LION Coffee – Gaslamp

Stopped in here on a chilly windy day to grab a hot drink to warm up with. Got the vanilla chai tea latte with almond milk. Almond milk drinks can be tricky and some places can’t seem to manage it, not the case with Lion Coffee! The chai was absolutely delicious and I would certainly order it again. Didn’t get a chance to try food but it seems like they have a good selection of acai bowls and other treats. Wish the inside was a little bigger with more seating as it was a little tricky to find a place to sit. Did see quite a few people coming in and buying ground coffee so it must be good, will have to try some next time!

Oh, Lion’s coffee, how I love you. This place is dog friendly for starters, as is most of San Diego. And they play Bob Marley and sublime! The coffee is always wonderful with plenty of dairy free options. The food is great, but I’ve only had the acai bowls. I must admit, I have an obsession with acai bowls, I could eat them for every meal and be the happiest girl in the world. Seriously, try it!

Like the ambiance. Selection ok. Got a decaf and it wasn’t very hot. Then my husband complained that his coffee wasn’t very hot either. They warmed it up with the espresso machine, but it just says the coffee had been sitting too long in thermos or the thermos’s aren’t very good.
I Like that they have honey as sweetener and almond milk for creamer. I ordered the Pitaya Bowl. My second fruit bowl out here in San D. and I’m realizing that any frozen sorbet just isn’t good for your internals in the morning-​Following Ayurvedic principles. Esp when having hot coffee in contrast with it. It’s like a shock to your body. Please bring back the yogurt bowls. Yogurt is better for you. Maybe just have a scoop of sorbet– not an entire sundae bowl. These could easily serve two people. Sure the sorbet is «healthy» but not at the amount that is served. I’m thinking these frozen bowls will be a passing fad.

I lived in this building for three years where this coffee shop sits in. Before it was lion coffee it was a lame-​ass Starbucks.
This place is way better than Starbucks. I love the fact that we have a Lion Coffee in DTSD. The service here is always better than it was at Starbucks.
The coffee here is always really good and really fresh.

This place has excellent coffee according to my friends, only alright tea, and lackluster sandwiches. The coffee is from Hawaii and represents a great way to reminisce about your sun soaked vacation.
The tea selection is poor and the tea comes in tea bags with tiny bits of tea leaves. It’s therefore bitter and lacks much taste beyond what you’d get in a Lipton tea bag. The tea latte was alright, but way too sweet.
The sandwiches are just made with sliced bread and ingredients you’d find at Ralph’s. But if you’re in a pinch or really want a cup of their coffee, then it will do and at least it’s freshly made.
The last time I came here, it took ten minutes to get my soy chai latte. They did comp me for a free drink. So they were nice about it, but don’t come here if you’re in a hurry.

Stopped by here for some morning coffee and tea. This place is really cute with outside sitting. They had many different coffees, teas and drinks to pick from. The muffin and scone were also amazing. The prices are reasonable. Check it out if your in the area.

I was in town for about a week and a half for work and found this lovely coffee shop that served acai bowls a few blocks down from my hotel.
The staff is friendly and gave us recommendations. Two other coworkers and I were planning on taking our acai bowls to go but one of them told us that there’s a little bit more in the bowls if we ate in, so we did. Out of the two places I’ve had acai bowls during my stay, this one was my favorite! The coconut acai bowl was delicious, sweet (I got it a second time on my last morning) and a perfect start to the morning. My coworkers really liked their Pitaya bowl and Blueberry bowl.
Definitely recommend! Only wish there were more acai bowl options in San Jose. ⁴⁄₅.

As my fiancé and I were strolling through the busy streets of the gaslamp quarter, we got a sudden urge to grab some caffeine. I had actually never heard of Lion Coffee ’til we stopped by and I was surprised to find that it was from Hawaii! When I found out they had a toasted coconut flavored coffee, my heart practically stopped beating. I love anything that’s toasted coconut! So I got a 16oz and it’s the best BLACK coffee I’ve ever had! And I never drink my coffee black! That flavor was one of kind and I’m so bummed that there’s not enough locations out here! I’m definitely coming back for more coffee and to try out their food. Also, I appreciated the authentic hawaiian jams they played overhead.

