Sootha Coffee

Coffee, espresso drinks and cappuccinos are very good here. Nice little piece of Italy in Korean shopping center in Irvine. But service??? Yesterday, when I stopped by third time this weekend to buy my cappuccino, instead of acknowledging the fact that I am back again to buy their great coffee, barista told me that I have to clean up after myself, putting cappuccino cup in the dirty bin. I do that all the time. I felt very disrespected and this incident spoil for me any charm of cozying up with my cappuccino and relax here. Do they pay their barista enough if he complains about cleaning up couple of coffee cups from the tables? Is not it HIS job?
Going to Portola coffee or Caffecita Organica now, were baristas know me personally and meet me as their friend everyday. And I do put my cup into the dirty bin all the time. Why should not you, if you live in civilized society? Do people who live in Irvine needed to be reminded about that?

Stopped by one night to get some work done. Teaaa was good.

Shitty drinks. Dont buy their milk tea. They dont use the right ingredients. Horrible coffee. But good seating. Also poor service. A young Hispanic worker was very short with me and rude. Drink quality is not so great.

Sootha Coffee was just okay for my taste, but other than that, it has a great study environment.
The interior is nothing too special. I wasn’t a fan of the many different colors of the walls (green, yellow, tan, blue, etc.). However, this is a great place to study because it’s very quiet and spacious. They have a limited amount of outlets but they have free wifi, so try sitting at a spot near the outlets and you’re good to go. They have a huge room in the middle of the café, but it costs $ 10 per hour to rent the room, so unless you have the money, definitely not worth it.
Sootha roasts their own beans and they have the machine placed right behind the cashier which I thought was pretty cool. I ordered their cold brew (brewed for 12 hours), and it tasted super watered down. They also gave me way too much ice so I finished my drink in less than five minutes. The price was fairly cheap ($ 2.95), but I’d rather go pay extra money for better quality coffee.
Don’t worry about parking because there are many spots available. Staff members were nice and friendly. And someone needs to change the closing time on Unilocal because they close earlier than 10 pm on the weekdays (I believe it’s 9 pm now).

The main cashier (male) that’s usually there has been rude and impatient for the fourth time I’ve been here in person. On the phone as well, I’ve been hung up when calling to ask for hours.
** warning: their hours are shorter than what is actually posted on Unilocal.For example, Saturday hours are until 9 pm but Unilocal is showing 10 pm.
Otherwise, the coffee is alright. Better espresso than Starbucks in my opinion, but on a lower par than Portola (personal favorite around OC).
Good space in the back for studying with some outlets available, and usually not too noisy.

Owner/​staff are polite and attentive, but coffee was only OK. Like the private room that can be reserved.

It’s a lovely walk to Sootha from where we live, through parks and down paths covered in flowers and cobblestone. If you are in the area I recommend grabbing your coffee to go and exploring the adjacent walking paths.
The coffee here is decent. I love that they have a soy milk option in lieu of cow’s milk. But I ordered an iced latte and it tasted mostly like soy milk — the caffeine was lacking. Next time I’ll have to remember to add a shot.
The shop itself is cute and had a good amount of seating with tables and free wifi. There’s a large room in the middle that can be rented out.

Whenever I am going to Zion Market, I stop into Sootha for a cup of coffee. Months ago they had this really cool design on their cup (a bonsai style tree) that had me leaning towards their way over Starbucks. I am a sucker for cute paper coffee cups. Long story short they took these cups away and now have a plain paper cup with a brown folded sleeve.
The coffee is fresh, hot and strong. I always find myself having to ask for skim milk when I get to the sugar/​cream station. They usually only have the cream out but have no problem bringing the skim gallon to me whenever I ask.
Free wifi. There is a large room with glass walls and a door, that could sit 8 – 10 people in the center of the shop. This room is available by the hour for $ 10. Ideally I imagine this being great for students who don’t want to trek to a library or find room in Starbucks. There is also outdoor seating available.
I haven’t had the desire to try their lattes, iced coffee or pastries but i’m sure they’re good. I don’t know if they do latte art. I’m usually only popping my head in here to get coffee while I shop next door. Solid 3 stars.

