Stereoscope Coffee — Restaurant in Newport Beach

Update July 2024:

I used to think stereoscope is overpriced but it’s basically the norm now (maybe slightly higher) but considering other shops give you less coffee for about the same price at similar or lower quality, it is fair. At least stereoscope gives you a good amount of quality coffee!

Consistently good drinks and I say this as someone that has tried basically all of their drinks besides the tea line.

One thing I can hope for is shorter lead time for online orders. Currently using clover, it’s at least 30 minutes once ordered and even longer using apps like grubhub. But it seems they’re making orders at max output so not sure if this can be possible.

I also wish you have the option to add no ice in any drink as I sometimes get multiple drinks to save the others for the future.

In any case, stereoscope is the gold standard for specialty coffee. ———————

Had to knock another star bc the bfast burrito is now smaller but pricier. And hot sauce costs extra 😑

update: Sep 2023

So I've been 20+ times now and I really do love their coffee because it's tasty, high quality, and consistent. Their food is also some of the better foods available at specialty coffee shops like the bfast burrito and english muffin sandwich.

However, lately, they have raised their prices quite a bit so the drinks are now in the $7-8 range. Especially for tonics it is quite expensive and even viet cold brew is about $7+. Not to mention their bfast burrito is $16 and hot sauce costs extra (charging extra for hot sauce is really bad form. If people don't want it, then just have it as a free add on).

As much as I love this place, the prices are getting out of hand. Sure, everything is expensive now but if you're charging $8 for tonic water and a chai shot... you know what you're doing. And forget ordering on doordash etc bc prices are even higher which is understandable but point still stands. Best royal milk tea I’ve had! Also their cup doesn’t seem to condensate very much? Not sure why but very nice. Usually plastic cups with ice would be dripping in water/condensation but...

Used to love coming here. Brought my friend stating how amazing this place would be. But today it was bad & I'll never come back. First we ask what's vegan, the server pointed us to incorrect food that was not vegan. Then we ask our food for "here" not to go. Once I sit down with my food, they told us we couldn't sit inside the big building it was attached to. So picked up all my supplies, laptop, etc & moved to seat outside where they directed us to. After I sit down, pull out laptop, & get ready to enjoy my food, and employee comes up and says that the table I was sitting at outside was not their table (even though it looked exactly like the others). I guess it was the one table that was not theirs. So they would not allow me to eat my food. Seriously. And they would not hand me my drink. So I had to take my food back to them right before I took my first bite (she was hovering over me) and put everything in Togo containers and then I was able to go sit down right next to everyone else and eat. Everyone had food on plates next to me but I was the only one in ToGo containers. It was so discriminatory. I could not eat my food with plastic ware as it was tough and I had to give my own cup for them to put my drink in. Has anyone ever heard of this? I had spent $42 on food & had tipped them. Obviously my friend will never come back as he's never experienced like this before. After eating my food, I informed staff that I had a negative experience & if a manager wants to speak with me, I’d be happy to speak with them. No one came up to me. (Photo is my own cup I had to use & the to go container I had to transfer my food to).

Sad to never come...

Summary: Cute spot, with nice outdoor seating, easy parking with free validation. Has lots of great drink options and all-day breakfast but a bit pricey for the food items.

They have a wide variety of unique and delicious premium beverage options including: Teas, Lattes, lemonades, Pour Overs, Coffees, Milks etc... For example: Lychee Peach Black Tea, Jasmine Blueberry, Chai Milk, Ceremonial Matcha tea/milk, Madagascar Vanilla Latte, Mexican Coffee with a hint of cinnamon. I LOVE Matcha and tried their Medium Matcha Milk, which comes pre-sweetened and substituted with Oat Milk. Here are all the milk options: Whole, Half & Half, Oat, Almond, Myracle. It was some of the BEST regular matcha lattes I've had. Keep in mind I like my Matcha sweet and it was perfect to my liking. But they did have ceremonial Matcha if you like that instead! One downside is that the breakfast items are a bit pricey for example, their popular breakfast burrito (Scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, avocado aioli, Mexican mix cheese) cost $16.25 +tax.

As for the atmosphere, the Newport location is around 500sq feet, but it is aesthetically pleasing and has lots of outdoor seating. They utilize an indoor/outdoor layout where they fully open the accordion doors to create a continuous flow. There is a large parking garage and they validate up to 2 hours of free parking! Oh, and Free Wifi. The Ceilings have a very interesting abstract 3D panting, you can even put on the 3D glasses to enjoy its full artistry.

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