Evolve Coffee + Matcha — Restaurant in Louisiana

Edit: Thanks for the kind, quick response :) I appreciate the reassurance you gave, cheers!

The Good - great atmosphere, friendly baristas, fast service, and genuinely great coffee/matcha/food. I've been a long time customer and have never once been disappointed in any of these things. I think the highlight is the baristas, they're always extremely warm and friendly, I love the cute little polls they come up with-- it's adorable and makes me feel at home.

The Bad - Not a big fan of the pricing for the merchandise. To be fair the quality of many of the items they sell is definitely above other cafes or restaurants I've been to, but today when I visited I definitely got some sticker shock from the matcha powder and whisks. I purchased the ceremonial matcha powder and it was delicious, but it was over 3x the cost of similar products (same quality) online. The Chasen was about $20 and they go for about $8 online. I can't speak to the sourcing of these items, but knowing where they come from would help me as a consumer feel more comfortable.

The Ugly - I can ignore the merchandise pricing to support local business that I frequent, however I've asked the workers at Evolve how much they make hourly and it makes me straight up depressed. I tip them as well as I can every time I visit, but it doesn't feel right. They're the ones that make the experience special for me, and I just wish they earned a fair wage. They deserve to be making at LEAST as much as I had at my first job at Starbucks (and even then, it was still too low), and I know there's no way they're making enough in tips to make up for their salary. My heart goes out to them.

I will still be a frequent customer as I genuinely love Evolve, I just hope maybe in the future they can get some payroll...

As someone who never leaves reviews for anything, I have never felt so compelled to say how much I love this place. I started coming here at least five years ago, and it is still my favorite place to work, to socialize, to reward myself, or to just have a routine comfort place to go to. My favorite drink is always a frozen white mocha latte, and my favorite baristas know I like it a lil extra sweet. Luna (loml) is my favorite smile to see when I walk in and always remembers my order. My drink is always perfect and sometimes she’ll draw me a cute little picture pr message on my cup. She’s extremely personable and down to earth, as well as everyone that works there. Sometimes I’ll ask for feedback and help making wedding planning decisions! It’s such a cozy, welcoming environment with consistently great products. I enjoy the Lakeview location as well, but Metairie’s shop will continue to be my daily go-to. I’ve introduced many many friends, family, coworkers to this small business and I’m grateful to my friend who brought me....

This is such a cute little coffee shop. The staff and baristas are friendly and welcoming. What I loved especially about this shop is that they have rose extract, (rose matcha latte) and they put rose petals on the drink. You can get it in a coffee latte as well. I appreciate the fact that everything is done manually here, from pulling shots to steaming milk. It's a science that they have down pat. The drip is very good, it's medium roast, and it is bright. The one thing is though, the shop is very small and you may not be able to find a seat at all. There's a cute little book nook with two chairs. They get their beans from Mojo Coffee Roasters. Also another great thing is that they have their own parking lot so it is relatively easy to...