Urth Caffé

Let me start off by saying I love the Urth Café’s I have dined at in LA. Melrose and Westwood more than Santa Monica, but nonetheless I come knowing I can count on a certain level of quality.
I was so happy to find one in Laguna, but was really let down. What happened here?
To begin, I came on a Monday around 4pm and even though it was not very busy yet, it took me about 45 minutes to get my food. The staff was nowhere to be seen. I was served a luke warm turkey burger that tasted like the patty was pre-​made and re-​heated several times. Tough and flavorless. The bread it came on was also ehh, as well everything in it. Just no flavor and I did not feel good after eating it, even nauseous. For $ 12, I can get a much better meal somewhere else. I can make a better burger at home than what I ate here. I think that when a restaurant gets big and opens so many locations they rely on the name and the quality plummets. Supper bummed with this Urth’s food and service. I will not be back. :(

I love all of the Urth locations, the brand, and it’s vibe. It can be stuffy when you’re in any business in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, or Melrose area, especially if you’re popular but the Urth brand delivers. This place is closest to my home and it’s my least favorite.
The coffees are the best, and I’ve tried many premium beans, brews, and roasts. This is some San Francisco grade selection. Even on my most recent trip to Europe, I don’t think I any espresso that could hold up to my home made espresso with Urth Italian roast.
This location has the same café menu as the others, and thankfully, the same good flavors with the best and most organic of ingredients. I am a believer of the Urth brand, and normally ignore retail claims of purity. The service always needs improvement. I think it is an OC thing. You can have hiccups or errors in other locations but this place has been needing improvement since day one… and I’ve been waiting for them to come to OC for years. The good news is that the good workers are staying and I don’t see the bad servers last long.
It’s Laguna Beach, so good luck with parking, even midweek and not after 5 or a lunch rush. In the summers, they have some shuttle for non-​locals. I live a beach city away and even I would be tempted if I didn’t have little hidden gems. But it’s bad, and the main reason I avoid the town completely any weekend in tourist season. There’s also a bus that goes straight up and down the coast, so you can park in fashion island or wherever and cruise here headache-​free.
Everything is good here. And coffees come as an espresso, brew, french press, and the most delicious frappachinos on earth. I recommend trying the different roasts in a french press if you’re a home brewer.

My two friends and I came here on a Tuesday for lunch. Surprisingly it was pretty busy despite being a weekday but because of the abundant amount of seating and tables, we didn’t have to wait. Amongst the three of us we ordered their famous organic green tea (BLENDED), half sized chicken curry salad, pizza catana, and cheese platter. And honestly, I was beyond satisfied. It was all soo delicious and I would highly recommend all of them! I definitely want to come back to try their other pizzas (butternut squash, d’lox, and sunrise) and that huge matcha tiramisu.
Highly Recommend:
— ORGANIC GREEN TEA BLENDED– I haven’t tried it iced but I think the blend is worth the extra charge.
— SHANGHAI LATTE — another one of their famous drinks, and perfect if you are in the mood for something caffeinated.
— CHICKEN CURRY SALAD and/​or SANDWICH — the chicken curry has a similar consistency to that of an egg salad. I was worried that the curry would be really heavy but it wasn’t at all.
For this, they offer half or full sized portions as well as the option to have it in the form of a salad or sandwich.
— PIZZA CATANA — OMG! This was incredible. The pizza was soo soft and fluffy! Each slice had the perfect amount of mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto. And I loved how the arugula gave it a nice touch and some green to the dish.
— CHEESE PLATTER — aesthetically beautiful and delicious. My favorite was their French feta cheese and their driest FRUIT AND NUT BREAD. The bread is so good, I probably would have ordered an extra plate of it if I wasn’t so full. Large portion probably meant for 3 – 4 people.
— BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE — sweet and beyond delicious. the cheesecake is adorably shaped in a circle and topped with an excessive amount of blueberries (which i love). Its pretty filling so I’d recommend sharing.

I recently went to Urth Caffe on a Sunday morning with my girlfriends. I would have to say the long line was at first very intimidating! I thought to myself, great, we should probably look to eat somewhere else! But the line actually moves pretty fast and you are ordering in no time.
The food here is great. I love that everything is fresh and organic, so I know I am getting a quality breakfast. I ordered the Eggs Salmone and the Honey Vanilla Latte, so delish! The eggs were poached perfectly and I loved that they wrapped the arugula inside the salmon. The latte was to die for, so so so good.
I will definitely be heading back to try this place out for breakfast again and I would love to try their lunch!

