Tully’s Coffee

Small and at a good location. I come here sometimes when I visit the dollar theater or when I am going to Barnes and Nobles. It’s usually quiet but ever once in awhile, you will see HUGE groups of teenagers being super loud and noisy which is just annoying.
The main problem I have with this coffee shop is the price. It’s more expensive than Starbucks or Peets. The coffee is a hit or a miss. Sometimes it tastes really good, and other times it doesn’t even taste like coffee. They do have a pretty extensive selection of tea though but I’ve never tried them.
Service is just okay. If it wasn’t for the location, I would never come. ²⁄₅

They lucked out that they are right next to a very popular movie theater. Otherwise, I’m usually not a Tully’s fan. But location location location… I am not so much a fan of their iced chai. I’m pretty picky w/​them since it’s my go-​to drink, but mine was a tad bit watery tasting. Can almost be a MEH but I always receive good customer service here so I’ll bump them up a star.

I’m writing this review with the freedom that can only come with hard economic times forcing novelty coffee shops to lay off their expendable employees.
I used to work here and let me tell you, Irvine is the most hilarious place in the contiguous US to work. The picturesque Woodbridge Center is graciously afforded by an array of cosmetic surgeons. Take your pick on which body part you want mutilated while your kids learn how to paint or play an instrument at rates comparable to your plastic surgery. And when you’re done, you can have a skinny vanilla latte that will most likely end up as dribble on your face since your botoxed lips haven’t regained feeling. But most likely you will want to go to Champagne for the cheap coffee and variety of pastries (don’t worry, you’re getting liposuction next week) and go to Tully’s for the bathroom.
Our regulars were awesome. The older generation, those whose children have left the nest, seemed to have more awareness of things beyond the Orange Curtain. The younger generation, the child rearing generation, seemed to have undergone lobotomies (maybe they came free with the tummy tuck). Seriously people would walk in, order their drink, pay, walk out and still not know that they were NOT in a Starbucks. Anyone under the age of 19 in Irvine should be approached with extreme caution. These miscreants were so bad that the Irvine Company (See Umbrella Corp) had to bring in Latino ex-​prison guards to quell the delinquent but privileged yet unsupervised high schoolers that flooded «the Center» every afternoon.
Customers in their mid 20’s had a very patronizing attitude towards the staff which was better than the downright snobby ones. And then there are the Koreans whose level of cheapness was only surpassed by their inability to comprehend «room for cream.» Not to mention the Korean discount offered by the Korean owners of the store, in which one was given a 10 percent discount for being from the land of the Choson. Perhaps I am biased in my opinions against Koreans as I still have not received my final paycheck 3 months after the closure of the store.
I have digressed from the point, this review is one of Tully’s Coffee so here you have it, straight from the mouth of the former Assistant Manager:
1) Half of the time we weren’t even serving Tully’s Coffee.
2) Two Day old pastries. Only some of you poor bastards could tell the difference.
3) If you were a jerk, you got decaf.
4) Who cares how long that coffee has been sitting there, it’s got caffeine.
5) This was the perfect place to film a Pro-​Choice campaign.
With all that said, don’t blame the staff. We did the best we could with what we had, but if you ever noticed that the service and the product was crappy, it was probably because we weren’t being paid.

I love this place because nothing is better than grabbing some coffee and walking to the lake to watch the ducks. Very relaxing. the coffee is decent but the location is so relaxing and peaceful. Even if you wanna just stay at Tully’s, you can hang out and people watch as all the children play around before tutoring and all the other classes that shopping center provides.

Although a few things on the menu are overpriced, I’m still a fan of Tully’s.
The snickerdoodle cookie really hits the spot for me. It’s kind of crunchy on the edges but the middle is nice and chewy. Their iced coffee is good as well.
The rating would be four stars by customer service pretty much sucks, often the person taking my order is rude or inattentive.

Small and cute.
Leah was working by herself and she was super helpful and friendly. I liked her a lot.
I only had a Carmel Macchiato here with an extra shot and I must say it’s tasty. Kept me awake long enough for me to study.
Plus this place is a really nice quiet place to get things done. I saw a lot of people here just minding their own business.

This coffee is the best in town, not to mention when I surprise the wife with a fresh cup, she «loves» it.

Don’t order the mango smoothie… WAAAAY too sweet — I was kinda expecting jamba juice quality. But I guess it’s «fresh.» Still couldn’t handle the sweetness. And a little pricey.
Next time I’ll try their specialty — coffee.

Other than the shitty location, this Tully’s has everything I need in a purveyor of creamy delicious drinkery… YERBA MATE LATTE! If you have yet to have one of these signature Tully’s drinks… your life CANNOT be fully realized or complete. Do yourself a favor and rush to your nearest open Tully’s to rapidly order a vente Yerba Mate latte! Thank me later!!!

I love this Tully’s. I love ALL Tully’s locations. My boyfriend recently turned me onto their Yerba Matte Latte (sometimes called the Yerba Mabba Latte because I’m an idiot) and my life hasn’t been the same since. It is DELICIOUS. I crave it constantly.
Tully’s also has a great selection of pastries. Their coffee cake is twice the size of Starbucks’ and about a dollar less. Right now, they have pumpkin cupcakes and if you haven’t tried one, you need to right now. There is a little maple leaf on top and the frosting is heavenly. It is my favorite sweet treat at the moment. Go grab yourself a Yerba Matte and a pumpkin cupcake… I’m sure it will brighten your day!

