community. This place is ablest and gross. They need to remove their sticker on the front that says “safe space for all” and replace it with “safe space for people that aren’t disabled”.

Ultimately, I am furious their advertising made me think this is a place that I could enjoy safety and feel welcome. They need to change their advertising so folks like me don’t get mislead into thinking this place is a safe space; it’s absolutely not...

I tried the Palm Coffee Bar for the first time yesterday. It certainly looks nice inside, a lot of efforts were spent on making the place look unique and pretty. I ordered a small iced vanilla latte, something I like to order wherever I go. I only waited a few minutes before it was ready. There was a nice area for you to sit on a bench and in front of you are unique little gadgets you can purchase: funky pens, warm beanies, t-shirts, etc. Above you is a large silver shiny disco ball that catches your attention. I grabbed my latte - the employees were decently friendly and wished me a Happy New Year. The latte was $6, which is a dollar more for the same drink and size at my favorite coffee shop elsewhere in Burbank. I was hoping I would like this place because I recently moved and my favorite coffee shop is now a further drive. The Palm is closer to my new home, however I don't plan to come back. I couldn't taste any vanilla in my drink. When I got home I had to add my own Torani Vanilla Syrup to it. I know that there wasn't any misunderstanding with my order as the label on the drink shows exactly what I ordered (With vanilla). Aside from that, the drink tasted very watered down and flavorless. It reminded me of Starbucks. Except with Starbucks you would at least taste the vanilla. So for $6 I was unhappy. It looks like a lot of money was spent on the decorations and design of the place to make it look modern, hip, edgy, with fun touches of pink. However, the quality of the drink I ordered was far less impressive than the interior design. My search for a new coffee...

I was excited to try this place - I'd heard good things and love all the little local coffee shops in Magnolia Park. It's definitely cute. It's totally the Holy Matcha!/Alfred Tea motif. The design is nice. A little cramped getting to the seating with the shelves and cooler offering more cute knick knacks and drinks and what looked like a very healthy salad to go.

I tried a new blended drink - Horchata latte - which I was disappointed to find out had no coffee in it, and would cost $1 for one shot to be added. Somehow it was bland and too much at the same time. I ended up dumping most of it, which is not a great first impression for a drink over $6. My husband was pleased with the Lucky Charm (I think something) that was matcha and blueberry. However, he had to pick off the pink marshmallows since he's allergic to red dye. Nbd, I wasn't paying attention to if the menu mentioned them so I don't know if we could have headed that off or not. I imagine they are.

The register guy seemed very uninterested in his job. I think it's a personality thing, and his is one that wasn't fun to interact with when wanting to know about a new menu of things you've never seen. The girl on the bar seemed to be delightful, but we didn't interact a lot. The making of drinks seemed slow even though no one was there when we came in.

In the end, the prices were high for what ended up being a lackluster experience. I won't be going out of my to try the basics here, probably just stick with simply coffee...