Makai Coffee

Full disclosure– They were absolutely 5 solid stars up until a few weeks ago.
I have been coming to Makai religiously for a couple years and was their biggest fan. Their homemade almond milk was something I dreamed about on a regular basis. Almond milk lattes anywhere else were suddenly so lacking in comparison to Makai’s.
A couple weeks ago I came back from Seattle after having tons of amazing coffee, but still couldn’t wait for my favorite of favorites– Makai. I arrive, SO excited, and order my usual iced almond milk latte, and I find out that Makai is now under new ownership and will no longer be serving homemade almond milk… WTF. I almost lost my shit.
BUT, I went back a week later and saw that the homemade almond milk was still an option on the menu, YAY!!! …except now it’s going to cost and additional $ 2. That’s only slightly ridiculous. $ 1, sure. Even $ 1.50…but $ 2? SEVEN dollars for an iced latte? God damn.
Not only that, but I finally sucked it up and decided, «Okay. Seven dollars. I’ll do it.» only for the barista to tell me that they don’t actually have any homemade almond milk yet, because they need to go buy a new blender.
Dear new owners, don’t put «HOMEMADE ALMOND MILK» up on the menu and give freaks like me hope that they can still get to enjoy overpriced delicious almond milk when, in fact, there isn’t actually any homemade almond milk. That’s just cruel.
Aside from that, all of the other things that attracted me and many others to Makai are now gone. No more pastries from Crema, and no more delicious breakfast toasts and sandwiches.
Like, I can’t.
I’m literally still mourning and sulking and pouting, because my mornings are not the same at all without any of it. Now it’s just another basic coffee place in the area. Granted, it’s still better than a ton of other places, but it’s lost it’s appeal and charm for me. I’m sure I’ll be back, when I’m really desperate… with reluctance. However, I think I’ll be taking my business over to Rose Park, who still cares enough to make their own homemade coconut milk because they know it’s worth it. And, no, they don’t charge $ 2 for it.
Bye, Felicia. I mean Makai*.

This review pains me. Makai was awesome. First they took away the breakfast sandwiches. They were only the best under $ 10, quick breakfast option in the city. Super high quality, with a poached egg on great bread, and great cheese. It was simple and perfect. I could go on but they’re gone now.
Now they stopped sourcing Crema Café pastries and the new ones are garbage.
They used to make the best espresso and espresso drinks in the city, but my cap today was sub par. It was bitter and tastes like they switched to over roasted beans. Not the same quality at all.
I’m really sad about the new ownership. Who buys a business with no passion for that business? I don’t know how anyone could be happy with what Makai is turning into.

Sad day people. Makai was my local coffee watering hole, but no longer. It wasn’t perfect then, but pretty darn great!
I love watching and experiencing businesses jump on new trends in a successful way. Before the ownership change about a month ago Makai was doing a great job at fulfilling the high quality coffee/​food tastes of its local community-​it was just getting good, and I was excited about the new directions. As an LB native, I’m just sad to see a local business that I would frequent so often go down the toilet, causing a back pedal effect in this town in terms of the positive and progressive local community HIGH QUALITY coffee/​healthy eats business trend. How do we keep this from happening?!
The good news is that it will drive more people to Rose Park Roasters — a great local spot!

The only reason I’m giving them one star is because there is no option for zero stars. This used to be my favorite coffee shop and now they serve very poor quality coffee.

Just when this coffee place became a brand known for delicious food and quality brews, the new owner takes over, swaps thick slices of homemade bread for store bought wonder bread. He drops the cooked menu altogether rather than invest in sustaining a menu that was so popular locals stood in line to order from it.
Locally sourced baked goods used to be the pride of this place. Now its a memory. I went there recently a few more times because the new muffins are okay, but when i heard the religious pop music playing overhead, that confirmed my total dislike of this new bad vibe that’s taken over the place. Memo to the new owner: I’m not converting to anyone’s faith and Cost cutting doesn’t equal more traffic. In fact, I used to be a regular, now I’m a regular NO SHOW.
UPDATE: Apparently, the owner has no clue that religious pop music was playing overhead on the morning I was there, at least according to an email I received after posting this review. I’m relieved and disturbed by that fact. Hopefully, that music won’t be playing again. While I’m flattered by this attention as evidenced by such a quick email criticism of my review, I think the bigger point is lost here: I am upset about and am grieving the loss of my favorite coffee experience and that’s the bottom line. This review never was a personal attack on anyone. How unfortunate it was taken that way.

