Ape Coffee — Restaurant in Orange

Review #725

Can't believe I am the Duchess of this place and yet I doubt I will come back for awhile.

One latte, one specialty drink, two pieces of stale banana loaf plus a tip will cost you around $28.

The barista was really sweet today and so were the chill patrons in the place--that isn't the issue.

In the past, they would almost be annoyed if you didn't use the kiosk to order. That was fine and hey it worked even for us non gen z'ers.

Now the kiosk is gone and anyone who takes your order is really impatient. The writing in the display case is white cursive which doesn't do anyone a favor. You can't tell what anything is and it all looks the same. And they get annoyed if you ask because the writing doesn't even match up to the product.

Each piece of regular sized loaf will run you more than a coffee at around $8. No joke. I went home and made a pan of 20 pieces for the same price. Theirs were stale on the edges--and no wonder--at that price, who is buying them? I went to a higher end coffee shop with pricier real estate and their baked goods didn't cost this much-- so what is the deal here?

The banana coffee is still pretty good, and I only go half sweet. They will tell you they only have whole milk (which isn't true; they have 2 %) and then charge you an extra dollar for oat.

Then you get your regular coffee, which you specify you want hot and it comes out iced. Annoying, for $7 but at this point you don't bother to change it.

If you fill out feedback either way they really don't care. As others have stated, you can get better coffee around. There is nothing special about the place either--in fact, it is reminiscent of a '90s coffee shop, and not in a modern up to date way, either (sorry). It's a bit surprising. On one hand, they attempt to be young and hip; on the other hand they seem...

QUALITY OF DRINK: Coffee seemed watered down. Ordered a few drinks. The matcha, sbow monkey, the coconut and the orange city mocha. Out of all of them, the decent one is snow monkey. The orange city is too fragrant, the coconut is decent but super creamy but a yucky aftertaste (cant taste coffee). Each drink was over $6 for a regular size but most of the cup was filled with ice. Im going to be honest, after the drink is sipped and done it taste like i drank a bottle of perfume.

AMBIENCE: Unfinished, industrial looking, very minimal decor and not very comfy seating and not enough.

SERVICE: This is the one that gets me. I worked in the food industry and I can tell you that 2 of the of the employees is not friendly whats so ever. No personality, maybe they can drink some of their coffee to get a burst of energy. One of them was filling a cup of coffee inside the ice chest. Spilling the coffee over the ice freezer, contaminating the ice inside with whatever was in that cup. She seemed like she did not want to be there because when she gave me my drinks i said thank you and she didn't respond or acknowledged. There were 2/3 girls working and 1 guy. The guy seemed to be the one trying, even the manager seemed to be bothered to be there. Time to get coffee was over 20 minutes for over 4 coffee drinks. Stupid way to pay (no hardcopy of receipts and you are now signed up to rewards service because they do not accept CASH!

OVERALL TAKEAWAY: Overpriced for watered down, fragrant coffee with service that was not even subpar!

Tips to know: cashless, no bathroom, service sucks, parking in minimal (in a small shopping strip), ambiance sucks and...

The staff was friendly, patient, and welcoming. The interior looks great and is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. There are a few tables for you to work on homework, study, and work from there, and they also have a few bar stools too.

They were playing some mellow songs, which is great since you can still hear each other if you plan to meet up with friends to catch up or for a staff meeting, etc.

I had one of their specialty drinks by the name of Snow Monkey 5/5 It was not too sweet and had the perfect balance with the ingredients they used.

I also had the Avocado toast which was good but I was not a fan of the sweet mayo (or whatever they drizzled that was sweet) However, now I know so I can ask for it without the sweet drizzle since the lady at the cash register did ask me if I wanted the avocado toast with everything. Other than that, I really liked it a lot. They didn't skimp out on the avocado spread or the other ingredients. 5/5

Customer service was amazing, and that is what sets businesses apart from each other. The ladies were so kind, friendly, welcoming, and patient (the one that took my order the first time). Thank you for making my experience a positive one. I'll be stopping by again. 10/5

I highly recommend you give this...