I am very impressed with this place. I liked The Cottage, but I love this place. The egg sandwich is huge. The salmon scramble is perfect. The gluten free muffin tastes great and is not crumbly or dry. We’ve driven by many times but didn’t stop because of the line. 7 am Sunday is the perfect time to come. Uh, I meant to say 8 am.

Don’t let the long line out the door fool you — you wait in line, order at the front (they get very specific with asking what you want which is so nice), and then seat yourself inside or outside. There is PLENTY of seating. Even on a busy Sunday morning, my friend and I found a cute little nook table inside. Everyone who has helped me has been so kind!
I only have one negative thing to say — the first time I was there, my friend who is sensitive to gluten and dairy asked the lady standing outside monitoring the line what her best options on the menu were. The young lady was kind of short with her and not helpful. She said, «well, we probably shouldn’t serve you at all then.» Both my friend and I were kind of taken aback but we were nice to the lady and she finally said that there is gluten free bread as a substitute. Just a little weird that she almost turned my friend away.
Despite that one mishap (and mishaps can happen anywhere), I love this place!

Very cute place and after going to the Los Angeles location I decided to finally visit the location that’s closest to me. The pch location is a great spot however the food was cold. I think the fact that you get to pick where to sit then the staff have to find you is probably the reason for the food being cold.
I ordered the Mushroom Omelet which includes: three organic eggs with fresh mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, red onions & Monterey jack cheese (served with toast and fresh salsa)
Price: $ 9.95
Caffe Latte was just right in temperature (don’t like really hot drinks)
Price: $ 3.50 for their small size

This place is horrible. The worst service ever. Waited 25min to order food and another 20min before the manager came out to tell us they don’t have Cheddar cheese for our order… Waited another 25 min after that to get our food. Oh, 6 waiters on break and only 5 working…
The best part is they forgot to cook our food. We just asked for refund and walked out. I will never come back. It felt like the blind leading the blind.

I have been here twice now, once on a week day and once on the weekend. During the week service was great and so was the food and coffee. On the weekend, the line was forever long and food was just okay, and same with my coffee. I ordered the exact same thing both time… It could have been because we had to wait so long… But who knows.
They do a great job of managing the large crowd of people. They don’t let you sit at a table if you haven’t ordered yet. Our food came out with in 20 mins after ordering so that was nice. They also have heaters on the patio in select areas. If you want to check it out, I would suggest going on a week day!

I thought this place looked familiar and sure enough, it used to be The Cottage Restaurant. I actually like the atmosphere better than the one in Pasadena. It was about a 10 minute wait in line on a Saturday morning. The staff was friendly as they handed out menus. We got inside and placed our orders. I got the usual, Sunrise Pizza. $ 11.95 but it’s totally worth it!!! The Chicken Pesto Omelette was kinda dry. Minus 1 star for that. I also had the Honey Vanilla Latte. It was so good!!! The food took about 30 minutes to get to the table. I couldn’t even enjoy my coffee with my food. Minus another star… I recommend getting here early since you have to find metered parking on the street. I’ll be back since it’s located near the beach and I love a good breakfast brunch.

I make it a point to only visit this location when I’m pretty sure there will be no lines. You’d be wise to avoid this during peak breakfast/​lunch times.
I’m not a huge fan of their lunch items, but so far all of their breakfast options have been quite good, particularly the Poach di Parma and Breakfast Pizza. My only real complaint, which is perhaps more indicative of my own tastes than anything else, is that their poached eggs are slightly over cooked. Both the Poach di Parma (obviously) and the Breakfast Pizza have a poached egg and I just wish it was cooked about 1 minute less.
And I never leave without a Spanish Latte Granita.

I love Urth Caffe! Their service is pretty fast and food is great. And I am giving them 5 stars but I dont understand why so many people try to come here. It’s great but the amount of people it attracts… I dont think its great to that extent.
My fav: honey vanilla latte
Food is good such as pizzas, sandwiches, etc. But not enough that I would go there frequently for food.

