we debated whether to do it or not, but wanderlust won out...
since it was our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We left San Diego on the 29th of June and headed up to the Central Coast pretty early (5 am) with lots of stops along the way. We stayed five days in a few beach towns. This post chronicles just the coffee stops from those five days..
The first is one that Bert and I had visited the Summer of 2017. At the time, TC was at art camp so we had a few days to do a trip. One of the coffee shops we visited was in the tiny town of Summerland, which is five miles south of Santa Barbara.
Masks were mandatory as well as social distancing. No one other than the workers were there uring our visit, at least until after we ordered.
Because indoor seating is not allowed due to the state's order to not have indoor dining/drinking, etc, we sat at the mini table and benches outside.
TC has been on a matcha kick lately - hence her matcha latte with soy. Bert and I shared the Salty Bumble Bee Latte which had honey and Himalayan sea salt. It was really quite good!
The lady working there was super nice. The shop was as cute as I remembered it to be and luckily, our car was not "bombed" by birds like last time.
Our eventual destination was reached hours later in the seaside beach town of Cayucos, which is located above Morro Bay and below Cambria. We first passed by this town in 2011 and had a small vacation there in 2014.
(sign near a realty office on Ocean Ave)
There is only one main street where all of the businesses are in Cayucos, Ocean Ave. All of the hotels, restaurants, bars, you name it, it's on Ocean Ave.
We were up early to talk a walk on their newly opened pier (it had reopened on June 13th). During our last visit in 2015 during our 20th Anniversary Road Trip, the pier was under reconstruction. In 2014, the pier was open up to a certain point where it was fenced off. But I digress. This post is about coffee.
There was a super long line of folks leading into the street. Most had masks but some did not. Everyone was socially distanced as well. It took almost half an hour to finally get to the front of the line to order and of course, we still had to wait for our drinks. Only one girl was working the counter. I'm not sure if she was also the barista but even if she was, she was pretty patient and friendly with everyone.
Bert had a mocha while TC had a vanilla soy latte. Both are not pictured. I ordered my first cortado in months, not expecting much. And yeah, it was not that great. It was served in a paper cup which was much bigger than the drink called for but I knew that going in. My cortado was on the bitter side but I still drank most of it (Bert helped me out). I alternated between sips of his drink and mine.
My drink was enjoyed at a bench on the pier while Bert and TC walked on ahead. I later joined them to enjoy the views at the end of the pier. The sky still had a marine layer which later cleared up that afternoon.
The next day, we went to Luna Coffee Bar which is located in the historic Way Station building. It shares space patio space with a few other businesses, included Lunada Garden Bistro (the coffee shop owner is also co-owner of the bistro, where we had our 25th Anniversary dinner a few days prior). The coffee shop itself is located in the back.
It is such a cute spot but of course, customers could only take away drinks and/or food. Customers could also enjoy their items in their beautiful garden patio.
Patio space...so roomy! We could hear the birds chirping too. As we sat there, another couple, whom Bert chatted with inside the shop, congratulated us on our anniversary. It was also their anniversary but 32 years for them!!!
Our drinks trio - They all look the same. They included: Bert's mocha, TC's vanilla latte and my Gibraltar (the cup that is the least full).
This was actually pretty good. I guess I had low expectations, but really, it was just right. The garden setting made it even better.
TC's breakfast burrito with avocado, eggs, cheese and tomatoes plus a housemade salsa and chips. Bert and I had already eaten breakfast in our room before we left for coffee.
Even more seating for the other establishment next door. See the greenery in the distance? Well behind that was the "hidden" area where we had our anniversary dinner. It was such a cool nook, seemingly secluded from everyone else. I really like their set up.
There were beautiful flowers of every color at every turn.
The next morning was our last day in Cayucos where we would head down to another seaside beach town, Carpinteria. But first....coffee...
This blurry shot was on the 101 while en route to San Luis Obispo for Scout Coffee. There are two locations. We went to the one on Foothill Blvd (and also because it was strategically near another spot I wanted to see). It's in this strip mall...
Their menu choices:
Tables sadly not being used.
Mural wall with hipster font.
It's very spacious in here. Very nice actually but too bad, no one can sit inside and drink. There were tables outside that we were able to. The vibe was very boho chic. The folks working there were friendly as well.
Our trio of drinks from Scout: Mocha with oat for Bert, Vanilla latte for TC and a Gibraltar for me (basically a cortado). Again, paper cups but nice latte art!
The next day we visited Lucky Llama Coffee House (we had been here several years prior; previous visits linked at the end of this post). There was a long line but their patio at least had a canopy to provide shade for those in line. They only allowed a few people in at a time and as you already surmise, masks were required. Seating would be where you could find it outside.
Sign of the times:
Their menu:
We ended up sitting outside in the open field next to the shop. We had a folded blanket ready for this occasion. C's iced matcha latte is pictured. Bert had a mocha (not pictured).
I bought a bag of espresso beans from Dune, a roaster local to Santa Barbara.
My Gibraltar - one of the best coffees I had during the whole trip; the other drink I liked was from Scout.
Previous visit to Red Kettle
May 2018 (visit was during our June 2017 trip)
Red Kettle Coffee
2275 Ortega Hill Rd., Suite A
Summerland, CA 93067
(805) 565-1900
IG: @redkettlecoffeehouse
Cayucos Coffee
155 N. Ocean Ave
Cayucos, CA 93430
(805) 955- 1617
cayucoscoffee.com
IG: @cayucoscoffee
Luna Coffee Bar
84 N. Ocean Ave
Cayucos, CA 93430
(805) 900-5404
There is no website but here are the reviews from trip advisor
IG: @luna_coffee_cayucos
Scout Coffee
880 Foothill Blvd
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
(805) 439-2823
scoutcoffeco.com + reviews from trip advisor
IG: @scoutcoffee
Lucky Llama Coffee House
5100 Carpinteria Ave
Carpinteria, CA 93013
(805) 684-8811
Previous visit to Lucky Llama
May 2018 (posted but visit was for June 2017) - this post also links our Summer 2016 visit
@luckyllamacoffee
Those were out coffee stops during this recent road trip. Food and scenic posts will be separate.
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