Avatar Coffee Roasters - Santa Ana — Restaurant in Santa Ana

First impressions: beautiful interior with lots of hanging plants and plants on shelves, bags of coffee beans for sale, a nice display of dual Kyoto drip coffee being brewed, etc.

There is indoor and outdoor seating, though only four actual tables outside, two sets on each side of the outdoor space. There is a long wall where they could possibly set up a few more removeable tables to accommodate more patrons.

There is both your standard coffee/tea menu along with specialty lattes as well as natural wines and beers on tap. They serve salads, panini sandwiches, and flatbreads if you're hungry. And Happy Hour is available daily from 4-6 PM.

We opted for their artichoke spinach and parmesan dip, which is made in-house, and this was very tasty. Though the chips to dip ratio was off. You're left with way too many chips and not enough dip. I'd say $10 is steep for the portion size. And if $10 is their happy hour price tag, what's the normal cost outside these hours?

My boyfriend had an iced cardamom vanilla latte with oat milk. Although the flavor was on point, it was too sweet. They could have scaled back on the syrup here.

I went with a hot Spanish latte, which is a personal fav of mine at any coffee shop I support; however, it was lacking any real flavor or sweetness. It needed more condensed milk. The barista who made this needs to try the Spanish lattes at both Nook Coffee Bar in Costa Mesa and Stereoscope. Their Spanish lattes are consistently on point!

Though the Brazilian female cashier was very friendly and welcoming, we didn't see her or any other staff bus the bar seating of plates and scraps left behind by previous customers. It wasn't very busy. We also didn't find a napkin dispenser anywhere, so we ended up using the paper towels from the washroom. Speaking of the washroom, the trash was filled to the brim with paper towels on the floor.

All in all, nice place with a variety of offerings, but execution of both our drinks was off. Maybe we'll return to try something else, but that's hard to do when there are so many places to...

OK, I did one of my usual find coffee roaster in the area searches and came across this new coffee house. I parked right on Dyer, which was probably illegal but very convenient. Service was fast and friendly. I don’t care for the atmosphere. Not sure what style it is supposed to be. I ordered a flat white, which was not on the menu and asked for oat milk. Everything to go. Didn’t see anything in the pastry case that was appealing enough to me. I am a bit picky though. The drink was absolutely fantastic temperature, oat, milk, and the espresso. Perfect. But, I was shocked by the price. I don’t know how much a flat white is since it was not on the menu, but I walked out paying eight dollars for my 6 ounces. This included a one dollar tip, a dollar for the milk and tax! Coffee houses are not supposed to charge tax, but that was not really my issue. Cappuccinos at this location are about four dollars and I was surprised that my drink must’ve been somewhere around six dollars. Again it was very delicious but I don’t think it was worth the...

What I got: Vanilla latte, 16oz with oat milk. Great flavor. Served in green glassware which was unique. $6.00 + Oat milk was $1 upcharge. Chips with salsa and guacamole: good portion and tasty flavor. Chips were nice and crispy without feeling oily. $10

Looooove the high ceiling and interior decor. They have four bench tables with outlets directly underneath. Good place to plug in and study if you can snag one of those seats. Otherwise there is plenty of bar/counter seating throughout the cafe. The coffee and chips w/salsa and guacamole were good. Temperature was comfortable. I didn't feel too cold or too warm. Soft rock music played in the background to add to the retro vibe without being too loud. It was pretty packed when I went on a Monday afternoon, but conversations didn't drown out other people talking. A great new addition to the cafe scene in OC!

Parking is retail in an apartment complex. I think the lot is timed. I was lucky and managed to get an outside one close to the apartment leasing office. Posted the sign...