I recently visited Tully’s Coffee and tried their Chocolate Chunk Cookie. For $ 1.75, it was a decent value compared to other menu items. I was disappointed that cookeis and brownies weren’t included in their ½ off afternoon pastry special, though.
Until I looked more closely at the cookie, I did not see that walnuts were mixed in. Even though there were very few, it would have been nice if it was reflected in the name. I did enjoy the mix of chocolate chips AND chocolate chunks. The cookie was a little too soft, and with all of the chocolate, it is more likely to satisfy a chocolate craving, not a cookie craving.
If I’m in need of chocolate and don’t want to go anywhere else, I would buy a Tully’s cookie again, but otherwise I will stick with their coffee and ½ off breakfast pastries for an afternoon treat.

Bakery selection is very limited and focused mostly on bars/​brownies and cookies. They do have cheesecake though, so that was a pleasant item thrown into the mix.
Standard franchise coffee shop with standard higher-​end franchise pricing.
Furniture is odd looking and perhaps trying too hard to be kitschy.
Coffee is coffee. I’ve yet to visit a massive (or even slightly massive) café chain and found myself impressed with the brew.
Tea selection is impressive, as with most caffeine-​opolises.
Service is what you would expect for $ 8.50/hr.
Bathroom (singular) is large but not well-​kept. Be sure to wash your hands BEFORE AND AFTER.
If not for the coziness of its location, I’d probably never consider returning, but Tully’s has the same saving grace as the Champagne Bakery next door. I would return because it’s just a nice place to be.
Being next door to a bookstore (Barnes and Noble) gives it a definite boost.

I used to work in the plaza this Tully’s was located.
I went once only and it was enough to convince me never to go back.
First, I didn’t like who was going here.
It ended up being a LOT of high school/​junior high kids just hanging out and being loud and annoying.
Second, I’m appalled by the prices here.
I once got a hot Earl Grey tea with half steamed soy milk and it cost me $ 3.50.
At Starbucks, I get the same thing for $ 2! Wow what a rip!
All their smoothie/​frozen drinks are over $ 4 too!
After that I never went back and I never will.

Nothing special. The guy behind the counter was texting the whole time, and the other employee had to ask him to help me before he put his phone away and stepped up to the register.
In addition to the poor customer service, the atmosphere lacks character/​uniqueness.

Not that thrilled about having bland coffee. I’m not usually a heavy coffee drinker, but I could tell that this was just as mediocre as the Starbucks on campus. Either too watered down or over flavored with sweeteners to take away the taste of actual coffee. Plus the café hours were bizarre. Who closes a coffee shop at 7 pm? It just wasn’t that great. There is free wi-​fi though and the tables are pretty spacious if you plan to study here.

vanilla chai lattes are very good!
super close to uci + free wifi and a lot of space to sit.
what’s not to love

I like their coffee and their customer service. The guy here gave me a free stamp on my ice-​blended drinks (what are they called again?) card. I like stopping by here for a drink and a baked good before going to see a cheap movie at the theater next door.
So far, I’ve had their Caramel Macchiato and their Mocha Bellachino, and the 7-​layer-​bar in terms of baked goods. The bar was a little dry, but nothing my macchiato couldn’t fix.

WORST COFFEE EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD.
Ordered one of their blended coffee flavored drinks. It was a bit watery – but had NO coffee flavor AT ALL. So I politely walked back in and POLITELY said to the young man behind the counter «Hi, my drink has no coffee flavor.» He stared at me and said «Well – I made it right.»
OK. Strike ONE.
Then I asked if there was any way for me to get another with a stronger coffee flavor then (it WAS a COFFEE FLAVORED DRINK!). He actually took off MY lid and TASTED the drink! He then said «Tastes fine to me. But I guess I’ll make another one.»
Right now this guy is lucky I have a little patience because as of about five years back he would have been socked for how absolutely rude he treated me. My next drink was below average and I proceeded to write to Tully’s Inc. via their website. TWICE. Maybe they didn’t get it. THREE TIMES. OK. No response.
Shame on Tully’s. They just don’t care.
I make sure I tell everybody this story too – If they only responded to my initial contact it would have saved them HUNDREDS of people I have turned off from ever wasting their hard earned money again! Go to Peet’s or dare I have to stoop this low – even Starbuck’s – at least they care when something is wrong.
–5 for Tully’s.

There has been been on occasions where we’ve had to stop by for a quick restroom break or water break in our «lake» running route. They’ve been more than nice about it. Located at a prime «chill» location, next to B&N and the dollar theatre. It’s nice here, they have free internet. The service is patient and nice. They close a bit early though, They close at 8 PM. And their smoothie drink is a bit way too sweet to my liking, but overall I can’t take anything away from this place.

UPDATED 07-​03-​2008: the update feature is not available yet probably because I only wrote the review yesterday, but I feel the need to update already. I’m at Tully’s right now. I have to kill an hour’s time periodically during the week while I wait for the young man and this spot is just perfect for me to kill time at. I get to Unilocal,chat with my friends, enjoy free AC and a cold drink — which i DO have to pay for, but a small price to pay for all of the above amenities.
I’m watching people come in here not buying anything just wanting to use the restroom. The dudes who work here are really cool. They’re chatting to me (I’m the only person here) and just chillin’.
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This place gets 5 stars alone on the customer service.
I was in the area and had some time to kill so I went inside to grab myself some iced tea. For a coffee place they had a good variety of iced teas — I was impressed they gave me a choice, but I ended up getting some ginger and peach (I think) which was very good.
The guys behind the counter are hilarious. I asked whether they had wifi and one of them said «yeah and it’s FREE». Then he proceeded to joke with me and made me laugh, so it was all good!
I think I’ll be back again very soon — maybe tomorrow? With my laptop in tow.