Such a bummer, Makai. Such a bummer. This was THE go-​to coffee shop for my wife and me. We used to go out of our way for the coffee, the lattes, and the delicious food — especially the avocado toast. They always had good music playing and the vibe overall was super chill.
But the new owner has taken everything that was good about it and flushed it down the toilet. The food is now terrible — the pastries used to be sourced locally and were delicious, but now they get bulk pastries from the same distributor as Coffee Bean. They have changed the milks they use for espresso drinks, and the rest of the food has really gone to crap. And I’ve heard much to the chagrin of the baristas and the customers he is even going to change the coffee, probably to something bulk and cheap.
Why not just put a Keurig at the front of the store and call it a day? Why would you take such a good thing and ruin it? When you lose the support of your loyalists/​locals in a location like this, where do you suppose your business will come from?
We will not be returning to Makai. Instead, Rose Park or Portfolio will be our go-​tos in the neighborhood.

This place used my go-​to coffee shop just like everyone else. It’s sad to see Makai go to waste. I had gone when things were finally transitioning into the new ownership & this was my experience:
It was morning and I took a friend for breakfast but they had NO FOOD. Aside from the fact that they still had their menu out.
My friend ordered a Mocha and it took 30 MINUTES for it to be ready.
WIFI super slow. Not idea for working.
Everything seems disorganized and everyone is not on the same page.
I recommend Steelhead where a few of the baristas from Makai are at now.

I’m so disappointed and heartbroken. This was my go to place every single day for two years. More often than not, twice a day. I’d laugh when I’d see my bank statement. So many Makai transactions per week. Let’s not get started with the daily 25 minute commute to the place. But, I didn’t care. If you’re a coffee addict like me, you will do anything for the perfect cup of coffee and the perfect ambiance.
I knew things were going to change as soon as I heard there would be new ownership, but I never imagined it would be this bad. I waited a couple weeks to post any review. I’m not focused on the new management so much. I’m more focused on that perfect cup of coffee. This last week has been so disappointing to me. Apparently, they have decided to stick to one roaster and completely eliminated George Howell. In my two years of being a regular at this place, I had never tasted coffee so strong. It had such a bad taste too. This happened three times this week. If you’re a coffee freak like me, you know how a bad cup of coffee can ruin your day! Let’s not get started with the food changes =(.
To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement. If anyone knows of a place that serves great quality coffee, please share. It’s time to move on.
Makai, I’m going to miss you! Thank you for the last two years!!! To all of the former employees (Roscoe, Allison, Ryan, Laura, NESTOR, Bill, Criox, Kaylee) that were as crazy about coffee as I am and were always so nice and happy to serve that perfect cup of coffee, thank you!!! (There are so many more employees I wish I could thank, just forgot your name.)
Thank you for the last two years Makai

Bad new ownership, horrible coffee, no fresh food.
This was my go to spot in LB for breakfast AND coffee. However since they’ve changed ownership, they’ve gotten rid of their excellent menu, the coffee is from a different brewer, and despite keeping their prices high, their coffee has taken a noticeable step back.
Once it was a place I would tell my friends and family about, always bring them new business but no longer. This place has terrible service, bad coffee, bad food, high priced for coffee. It’s like a Starbucks now, with worse coffee, limited options and somehow worse baristas.
Grade = F.

As many people have noted Makai has been sold.
What once used to be a charming café with meticulously sourced craft coffee and home made food has turned its back on what made it so unique.
Now Makai feels like a coffee shop totally out of touch with current trends or modern touches.
If you miss the coffee spots of the 90s, where the actual coffee being served is an afterthought, then perhaps the new Makai is for you.
As for the rest of us,
RIP.

