Coffee Tomo

This is more of a study hall — great if your intent is to find a place to park yourself for the day.
I had some time to kill so stopped in on a weekday afternoon hoping to sit down and quietly enjoy a coffee drink. I was stunned to find the place packed — not a single available table. A closer look revealed that over half of the tables were occupied by laptop hogs; inconsiderate people with no food or beverage on the table, just their laptop, books, papers, etc. I guess they take up residence for the day and don’t allow paying customers to sit and relax with their food & drink. Incidentally, I’ve noted some coffee places successfully give their paying customers tables by designating areas «laptop free zones».
Anyway…I ordered an iced vanilla latte and «cheese tomo». There is no description for their menu so I had no clue what «cheese tomo» was other than it was listed under «pastries». Even though it wasn’t busy at all, it took about 5 minutes to get the latte and another 5 to get the food item. There was no seating inside thanks to the table hoarders so I went outside to a sidewalk patio table where an umbrella helped shade me from the uncomfortable heat.
The iced vanilla latte was good. It had a deep, bold & complex coffee flavor which I enjoyed but there really was no vanilla detectable. The cheese tomo was a basket of strips of thin, crisply baked dough with a tasteless yellow cheese (or possibly Velveeta?) melted on top. It was a joke. At $ 5. the joke was on me.
Would I come back? Even though they serve good brew the answer is a resounding NO. Everything was overpriced, service was painfully slow and apparently — unless you get there when they open and stake out a table for the day — there is no place to comfortably sit and enjoy your coffee for a few minutes. Recommended only as a place for students to hang out.

I’ve been studying here for the past 3 consecutive days and brought a little snack from the restaurant next door each day and always purchase a drink during my stay. Today I was kicked out (why not the first 2 days?!) because they do not allow «outside» food/​drinks (where are your signs?!) AFTER I purchased my drink (waste of my time and money). Lost my business, will not be coming here anymore. Train your passive aggressive, unfriendly employees so they are consistent with the same rules.

I hate coffee unless its mixed with milk/​creamer/​syrup/​etc. That being said the «white mocha» is pretty good because unlike most places, you can really taste the bitter and earthy coffee and still be left with a sweet aftertaste that makes the coffee drinking experience enjoyable. They are able to accomplish this because they don’t use cheap syrups like Torani.
They only have two sizes, medium and large. The medium in $ 5.50 which is pretty pricy for a place that is not necessarily fun to hang out in, and what I mean by that is there is no fireplace, couches, scenic view, etc.

This place is very good if your looking for a place to study or simply grab a coffee. The WiFi is great, the drinks are amazing and the atmosphere is always good. Though they do close early sun-​thur. Other than that its in my top 5.

Always bean curious about the red bean drinks ;) anyway got the red bean latte and was not disappointed! Also the environment is like you have stepped out of Orange County it’s clean just not so cookie cutter which is an amazing feeling for someone who was raised here always looking for small spots to get away! Happy to have found another one with delicious drinks! :)

4.5 stars! The coffee here is the best I’ve found in Irvine/​Tustin so far, way better than Portola for my tastes at least, and unlike Portola these guys will customise the coffee how you like it! My husband’s latte and my Americano and espresso (I always get the same order when trying new places) were both great, rich round taste, pleasantly strong, no bitterness. Staff were incredibly friendly, water was freely available, free Wi-​Fi.
.5 of a star knocked off because our coffees were served in paper cups not porcelain cups. We will be back!

This is my new favorite place! So cute
Pro: different types of drinks, in love with the sweet potatoe lattes
Quiet place to study
Good parking spaces
Friendly staff
Cons
Expensive
Crowded at times

