SOCAL'S VERY FIRST PHILZ COFFEE - SANTA MONICA

PHILZ COFFEE
ADDRESS:
525 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90401

*parking is terribly hard to find at night!

PHONE:
(310) 451-9500

THIS PLACE WAS FILLED WITH TOURISTS AND OF COURSE.. THE USUAL HIPSTERS

 WHY IS THIS THE TREND FOR TIP JARS THESE DAYS? I ALWAYS SEE PLACES WITH SOMETHING LIKE BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN WITH DIFFERENT TIP JARS FOR EACH. IT'S CREATIVE BUT... I SEE IT EVERYWHERE NOW O___O

 LEFT: MINT TEA HERBAL 

RIGHT: MINT MOJITO COFFEE

Philz Coffee is apparently all the rage up in Norcal. It's basically what everyone that's been to Norcal claims Socal is missing. Is it that good? Well, I honestly am not even much of a coffee person at all but I had to try it when I found out that there's already a Philz Coffee location in Santa Monica that opened 3 -ish months ago (where was I in the loop...?!).

Dragged Kev along on one of my crazy food adventures again. We hit up places like Bachi Burger in Little Osaka (Sawtelle), missed to try Eggslut by a few hours and also hit up his hometown Thai Town in West Hollywood. In the middle of all that we found some time to squeeze in a little caffeine into our bodies by trying to quickly stop by Philz Coffee. Let me tell you why it is hard to "quickly" make a stop. This is not one of those places where you just "quickly" make a stop because...PARKING is terrible. 

When we finally found the shop (frantically too because there was some accident which caused traffic!), we knew we weren't done yet. Parking was the next issue. And it really was an issue. How did all those customers find parking?! Kev and I went around the block probably like 5-6 times. It was a huge pain and I almost gave up. The problem was finding the right parking meter. Most of the meters we found had such strange time restrictions.

Here is an example of the weird time restrictions at the metered parking:

• parking for 2 hours max from 9am to 8pm. 
• no parking 8pm to 9 am

Now that is just an estimate of the times. I don't remember clearly but it was something like that. We'd find a parking spot and then feel super relieved because we'd think OH! FREE PARKING AFTER 8PM AND IT'S PAST 8 RIGHT NOW, but would read the sign again and realize that it's actually not free but illegal, then start the same routine again. 

Eventually we did find a parking spot but it was about a 5-8 minute walk away from Philz Coffee. Parking had cost $1.50. Apparently it's 7 minutes a quarter and we bought 42 min to be safe. 

Side note: I noticed that night there were a lot of tourists from Asia walking around Santa Monica at night! 

Anyways, Kev and I walked in and looked at the big menu. I was quite overwhelmed by the options. Never knew that they have such a variety of drinks... However, I didn't take long to decide because I knew exactly what everyone else usually orders: the Mint Mojito Iced Coffee with Cream (the way they usually make it). In addition we also ordered the Mint Tea Herbal (they add cream with this too).

The ordering process is a bit weird by the way. I'm not used to ordering with the barista first and then paying. Like... I totally could have lied about what I ordered and would pay for something cheaper...has anyone else thought of this ? Or am I the only one with this evil selfish mind... haha So basically, this is how you order: 

• Wait for the next available barista
• Tell that barista what drink you wanna order
• Wait in line to tell the cashier what you ordered and then pay 
• Pick up the drink when the barista calls it out

Kev fell in love at first sip. Seriously. He was so surprised by how good the Mint Mojito Iced Coffee was! Even I was surprised. I don't usually like coffee. I am not even a coffee drinker. But, I must say that this is a drink that I could totally get used to. The Mint Herbal Tea was a hot drink and that was flowery. It was refreshing in a flowery sense and kept me warm during that cold night. I recommend both drinks, especially if you're a mint fan! 

Just trying it once was enough to satisfy me. But if this place was in Orange County, possibly even near my area which means that there would probably be no parking issue, then YES I would get that mint mojito iced coffee more often!


Overall: A+ for the Mint Mojito Iced Coffee & Mint Tea Herbal. If any of y'all ever go, get the Mint Mojito Iced Coffee! It tastes refreshing and not too bitter but you still get that coffee taste! The mint adds a nice touch of flavor as well!