I love coming here to study. Perfect place to meet friends to study with. They have a separate room for bigger groups if you need more privacy. You can even reserve a time spot for that room like a library. Coffee drinks are yummy. Chill atmosphere, decent pricing.

Great latte. Strong and bold flavor that got better as it cooled. I got mine with almond milk for an extra 50c. Pretty latte art too. Barista was very friendly despite being the only one there, having to work both the espresso machine and the register. Tables were clean with a decent amount of seating, inside and out. It wasn’t very crowded and I was there on a Sunday morning at 10. Just a couple of suggestions… some music would liven the place up. It was incredibly quiet inside, so you could hear the conversations at the tables near you. The cream/​sugar area could have used a wipe down.

I came here on a Monday afternoon to get some work done and was happy to have found a quiet little coffee shop. They have various seating areas for customers throughout their shop. individual tables, a group study room, tables outside and seats if you’re simply waiting for your coffee to-​go. The only downside is that they don’t have much outlets available so if you’re planning to stay long, come with a fully charged laptop!
I ordered their iced caramel latte which was just perfect… strong, but lightly sweet and creamy. I believe they only have one size since I didn’t specify but it was $ 4.50 for my drink which is pretty standard for most Korean coffee shops. They also offer ice blended coffees, smoothies, milk teas, sandwiches, waffles and shaved ice.
I stayed for about 5 – 6 hours and I was pleasantly surprised that it stayed pretty quiet the entire time. I will definitely be back…

Unpleasent experience (staff)
I am a software engineer and spend alot of time in coffee shops. Being able to find a coffee shop with a good environment is a big part of my life and i have alot of experience doing so.
I came to this coffee shop and it seemed to have a good set up, they even have a conference room you can rent out, which is an ideal to hold web conferences at, the office can be boring alot of the times.
Unfortunatly the staff was very hostile with me. While i was ordering he was very short with me like i was inconviencing him.
Then i asked him what the wifi password and he told me to look at the sign right there like i was an idiot for asking .
Then i came back and asked for the name of the network name and he said its on the sign, it wasnt. He very abraisevly told me that it was the name of the coffee shop.
For the second time not only making me feel bad for asking, but also making me look stupid.
Young hispanic chap. needs to work on his customer service skills.

Lots of seating spaces with large desks make for a good study space. Only con is that it gets really hot inside with the sun beams. You also can’t order small bobas. Minimum size is a medium (though it is pretty small).
10% student discount for the month of February

Excellent coffee and a great place to study! Parking is plentiful in this plaza. There are lots of tables in the back and wifi. Everything is very clean and I was comfortable here for hours. I ordered the iced coffee and it was perfectly roasted, perfect for a hot February day (ugh SoCal). I’ll definitely be coming back here more often to get work done and try out more of their drinks.
Only con: this place is close to two high schools so in the afternoon, groups of noisy high schoolers will hang out here while waiting for their parents to pick them up. I encountered two such groups within 3 hours of studying here. Bring headphones just in case!
They have a study room that costs $ 10/​hr and can be reserved ahead of time. Pretty cool if you have a large study group I guess!

I was looking for a girl’s date location over some warm drinks. I found this place on Unilocal and this café is a pretty cute and cozy place for some good drinks and conversations.
I ordered the Vanilla latte and my friend ordered the Chai latte. Price can be pretty steep (I mean, come on, it’s Irvine). My latte was pretty good and definitely kept me up for the rest of the night.
There’s plenty of tables and chairs for people to chat over a cup of coffee. There is a private study room inside, but I am not sure if reservations are needed or what not, but you can always call beforehand and ask. But other than that, I wouldn’t mind coming here again.
Parking is easy. It’s located in the same lot as Zion market. Credit cards accepted.

