Of course, our M.O. is the meandering route, with lots of stops in between...
Starting off the morning with some iPod roulette...
and bypassing all of the shitty traffic on the 405 by taking the 73 toll road...
When Bert and I took our roadtrip to Carp, TC wasn't with us. This little trip to San Pedro would be our mini summer trip with the whole family.
Foggy in Irvine...
but sunny once we hit Costa Mesa. Noticed this Japanese market,Seiwa while en route to our coffee destination. It looked like a former Fresh & Easy, and using my Columbo like research skills, my hunch was confirmed. Seiwa Market opened early spring last year and depending on the reviews you read, people either love it because you can by Japanese food in bulk (but frozen) or hate it because 95% of the foods are frozen; there is a limited deli section not like Mitsuwa.
Right behind the coffee place was Carl's where we stopped by first so we could have a tiny bit of breakfast before caffeine.
One of my former students listed that he worked for Carl Karcher Interprises on his resume. I guess that is the formal name of Carl's Jr., plus it sounds more official, ha ha.
Breakfast - two things were subbed which sucked but didn'taffect me because I didn't eat/drink it.
Instead of chocolate milk, the worker rang Bert up for a chocolate shake, wtf. Also instead of chicken strips, which they said they didn't serve until lunch, they offered chicken Stars. TC was amused but annoyed because she felt like it was a five year old's meal. The Carl's in Lost Hills was able to serve chicken tenders during the breakfast hours, so what gives. :(
Breakfast burger once more...
It has everything I like for breakfast in a convenient processed package, har.
Right behind Carl's was a stripmall. I found out later (by checking on a banner seen on a gogglemaps photo)that this area was known as the Marquee Costa Mesa shopping center. Parts of it looked really dated and some looked like it was trying to be "futuristic". Such was the facade for Bad Coffee, which according to the barista and co-owner whom we met that morning, was formerly another coffee place. They bought the shop from the previous owners. The barista that morning, Tohm Ifergan formerly worked at Portola Coffee Lab, also in Costa Mesa.
After some online research, here is the NOT-Updated photo of the exterior with the old name on it (courtesy of the stripmall's website):
ChocXO Coffee was it's former name and it closed last May 2016 (judging from the dates of the last yelp reviews).
Like other coffee shops of its ilk, the interior was spare, color theme was black and white and menu was very very concise. I liked it. The WKLP drink was their riff on an Arnold Palmer, but it was "Who Killed Laura Palmer"...Interesting that what is "old" (if you can call an early 90's show 'old') is now new again, this "Twin Peaks" resurgence.
Cute illustrations on their coffee offerings. They are known for serving various roasts from around the world. I think more coffee shops should do that so the customer can try a variety.
Their logo is also kind of funny...
Our first coffees of the day - Mocha + cortado (not on menu but they do make it).
Both drinks were excellent and well made.
TC liked how they did their hours...
Article:
"Bad Coffee is quite good" CoastReportOnline, APril 21, 2017
Bad Coffee
1534 Adams Ave., Suite A
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 261-8161
www.badcoffeeroasters.com + fb page & reviews from yelp
Even though our destination wasn't that far away driving time-wise, we took our time getting there up the 101...
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