This is one of the few Korean coffee shops in the OC area that I enjoy being at. I’ve only been here twice (first time in the morning and second time in the evening), and both times have been positive experiences. I love studying here because it’s pretty quiet, there are myriad of outlets, and the best part: free wifi. I have heard that most of the time, the place can get very packed, which makes it difficult to get any kind of studying done. However, the two times I’ve gone here to study, seating wasn’t a problem for me. The interior is nothing really special but I like how they keep it pretty simple. If you’re the type of person who really likes the hip/​trendy spots, I suggest trying out other cafes in the OC.
I ordered their Iced Americano and Cold Brew, and they were both solid drinks, but nothing too extraordinary. Out of all the cold brew drinks I have tried in the OC/​LA area, Coffee Tomo’s was by far the most bitter, but it was still refreshing. Majority of their coffee drinks are overpriced, but most cafes in the OC are pretty pricey so can’t complain too much there. Parking was not a problem whatsoever and their baristas were all very kind. Furthermore, their store hours rock on Friday and Saturday’s (closes at 11 pm).
This coffee shop is literally five minutes away from my apartment so expect me to become a regular customer!

A coffee shop that closes at 10 in Irvine?!
PARKING: plenty!
WIFI: free ~
FOOD: The sweet potato pretzel is made-​to-​order, warm, toasty, & so yummy! It’s pretty big though, so I’d recommend to share it with a friend. (=
SERVICE: The lady & the guy who smiles are always more than willing to help with drink choices. I like the matcha green latte here though ~ it’s not too sweet and has the perfect level of milkiness to it! However, there is one guy who never smiles & takes our drink orders with the expression as if we were boring him to death. (–1 star for this)
PRICES: This place is on the higher side — $ 4 for a cup of hot tea? Hmm. The drinks are definitely good but I don’t think they’re worth the prices that they have here.
Overall, a good place to get some work/​studying done. Tables open up pretty fairly quickly unless you come later in the night.

It’s your typical coffee house. Small & intimate with limited seating. Nothing fancy. Quite a few options on the menu. I’m not much of a coffee drinker at night, so I went for the hot chocolate.
They use real cocoa! At first when I got it I thought it was coffee, it was bitter. I didn’t care for it so much, even after I added sugar.
The pretzel on the other hand was just as amazing as other Unilocalers have written! Hence why I ordered one. I got the sweet potato one cause it sounded interesting. Pretty darn good. I will have to try their tea & coffee next time I’m heading that direction. Anthony our server was very friendly too.

goodbye it’s a grind, hello coffee tomo. i’m not sure what i was expecting. with all the great reviews, i thought any drink would have been good. nope. got the red bean iced latte. it was mid-​afternoon and didn’t need a pick me up so settled for a non-​coffee option. it seemed like just milk with red beans. nothing too special. i might need to drop in again and try something different. i never tried it’s a grind so cannot compare. peet’s is still my java of choice.
they might be trying to stand apart from the rest of the competitors by offering pretzels but i say if you’re coffee can’t speak for itself, then you shouldn’t be in the coffee business (or the non-​coffee drink business).

My first thought was wait, this is a Korean Coffee Shop?
FOOD QUALITY:
Caffe Latte twice with soy milk; I have to say so far this has one of the better lattes of Korean owned coffee shops; there’s only ONE barista so far that can steam the milk right to give the overall latte a creamy, rich texture to the latte. Otherwise, their espresso is somewhat of a mild roast so it’s not terribly bitter or strong. Taste is consistent, but if you get a barista that doesn’t know how to make lattes correctly then you’ll end up with a watered texture that isn’t as watered as other Korean coffee shops.
Otherwise their pretzel was. very good. Baked fresh on order, you’ll find that their pretzel has a slight crisp on the outside then very soft on the inside. And if you tear the pretzel with your bare hand it’ll kind of look like you’re tearing cheese.
However, I thought the garlic pretzel was kind of a miss for the flavor as it’s only garlic salted so it was a pretty harsh punch to the tongue; it needed some sort of butter or cheese to round out the sharpness of the seasoning.
SERVICE:
Is good! They give good recommendations and they give you a smile.
ENVIRONMENT:
Be prepared to camp if there are no tables left. Lots of people study here and there usually isn’t enough seat for everyone outside. Fortunately, if you’re here just to drink and chat then the outside tables are quite relaxing on a good day.
Overall, this probably would be my go to spot for my lattes if I were around the Irvine area.