Ever since I heard that Urth Caffe was going to open in Laguna, I was ecstatic. Because ain’t nobody got time to drive all the way to LA for that. They’ve actually been open for a while now, but I just wanted to wait it out a bit before I dine here, so that all kinks could be worked out (I read the initial Unilocal reviews and people were saying service was real slow).
But anyways, the time has finally come I came here today for brunch with a friend. I thought service was great, despite it being pretty crowded on a Sunday.
Urth Caffe isn’t a full service restaurant — you order and pay first. You’re then given a number and you find a table to sit at. A server will then bring your food out. There was a line when we arrived at around 10:40 AM, and it was nice that we were given menus to look at while we were in line.
During busy hours, finding a open table can be quite tricky, but if you walk around, there will be a spot that will eventually open up.
[[Prosciutto & Cheese Breakfast Panini]] Served with eggs, prosciutto, roasted peppers, and mozzarella cheese. The panini itself was very flavorful and the tomato dipping sauce it was served it added extra flavor. Honestly, the «dipping sauce» just tasted like some tomato soup. It felt like it just wasn’t thick enough to a sauce, but anyways, that’s just my opinion and I digress.
[[Spanish Latte]] I am a sucker for coffee art, so this (and all their other lattes) are right up my alley. The Spanish Latte was creamy and just sweet enough so that the coffee isn’t just straight up bitter.
[[Matcha Tiramisu]] I was surprised at how good this was! It was sweet, but not too sweet, and the matcha wasn’t overpowering that the entire tiramisu became bitter. I definitely recommend this for a dessert!
[[Organic Green Tea with Boba, Blended]] The green tea was delicious, and I highly recommend it. However, I just wish there were more boba pearls in the drink. C’mon! The drink is basically $ 5 and you can’t give me more boba?!
Obviously, this location is in Laguna Beach, which means that finding parking will be tricky. You can either do meter parking (which do take credit/​debit card), or you can try to find a spot in the neighborhood.

Cute café
Okay location
Slow service
You can either sit outdoors or inside. You get in line, order your food, they bring it to you. Simple! But, the wait was long. Both when inline to order (at least they gave you a menu to look over while waiting), and when you sit to wait for your order.
When we finally got our drinks, it was great. Except, my friends «hot coco» was not hot. It was literally lukewarm. So, when we brought it to their attention, they were really nice about it to bring another one. But, again, it took so long for his drink to come out.
We all sat outside, it was a cold evening, but the heaters outdoors was great to keep us warm. As far as the location, well… it’s right off a very busy street, the Highway!

I went on a Thursday afternoon for lunch. A little confusing how you order food if you come from the side entrance. A good range of seating to choose from, both from inside and outside.
I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and fruit smoothie (strawberry). Took around 10 mins to receive our food, we grabbed a glass of water that was fruit infused very green). The grilled cheese was very delicious and came with a sliced banana and strawberries ¹⁰⁄₁₀ for the food. My fruit smoothie wasn’t great, it tasted overly sweet in my opinion. Didn’t taste like natural fruit but artificial. Won’t be ordering it again.
Overall experience was very high besides the confusing entrance and smoothie. So glad Laguna has this Café here, I won’t be having to travel to LA to get it!

I can’t-even with this place. I’m obsessed… Literally. I’ve eaten here three times within the past month and it just get better every time! The vibe, the décor, the food and drink are on point. Or as my friend Brittany would say, «on fleek.»
The staff is wonderful here. The décor and ambience truly makes you feel at home. The URTH Caffe of Laguna is actually designed as a mid-​century craftsman style home with a large outdoor patio for seating, as well. I have yet to be disappointed with the food or service here. Check out some of my suggestions :)
Pot Roast Sandwich
Grilled Chicken Pesto Salad (Yaaaaas)
Chicken Diablo Panini (spice girls only)
Caramel Latte (hip-​to-​the-​ster)
If you want a chill lunch spot any day of the week with great food and great service definitely check out URTH… But be assured this place is packed so time it right!

I’ll give the TL;DR version first:
Drinks: Great
Deserts: Great
Food: eh, blah, over priced
Location/​vibe: Great
Skip food, order coffee and a pastry
We came for a late breakfast Saturday morning. The line was about 15 minute wait, but we were happy they were still serving breakfast at noon. I am not crazy about breakfast food, so I checked out the lunch menu but because everything was over $ 13 and i wanted to get a specialty drink too I opted for the $ 9 breakfast burrito. My boyfriend also ordered off the breakfast menu, getting the ham and cheese panini for $ 10.
Both my burrito and his panini were fine, but nothing to write home about. My spinach tortilla didn’t taste unique at all, and the tomato sauce they served both with was probably just canned pasta sauce. Even though both were fairly priced, it felt like we spent a lot on things we easily could have made ourselves. One thing I will say was awesome was that they offered guac for my burrito at NO EXTRA CHARGE!
We also split a heated chocolate pastry which was truly wonderful and entirely worth it for $ 4. My iced grean tea with boba was very good and happily not very sweet. He ordered a mint chocolate espresso with whip and my god was it delicious. We sat drinking it for about 40 minutes in wonder at how good it was — this is the real gem here!
The overall vibe is really the fun part of this place. You sit outside and watch the heart of Laguna go by, including the countless wannabe Real Housewives dining around you. We will be back for coffee and a pastry soon!

