Clay ‘N Latte

Clay and latte bad place

If you support the arts in Vista, do not support this store (they are overpriced, too). VERY unsupportive of VUSD’s Festival of The Arts (a one day festival that showcases almost every Vista school in some art form or another). Owner claims it keeps customers from entering her establishment. It actually probably brings more foot traffic, but whatever. I have had several parties there, but no more. I will find a new venue. How about you?

as a former employee and long time customer i have some tips and observations for you. first off this is a local family business, not a big chain. She employs a lot of local youth, starving artist and genuinely fun and knowledgable people. there are many specials. mondays, weds and fridays to make it affordable… just ask. the Studio fee covers every supply you need, paint, brushes, stamps, stencils, silkscreen, food safe glazing and firing and any help the staff can offer. this fee is good for the ENTIRE day. you can start your work, leave to watch a movie, get lunch etc and come back later if you wish. always ask the staff if you arent sure how or what you want to achieve, you would be amazed at all the tools n tricks they know. and if they dont the owner herself is always avail on their speed dial to get the answers. remember, your peice is your art, while they love to help, its not their job (or yours) to make it perfect. what fun is that?! it can be as simple or complicated as you choose and your skill level allows. CHILDREN. they love em! let em get messy it washes off, let it be imperfect, let it be theirs. you will both have a better experience! and although most kids want to paint figurines, the better bet is to choose a small plate. theres less stress and pressure to make it ‘perfect’. its easier for them to do handprints, polka dots, stamps etc. especially if your child doesnt have a long attention span. most importantly just let em do it themselves, as a mom whos daughter was raised painting here, trust me … the best way to avoid antsy meltdowns is to just them have fun with it. there is no age limit and kids do fantastic here!

First time at Clay & Latte today! We are a large family so things are pretty costly but thankfully they had an awesome special for September. The staff was absolutely amazing, helped us in every way from getting color refills, to fixing mess ups and even printing a design to trace! A random idea that ended up turning into a great family outing. We can’t wait to go back!

This place is adorable! The staff is super friendly in helping you complete your project and explain the steps necessary to make magic happen. I had to do a project off-​site with 35 children. They were helpful in getting me a «to-​go» project box and explained how to use the tools in the kit and what would make the project the best. I will definitely be coming back!

My girls had so much fun painting coffee cups for Dad’s birthday. The staff was very attentive, helpful and true artists themselves. I picked up their peices on Friday and could not be happier! Thank you for an amazing memory that we’ll cherish for a lifetime. We will definitely be back in the near future with the while family.

My kids love this place! They have done the summer camp for several years and always being home fantastic and interesting art. Friendly staff and Becky is awesome:)

Overpriced pottery, not all staff members helpful and friendly (especially upon first visit when customers need a little direction and are in a group with children) and the bathroom was dirty and unkept.

I have been meaning to write this for a while. I always have a blast when I come here. I have brought children and adults. The lighting is bright and the room is always clean and cheerful. This place has a studio fee for every time you come. You only pay half the fee when you are working on a continued project. I find their staff friendly and helpful. They are happy to give painting advice. They prefer to pour paint and get items for you. While this is not important to me, this place’s name is deceiving. The good news is that if you really want coffee with your clay, Starbucks is right down the street. They usually finish ‘firing’ the pottery with in a week. I have left my pieces there up to 6 weeks and they still hadn’t thrown them away.
I want to mention they have a glass mosaic/​bead making option. I have not tried this yet. My friend made a necklace and it turned out wonderful.
Another thing to mention is that they look like they organize a lot of fun events.
In all honesty, I go here because I like to paint ceramics and it is the closest ceramics place to my house.
Moral of the Story: expect a studio fee each time you go, bright and cheerful work area, staff likes getting things for you, go to Starbucks down the street if you want coffee.
Edit: In coming here, I have learned a couple things from their friendly staff.
1) They have a non-​compete clause in their lease in terms of coffee sales.
2) They have a Keurig. Each person gets a free cup.
3) I forgot to mention they have daily deals for family and military
Still, only thing that gets me is the studio fee for every time I come. Granted, I try to consider the value of of my project. On average, I spend about 10 – 15 hours on a project over the span of three days, which, averages out to roughly $ 5 a day, not including your ceramic piece. You can spend more at the movie theater.
Tip for parents with kids 7 and under. You will not need to paint a piece, your kid will probably need your help. I brought a 5 year old here and she was occupied for ½ an hour with 2 ceramics pieces. These are great presents for family members!