Let me preface by saying that my dog’s name is Tomo, so this place is already cool in my book, and it was a must-​visit destination during my latest escapade to the southern parts of California.
Stopping by to begin our day and long drive from Irvine back to the Bay area, my attention quickly turned to the drink that was named «Tomo Latte.» A latte named after my adorable dog (not really. lol), and made with condensed milk? Yes, please! Because it was warm on the day we visited, I opted for iced Tomo latte and thus missed out on the cute latte art that supposedly come with a hot Tomo latte. Oh well, next time! The latte itself was delicious and was on the sweeter side since it was made with condensed milk after all. Nonetheless, this was a delicious cup of latte and I will definitely be back for another. We also got an affogato to go, since there were absolutely no more seats inside (every single table was preoccupied by individuals on their laptops), unfortunately affogato isn’t really something you eat out on a hot day since it’s already melting quickly from the shot of hot espresso poured on top of it. This led us to standing awkwardly in the middle of the café trying to eat the thing as quickly as possible before it melts into a puddle in the cup. Since it was our first time having a legit affogato rather than our poor attempts at homemade affogato, neither of us really know how it compares to how it’s supposed to taste, but for review purposes, this was a pretty yummy treat nonetheless!
Other than minor things like not having a seat, the service was very friendly and quick. No wait when we got there around 1pm on Monday, and bonus points for being open on a national holiday! Can’t wait to visit this cute café again!

TOMO LATTE.
I think I would have liked it hotter and sweeter because I like coffee but I’m bad at drinking it bitter. I asked for two more pumps of condensed milk (extra charge). I requested for a bear on my cute latte art, and they did it with no problem.
SWEET POTATO CHEESE ROLL.
It was pretty good. The cheese was melty which is a huge plus. The sweet potato inside got a little messy, but it was still delicious. Didn’t meet my expectations since it was so hyped. It served as an awesome breakfast food anyway!

Had some spare time so came here looking for a quiet place to study and have a nice cup of coffee. The place is indeed a great place to study because it’s fairly well lit, there are shades that allow light but prevent the potentially blinding sun, it’s well air conditioned without feeling like Antarctica, and the music is soft enough to allow you to focus.
With that being said, there’s a $ 5 minimum for card although that shouldn’t be a problem since most of the drinks are overpriced. I got the hand drip Costa Rica coffee. I used the 10% check in to bring my total slightly over the $ 5 card limit.
Unfortunately the coffee wasn’t anything special and wasn’t as hot as I hoped. Also, I was a little confused as to their service. Some baristas would bring the drinks to the customers while others would blurt out the order and hope the right customer would come pick it up.
Next time I’ll probably try the one of the pretzels (seem fairly popular based on my observations around the room) or an iced drink.

Small place with plenty of chairs and tables for people who need a place to study or do some work. I don’t know how noisy it can get, but it seem like a pretty ideal spot to chill before or after eating nearby. Actually, that’s how I ended up here. I was eating lunch at All That Barbecue and needed to walk off some of the extra weight by coming to Tomo.
I heard about Coffee Tomo from my coworker who was interested in trying the coffee and pretzels, but food was the last thing on my mind after a few rounds of AYCE for lunch. However, the cold brew here is legitimately amazing. Better than Starbucks by far, but most coffee shops do it better than StarBs anyway, right? Aside from taste, the price is kinda steep, which was $ 4.50.
They are located near Tea Station, maybe two stores down, so I’m having a hard time seeing how they are competing with that. The selections may be different, but Tomo’s menu is smaller with more emphasis on Japanese beverages, which could be a niche on its own I suppose. If I’m in the area and in need of a snack, maybe I’ll come through to try the pretzels, but for now, the cold brew is awesome.

Coffee Tomo is a very welcome addition to what very little there is of Irvine’s coffee scene outside of anything called Starbucks.
Despite being located in one of Irvine’s very clean looking shopping plazas where parking is seldom an issue, Coffee Tomo retains the interior vibe of what we think a modern day coffee shop should look like — semi rustic looking walls with antique looking coffee making equipment and empty bags of coffee that strangely always work well as decorations.
I ordered the lemon ginger tea as well as the «tomo latte» on separate occasions and found both to be great drinks; the lemon ginger tea is light and warm and thus, perfect for a cold day and the tomo latte retains a smooth texture while having the right amount of foaminess — not too much or too little. The presentation of the both drinks was nice as they were served in large, white ceramic cups and the coffee art on the tomo latte was a nice touch in particular.
In addition to the drinks, Coffee Tomo is very accommodating to those looking to get work done with its plenty of seating, adequate amount of power outlets, friendly baristas, and stable wifi.
There are also, of course, wooden tables for those looking to get that perfectly filtered rustic Instagram shot of their drink.
Coffee Tomo comes highly recommended and I think I’ve definitely found my favorite coffee spot in Irvine.

