Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

So, as a coffee connoisseur, Coffee Bean does not fail. There are many different drink choices and types, to each their own, and to suit your specific caffeinated needs. One of the things I like most about Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is their quality of teas and their selection of different roasts of coffee (more distinct and ranged than Starbucks). Possibly one of the best drinks CBTL has going for them has to be the White Chocolate Latte. It is made with premium white chocolate powder, premium espresso and nonfat milk. It is one of my favorite drinks to order.
Now on to business and the review for this location.
This location is seated in the middle of Venice Blvd and Motor Ave. It is a very vibrant community, with a Middle Eastern restaurant right next door, a Mexican restaurant a couple doors down, and a Cuban? restaurant a couple blocks down. So there are a lot of different options.
This particular CBTL location has a couple homeless people that do hang around outside as well as by the bus stop. They really don’t cause too much of a problem and for the most part are pretty relax (very rarely do I see them pan-​handle customers). This location has a public parking lot, which is owned by the Real Estate Company upstairs, and on a occasion you may see a short middle-​aged Indian-​American man walking around outside that may ask you to move your car if you are parked over 30 minutes outside, though I am not sure if that has been resolved in the last couple years? There is a 30-​minute parking sign posted outside but I do not know how strictly it is enforced.
Overall, this location is good, and I give it 4 stars.

Place is kinda grimey. Didn’t feel clean enough to try anything other than coffee (in my own mug).
Staff was nice enough.
A number of questionable folks in the lounge area made me decide on having my coffee black.
I love Coffee Bean, but this is the second location I’ve visited with substandard sanitation standards

The staffs here are really nice and wonderful! Although it’s a rainy day, they really made me day!

Los Angeles (Palms), CA: No peppermint?
Wanted to have a drink to greet daughter with. Her drink of choice? A triple shot, 16 oz blended Peppermint latte. At least those windmill themed and sea maid logoed shops offer that option. Peppermint was unavailable here, being a seasonal flavoring. WHAT!?! Okay, so I quickly called her for an alternate choice. It was caramel. «Yes, that flavor we do have.» Whew! Yay! And this location offers cumulative rewards points (40 points for a reward, $ 1 = 1 point). A few more minutes and I was on my way to pick her up from the airport, drink in readiness!
In small strip mall. One way parking lot entrance at northwest corner on Venice Blvd. Exit on Motor Ave.

I was able to call in and order ahead on what I assumed would be a busy Sunday morning, which was nice. They didn’t actually make my order until I got there, though, instead of having it ready like a certain other chain does. womp womp. So it ended up being a pointless exercise to order ahead. Hopefully this was just a fluke. Otherwise, the service was nice and the location was clean and big.

Coffee Bean is usually ok but I’ve never felt like the cashiers were very happy to work there. But I’ve been very impressed with their Manager & one employee named Jesus. Always friendly, willing to go out of his way & just a nice change.
I’m more likely to stop there now than before.

Caramel latte was good.
Cookies and cream was good.
One less star because the employee that took my order was not helpful when I asked what he recommended or what was good, etc. Also another one less star because bathrooms were dirty and not restocked at all. It should not be that messy and not restocked at 9am… I don’t think morning staff checked when they started or night shift closed properly.
Although I did not get the customer service I wanted, it seems the regulars there liked employees. I could tell because they had conversations by the drink pick up area and around the seating areas when they were cleaning. It was great to see that interaction.

Attitude with my coffee no thank you. How does a large coffee equal a small? Hard to understand everyone’s answers as the people working were throwing everything around.
Seriously no one needs this in the morning.
To bad used to enjoy coming here.

Used to love this location and the staff but seems like it has gone a major transformation since they have hired new staff. The new staff is rude, condescending and incompetent at best. Not only do they repeatedly get your order wrong but then argue about it. Forget an apology or trying to correct the order. The manager os a nice guy but the staff is on the whole miserable.
Just because you don’t like your work does not mean the customer has to suffer.
Had been going to this location for over 5 years but after today NO MORE. Starbucks here comes my business

One of the dirtiest CBTL I’ve ever been too. Girl on pastries never changed gloves & I had jalapeños with my blueberry bagel & cream cheese all over my bag. Was first greeted with a «Hey.» Not very professional or friendly. Why ask for my name if you’re going to call out my drink order instead?

I love this location. The parking lot is a little tight, but besides that, everyone is always very friendly here. One of the perks of coffee beans in LA is the rewards program. You can earn free coffee, which I have plenty of times. The best part is that they ask you for your rewards # off the bat to make sure you get your points.

