Juliette's Cafe' & Coffee Culture — Restaurant in Newport Beach

BEYOND SENSATIONAL ! We are always on the lookout for a new place to grab a great tasting latte and some pretty good food. FOUND IT ! A few weeks ago we noticed this soon to open cafe while out on our bike ride to the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve. LOOKED GOOD ! Today my wife and I were on the back leg of our ride and we saw people sitting at tables on the patio. WE'RE THERE ! After parking our eBikes outside we headed inside to see what was happenin'. A few friendly staff welcomed us straight off the bat. My wife jumped in the line at the cashier counter while I scoped the place out. VERY NICE ! Huge ceilings, enormous space with plenty of natural light and lots of seating in 2 separate indoor zones plus the large outdoor patio. We ordered 2 x FLAT WHITES with 2% milk and caramel syrup ( about 4 syrup varieties ) and 2 x ALMOND CROISSANTS ( house baked ) to have in. At this point I was told by charming Rachael one of the managers that walk up to order and brought out to your table would be the model until they ramp up to full table service. I had a very interesting chat with Daniel the switched on Head Chef and Joliya a lovely food runner. I then ran into an amazing guy....John Hughes the Head Coffee Roaster and husband of Juliette Chung the owner ( and Pastry Chef ). I said to John I was amazed how busy the cafe was after just a few days being open. SOFT OPENING ! John explained they will have a grand opening in a few days. This is when I found out they roast the own coffee beans in house. AND THEN ! John showed me into the roasting room to see his roasting machine. WOW ! I get around a lot of coffee roasters but I've never seen a roasting machine as amazing as this Bellwether state of the art programmable coffee roasting machine. John explained that it is currently set to roast their house blend but in the near future he will roast small batch varieties for all of us to enjoy. My wife gave me a signal that our order had arrived at our table. BUT THERE'S MORE ! I struck up a very informed conversation with Rachael who is one of the two cafe managers....and a very sharp young lady. DELICIOUS ! Finally I joined my wife at our table and tried my Flat White beautifully presented in a low slung glass....very nice indeed ! Of course I had to try my house baked Almond Croissant ( probably needed heating up a bit ) and it tasted quite good. So it's WEEKEND BRUNCH with a nicely rounded out menu...gee the burgers sounded great and Breakfast / Lunch on week days. I didn't find out what hours they are open but I will soon. Nice relaxing space with air con, great coffees, smart menu and very good service. HARD TO...

Ventured in yesterday with my folks for the second visit and it was even better than the first experience. The layout is spacious and indoors there is a lot of glass and plenty of shade on the blvd side. The grilled tofu salad hold the feta was fantastic. Perfect crispy texture, the greens were well selected, like a 5 star chef getting first dibs at the best produce in the early hours of a farmer's market by the sea. They were sold out of their vegan banana bread, so next time, but my handsome dad ate a little earl grey cake after his half sandwich and salad. The sandwiches are so good my parents share one and enjoy the thoughtfully selected greens that compliment their perfectly balanced bread like a still life on their coastal California china decor. The wood tables and modern rustic feel will immediately relax you like a day spa in Napa. The staff are that cool and collect .They make eye contact and don't carry side conversations about their lives outside of work they are all very present and you can see how receptive the clientele here appreciate that. They have a very good wine selection by the glass, at price points that are what any reasonable human being would set. They are anywhere from 3 to 5 dollars less a glass than every place in Los Angeles offering the same or similar wine by the glass. We did not drink wine this time but the offerings are quite expansive and illustrates how well versed they are at mirroring the coastal vibes of beautiful Newport Beach. My mom spoke highly of their seasonal peach tart which they were sold out of, the staff placed an order for pick up the next day, as they are locals and visit Juliette's when the opportunity arises. Which I'm guessing will be as often as the sun does. They have a varietal of chilled kombucha drinks, but we helped ourselves to the water station. Neatly presented and refreshingly filtered water at ambient. Go enjoy at this great spot on your way to the coast, after or for a business meeting. Everyone gets their insistence upon entry to keep it chill for all guests and it makes for again, a spa like rest and relaxation experience, with well conceived and intuitively presented dishes. They knew to put olive oil dressing on the grilled tofu salad I ordered when I asked to hold the feta, without even asking they switched up the dairy to non dairy. For those who appreciate a cooked egg expanding out over thinly sliced cured meats over a best of greens, they have and it did look splendidly...

Horrible experience, went in 45 min before closing, ordered our food and paid 60$ for breakfast.

Coffee was brought 20 min later, after the food, cold, foam on cappuccino settled. The food, prosciutto tartin and shakshuka-mediocre at best.

And then the best part of our experience started. They began to collect patio furniture 20 min before closing with at least 3 tables, including us, still finishing their meals. The employees and the manager were extremely loud and chatty, as if there were no guests at all. They banged the chairs and moved them between the tables. The manager was telling a new employee stories about how trailers were parked all around the place in his 1960s and how these “creepy” patio chairs (we were sitting on) will be replaced slowly by “something nicer”. The chairs squeak, indeed. We addressed them when they started literally carrying chairs above our heads. The response from the manager was super rude-he told us that he will be very “frank” now, it’s “a casual cafe, not fine dining” and they will keep doing this as they are “always doing it this way, every day”, business as usual. Well, what to say. If the management is so incompetent and has zero idea of service (and the fact it should be provided at any hospitality spot, regardless the type of the outlet) what shall we expect of the staff?! The dishes were brought to us at different time, one after another, drinks came after food. No one has ever inquired how our experience was. There was a huge chunk of black hair next to my chair. Clearly, no one cares. Why would you let people sit 30 min before closing if everything they gonna get from this is discomfort, rude interaction and disrespect from your employees?!

Being at this place, it’s obvious the concept was borrowed from Maman, well, you should seriously learn from them then. Both on the quality of food and on hiring people. Your “manager” should not be a manager at any location as he obviously has no idea of management, he literally turns his back at your customers and walks away.

Huge disappointment, ruined Saturday morning and very unpleasant experience overall: everything we got from 60$ spent. We did not ask for anything that you, guys, could not provide and as a Hotel manager myself, I strongly believe that personnel and management should care about their guests’ comfort and satisfaction, which is nowhere there at your...