Black Rock Coffee Bar

Nice coffee shop with smiling helpful baristas. Ambience is pretty good for hanging out and having conversations with friends,. I can't rate the coffee as I'm not an expert there but its always busy so they must know a thing or two about coffee.

Katy finally has an amazing coffee spot. This place has a lot of good options. I highly recommend their cold brew. The people are friendly, they have a reward system and plus happy hour. I live in California but was visiting family and I'm not a regular at this place while in town.

Another solid coffee shop.
I wanted to give this business 5 stars. But there were a few things that detracted from a great experience being nearly flawless.

I’ll begin with the positives.
The dining room is well lit.
There is a nice amount of natural light that comes in from the windows that nearly wrap around the entire front of the bar.
To complement the suns rays there is ample lighting from a dozen or so pendant lights and a half a dozen larger suspended modern lights as well. IMO, the lighting is important in setting a mood. The mood these set is modern, minimalist, clean, and functional.

When it comes to the seating, although there are several options, none of the seating comes across as something I would want to sit in for over 1 hour. I mention this for those that may want to bring a laptop and get some work or studying done while enjoying your drink.

There is one corner toward the back that has two love seats, but that’s it. Everything else is bar stools, high chairs, and standard seating at 1 large center table that would be good for a group as large as 8.

On a similar note for those considering bringing a laptop, I didn’t see many outlets. There are some, but it may be placed in an odd spot like at a high table where there is less surface space to work on.

For the menu, I tried their “Chocolate Chip Chiller” which is a blended drink. They nailed it. The coffee flavor was there but not too overpowering. The chocolate chips could actually be tasted and really enhanced the drink beyond a regular mocha Frappé. And the whip cream did not disappoint. It was lite, sweet, and fresh. If you’ve ever had heavy, wet, and sour whip cream, then you may know how much bad whip cream can spoil a drink.

So far so good right.
But now I’d like to mention the aspects that took away from the experience.

The music.
Too loud and noticeable.
I can’t imagine getting any reading done in here. Indeed.
I observed that the seating was reminiscent to a bar, but I didn’t think the “bar” in this coffee shops name would hold up to it’s late night brethren. If I go for coffee I like for music to fill that empty space, not dominate the air.

2nd gripe. It may be just me, but I found it a little chilly. I could be sensitive, but I’d recommend you bring a lite jacket or some type of second layer to make sure you don’t get uncomfortable.

Third and final criticism, which is the most serious and concerning.
I killed two gnats while I was enjoying my drink inside. But saw at least three.
There are miniature bonsai-esque plants on top of every table. Not sure if they were real, but maybe they had something to do with it. Regardless, I hope management or ownership reads this and addresses it.

Aside from those things.
Good experience overall.
Customer service is warm and friendly.
Drink was good.
Atmosphere is modern and clean.
And if you go, like your experience, and want to return, you’ll be happy to know they have a rewards program via a mobile app.

As unusual, if you read to the end, thanks.
I hope this genuine review from a Local Guide was helpful.
Cheers 🙂

P.S. to management/ownership/the team in general, consider getting spoons. Some folks like to spoon the whip cream, blended drinks, hot chocolate, etc.
Forks are not going to cut it.

I'm quite sad writing this because I so badly wish I could give 5 stars.

The coffee, when made correctly, tastes great with the Blackout being my go-to. I get this 3-5 times a week for the past 18 months. My wife loves the Mexican Mocha was a hit with my wife as well while my son loves the Kid's Warm Cocoa.

They offer a wide variety of dairy substitutes including oat milk and coconut milk, which is a requirement these days.

The people are great as well, very friendly and conversational.

Inside is sort of an industrial design scheme which works with the feel of the business and the wall shared with the entrance has a garage door style section that lifts up to open the floor plan to the tables outside. It "feels" right, though I don't know how to convey that correctly with words.

They used to have tacos which were ok but got rid of those. The other foods they still have include muffins, cookies, croissants (including almond, my FAVORITE!), and a couple kolache types (both sausage and cheese, one with jalapeño). I get the jalapeño and sausage croissant usually once a week and it is what you'd expect... not bad, not amazing, but enjoyable. I don't judge a coffee place on food, however...

Where my problem lies is with the coffee drinks themselves, and this is why I'm writing the review.

When made correctly, the coffee is on point and always gives me a positive start to the day. Unfortunately, the consistency of the drinks I'm paying $7 for a medium after tax is to the point of appalling.

Out of my last 10 orders of their signature offering (Blackout) I have had 3 (THREE) made correctly and enjoyable, one that ended up just being mocha and steamed oat milk (yuck, if you're curious) because they somehow completely forgot to put actual coffee in it, and the rest were a bitter mess, missing the syrup add ins and/or tasting like burnt coffee with (if I'm lucky) a hint of mocha.

My wife has requested I not get her anything from here anymore because out of her last 10 drinks she only had one she enjoyed enough to actually drink with the rest being a similar problem to what I experienced.

A week ago after getting 3 drinks made correctly in a row, I decided to comment to the barista that I was really impressed with the recent drinks and hope that trend continues while letting her know of my issues with quality and consistency. She told me they were under new management and hopefully I would see it continue in a positive trajectory.

Unfortunately, the last 4 drinks, including the one on the visit where I complimented their improvement, have been disappointing.

I reference the past 10 orders to give a general metric. The quality and consistency issue has been a problem for about a year. I still go because it is BY FAR the fastest and easiest coffee place to pick up something before work, but I have started going to the major competition further away recently as I'm getting tired of only being able to drink half my coffee before pouring out the rest.

It's a coffee place, the coffee drink consistency should be top priority but something isn't right and I sincerely hope that someone affiliated with the business reads this and takes my words to heart. It's simply not a good product at this point and having spent well over $1k here in the past year while pouring out about $400 worth between half cups and cups of steamed mocha milk nastiness I will not continue this path unless I see some significant improvement to the drink consistency.

I enjoyed visiting this coffee shop. The drinks are always consistently good and fast. Almost always able to find a place to sit. I wish the music wasn't so loud, but wouldn't let this stop me from returning again.

It's my favorite coffee shop by far. Great rewards, friendly staff, delicious food, and drinks!

Before you even come here call first! They will have you wait in line on drive thru. Had us waiting over 30minutes till it was our turn to order in the window just to tell us they’re close?!
I’m UPSET! I really thought y’all were better than that.

I just had a delicious coffee served with great service.

Visiting from out of town and I heard about this spot from friends. I was kind of hesitate to try because I am a Starbucks fan. I ordered the iced coffee with oat milk. The counter person was very helpful and explained the different types of coffee options they offered. The coffee was delicious and I needed it as it was so hot in Houston. I highly recommend you try this place out when in town. Nice and clean and lots of space for social distancing if your worried.

Every time I come in and see Tyrome, the tall red head who always greets me with a smile, I know my wait will be short but filled with questions about my day and what my plans are for that evening. Very good to his customers and deserves the high-praise. I hope I got his name right but I’m sure tall red head who is super nice does the trick.