The Coffee Tale — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

SPOIL YOUR TASTEBUDS ! We discovered this cafe for lunch one Sunday a few weeks ago after a walk around the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. I guess you would call their menu Turkish fusion...the Spinach Borek and Feta Cheese Borek tasted excellent. Definitely an unpretentious cafe which lets it's food, coffee & service do the talking. We were impressed ! On Sunday we headed over here for lunch...a much better option than most of the cafes around our way. After parking our wheels in the public parking lot we wandered around inside the quaint Old World Village shops until we found The Coffee Tale. It was around 12.45pm when we walked inside....many of the tables were occupied. LOVELY ! The moment we stepped inside the door we heard a "Welcome what can we help you with" from a cheerful guy named Kanan behind the counter. A buzzing cashier / barista named Kylie took our lunch order for 1 x Turkish Spinach Borek, 1 x Turkish Feta Cheese Borek, 2 x Flat Whites with 2% milk & Monin Hazelnut syrup, 1 x New York Cheesecake and 1 x Boston Cream Pie. NICE VIBE ! You always know if a place you're dining in feels right...this place does. Before we knew it our dessert cake slices were adorned and ready.....gee they looked nice ! Next up our Flat Whites were ready to pick up at the counter. NICE JOB ! Our flat whites tasted rich creamy and very satisfying...good job cashier / barista Kylie ! Now they heat up the Boreks naturally in an oven not a darn microwave which would ruin them. EVENTUALLY ! Kylie brought out our 2 Boreks to our lounge table....we had a lovely comfy spot on the sofa. TRUST ME ! We split them in half and shared. Either one was very delicious....the flaky pastry made them even better. We first tried Borek at a Turkish restaurant in Manhattan, NY about 3 years ago. It was quite different to the variety sold here but I'm sure there are multiple variations all over the world. DESSERT ! It was really hard eating our scrumptious Boreks while staring at our sensational looking New York Cheese Cake and Boston Cream Pie right in front of us. YEAH BABY ! My New York Cheese Cake with caramel drizzle tasted very good...very rich and filling ! My wife enjoyed her Boston Cream Pie with chocolate drizzle...there are variations of Boston Cream Pies too. All in all it was a fabulous lunch. NOT ALL CAFES ARE...

I'm a local and decided to try this place for the first time today. I went with my husband. When we arrived, there were no customers inside or outside and just one blonde female server inside. I poked my head into the door and asked if it was okay to sit outside. She looked up from her phone and grunted, "it's fine." We picked this place for their outdoor seating. I am 7 months pregnant and have viral induced asthma. I lost my father-in-law a few months ago to covid-19. And my master's degree is in public health, so I'm naturally prevention oriented. After a few minutes of sitting outside and waiting I noticed the server was still standing in the restaurant on her phone. I poked my head back inside and asked if she had any available menus for us to look at. In a very rude and disrespectful tone she responded "look, it's not the end of the world, seriously, just come inside and order." She rolled her eyes and scoffed at me twice as if I was nuts for asking to sit outside. As if the pandemic didn't exist at all. Maybe the pandemic isn't the end of the world to someone who hasn't yet lost a loved one. But we were very disturbed and shocked by this response and disrespect, and now questioning this restaurants cleanliness policies, my husband and I left and went a few doors down to Creme de la Crepe where we were greeted by a very kind and friendly hostess who seated us outside and gave us menus. It's no wonder to me that The Coffee Tale, had zero customers, with that kind of service. That was the first and last time we'll ever go there. I hope the owner is aware that this is how that woman treats customers. Honestly, had she just said something like "I'm sorry we don't have outdoor menus" I would have masked up and come in. But her disregard for the customers needs and wants, and her sarcastic and mocking tone, is what was so offensive. It was clear she didn't want to be there or maybe she would have looked up from her phone for a second. I'm glad we left and took our...

Overview: Barista was rude and perhaps xenophobic to a kind Asian family. My fellow Asian community, I hope you'll think twice before giving them business.

I personally had a fabulous experience here with the male barista who took my order and made my drink. However, as I was doing my work, we had a group of 7 people come in who were not speaking English, it sounded like Mandarin. These people through and through were EXTREMELY polite (despite the barista exercising a rude tone). They spoke Mandarin amongst themselves but spoke English to the baristas (which was not perfect but coherent enough).

2 people from the Mandarin-speaking group went to the front to place the order and she seemed very annoyed that they were ordering many drinks. The man tried to pay with a $100 bill and she LOUDLY exclaimed, "I can't take that, I can't tell it's real." So he nicely paid with card instead.

Then when the drinks were ready, one of the ladies KINDLY asked if they were waiting for one more drink. The lady barista very loudly and rudely said "I CONFIRMED MULTIPLE TIMES YOU ORDERED SIX DRINKS AND I GAVE YOU SIX DRINKS. IF YOU WANT ANOTHER ONE, GET IN LINE AND ORDER AGAIN." The lady very kindly said "Ohhh okay" and got back in line to order another drink.

I could tell all of this was going on because the barista was loudly yelling at these kind people while I was sitting doing my work. She disturbed the peace in the coffee shop. I feel like it was racist/xenophobic, though perhaps she was having a bad day. She seemed perfectly polite to other people; while yelling at this Asian man and woman while they were trying to place their large order, which is why it seemed racist to me.

Regardless, she was extremely rude to customers who were only kind, even after her transgressions. This occurred around 4PM...