Lofty Coffee Solana Beach Cafe — Restaurant in Solana Beach

Let me tell you the story about Lofty Coffee Solana Beach Café and my experience there.

I was actually invited to go on a spontaneous date from a girl I matched with on Hinge 😳 😄. She was trying to find a nice spot that would appeal to both of our home locations. She eventually suggested Lofty Coffee Café in Solana Beach.

The Lofty Coffee is a quick ride down the road once you get off the 5 Hwy. I appreciate that proximity, because it makes it easier to get to from Oceanside.

We both found street parking and made our way over. At the entrance, there's a menu that also has a QR code for access on our phones.

We then got in line and made our menu selections reading the menu on our phones. Seeing as it was 3:00PM, there were a few people dining-in and it was relatively quick to get serviced. As an extra convenience, there's also the menus located on 2 tv monitors above the register. After ordering, we took our number holder and found seating on their patio that overlooks the street.

I ordered an Organic Golden Milk. This was heavy with turmeric (which I love for anti-inflammation) & honey. The turmeric foam was very dense at the bottom and it provided a gentle warming spice upon sipping. The heart design was cute too.

I also ordered a Delicious Toast with peanut butter, honey, bananas & seeds to go along with my Golden Milk.

My date ordered an arugula & endive salad and some hibiscus lemongrass tea. Loved the figs on top as well.

We were very pleased with our meals and appreciated that the ambiance was casual and quiet, which allowed us to relax and talk undisturbed. The edible flowers on top & the company of finches (birds) was also a nice touch.

The service friendly & attentive and their establishment was clean.

Overall, I recommend The Lofty Coffee Solana Beach Café ESPECIALLY if wanting a quiet place to converse. Our meals & drinks came up to $35 together. A...

Okay, I have mixed feelings about Lofty. On the one hand: casually expensive people in puffer vests come here with their expensive, fluffy dogs. People-watching AND dog-watching opportunities = big plus. The employees seem really nice. It's not too loud, even with a patio full of people and floofs. But wo/man cannot live by bread and vibes alone. I don't drink coffee, but I do love a good Chai tea latte. Or two. Unfortunately for my expectations, which were likely buoyed by all the recycled goose down, I got a Chai tea latte here and it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. With a 12% tip it was well over $7 for an 8oz vessel. The drink was beautiful and well-cinnamoned, but I felt the black tea component was overbrewed and the oat milk too minimal to really increase the fat content enough to cover the bitterness, nor was there enough of a honey note to really balance the taste. And this is coming from the person who often gets drinks made half-sweet! Probably the people who actually like coffee would love it here. For me, the non-coffee drinker, thus far, their tea-based drinks haven't yet hit the mark for me. I recommend, but with...

The line was long and it went very slow. At first I thought they were taking new orders until the previous was filled but maybe they were just talking to the customers for 5ish minutes before going to the next person. Coffee was good but not amazing. On a side note and take it as you may, people were their on their laptops without masks. They weren't eating, they weren't drinking coffee, they were just using their laptops or phones sitting there without masks. It wouldn't bother me if they were visiting with family but they were there alone. Now I don't think there is a COVID rule that bans people from being in public places without wearing facemasks but it felt like they were taking advantage of the fact that you don't have to wear a mask while eating or drinking there. There was no reason they couldn't wears mask while on their laptops. I know I'm being picky but at the same time not all of the seats/tables were spaced out 6 or more feet... Take...