Better Buzz Coffee has opened in Laguna Beach, marking its fifth location in Orange County.
The official grand opening was set for 5 a.m. on Thursday, and if the soft opening was any indication, the community will soon discover its new gathering spot.
Dozens poured into the coffee shop shortly after 1 p.m. on Wednesday, discovering a lively atmosphere with music pumping and an energetic team providing cheers and greetings from behind the counter.
Moments before, they had been making noise outside the storefront, generating a positive response from passersby, including truck and trolley drivers who acknowledged them with a honk of their horns.
“For a coffee shop, we’re kind of on the louder side,” said Kayla Porter, a digital marketing manager at Better Buzz Coffee. “We try to have really loud welcomes. We try to always have the music a little bit louder, kind of a place to hang out and be with friends.”
Better Buzz Coffee, which has 40 stores across California, Arizona and Nevada, began in the San Diego area in 2002. Its Orange County stores include Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Laguna Hills and San Clemente. The menu features hot and cold coffee options, as well as tea and smoothies. There is also a selection of bowls, sandwiches and avocado toasts.
At the Laguna Beach location, a special menu called “Buzzed by the Beach” includes offerings that are only available at that store. Those items include the “Laguna Beach Best Drink Ever,” a spin off of the company’s classic Americano that has violet syrup, vanilla cold cream and an edible flower added to the concoction.
Laguna Beach’s downtown area has seen a couple of food and beverage businesses open across from Main Beach this summer, including Board & Brew in late July.
Better Buzz Coffee, located at 280 South Coast Highway, has walls that reflect both its name and the community it serves.
Tiles behind the counter are striped white and yellow like honeycomb, while the dining area includes imagery of a beach, a lifeguard tower, palm trees, and even a whale’s tail breaching the surface of the water.
“We’ve been looking for the perfect site in Laguna Beach for a really long time,” said Amanda Cameron, vice president of marketing for Better Buzz Coffee. “We’re from San Diego. We’re a coastal brand, so that’s really the core of who Better Buzz is, being by the beach and being in those locations where we can serve the community.
“It’s been a long time coming, so it’s really rewarding to see this come to fruition. We worked very carefully on this design. We wanted to make sure that it was unique to Laguna Beach.”
Better Buzz Coffee will be open from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Cameron added that the first 100 people to walk through the door for the grand opening on Thursday will receive a hat bearing the message “Life’s Better Buzzed in Laguna Beach.”