Oh, What a Brew-tiful Morning!
Written By: Katherine Sanchez Best Coffee Shops in Coachella
No matter the time of day, it’s likely you’ll want to grab a cup of coffee to keep you energized and going for hours. For the best places to pick up a cup of midday java, check out your top picks for the five must-visit coffee shop pros in Greater Palm Springs! These individuals and their coffee houses must have left a tasty impression!
Best Coffee Shops in Coachella
Kelly Segré, Owner of Gré Coffeehouse & Art Gallery
Q: What’s your favorite drink on your menu?
Kelly Segré: Our Upside Down Vanilla Cappuccino. It started on our secret [menu] … but soon the secret got out, and now it is a customer favorite.
Q: Other than a cup of joe, how do you like to start your morning?
KS: Spending time with my pups and listening to my vinyl collection.
Q: What’s a fun fact about Gre Coffeehouse that only locals know?
KS: We have a secret menu that is mainly comprised of drinks named after locals who wanted something special!
Q: Your coffeehouse was inspired by ‘60s beatnik culture. If you could have any poet do a reading at your coffeehouse who would it be?
KS: The question is living or dead? My beatnik answer would be to have Ginsberg, Burroughs and Kerouac in a room together, but if I had to pick only one, it would be Ginsberg.
Gré Coffeehouse & Art Gallery
278 Palm Canyon Dr, Ste C
Palm Springs, CA 92262
Best Coffee Shops in Coachella
Barista Austin Megalonakis of Customs Coffee Best Coffee Shops in Coachella
Q: What’s your favorite or most Instagrammable drink on your menu?
Austin Megalonakis: I’d have to say the cold brew with a splash of milk right before you stir it; that’s always looked really cool to me.
Q: Other than a cup of joe, how do you like to start your morning?
AM: Usually with several alarms and a good breakfast.
Q: What’s a fun fact about Customs Coffee that only locals know?
AM: Well there’s a few things: The sliding wooden door near the register is actually for storage and not the bathroom. We carry unique desert-related items, and also nostalgic board games, like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em [Robots], Cards Against Humanity, Connect Four, Jenga and more, for guests to enjoy. The fact that non-hotel guests can lounge around and enjoy their morning cup of joe with an unbeatable mountain view in the pool area at ARRIVE.
Q: You’re the brains behind the popular and fun quotes on the sandwich board inside the coffee shop. Where do you get the inspiration for your jokes?
AM: Usually I’ll see something on social media and then add my own sass and flair to it, it adds one more way to make the guests’ visit that much more enjoyable.
Customs Coffee
1551 N Palm Canyon Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92262
760.507.1650
Owners Gregory Mandallaz and Chris Pardo of Ernest Coffee
Q: What’s your favorite or most instagrammable drink on your menu?
Gregory Mandallaz: Every three months, each barista [comes up] with…special coffee recipes and we are choosing the three best! My actual favorite is “La Rosa.” Steeped rose and honey, espresso, milk, topped with ground, crystallized rose. Like Bootlegger, we are making everything in the house! My other favorite is the “Wellness Tea” with picked mint, fresh ginger, dehydrated lemon, chamomile and honey!
Q: Other than a cup of joe, how do you like to start your morning?
GM: Double espresso with croissant or chocolate croissant.
Q: What’s a fun fact about Ernest Coffee that only locals know?
GM: At 4 p.m. Bootlegger Tiki, our sister business, opens his door, we are sharing the same patio, so you can still enjoy a latte and your friend can get some crafted tiki drinks [at the] same time!
Q: You can often be found working inside your own coffee shop. What do you find to be the most rewarding thing about working with customers?
GM: I love to sit at our big communal table and watch people going in and out, ordering, commenting [on] drinks…For me [the] coffee shop is an…experience from the time you enter until you leave. If I see a guest with smile and happy about that experience, this is it, this is the best reward for me!
Ernest Coffee
1101 N Palm Canyon Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92262
760.318.4154
Best Coffee Shops in Coachella
Owner John P. Monahan of Ristretto Best Coffee Shops in Coachella
Q: What’s your favorite or most Instagramable drink on your menu?
John P. Monahan: The most popular and photographed drink is our Latte. Check out our Facebook page for some of the pictures.
Q: Other than a cup of joe, how do you like to start your morning?
JP: I always start my morning out by reading the local Desert Sun newspaper and watching a little MSNBC and CNN news.
Q: What’s a fun fact about Ristretto that only locals know?
JP: Try our pastry pudding which we have a couple times a week. It is similar to bread pudding but made with pastries. It is a favorite of many of our regular customers.
Q: You came out of retirement to start Ristretto. What made you decide coffee was your true calling?
JP: I purchased the old Alan Ladd building and converted it into a Class A office building. I thought it needed a coffee shop. Rather than leasing it out to a vendor, I decided it would be best for me to do the coffee shop to my specifications—thus Ristretto!
Ristretto
500 S Palm Canyon Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92264
760.656.7352
Owners Charlotte and Raphael Farsy of L’Atelier Cafe
Q: What’s your favorite or most Instagramable drink on your menu?
Raphael Farsy: Our hot chocolate with its marshmallows on top.
Q: How do you like to start your morning?
RF: The French way: a cup of espresso (single shot) a butter croissant and chocolate croissant.
Q: What’s a fun fact about L’Atelier that only locals know?
Charlotte Farsy: Our story mainly, we were not planning to settle here. But six years ago, we did after falling in love with Palm Springs during our honeymoon. Locals also know, that “because of us” (or thanks to us?) Raphael’s parents and brother moved also to Palm Springs (because they missed him!) and followed us from Paris two years after we moved and opened a French clothing store on Tahquitz.
Q: You picked up and moved from Paris to Palm Springs to start your coffee shop. What is the best part about sharing French pastries and coffee with your customers?
RF: The best part is to be able to share our love for French food and French culture in general with Americans. Also, we love the fact that here in the middle of Southern California we can have our little corner of France, we speak French inside the cafe, sometimes even with our customers, we all share some French food. After our day of work at L’Atelier Cafe we feel like leaving France. We also really, really love to meet Francophiles and share with them the love of France.
L’Atelier Cafe
129 La Plaza
Palm Springs, CA 92262
760.778.7895