Place: Fun, small café style, bright Hawaiian themed
People: Welcoming, fun, good recommendations
Order: Pitaya Bowl with honey and Berry bowl added bananas
Review: Very sweet (too sweet for my taste) but still pretty good. Pitaya tasted better than the berry in my opinion
Will go back to try a Hawaiian smoothie (they sounded good)

5 stars for the Waimea Bowl, it was delicious.
3 stars for the service.
My brother and I were kicked out at 6:02, when they closed at 6 (although I checked before we went and Unilocal says they close at 7 (might wanna fix that)).
Anyway, I understand them telling us to hit the road if we were just hanging out. But I had a few bites of my acai bowl left! Couldn’t I have finished them and then left?
Any business owner (and hopefully employee) knows how important customer service is to their company. It doesn’t matter how good your product is, which in this case, is amazing, the customer is going to remember their direct interactions with you. The fact that she «kicked us out» 2 minutes after they’d closed without letting us finish was disappointing. It sucks cause this place was an instantaneous favorite for me until the last second.

We were about to hit Richard walker down the street but the line and the 3000 calorie meals made us look for a healthier alternative. So glad we found this place!
We ordered a pitaya bowl, acai bowl, and an iced vanilla macadamia coffee. Pitaya and acai are both super fruits and they have a cool poster up to explain the differences. We decided to try one of each and our favorite was definitely the acai. The pitaya was a bit more bitter although cooler looking because it was this bright shimmery fluorescent purple/​pink.
The iced coffee was so amazing that I didn’t need any creamer or sugar. After living in Hawaii I must say it brought me back to the island lifestyle that I miss. Definitely a must try when you want a heal their start to the day!

I stopped in here for a quick coffee meeting, (tea for me) a few weeks ago after walking right by it many, many times for years and years. I was early so I placed my order, plopped down at a table and got to work on my computer while waiting for my partner in crime to arrive.
The place itself is small but by no means tiny. It seems that most choose to sit on the patio while about half of the tables inside were full. I must admit, it proved to be a very convenient place for a downtown meeting and both of us really enjoyed our drinks, but also commented a few times that Lion Coffee may have the loudest blender on earth. Seriously, every time they kicked that thing on we had to pause in order to not miss what we were saying to each other. To tolerate that noise, those must be some delicious smoothies!

I really love big train vanilla chai tea lattes and was happy to find that Lion Coffee makes them just perfect. I also had their coconut macadamia tea which was delic. Reminds me of the islands :)
It seems really popular with the locals, lots of people buy their K-​Cups. I didn’t try their smoothies but they look really good and have real fruit in them.

I was trying so hard to like this place! And now I will sadly not be returning. As much as I like the atmosphere, and the service is friendly. …there is to much wrong to spend so much money here.
It’s to expensive. An acai bowl is 7.95 and it’s tiny. Vitility tap around the corner is the same price, alot bigger, and healthier.
It takes forever. It can take up to 10 minutes to get your drink. I’ve often received my acai bowl before my latte.
The food, if I could give a less than 0 star for the sandwhiches, I would. I tried it once, gross! See the picture below… it’s 7 $ on cheap thin bread, and the meat? Think of the cheapest, slimiest lunch meat (like high school or crappy cafeteria food) …that’s what’s on this sandwhich. So disgusting! I couldn’t eat it. I wanted to ask them if they were serious when they brought that out.
The last time I got that sandwhich, I got a latte as well, and it had really hard pieces of what tasted like powder in it that when I bit down it hurt my teeth. I didn’t have time to go back before work, so I grabbed starbucks, knowing it’d be fast and tastes fine.
Won’t be going back here and throwing away 7 – 15 $ each time. You shouldn’t either.