Went here this morning to meet my friend for a coffee the place is really nice and the people were really friendly but the best part was my latte it was amazing I even took a picture it was so perfectly made and delicious I also had the cinnamon toast that was also yummy. The coffee here is better than Starbucks and also better prices too. I will be back I have found my new coffee spot in long beach

Heartbroken about Makai’s recent changes. Makai got me addicted to the perfect cup of coffee and then took it all away :’(I’m going to miss visiting every day. I performed a taste test this morning to convince myself the changes were not in my head — I bought one iced americano (my favorite) from Makai and one from Rose Park on 4^th street. The result convinced me I must say goodbye to my favorite coffee shop.
Let me start by saying Makai introduced me to coffee. Makai changed my taste from the sweetest of lattes (hiding the coffee as much as possible) to loving straight americanos and cold brew! The employees and owner were amazing, the pastries fresh from Crema Bakery, and the atmosphere was the perfect local meeting place. There are fancier coffee shops around but I was a dedicated advocate for Makai. Some of my closest local friends were made at the coffee shop. I started my business using Makai as my «office»!
Within the last couple weeks most of the incredible baristas have quit. There are security cameras pointed at the employees and the new employees are rude. I never see them measure the espresso or use all the cool gadgets to measure the quality, the roasts are dark and taste lower quality, and all the delicious pastries are gone. They’ve been replaced with what looks like cheap pastries from the grocery store. The delicious fresh bread has been replaced by something that looks like Costco. The delightful colorful microgreens have been replaced with sprouts — SPROUTS (a travesty)!
At least in Long Beach we’re lucky enough to have other local coffee shops that take their coffee seriously and support local businesses. Bye, bye Makai :’(

New owner sucks. Their avocado was bomb af with their original bread. Now it is store bought sandwich bread which sucks and it is not worth $ 6.50. Also, the new girl, short cashier is totally rude. I miss the old friendly staff that learns your name. I miss what once was a glorious avocado toast that made coming to Makai worth it. Oh, and the chai tea latte sucks now too.

I love this coffee shop! They make some of the best lattes I’ve ever tasted from beans sourced from artisanal coffee roasters. They also have a wonderful selection of high quality teas by Kilogram tea. Everything they do is high quality and delicious. The owner Dave and his staff really care about the quality of products they serve. I heard sadly, that Dave has sold Makai recently and it’s under new ownership. I hope the new owner carries on the same quality that Dave invested in Makai! I’ll update this review if anything changes!

Very sad to say the new ownership has systematically gotten rid of the best parts of this place. I’m going to miss going here on the reg. Prices have gone up and quality has gone way down. I guess it’s time to look for a new favorite coffee shop. :(

They changed owners and changed their chai. They have Oregon chai and you can get that at target or trader joes. They also upped their home pressed almond milk to $ 2 instead of 75 cents. Not sure if they still have the same coffee but all of the things that made makai unique and really good in my opinion are gone. Makes me really sad.

Now this is some kind of AVOCADO TOAST. A super-​chunky spread of avocado and homemade pesto on thick-​cut country bread topped with micro greens. Plus, you can add a couple of poached eggs on your toast for an additional $ 2. You also get a side of sliced apples. It’s really hearty (like you can probably even share the toast with a friend) and you get so much bang for your buck!
Coffee, of course, is what brought me here and I had a great CAPPUCCINO. Will definitely be coming back when I’m in Long Beach again.

Best. Coffee. Ever. Get the Gibraltar. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Time to rip up the Starbucks reward card, especially now that you have to go three times more as before to get a free drink.

Great coffee talk
Great coffee flavor
Great coffee variety
Great almond milk (made in house)
Great if you are a hipster (but not required)
Great coffee shop
A must when in the LBC!

I got hooked on Makai after my friend introduced me to their almond milk lattes. I learned that they make their own nut milk in house, using almonds and macadamia nuts, sweetened with dates. Oh my, so good!!! I’ve had their vegan latte both hot and cold, and both are extremely delish! But I must add that Nestor makes the iced latte best, as he shakes them like a bartender until a lovely cold froth is formed. I also enjoy their cold brew coffee over ice with a splash of almond milk.
All of the baristas there are sweet and friendly, as is their new chef, Bill. Bill and the manager, Alison, have been really open to bringing vegan options into their new food menu. They never mind answering my questions about ingredients or listening to suggestions for menu items, which is great. They’ve been making their own nut butters and jams, which is awesome, and the local bakery they work supplies really fresh and yummy bread. I’m stoked that they offer several fruit based options with either bread or nut butters. I hear they’re working on a panini next.
Anyway, the vibes are pretty good there. Kinda random music selection, nice seating arrangement, clean restroom, reasonable prices, lots of local roasters and whatnot. Good job, guys & gals.