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| - Took my friend for a cup a coffee - my first time there, never even heard of this brand before. The place is very cozy, beautiful decor all around, even the floor concrete had a cool design. The bathroom was very clean as well. The staff was friendly and prompt, and as soon as we set down outside my friend said, "wow, this place feels very european!" All of a sudden someone addressed us with a very heavy european accent - it was their server, making sure we were all set to enjoy our coffee. He turned out to be from Europe and was super nice to take probably 8 pictures of us (with 2 phones).
Now... the coffee we ordered was "Nutella Latte" (we asked for most popular); came out beautiful and in a large cup! We also ordered two pastries: a muffin and an apple danish. My bill for two cups ($5.50 each) and pastry was $17 with change. $5.50 for a cup of coffee is very expensive! But I decided that it was worth it based on the ambience of the place... they did an excellent job decorating and finding authentic decor pieces to display around the register. BUT once I tasted the coffee, it was lukewarm. I was very surprised because every time I order a latte at Coffee Bean or even Starbucks it is always very hot. The taste of my Nutella Latte wasn't anything special at all even though the name sounded very delicious.
Anyway, we enjoyed our treats and a good conversation on their patio for about two hours and at the end when we were leaving my friend never mentioned anything about the coffee even though she told me she really enjoyed the pastry. I can only assume that her latte wasn't great either. Long story short, YOU PAYING $5.50 for a cup of coffee at Sambalatte is basically you paying $3.50 for lukewarm but beautiful large size latte PLUS $2 for tips already included like in some places in Europe.... At the end of the day, Sambalatte reminded me of France... pretty, too expensive and overrated! I think Coffee Bean's latte for $3.50 tastes way better and is easier on your wallet especially when you invite a friend. I don't think I will be returning to this place, may be only to take pictures of the decor. ;-)
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