Hob Coffee East Village

Excellent coffee, but a poorly managed business. On the Monday morning I went to Hob Coffee there was only one barista working. Since the coffee shop prepares food, takes online orders, and makes coffee, it was impossible for her to keep up with the demand. It took an average of 20-30 minutes to get a drink because the barista had to do everything. Our food order (an avocado and prosciutto toast) took a hour, although she warned me that the order would likely take a half hour to make. Unfortunately , I was told this after paying for my order.

There wasn’t an extraordinary line, although there were multiple food orders she had to prepare. One of our lattes was supposed to be made with whole milk, but appeared with oat milk. I didn’t want to correct the order for fear of it taking another 20 minutes to get it right.

I felt sorry for the employee that got stuck with dozens of people waiting around to get their drinks. What kind of a company let’s their employee take the brunt of indignation from its customers because of inadequate staffing and planning? It occurred to me that the barista could’ve gotten stuck their by herself because someone quit or called in sick, but it seemed unfortunate for all the customers who had to wait a long time for their fix with no cavalry on the way to help. I can’t imagine that any employee would or should put up with such poor management for very long. And customers won’t return if they can’t get their orders in a reasonable amount of time, even if the food quality is very good.

If you plan to visit this coffee shop in the future, make sure that there’s enough staff to get your coffee in a reasonable amount of time. Several people bailed in line because they didn’t have enough time to waste waiting around.

I also thought the shop was quite dirty. Tables were not wiped off, milk containers not returned to the refrigerator, jugs of cleaning solution laying around under the sink, a dirty food prep area, and no public bathroom. The bathroom said ‘Employees Only.’ Given the homeless population around this area of town, it’s little wonder that there’s no public bathroom, but no bathroom in an establishment selling food and drinks? I wonder how often this business is inspected for cleanliness. Coming from a food service background, I suspect that it’s cleaned only when it’s inspected.

It’s unfortunate that such good coffee and food is being run by such poor management. I only post reviews of good places I frequent so that people have the benefit of going to a great place, but in this case I’m posting a warning to customers to beware of bad service due to poor management practices. Hopefully, Hob Coffee will improve their business because they have a great product to work with.

Ordered $80 worth of food and this was supposed to be a bagel with cream cheese and bacon. Paid extra for both. This is what we received. 👎🏼

OMG 😱!!! So I was sitting here having a meeting with a client we where watching the bartista chew out every delivery driver that came through the door.

It seems like they were understaffed and the lady was having a bad day. She said some very rude stuff to people and looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown. I think it's smarter to have more people working during a padres game 🎯

Great coffee with a lot of attention to detail in the roast and flavors in the coffee. They definitely know what they are doing and are one of two of the best place for coffee I've found yet in San Diego.

Atmosphere was relaxed and the staff friendly as I chatted and asked questions about their coffee roasters and business.

I also recommend the cheddar bacon biscuit.

Nice little cafe in East Village. Located in a not crowded area. Was easily able to get a table for myself lunch time on a weekday. Wide open feel with a ton of natural light. Their cold brew was smooth and the avocado toast hit the spot. Typical pricing for a modern coffee shop ($3 for a shot). Definitely a nice place to relax and post up to do some work.

Listed as a cold brew specialty. I was very happy to see that but so sad when I tasted the product. While it did have nitro the brew was watery and weak. It looked like tea and tasted of used ground coffee, do not waste your tastebuds

perfect spot for a caffeine hit & small bite to eat. the avo toast ain’t like your usual avo toast so definitely give it a try. I got the Greyhound bus from LA early morning & spent some time in the cafe until the City woke (10 min walk from the station) :-) fab first impression of SD

The Latina barista was friendly patient and very accommodating. The Vietnamese iced coffee woke me up big time. Everyone was so chill. This place has great high vibration.

Cool friendly place around the corner of petco field. Solid! Espresso though i did not see panna to add but maybe i could of asked?. Next time which makes it all the reason to come back. Ordered a honey cappuccino and vanilla cold brew. Quality and taste nuf said...

Excellent coffee and the baristas are amazing. They know my order because I’m a regular and have it ready for me as soon as I park my car. Seriously the BEST neighborhood coffee.