Portola Coffee Roasters

It’s ok.
I had a one and one, which is a shot of espresso and macchiato. The macchiato is huge. I mean, usually, it shouldn’t be that size in a standard setting. The cup for their macchiato tasted like a latte with too much milk where you could barely taste the espresso.
I personally like their coffee, just not with the barista and especially with this location, they do an automatic drip. Maybe I’m old school, but I prefer the Japanese pour over method.
I’ve had better.

The pinnacle of coffee! I love this place. It’s super chill and super friendly. The prices are spot on … no extra charge for tax. Superb whole bean coffee and really great vibes. I love that I get to walk here from work :)

I love Portola Coffee, so I was very happy to find that there is a location in the ever so hip 4^th Street Market! I get my usual iced Americano and it was delicious — dark, bold, and strong. Really delicious. The baristas here are also very friendly and fast, so my visit here was very pleasant. There is a lot of seating around — you have your choice of tables, a couch, or a bar. There are also plenty of outlets at the bar, so it’s a perfect place to chill/​study/​use the internet.
I’m just taking one star off because the menu seems a little bit more limited than the Costa Mesa location. But other than that, really awesome place to get a solid cup of coffee.

Believe all the hype. The coffee is amazing here. We had The Royal Tenenbaums. Smooth and strong with a slight orange tang. Warning: You may bounce off the walls for hours after this drink but it’s totally worth it. Probably don’t drive a vehicle through heavy freeway traffic though… we had way too much fun doing that. You will not be disappointed. I would be happy to make the hour drive again.

With the hype and price come expectations which PCL failed to meet. I actually wonder what other coffee roasters PCL competed against in 2015. Was Foldgers, Hills Bros., or Nestle competing that day?

This place is a solid little gem within the 4^th Street Market. My wife and I typically come in the morning and are always served with great customer service UNITL tonight (2÷13÷16).
We were in line waiting to place our order (about four of us) with a few minutes left before closing. One woman in front of us, who was also waiting in line had the chance to place her order but when it was our turn soon after, we were denied service.
I was surprised that these two guys decided to close shop even though we were in line with 5 minutes left before closing. That is not great customer service and they lost some business. If you ask me, that’s easy money.
As mentioned, the coffee and morning employees have been great but please train night staff to have better customer service.

I have never been disappointed with Portola Coffee Lab… Which is why I am hosting my event here on Saturday, February 6^th 7:00 p.m.
When I say Portola Coffee Lab is the best coffee I have ever had I am as serious as a heart attack. It is SOO good that it has set the benchmark for what good coffee should taste like.
In fact, when I rate coffee I rate it on a scale from 1-​PCL. PCL — Portola coffee lab — being the highest rating. Lol jk jk… But it is truly delicious!
Came here today to test out the skype for my linked UYE with Mel B. The test run worked great!
I also had the mocha latté as suggested by
Eric — who was amazingly helpful! The mocha latté was to die for. Creamy. Rich. Decadent. Earthy. Nutty, and slightly sweet. This is everything a latté should be in my opinion. I can’t wait to meet all you great Unilocalers from California AND HAWAII. So excited :)
Definitely going to be an amazing night with an awesome atmosphere :)

Wow ~ was blown away with the depth in the Brown Flat Coffee ~ delicious. Well prepared & roasted to a nice, rich bold taste, very flavorful, excellent blend & tasty to the last drop. I thoroughly enjoyed this cup of Coffee @CoffeeCoaches !!!

Aloha Irvine from Ewa Beach, Hawaii!
Two UYE’s held at coffee shops from different parts of the United States connecting via Skype who would have thought of that?
From the city of Irvine there’s Karim and Heidi enjoying their hot cups of cappuccino sitting in front of the laptop computer.
From the Leeward side of Oahu out in Ewa Beach Mel had reserved a long table and set up his laptop computer. Lynette also helped coordinate by bringing in some raffle prizes for the adults and the Young Unilocalers Club. In attendance at this UYE were Aggie and her daughter, Terry and Joe, Jay (Jam), Kim, Christa with her mom and her two daughters, Sherri and her two little ones, Lien, as well as Judy with her husband and son.
Once the connection was made between the two cities it was time to Skype. I never did video chatting before. Did we needed earphones with microphone to use in order to hear the person on the screen to speak since it was a bit too loud on our end. Maybe it’s best to learn sign language. Then again it helped that we could type via messages while viewing the person on screen.
The Young Unilocalers Club ended up taking over the laptop and chatted up a storm with Karim and Heidi. I know sugar and sweets was a topic of discussion at one point. I’m curious on what else was discussed. :)
No matter what technical difficulties we had during the session there still was a wonderful turnout for this Meet & Greet Ewa Beach/​Irvine UYE.
Karim and Heidi welcome to Unilocal.May you both have a wonderful and prosperous 2016.
⁵⁷⁄₂₀₀

Finally got a chance to visit. Long wait. Very slow service.
However, when the Coffee finally arrived, it looked gorgeous and was delicious!