It seems that this location knew nothing about their promotions. We’ve bought CBTLs now for a very long time and we always get a free coffee or tea when we buy two packages. I asked the girl at the register to make mine an ice tea and she looked at me like I’m speaking alien. I can understand if she said she wasn’t familiar with the promotion but to act so rudely to a customer another woman jumped in the conversation and said «let me go ask someone inside instead of arguing with you» (woah what?! I couldn’t even fathom how that was ok to say) so someone inside said that that was a regular promotion but by that time I was booking it to our regular location on Washington and overland. Overall this location is smelly, a mess, with rude workers.

I went to this location last Thursday (December 18, 2014) to see if my $ 50 dollar gift card could be made into three smaller gift cards of $ 20, $ 20, and $ 10. When I asked the guy behind the register… he said he didn’t know how to do that? Then his manager (Ty) said they don’t do that at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Really? That seems strange since Starbucks and Peets do… she then says to me…“We are NOT Starbucks or Peets”. She then asks me if I want to see the GM book that states they don’t do this for customers. Really? I then decide this isn’t worth it… and turn to leave. See the other gift cards that you can buy and put money on… and ask if I can buy 3 cards and put $ 20, $ 20 & $ 10? YES the manager (Ty) tells me. I say… that’s what I was asking and she has the audacity to say.“that’s NOT what you asked”.
I called the headquarters and made a formal complaint against the manager. I will never return to this location. They were rude and disrespectful. There are so many other coffee and tea locations in Los Angeles and Long Beach. It’s sad that something so simple gave me such a bad taste in my mouth.

This morning I went into the shop to have two gift cards of $ 25 dollars each made into smaller amounts on 3 different gift cards. I asked for 2 cards with $ 20 and 1 card with $ 10. The first person that I asked told me that he didn’t know how to do that??? Then he turned to his manager (Ty) and she says «We don’t do that” – I said «really» because Starbucks and Peets has done this for me in the past…
The manager says – «Well, we are not Starbucks or Peets». Really… she gave me attitude and I’m just trying to buy gift cards for my friends. Then as I’m leaving I say. can I buy these gift cards at the register using my 2 gift cards of $ 25? Oh yes she says… well wasn’t that what I just asked??? And she says «NO» that is not what you asked.
I will never go to this Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf! I’m not even sure when I will get coffee at a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf again. I did however make a formal complaint against the manager as she gave me an attitude that was unnecessary… especially during this holiday season.

I am not a huge coffee fanatic like many people– so to me all these place seem the same– tasty, overpriced, with confusing language. This coffee bean however had very nice employees even really early in the morning when I was still grumpy they were nice.
The problem I have with this place is the parking lot… it is small, its one way only, and always seems to have crazy people hanging out in it, in the day and night time. Even the «Security guards» seem a little sketchy.
To sum it up– the coffee is like every other chain coffee shop– delicious, the employees were great, but the parking lot is terrible when crowded.

I see a lot of comments here about the staff at this particular location and I agree. I keep stopping by the shop hoping that I will be lucky to meet a friendly cashier/​barista or at least my drink will taste decent today. But every time I leave disappointed. Today was officially my last time at this store. I’d rather walk a bit further to Overland and Washington for better service and atmosphere.

While I used to think this coffee bean was great I have had to change my mind when they towed my vehicle for being parked in the lot too long. The staff did not bother to come and warn me that my vehicle was about to be towed. This has been the most expensive cup of coffee in my life and you can beg coffee bean will never have my business again. Plus I will make every attempt to dissuade my friends and coworkers to stop using the coffee bean.
I would rather enlarge Starbucks bank accts then help coffee bean.

I needed wifi to get some work done and was in the neighborhood, so stopped in for a drink and some work. The parking lot is useless if you want to grab a beverage and sit and chat, work, or just take your time; all spots are marked as 30 mins only. Will anyone call a tow truck? Doubtful, but I still parked around the corner.
At 12:45p on a Thursday, only a few people were there and there were outlets to spare, so I settled down to work. My ice blended was fine, the employees were nice, restroom was clean. The wifi went down once but came up again quickly. They had some comfy-​looking armchairs as well as tables, and some patio seating as well. Other than the parking situation, a nice place to get some boring stuff completed.

Wow this place is so unprofessional. The baristas don’t care about your order and only care about chit chatting with themselves. She asked me the same question twice when I already answered it the first time. I got my drink and it was so watered down. I tasted no chair. Just cold watery milk.
I rather go a bit further down to the one near Ralph’s. Maybe that one will be better…

This is my go to coffee place when I’m in Culver City. It is located in a plaza with other stores, however I have never found it difficult to find parking here. The barristas are super friendly and usually there is not a long waiting line. The tables are clean and floors are not dirty as well. The restrooms are clean as well.
The barristas don’t make a fuss if you stay for a long time to study and there are usually tables (unlike sbux).
However, coffee bean in general, does not get 5 stars because it closes so early. Unlike Starbucks which is open until 12AM or later. It is kind of shocking since so many students live in this neighborhood that they don’t open later like the sbux down the street.