This place is really chill! There’s nice outdoor seating and a lot of seating inside considering the shop is small. The environment is really relaxed and very enjoyable to help your day get started.
The service is good and the staff are really personable with customers dining in or taking out.
The POG was really good and the açaí bowl was a good size and definitely curbed my hunger. I didn’t get coffee but the workers were on top of bringing out fresh brewed coffees and it all smelled good. I’ll definitely be trying a coffee on my next visit

the first time i drove all the way down here was in 2012 i believe. I just came back from hawaii & i discovered this place online and i just had to come.
I bought large individual pouches of coffee for my relatives who were visiting from Belgium & they are coffee people. I’m known for getting everyone coffee in my family because, frankly its my best friend. I like the macadamia nut & the Kona. well personally they all are great. this place is truly what had me like black coffee. & probably the only place i can drink black coffee at because Starbucks is garbage. Everywhere is garbage. like i said you can taste the roast in every brew. I went to this place before they build the other two kiosks & now i live in Kearny so i wont be coming here unless I’m in the area. But if you so happen to live in downtown i don’t see what your excuse is. This place is great.
the only thing i would warn someone who has never been to this location is, its in downtown. so you will need to find parking on the street. unless theres some hidden parking lot nearby i didnt catch? dont let that bother you, it bothered me when i first came here but i drove around the block a couple of times and i found parking right in front.

Fresh tasting fruit smoothies AND with the option of creating you own. I got the berries smoothie and it was delicious. I know they don’t add in anything else but the fruit because it taste just like if I were to do it at home.
Next time– the Acai bowl!

Coffee — amazing! I tried the Lion Thai Mocha. Great flavor. If you like Thai iced tea, think of this as it’s chocolate amped up Kona coffee partner. Condensed milk, mocha & espresso.
Food — a-​ok to meh! I had the peanut butter açaí bowl. It was full of strawberries and bananas and I could taste the peanut butter but not so much of the açaí. The color of the frozen mixture was more brown than purple which should’ve been a giveaway. Call me an açaí snob, but I can do this better at home with my own frozen concentrate. And for much cheaper.
This is a cute coffee shop with wifi and seating and friendly people but way pricier than it should be on the food side. I’d go back for the coffee though.

I came from a family where coffee is essential, specifically for breakfast. I must say that the vanilla coffee is extraordinary, also they açai bowls are very tasty. Good service, cheap and as an extra free: Wi-​Fi.
Mahalo.

Ya no hay mas wafles en el menú! Pero su café es excelente, servicio bueno! Y estupenda oatmeal bowl! Buena música!!!

Until my recent jaunt in San Diego, I had not jumped on the Acai Bowl bandwagon. Yes, I knew that Acai was a super food and its antioxidants would benefit me in myriad ways. And yes, I knew that the bowls themselves were known to be pretty fantastic. But I loathed the thought of spending $ 8 + on a bowl with frozen fruit that I could potentially make at home. Despite my reservations and longer wait times, I have no regrets in spending those aforementioned $ 8 on an Acai Bowl at Lion coffee.
The classic version begins with a base of tart, sweet frozen Acai purée and is layered with fresh strawberries, bananas, granola, and coconut. The crunch of the granola meets the smooth, blended berries in a burst of flavor. Its bright, tropical tastes are well suited to the coastal surroundings and leave you feeling light, clean, healthy, and satisfied. The health benefits of the ingredients combined with the enjoyable flavors make the trendy bowl worth every penny.

On my way back to the hotel from Coronado Island I saw this place and planned to go the next morning. I was staying at the Manchester Grand Hyatt and LION Coffee was on the same street.
I love iced Kona Coffee as I like to call it liquid ice! When I saw the iced 24 Karat Kona Gold on the menu I knew it was what i wanted. The 16 oz only had about a inch of coffee and the rest is topped with water. It is a concentrate and it was very strong and kept me up until 3am!
We were going Legoland that day and it really gave me a boost. If they had a Lyon coffee at home, I would go everyday: P