Bonsai Coffee Bar

Large coffee shop with a cozy and lively vibe. Beautiful space, lots of people, and a good energy inside. It feels active but still comfortable to sit and relax. Matcha bad, tiramisu latte good. Nice place to spend time, work, or just enjoy a calm break during the day. Rear parking. Loud.

Bonsai was recommended to me but I was a bit disappointed overall. To start, metered parking can be difficult to find due to the busy area. The place itself is nice but a bit too busy for me. There was no place to sit so I stood outside and ate. As for the food, I ordered the bacon breakfast sandwich and regular drip coffee. I should have gone with the breakfast burrito instead. Coffee was ok. Overall, it was not worth the price I paid. Also, when I asked a couple of questions about the menu, the person taking my order was not helpful. Not sure if I would return again.

I’ve had the matcha with cloud top foam and I enjoyed it very much. Decided to come back and try the vietnamese iced coffee. for context, that’s my go-to drink most places I go when offered on a cafe menu, so I have a pretty firm baseline of how it should taste. This was hands down the WORST vietnamese iced coffee I have ever had. For starters, I ordered and they called my name no more than 1-2 minutes after I ordered. That right there should have told me all I needed to know. For anyone who doesn’t know how proper vietnamese iced coffee is made, the coffee goes through a phin filter that takes at least a solid 5-8 minutes. So that tells me right there that they either use a pre-made mix or take pre-made coffee and condensed milk and mix it to order. pre-made mixes can be more bitter no matter how much condensed milk you add. I even had the cloud foam in it too and you could not taste it at all! It was so gross I had to toss it. They are known for the matcha, so perhaps just stick to that….

Came in on a friday morning to grab a quick drink. The place was packed with students and people working on their laptops. There was a line when I got there, it moved at a fairly okay pace. I was in and out of here in 20 minutes (parking meter was set to 24 minutes). I read a sign that there is parking in the structure, but I didn’t know beforehand. I ordered an Earl Grey Matcha Latte and did half sweet. I’ve heard many people talk about their matcha and how the love it. I was so surprised because my drink really lacked flavor. I did order half sweet which the sweetness was okay, I just couldn’t really taste any of the matcha flavor. Overall the customer service was great, there is ample sitting if you want to work there. I think I would go back to try their other drinks, hopefully it was just off the day I went. I also saw they have some breakfast food items, so I would go back to try those too!

Busy cafe, a student magnet. Hoodies and laptops everywhere. Fortunate to snag a table when we arrived, not everyone did. It was a weekday afternoon. I found it too busy. My partner liked the young vibe. Good matcha. WiFi - You ask the barista for a code. It appears on the tablet. Works for two hours, then you ask for another. Kinda clunky. FYI to use someone else’s code, you need to use their email too. Whoever logs in first with the code, use their email. Parking - there is free garage parking nearby. Some spots are marked for Bonsai, others for different establishments. Some are marked for Bonsai AND/OR other shops. Signs are color coded (I think red = Bonsai.) Not a ton of spots are reserved for the coffee shop—check on levels one and two (underground).