Sootha coffee has been around for a while but we never ventured much beyond Starbucks. Interestingly when we found Tomo, we realized that there’s a whole world out there. So one day when I was really craving a nice mocha, I decided to try Sootha. Boy it was good and it sure was nice to see latte art. Feels like every cup is handcrafted with love. I brought the husband here and he loved the espresso.
They actually offer a three-​part home barista class to teach coffee appreciation. We happened to be here on the afternoon when they were running the espresso drinks class and managed to join the class. Yoo, the owner is very knowledgeable about coffee and brewing, and very willing to share. He also shared his philosophy that coffee should be accessible and enjoyed by everyone. At the end of the class we all got to make our own latte, which was a pretty cool experience.
This place has become our regular hangout. The atmosphere is really relaxed, nice coffeehouse music, and a number of regulars who hang out here gives it a community feel. The prices are also very reasonable. They also have a private room that can be reserved for $ 10 an hour, which is great for people who need a small meeting space.
My only complaint if any is that one of their baristas, who makes good coffee by the way, just has an attitude. That’s the only reason we’re starting to stay away a little. There’s only so much sarcasm one can take.

Goodbye Starbucks. Your poor quality coffee does not compare to this place. Found this cute, little Korean coffee joint today after shopping at Zion Market. I don’t like my coffee too sweet so this place is perfect. I ordered the hazelnut latte with soy milk. The texture was silky so I downed the drink in seconds.
The staff was friendly and there’s a good amount of seating inside and outside so it’s perfect for those who want to go there to kick it/​chill. A+ for me.

My boyfriend and I were looking for a coffee place to go to that isn’t Starbucks, and we came across Sootha. It’s close to home and has good reviews on Unilocal,so we decided to check it out. The verdict? Delicious coffee, and the place has a very homey feeling! We were back there 5 more times within the next 2 weeks. Obsessed? Yes.
[[Coffee]] The coffee is strong and has a doesn’t have that burnt taste like Starbucks sometimes does. You just have to try it out for yourself to see. You won’t be disappointed.
In fact, the coffee is so strong that we had the coffee at around 8 PM and we were up until 4 AM. I usually do not get affected by caffeine like this, but this coffee definitely kept me up. Where was this when I was in college?!
[[Food]] The croissants/​muffins/​snacks are delicious as well, but I think it would be better if they would be warmed up.
This would be a good place to come and study, since there’s free wifi and even a study room with a huge table in there. For the study room though, I saw a sign that says it’s $ 10/​hr. You can even book the room in advance if you’re gonna have some sort of meeting.

Great place to get some work done! I’ve been to Sootha Coffee a couple times now, and every time has been a positive experience. This is the kind of coffee shop where you see customers coming back – there was a handful of people who seemed to be regulars here.
Café Latte —
Their latte is strong and creamy with cute latte art on top. The aftertaste with this coffee is very pleasant! To be honest, I’m a tea drinker, but this is slowly convincing me coffee ain’t so bad.
Milk Tea (W/​Green Tea Flavoring) —
Their green milk tea is different than most places I’ve been to. It tastes earthier and it’s sweeter than what I am used to. I’d recommend sticking to their coffee selection.
Sencha Green —
Sootha Coffee gets their tea from
, which is a pretty tasty choice! In terms of tea in individual packets, this is one of the better ones, but it’s pricy.
Atmosphere —
Free wifi. Soothing (semi-​loud) music. Nice variety of interior décor. Uncomfortable seating and small tables. There is a private room that you can make reservations for. If you want a larger working space, you may be lucky if no one has a room reservation because there is a single large table in there.

I ordered the Chai tea latte, which came out hot, but tasted watered down. Overall, lacking flavor.
In terms of studying, I’m on the fence. They have a study room you can reserve for $ 10/​hr (not sure if it’s overall or per person) during certain hours. First I’ve heard of, being charged to study in a room. Also, half the tables outside are uneven. I observed napkins tucked under some table legs in order to even out the table and personally tested each table (because I have nothing better to do, aside from studying). Never ran into this problem before either. There are only two outlets available outside of the study room.
Aside from the aforementioned, I like the ambiance and spaciousness of this place and had no issues with the Wi-​Fi. They play upbeat instrumental music if that’s what gets your neurons firing.
Would I study here again? TBD.