I’m not sure why there are so many negative comments! You shouldn’t give a store a low score because your children have problems sitting still.
Anyways my husband and I just moved here and thought wed try this place out as a fun date night. we painted 3 things so the total with studio fees was $ 50(which gets pricey but a one time thing is fine with me) I’d definitely go back, the staff was really nice and helpful. Mondays are military discount days so we plan on doing a Monday next time.

Great music accompanied a great environment to let out a beautifully painted mug with the help of a very friendly staff. Complimentary coffees allowed my friend and I to have our last jolt of energy to put on the finishing touches on our mugs.
Nirvana to Run DMZ and everything in between were great music to inspire my beautifully painted mug. I had a set idea of how I wanted my mug to look in the end and they helped me achieve that beautifully. They have many other ceramic items to choose from including coffee mugs, plates, bowls, dog bowls and ornaments. I would say very fair prices on the ceramic items as well.
If you ever happen to be traveling through Vista and you’d like a little art therapy for yourself, I would highly recommend:
Clay ‘N Latte!

Really cute little café venue to pick out cermaics and paint it. i recommend going on Wednesday so you don;t have to pay the studio fee. The ceramics are pretty expensive (a coffee mug is $ 15) and then you pay an $ 8 fee for the paints and using the studi, all of that can add up! Come during the week when it;s not too busy!

Not sure why the low rating. Clay N Latte have a great selection, helpful staff, and a «feel at home» vibe for young and ‘more mature’ alike. Great location too. Love this place!

I went to Clay ‘N Latte quite a few times for birthday parties when I was younger and always enjoyed creating my own work of art and then picking it up a week later, freshly fired and shiny.
For Mother’s Day this year, my mum reserved herself, my sister and I a spot. The deal was that all mom’s could paint without paying the studio fee ($ 8 value), got a flower and chocolate. The idea was really cute, and executed simply by snipping a single daisy off a bunch when each mother arrived, wishing them a happy Mother’s Day and indicating where the bowl of Halloween fun-​size candy was. I was expecting the moms to be able to select a chocolate from a Whitman’s sampler box, or at least something a little fancier than Halloween candy in a bowl. The idea was sweet, though.
I selected a butter dish ($ 20 + my $ 8 studio fee) to paint, while my mum and sister chose coffee mugs ($ 10 each). The price seemed fair and we certainly got our money’s worth, painting for a solid 5 hours. Being a group of artists, we perfected every brush stroke until it was just «perfect».
The staff was very friendly and helpful, giving us a run down of how everything worked, keeping our paint replenished and helpful tips on how to achieve the best finished product. The three of us minus my mum’s studio fee came to around $ 60. Bring your patience, it’s a time consuming project, but it’s a fun way to spend the afternoon.

I had to go back & remove the 1 star I gave this company. It is sad that the company contacted me after my review and said I gave a bogus review. I have been to this shop many times in the past, but will no longer. Instead of fixing my problems. They choose to push blame on me. Good luck.

Another customer here who bought and was mislead by the Groupon. Bought and went with my daughter, first and last time. Place was busy and service was ok. Deal wasn’t really much of a deal as you pay for two studio fees (so $ 14.00), then pay $ 20.00 for the Groupon, so far you are out $ 34.00 and then get a $ 40.00 credit applied, so a whopping savings of $ 6.00 on the already overpriced ceramics pieces. I see the owner has responded to some of these complaints but as you can see… the wording is not clear. Most places that issues deals or coupons do so in the following format: you pay X — you get Y. Apparently, the format for this «deal» is: you pay X, get Y, and pay Z. So not only has Groupon and Clay and Latte lost a customer, I will be sure to spread the word. Thankfully a new place has opened locally in Oceanside called Missus Potts.

