Kona Loa Coffee — Restaurant in Mission Viejo

My first time here. I will have to think hard if I wanna be back or not. Ordered online today, and picked up in store. They forgot to include their overpriced croissant, but charged me the full amount. My husband went back to get the croissant. They warmed it up, although I didn’t want it warmed. They need to learn how to read and follow instructions. Hey, if I like cold croissant, I like it that way. Don’t warm it up man. Simple. I should add that it looked like a costco croissant that you pay six bucks for 12 pieces. If somebody sells me a 4-dollar croissant, it better be made in-house (which it still could have been, but it just looked and tasted exactly like a Costco croissant).

Next, I ordered a ‘Mango Banana Pineapple Orange Juice’ smoothie which cost 7.75 and that’s overpriced even for Irvine where I live. To make it worse, the smoothie was 99% crushed ice. It was not blended in a Vitamix. They need professional grade blender in their kitchen. Also, nowhere in their menu did it say it was a blended drink. If it did, I wouldn’t order it. It’s a rip off. I could have bought a full mango, banana, orange and pineapple for eight dollars and made a whole lot better smoothie than that. Next time, please take the time to notify the customer that majority of the ‘smoothie’, if I should be even call it a smoothie, is ice chips. My husband said it was worse than a 7-11 slushee.

I want to add that the overpriced chicken sandwich had very little chicken in it. It had browning / yellowing old stale cilantro and crushed pepper Everywhere. The bread was so doughy I had difficulty chewing and swallowing. Felt like 90% bread and 10% other ingredients. Extremely dry and not seasoned at all. Super bland tasting.

Also, I ordered the avocado roasts which had rave reviews (probably written by biased friends and family). I live on avocado toasts, and I’ve never in my life had such a weird tasting avocado toast. It had honey in it which made it sweet. It was not seasoned with salt and pepper whatsoever. Super bland, and on top of it, crushed pepper everywhere that you get free from pizza stores. Burned the hell out of my lips. The toast was hard to bite and chew. SO. HARD. Like I’m biting on a piece of brick.

Like I said, I would have to think hard before I order from them again. A lot of reviewers mentioned they mess up your order. I should’ve listened to them. Overall, I feel like I was ripped off. Really badly. If I want healthy lunch, I will go somewhere...

Kona is great and has been one of my favorites for years. But something recent has changed. The wait is too long and orders are not organized well so they may forget you ordered something. But that's not what has deterred my family from going. We buy whole espresso beans regularly. Last week we noticed that the two bags of espresso beans were light. We measure because we put 50/50 decaf to regular in our machine for grinding. Today, I mentioned it and they let me know that the pound of espresso beans are no longer 16 oz but now are 12 oz. Oh, what's the new price then? It must be cheaper? They say it's the same. I guess the owner decided to keep the cost the same but take away 4 oz from each bag?! They mentioned that they tried to put a small sign out and leave it on the counter.

So a pound of non organic espresso beans is now around $20. It seems very sneaky to give less product but keep the product cost the same. I wonder how many customers don't weigh their espresso beans and have no idea they are paying way more now.

I politely declined the purchase and left. Might as well buy the organic all the time if it's about the same price and it's shipped to the house for free.

What a bummer. They lost our espresso beans purchase on...

I was driving by and saw the words "Kona Coffee." Well, I LOVE Kona Coffee. I actually grew up in Kailua-Kona and worked on a coffee plantation as a teenager. I have never found any other coffee in the world that compares. At any rate, the atmosphere is elegant and comfortable, the staff is friendly and attentive, the music has an island flair, and the coffee is beyond delicious! The location is not particularly convenient to where I live, but I will drive well out of my way to get coffee there over any other location. You will pay more for a cup of the best stuff they offer, but I would encourage anyone to treat themselves if they haven't tried it before. There are also some very good blends if you don't feel like paying extra. But the owners obviously care about coffee and invested time and effort in offering a superior product. I highly recommend...