I don’t understand why they are so popular. We came here for a late lunch on a weekday. We waited in line for 30 minutes and once we had ordered and sat down, it took 45 minutes for our food to arrive. Staff gave us menus to read over while we were in line, which was smart.
I tried the Curry Chicken sandwich. The curry chicken had good flavor and I liked the wheat bread. I opted to have fruit instead of salad with it for an extra $ 3. I was not crazy about the fruit. I also tried a Boba drink made with half and half. The drink was very good, but there weren’t many bobas in it.
Seating was bad for my husband. People kept bumping into his chair. The lunch took so long we had to add more to our parking meter. I wouldn’t go here if I wanted something quick. The food was good, but not spectacular. I don’t see myself coming here again.

Came here last week for my Urth fix. Haven’t been to Urth since I moved to OC so I was super happy to hear they opened in Laguna!
It’s just like all the other locations — situated in a charming house converted into a café.
Honey vanilla latte was good but a bit too sweet for me. Not sure if it’s sweeter than the LA locations or if my tolerance for sugar has declined lol. We received our drinks pretty quickly and I have no complaints about the service like most of the reviews I’ve read so far on Unilocal

I came around 10am on a Sunday morning and the wait time was less than 10 minutes which is great. But if you’re looking for that secluded breakfast spot and super chill and relax environment, I suggest going to the LA one. I, myself, prefer heading to that one than dealing with obnoxious snobs that I’ve encountered here. In fact, one of them literally hit my table number off the table with her humongous purse and didn’t have the courtesy to pick it up or say excuse me.
I’ll say that the consistency of food is the same as the one in LA which is great. The Spanish latte is strong and the pastries are still pretty darn delicious. However, the wait time is atrocious when it comes to receiving your food.
The real difference is that this place is filled with high maintenance people, overworked or underpaid staff, gross bathrooms, and the ambiance or lack thereof.

The blended coffee we got here was a clear 5 stars, I also really appreciated the service here, the staff is working hard to move the lines as quickly as possible.
That would be the one thing that really sucks about this location.
The line. It goes out to the street at all times since they opened a few months ago.
The hype is crazy, given the location and the fact that this is the first and only OC location of Urth Caffe I get it, but it is more than annoying.
The décor and vibe is beautiful, they restored an old cottage to its original state and it turned out fabulously!
Prices are fair and the quality is excellent, I enjoyed my mocha and my husband loved his spanish version with caramel, sweeter than mine.
I really look forward to returning when the crowds have dies down a bit as the coffee was 5 stars and I would want to stop here all the time while in Laguna!

I’ve been to all the Urth Caffes in Los Angeles, from the Arts District to Beverly Hills to Pasadena. I think it’s a great establishment, with delicious baked goods, interesting drinks and healthy options for brunch/​lunch. So, I was naturally thrilled to see the construction happening in Laguna Beach at The Cottage.
First off, location is PRIME. It’s close enough to the downtown LB area, but far enough away to find free street parking in the neighborhoods behind it. Although you’re sitting by the road and not the ocean, it’s still a pleasant and open view. The seating is fantastic.
I’ve been here twice now and my main advice is this…
DON’T GO FOR LUNCH.
It’s insanity! All of the Urth Caffes are busy; however, they move a lot faster and more efficiently than this one. Perhaps they’ll eventually work out some of the kinks in service, but right now, it’s painstakingly slow. I came on a Sunday for brunch (with hesitancy, anticipating the crowds) and although I enjoyed my food, yeah, it took forever. We waited 20 minutes to order, waited 30 minutes for food and then another 20 minutes for drinks.
On that note, coming here on an off-​hour is FANTASTIC. I drive by here on my way to work around 7:30−8am and there’s next to no one. My second time coming here was around 5 PM on a weekday and it was also nearly empty. It’s so peaceful, you get to enjoy your food and drink without scrambling to find a table.
DRINKS: Spanish latte forever. So sweet and delicious. It is a a good starter drink if you haven’t been before. I’d recommend the Moroccan tea latte if you like matcha tea flavor with a kick of mint.
FOOD: All of their brunch items are my favorite. I ate every single bite of my salmon and poached eggs. They’re on toasted ancient grain bread, with wild arugula, capers and lemon marscapone. Both unique in flavor and appealing in presentation.