Modern clean coffee shop, strong almond milk latte, friendly staff, great location on 4^th street in Santa Ana. Easy to access in the morning.

The Tres Leches Latte is divine~~~ My eyes lit up with my very first sip and I couldn’t stop myself from constantly sipping some more. It’s creamy, very sweet, with a kick of coffee flavor. The caffeine also kept me super hyper and super fun: P I’m not a huge fan of bitter drinks, so if you love sweet and indulgent, this is the drink for you.
The mocha was also very good, with a cute heart design drawn with the cream. It’s actually not really sweet at all, and it has more of the bitter dark chocolate flavor. If that’s your thing, then I’d recommend it. My boyfriend’s complaint was that it wasn’t hot enough. You know it’s not hot enough when I can actually sip it right away with no complaints (he thinks it is against the law of nature, but I like waiting until my drinks are lukewarm…)
This Portola located in 4^th Street Market is a very cozy place to grab a cup of coffee and have a seat at one of the tables or couches. A nice treat to yourself, or a great date night.

This place is SO GOOD!
First things first, it’s located at the 4^th street market in downtown Santa Ana. If you’ve ever been to Grand Central Market or Anaheim Packing House, this place has a similar feel but smaller and less busy.
Parking is relatively easy. They have parking structures and since I came on a Saturday, the parking was free!
I ordered an Americano with almond milk (extra cost) and a latte. There was only one person working so when the line is long there could be a wait. The barista was so nice and pulled a really beautiful leaf on my latte.
So now let’s talk coffee. The Americano was 8oz in a cute little white mug. The taste was just perfect! Usually coffee can get a little too better for me but I really enjoyed the taste of it. I took a sip of the latte and liked how it wasn’t too sweet! They have a little counter where people can study and they have plenty of outlets for you to charge your electronics.
Overall, I would highly recommend this place to all my friends not just for the amazing coffee but also for the super relaxing atmosphere!

Best coffee in OC! The Portola Coffee lab is 100% organic. Only natural flavorings and no additives. You can really taste the difference! I’ve had the Vanilla espresso here and at the District in Tustin, both were highly consistent and tasted great! Highly recommend!
Great staff too! Easy to talk to :)

What I ate: Iced soy chai, maple walnut scone
Visit date: August 31, 2015
First time? Yes.
What a cute space! Open floor plan, airy, and lots of seating. This place is a little on the pricey side but it’s totally hip and you pay for the experience I suppose. You can easily spend $ 10 for a beverage and a treat. I had my snack to go – well balanced chai spices and crumbly scone!
If I was local I’d probably stop by more often and hang out. It seems like a good place to spend the morning and work on some reading or writing. I imagine it would get much busier during lunch; the café shares a space with a few eateries.
Parking is metered and easy before 9a.

5 stars for the Tres Leches Latte.
Perfectly-​balanced, semi-​sweet coffee flavor which pairs perfectly with their freshly-​made pastries. I recommend their Maple Blueberry Donut. There’s a unique juiciness to it brought on by the maple syrup that keeps it succulent hours after it’s been made. Their scones, brownies, & even baklava are all delicious, though, & their hefty coffee selections are all high-​quality & pack enough punch to power you through your day. But that Tres Leches Latte, hot or iced, is the way to go!

Coffee bar in the Santa Ana 4^th street market
Really nice baristas who offer to help explain anything on the menu
—24 hour Iced coffee: smooth coffee, pretty impressive
They’ve also got a limited selection of pastries if you aren’t already stuffed from all the other vendors in this market!
NOTE: there are parking meters in the street or its $ 1 per hour in the parking garage

Portola never fails to disappoint! This is the 3^rd location that I’ve been to (OC Mix and District in Tustin are the other two) and their coffee drinks are always consistent. It fits in well here, among its trendy, hipstery food vendors.
I may have received the best service here so far out of all the times I’ve tried Portola, the difference being the super friendly service. The barista was very energetic and conversational with me even while making the drink, which felt like it was helping me brighten up the early Saturday morning when I went :)
PS. Try their Chai Latte… soo goood!

Very few places offer loose leaf tea and I was happy to find this option at the 4^th street location.
There are usually one or two teas that are not listed on the menu and worth asking about.
The process is a lil longer before you get your drink but in turn you dont deal with bags, strings or any mess. Just great tea.
If you love loose leaf tea like I do you have to wander in the market next to them and check out the selection over there.
When Im downtown this spot is a must and I highly recommend trying out the teas here. The coffee is pretty awesome too.
The staff are always friendly and helpful and will share knowledge about the process for those interested in how all the machines work. The tea is not an elaborate machine but the coffee is pretty fun to watch brew.

Easily the best coffee in OC. Staff is friendly and coffee here is always on point. I suggest trying it black. V60 pour over. Baristas here takes great pride in their work. I’ve seen Skyler remake my coffee when the milk didn’t come out right. Quality control! Parking can be a headache during the weekend and after 4pm. There’s metered parking everywhere and a parking lot across the playground.
TIP: coffee here is strong. If you intend to sleep, try their lavender lemonade instead of coffee. It’s perfect for the summer time