I recently shared of a wonderful coffee shop in Santa Ana, CA. Today we’ll move to another Orange County city to explore two great coffee shops in Costa Mesa.
Great Coffee In Costa Mesa, California
First, I want to give a shoutout to MoonGoat Coffee in Costa Mesa. When I first went to MoonGoat, it was operating out of a rear garage in an industrial campus just off of I-405. MoonGoat now has a proper coffee shop, but more importantly has proper coffee.
MoonGoat Coffee
1985 Placentia Ave
Costa Mesa, California 92627
6:00AM – 8:00PM
My son Augustine and I enjoyed a very nice cappuccino here last year. Very, very strong and tasty coffee. The atmosphere left something to be desired, but the coffee more than made up for it.
Augustine, two at the time, strongly approved:
Next time I’m in Costa Mesa, I’m heading here first to check out the new café, knowing in advance the coffee is going to be top notch.
But I have a second favorite in Costa Mesa as well. If you are looking not only good coffee, but a nice meal or dessert, check out Vitaly (not to be confused with Eataly) in The Camp retail complex.
Vitaly
2937 Bristol Street B103-B100
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
8:30AM – 9:30PM
We actually came here for the Spaghettieis, a lovely German dessert that includes vanilla ice cream pushed through a Spätzle press to resemble pasta, strawberry sauce to resemble to tomato sauce, and white chocolate sprinkled on top to resemble Parmesan cheese.
But the coffee is great too!
So is the pasta…I loved my butternut squash ravioli topped in sage and butter sauce.
The outdoor patio dining is beautiful here as well.
CONCLUSION
Next time you are in Costa Mesa or the vicinity, head to Vitaly for a full meal or MoonGoat for a wonderful cup of coffee. Great coffee is one of the blessings of living in Southern California.
Since I eventually will be back traveling to SNA, I was looking at a map of Costa Mesa and trying to orient myself with where Vitaly was. I was scrolling around the map and saw that the Inka Grill on Bristol is now a Chipotle?!? Argh. Did you ever eat there? It was great. Potentially a casualty of the pandemic…
I did not and looking at pictures now, I am very sorry to have missed it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/orangecounty/comments/e1ukn3/does_anyone_know_why_inka_grill_closed_their/
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/06/14/orange-county-restaurants-shut-down-by-health-inspectors-june-6-14/
Apparently they have another location in Lake Forest.
Renzo’s A Taste of Peru, in Lake Forest, is worth a try. Following years of closure, I believe the owner only recently restarted operations around the end of 2019. Their food is better than their timing.
There’s nothing quite like the aroma of freshly roasted coffee. It’s said that the sensation of taste is hugely impacted by smell. Having a coffee shop co-located with the roasting is a great combination.
Cannot wait to try these great coffees…
Nothing better…and the aroma(s)..to die for…