Philz Coffee — Restaurant in San Diego

It's been a while since I've been to La Jolla Philz & by awhile, I mean pre-covid when I attended ucsb & would visit my friend at ucsd. Visited a couple days ago with my family and it's simply just unfortunate to say that the complete vibe of the whole store is different and not in a good way, more corporate than local feels and that's not just because I've come to learn there's less than a handful of staff left still present from pre-covid that basically made the store one of the best stores I used to love to visit. I learned that the store is under a new manager, so that pretty much seemed to fit the bill - when management changes, a great store can become even better or go south. 2 stars - the coffee is still great. New staff/vibe of the store is qustionable. I was behind a woman at the register ( you order at the register now, understandable since they used to take orders w/o names and other people would accidentally grab your cup - covid) that accidentally forgot her wallet. The worker offered her a drink on the house which I found to be thoughtful since she seemed a bit stresssed. I overheard the customer thank the worker heavily because she really needed it. She was a doctor. Recalled the worker was a a pre-covid employee and asked for her name - Haley! Always great energy! When it was time to pick up my drink, that's when the experience shifted. Picked up my drink and was making short convo about pre-covid philz with barista at the bar and this other employee who I noticed to definitely be new, interjected rudely and pretentiously insinuate as though he 'knows' more than the female employee I'm talking to. It was rather odd. Blonde male. As a male, I'm going to call it as I see it... toxic masculinity,mansplaining for no reason...but nonethless, barista made me a great coffee! Staff and new feel of the store questionable. Heard some previous employees I enjoyed moved to managing encinitas and del mar, if true I recommend taking the drive down to...

I was super excited to try this place after all the raving reviews from my Cali friends and Instagram pics of the famous pink and Mojito drinks. The La Jolla location is super out of the way and we ended up driving an hour from downtown San Diego but plus point there was no line when we entered although it was packed with people studying. The order process was a bit different then other places and you have to order your drink with the barista first at your station and then walk down to the pay area and then come back and wait for your drink. The order process itself is confusing with their extensive menu board but the baristas were friendly and accommodating. However, with all the roasts and options listed it took me awhile to decide what I wanted to try since some items sounded appetizing like cardamon but others did not like the fruit and smoky flavors. I ended up getting a Rose Coffee iced and my friend got it hot. I personally loved the iced version a lot more and got it with less sweetness and it was still pretty sweet but had a good sweet rose flavor, however I could not taste the coffee at all so might want to add a shot of espresso next time. The hot version was interesting and was more on the coffee side but didn't have as much flavor.

They also have some pastries and breakfast items displayed with no descriptions towards the pay area but the cashier was friendly and told us what was in these items. I tried the butter croissant and my friend got the turkey sausage breakfast sandwich which were both pretty good but be mindful that it does add up and we ended up spending about $20 for coffee and pastries. The vibe of this place is cool but maybe I'm just not ordering the right coffee. I'll have to give it another shot next time I'm in the area to experience actually coffee.

Plenty of parking in the parking lot plaza. On the search for the perfect...

So, every cup of Philz Coffe I have ever had tastes great, especially when you know how to choose what you would like most. Price is currently high, but the guarantee to end-result production quality is higher (higher than starbucks and our local cafe moto). The cashier is friendly and considerate enough. But, being a life-long coffee drinker, I have been encountering problems with inattention to the cup served, specifically within the past month. And that, with current affairs (pills for this and pills for that), is completely so disturbing that I have to assert protest of how the service on the consumer end is handled. The Olympics have already been set to our neighboring metropolis, and we are going to have traffic as we did back in the eighties. As a single, unmarried, childless woman above the age of thirty, I feel rightful to say those batistas just threatened my life and endangered their own. I'm just advising that something needs to change. Other Than That: it's tasty coffee, let's hope it's "good enough" for the former Jonestown and hippie-liberal, staunch conservationists of yesteryear to be fine with that as well as being able to keep the world's coffee fields growing without expansion and rainforest destruction. The crowd is quite a bit younger than I, and this location is certainly crowded on this weekend day. So, it may be needful to say that the concerns may need be someone else's. Thanks for the great cup of coffee, we'll be needing to work on...