Surf City Coffee

I have never been there so I cannot say about their services and vibe.
I have been ordering coffee beans from them and they are superb.
I cannot go back to other coffees.

Great coffee decent service here. I’m a huge fan of their Great White blend and Surfers blend. Their cold blended drinks are really tasty as well I think the Hang 10 is the best but they’re all good.
The service at this particular location can be somewhat slow but it’s very convenient near the highway.

I’m no coffee connoisseur, but I like to go to local coffee shops that pick up hype in the area whenever I visit that area to taste their coffee. I was delighted to find this one so close off the highway exit on the way to Santa Cruz.
I was so delighted by their coffee! I heard that all of the coffee beans they use here at roasted locally, so the drinks are so fresh.
Also, they serve really good breakfast sandwiches (that they call DAWNers) and they have Big Sur Bars here, which are kind of hard to find nowadays. Soooo delicious! A must visit!

It pains me to write this 1-​star review but its necessary.
We stayed at the Hilton next door for two nights while in town for a wedding in October. When we checked into the hotel we were all thrilled that there was a coffee shop so close. We are coffee people and much prefer coffee shop coffee over mediocre hotel coffee.
That afternoon we stopped in for a much needed pick-​me-​up. My husband and I ordered an iced americano but my parents didnt want anything at the time. Things were slow and the lady behind the counter (who, after reading more reviews, appears to be the owner) seemed a bit bored– she was a bit over bearing with information and trying to talk my parents into ordering something. My mom said no, but did ask if they brew any organic coffee and the owner frantically ran over to the hot coffee carafes and assured us one particular carafe was organic coffee (even though it wasnt marked as such). She seemed so frazzled with the question and her reaction was a bit much. We told her thank you for the information and that we would be back in the next morning for some coffee.
My dad and I were the ones that walked over to the coffee shop the next morning while my husband and my mom were at the hotel; we ordered their to-​go coffee container filled with their organic brew of the day. Again, the owner seemed a bit frazzled and began filling the to-​go container with the brewed coffee from the same carafe she assured us was organic the day before; although it still wasnt marked. Half way through filling up our to-​go container they ran out of coffee and they had to brew more. She kept saying «its good coffee! really good coffee! It will just a few minutes!»
Meanwhile, I went to pay for our coffee. There was a young girl who was behind the counter helping the owner out and she was the one who rang me up. I asked her for 4 cups to take with us for the to-​go container and she seemed confused. I said again «can I please have 4 cups to take with us for the to-​go container, we prefer not to use the cups at the hotel». Again, she seemed confused but handed me 4 cups. She asked me if I wanted a carrier for them, which confused me, and I just said «no, because Im going to carry the empty cups back with me to the hotel with the to-​go container». I was so annoyed at this point, and had yet to have any coffee, so I just handed her my debit card and signed the receipt even though the total was over $ 30 and seemed a little high for one to-​go container of brewed coffee.
While my dad and I were still waiting on the second batch of coffee to finish brewing so we could get our to-​go container and just leave, I decided to double-​check the receipt. To my surprise, I noticed that not only did I get charged for the to-​go container but I was also charged for FOUR large drip coffees. I went back to the counter and asked the girl why I was charged so much and she said «thats why I asked you if you wanted a carrier! for your 4 coffees!» and I, irritatedly, responded «umm, no. I asked for 4 cups to take with me for the coffee in the to-​go container». She, yet again, seemed confused. Around this time the owner overheard what was going on, I explained that I was overcharged and she told the girl «you NEVER charge a customer for cups with a to-​go container!». Instead of issuing me a refund on my debit card charge, she just handed me $ 10 cash. No big deal for me, but Im sure her tills were off that evening (which seems to me like a bad way to run a business).
The next morning, my dad went by himself to the coffee shop to grab coffee for all of us. He came back to the hotel saying «you’ve GOT to review that place on Unilocal; its horrible!». He showed up and the owner was no where to be found. There were two younger people working there that had no clue where anything was or how to help a customer. He asked for a to-​go container filled with the organic brew of the day and they told him they didnt know what he was talking about. He explained the to-​go container to them and they told him they didnt have anything like that (lies! we got one the day before). So then he asked them for 4 large drip coffee filled with their organic coffee of the day. They looked confused and filled the 4 cups with coffee from one of the random carafes they had full of coffee (remember– none of them were labeled organic). He was irritated with how he was treated that he quickly grabbed the coffees and left.
In summary: this is a TERRIBLY managed place with TERRIBLY untrained staff. The owner barely knows whats happening in her own coffee shop and when she’s not there it seems like her young, untrained staff just make things up as they go.
Also, we are all quite sure that we were lied to about the organic coffee in that one particular carafe. I think the owner knew thats what we were looking for so she made it seem like she had some brewed.
IF they had organic coffee– Wouldnt it be clearly marked? And wouldnt her staff know it existed?
Dont come here.

Relaxed coffee shop with a small selection of pastries and pumpkin bread. I came for breakfast oatmeal and coffee $ 5.75. Lots of topping choices for your oatmeal and the staff recommend adding almond milk too.
Side note: There’s also a small eclectic library of books («What’s good for a 4 year old») and Surf City sweatshirts; the music was KCRW style, Free Wi-​Fi needs to be mentioned too as not all joints provide it.
Big Unilocal points for having a sign «recycle your coffee sleeves». No one says it, no one does it. No brainer.