Viva Espresso Organics — Restaurant in Salinas

Stopped on a drive back to the bay, to grab an espresso with hubby from a local coffee spot instead of Starbucks and as you can imagine, we had to use the loo after a few hours in the car. Well, there’s no public bathroom available so that was a big negative for a customer who went out of their way to visit this spot.

Espresso was mega strong and bitter, which means it’s acidic so not for the faint of stomachs, but otherwise good for espresso lovers. Big minus - no sugar or anything like that available to put in your coffee unless you ask or order so that was annoying as well.

Ladies at the counter were sweet and helpful.

Inside - Easy in and out with no fuss if you’re in a hurry and it’s not a super busy time in the day.

A few people on laptops, mild background music, and some nice high top tables.

Outside -

Outdoor tables in the sun available to enjoy your coffee but it’s a busy plaza with cars driving by the tables. Not my preference.

Super busy plaza overall with many shops. Hard to be quick in and out of the plaza itself, so plan...

Not the first time, i guess it varies what type of mood they are in. I’m usually on the go i normally call ahead of time to avoid delays and the flow of my routines. I called mutiple times no one answered then i show up to the coffee shop asking if the phones are not working , and the employee states that we don’t answer phones until we have an extra person because sometimes we are busy, i mind you the shop only had three sitting customers with their coffees in hand and only one person in line that’s not busy. It’s being lazy employees like that with a poor demeanor and Ethic is what looses customers and makes the business look bad. believe me It was not busy, nobody is perfect but giving an excuse like that when clearly was not busy that even the employee didn’t even believe what she Claimed. Before they potentially respond with an excuse i called again right when i was about to park just to see if they’ll make the excuse of being busy. And then you can clearly see the employee upset that i asked a very...

I prefer a good espresso shop over Starbucks, but this place’s bathroom is almost always out-of-service. I get that they don’t want to put the extra effort in to make their facilities available, but after my 3 hour drive from my kid’s college to my home in the Bay Area, stopping for a break is essential. I mentioned my disappointment at the ongoing problem, and the barista said I could walk to Safeway. So, feeling a bit baited, I asked the obvious, “where Starbucks is located?” She replied yes. Out of frustration and wanting to support them, I said I may as well just get my espresso there, right? She said that was fine. So, I’m making my experience known and begrudgingly buying my cappuccino and banana bread at Starbucks today. From now on, every time I visit and the bathroom isn’t available it will be an automatic one (1)...