Clay ‘N Latte was a very confusing place. I bought the groupon: $ 20 for $ 40 worth of pottery and studio fees for two people. I, personally, had read this as $ 40 to cover pottery, as well as covering studio fees for two people. When I went there with my boyfriend however, we were informed that it was only $ 40 for the whole visit.
So studio fees are $ 8 per person, which only leaves $ 24 for the actual pottery. And here where their selection becomes a problems, because the vast majority of it is small childish figurines. Lots of little unicorns, charm boxes, cats. There are a few kitchen items such as small bowls and mugs, but everything was over $ 12 dollars. To make anything useful, you are guaranteed to spend an additional $ 20 on your trip. They had a few vases and such, but everything there was really small.
When we saw this, my boyfriend offered to just sit and watch me paint, so that we could reduce the studio fees and apply more to the actual pottery. The girl working there said that we HAD to charge two studio fees, even if I came alone. Overall she was not very attentive or helpful. We walked in and were afraid that they weren’t even open because she was in the back, alone. Only after we browsed around for a while and called out did she even come up. Then after informing us of our options, went to the back again.
Groupon will not refund my purchase, so I am just going to gift it to someone with kids. This place looks like it would be a lot of fun for small girls (nothing really masculine to paint) as long as you can find someone to help you.
Also, very confusing is the «Latte» part of the name. Maybe they are open to you bringing food or drinks in? I don’t remember anything of the sort being offered.
Overall, service was not impressive, barely any selection for adults to paint, and nothing really appealing to this place. If you are considering buying the groupon — please be warned that personally, this was a very misleading and disappointing purchase.

I love Clay n Latte, sure this location gets a little busy on the weekend but nothing is better then putting on my head phones and painting. The girls who work here are all really friendly — Mia and Paige are super sweet — and are always ready to help with ideas and colors.
There is a sitting fee but it covers all your supplies, clean up and using their kiln. There are lots of cute cheap pieces and if you are looking to do something bigger they have plenty of selection. It seems like every time I go there are new pieces plus ones to go with the current holiday.
I highly recommend this location for a simple hang out or a party. Its a great place for people with kids or adults needing some arts and craft time

Being a Vista Local, I want this place to succeed and to make our city better. It just does not seem to try!
A group of us from work thought it would be fun to get together for a work party one night at this adorable ceramics café. We thought we could then display our creation at the shop, and send all of our customers over to get create their own goodies from Clay ‘N Latte.
Meghan answered, was super nice, said she would find out about doing some group rate for our 8 ladies. Great!
Series of phone calls ensued — final word from the owner being that they would have to charge us each $ 8 to paint our names on the two vases that we were planning to create. That would have totaled over $ 125 for two vases. Perhaps more if the charge to fire it.
We decided to go bowling instead.
Even with lots of warm conversation from Meghan, the owner’s lack of concern, and lack of a thoughtful phone call to tell us why he/​she is so strict with their $ 8/​person policy did not leave us feeling «fired up»…

I’ve been to Clay-​n-​Latte before, mostly with my niece’s. I went last week with my youngest niece (9yrs old), who remembers well coming to Clay-​n-​Latte before (maybe 5 – 6 yrs old then). She remembers having fun selecting and painting her project and was excited to do it again.
There was nothing I wanted to paint myself so my niece painted alone. She choose her kitty after carefully looking at every piece that caught her interest.
The employee (I forgot her name) was extremely helpful and very patient explaining to my niece what she will be doing and to make sure to ask for help if she had questions. We were lucky because we were the only ones there for about 45 mins before other crafters arrived.
I’ve been here when it has been extremely busy (summer break). I will not go on the weekends. And I have been there when younger employees were working, some helpful one time and another time, not helpful. This time around the help was great.
I think the pieces are on the pricey side, so if you can find a coupon for your sitting fee that may help you out a little, but just a little. But, I think it is fun for a child to experience this place at least once. I agree with one of the Unilocaler’s, not good for little, little ones, I think 2yrs and under is too young, maybe even 3yrs old.
You are allowed to bring outside food in. They do have candy and some drinks available for purchase. Enjoy and bring your camera :)