Think coffee and pretzels are a bad mix in the morning? I tried it and it was something new and intriguing that’s why Tomo offers this kind of specialties and not everybody does it that way.
Getting coffee here I always get them iced. Just recently, I gotten their iced Tomo latte it was good and all I can say they always make them balanced. Lightly sweet, milky and some coffee buzz, it’s simple and doesn’t disappoint. That’s what I’m a fan of. The downside here is when you get them in large sizes it’s like getting a Starbucks cup in grande sizes. As of December 15, 2015 ensure you unlock their Unilocal check-​in «10% off your order» offer to make up some of the lost ounces.
I’m not a pretzel kind of guy, but on that same morning I smelled the coffee. Also I smelled the aroma of pretzel dough. So, I tried their Pumpkin Cheese Pretzel. They were freshly baked. First, I thought they were stuffed with sweet potatoes but they’re not. The pretzel was easy to eat and soft. This is a seasonal item and was really good, after finishing it I was looking for more.
My goal now is to tryout every flavor pretzel they have on the menu. Inside seating is comfy and of course my routine here would be coffee and pretzels.

My friend and I were in the mood for real coffee, not Starbucks (Sorry Starbucks) and we both had wanted to check this place out for a while so we came in on a Thursday night.
I like this place a lot. The coffee selections, especially for lattes, were endless. And prices were pretty reasonable too. Lattes were around $ 4-​$ 5 but you are paying for quality and a big cup of coffee so that says a lot. Staff is welcoming and very helpful so that’s always a plus. Try the Tomo Latte, it’s with condensed milk! You won’t regret!
There’s plenty of tables to sit at and I’d say it’s a good study spot. Wifi is pretty fast!
I am coming back here again for sure!

I really enjoyed this coffee shop! It’s a great environment to study or have a small cup of coffee with friends. They provide wifi to customers and there are outlets all around the coffee shop. The hours of operation are great since it’s open till pretty late. Walking in, I was immediately greeted by whom I think is the owner? That’s besides the fact. She greeted each person coming in and was so sweet and polite. Not only did the workers provide exceptional service but the coffee and pretzel was pretty good as well. I ordered the Tomo latte and the sweet potato pretzel.
I believe the Tomo latte is their most popular latte item on the menu, and it did not disappoint. I would describe it as an plain latte with a kick. I normally dont like plain lattes because it tends to be a bit flavorless (if you don’t order a flavored one) and watery. But what’s interesting about it is that this particular latte uses condense milk. At first I was worried that the condense milk would make it too sweet, but found out that it is what was the secret ingredient to making such a good latte. Because it didn’t add any extra flavoring you could really taste the coffee flavor. I would say it’s in between what a normal latte tastes like and a cappuccino. You know how a cappuccino is a bit more bitter tasting than a latte? Think of that but more subtle. The condense milk adds a nice sweetness to the drink without it being overly sweet; it was rich in flavor.
The sweet potato cheese pretzel was very good as well (~$ 5). The cheese was a savory component of the pretzel while the sweet potato added a sweetness to it. The bread had a nice soft texture which paired well with the softness and cheesiness of the filling. The bread made sure the cheese and the sweet potato wasn’t too overpowering. The only con is that towards the end the bottom of the bread tends to get a little moist and soggy (maybe because of the melted cheese? I would share this with another person because I personally couldn’t finish it by myself. It may look small but after you eat half of it it starts getting a bit much.
I would definitely come back to this coffee shop! As a matter of fact, my friend and I have designated this place as our weekly monday study spots before the gym. Everything about it is so enjoyable!