Hi-Fi Roasters — Restaurant in Redondo Beach

I enjoy HiFi because it's walking distance from my house and vibe is cute, and service is always super friendly. They even saved me from a creepy guy one time when I was doing some work there on my laptop.

However, coming in now regularly (2+/wk) for ~6 months (since I moved into the area), I've been consistently disappointed by the highly inconsistent quality of my drink.

A few examples of things I've experienced over my times coming in: On multiple occasions, they did not warm up my ceramic mug prior to serving my hot drink in it, which meant my milk was lukewarm (the milk might have also been underheated to start with) On one occasion (I rarely get cold drinks), they served an iced drink with agave in it, but did not melt the agave down in a bit of hot water so that it would properly blend into the cold drink (and so it sat on the bottom of the drink and did not sweeten my drink as desired) The temperature of my milk in my hot drink is consistently inconsistent. Some days it's burn-my-mouth hot, others it's blandly-lukewarm. Rarely is it in that sweet spot of 130-150 degrees.

It seems they might have high turnover (or are frequently hiring new people?) as it feels like at least once a month I meet with someone on the cash register who tells me, "I'm new" or "This is my first day." Perhaps this high turnover/constant new hiring is the cause of the lack of quality control?

Now look, as I said, it's in walking distance to my house, the vibe is cute, and service is great. So yes, I'll keep coming a couple times a week. I just really wish they could figure out how to make a consistently wonderful drink, so I could come in 4-5x/wk for my drink (rather than having to get in my car and drive ~15 minutes to another coffee shop that makes the MOST consistent quality of absolutely delicious drinks...they're just not as location...

I don't know what they put in the Dirty Chai here, but I'm not joking when I say that it makes me insanely productive. Maybe it's the beans roasted on site, maybe it's the consistently friendly, positive attitude that every single barista has no matter the time of day, but it's legal & feels like it shouldn't be. I've had a lot of Dirty Chais at a lot of places, and this is the unicorn. My besties & I do regular work meetings here b/c the vibe is great. In the mornings, it's full of people happily working. Our one observation is that the big booths sometimes only have one person, and they're big enough for 4+ people. People seem to share, if it's just 2 singletons, but I do think if a person is alone, they should work at a small table. Our group of 3 isn't going to try to share with one person, b/c no doubt our talking will be annoying, but it's not great when 3 of us have to work at one of the little round tables. If we're at a booth, we definitely stay aware of our time and keep it to a reasonable stay. Also, delicous pesto pastries. Keep it up, Hifi!...

This is easily my favorite coffee shop. The ownership & staff are incredible and everything they put out is impeccable. I’ve been a patron of Hi-Fi since they started in Hermosa and am very happy to have them in Redondo and Manhattan, too now! I love to bring friends and family to this location for coffee dates and beach walks. The menu of drinks and food are all lovely-I’ve yet to choose something I didn’t like. They also have great pastries from local bakeries if you catch them early enough in the day! There is so much attention to detail and love poured into every detail of this beautiful coffee shop. Their espresso is top notch, as is any pour over or house roast, there’s a threat selection of really lovely herbal teas, Matcha anything is wonderful (there’s mint & lavender-just ask), and the Bee’s Knees is one of my favorites. Ample amounts of indoor and outdoor seating available. Parking is metered and sometimes takes a few loops but is...