La Barba Coffee - The Gateway

Love this place. I have a deep connection to it, being very close friends with the founders and owners. It truly is one of the cities best coffeeshops. Maybe I'm biased, but it's so good and everyone is so kind there and it has such a unique and cool environment. I love La Barba, and will always buy from them.

Spent 30 mins walking around the Gateway just to find this place. It’s impossible to find during construction. When I finally make it in and ask for an avocado toast, the barista says she’s done making them for the day because she “already washed the container for it”. Over an hour before closing and unwilling to make an item on the menu because she felt like prepping to close early. Great customer service.

I had a delicious lavender latte. I mentioned that it was our first time visiting and the gentleman working didn’t seem to offer any additional information on the brand or suggestions on a coffee. I still enjoyed the experience though.

The BEST coffee I have ever tasted. I got the iced caramel latte and I can’t stop thinking about it. Also, their coffee cake is what dreams are made of. The atmosphere is relaxing and quaint. The modern aesthetic is just gorgeous. The barista was extremely polite, my coffee was made super quickly, and it was altogether a fantastic experience. Please go here, you won’t regret it!

Great espresso drinks, great snacks, and great atmosphere. The customer service is always friendly as well!

They have the best matcha that I’ve ever tasted. I’ve had it hot and iced and both are amazingly mixed and taste devine.

Salt Lake City has a number of excellent coffee shops, but La Barba is let down for me by its location. Despite living relatively close, I just almost never have a real reason to visit the Gateway.

Despite this, every time I have been there has been pleasant. The staff are friendly and accommodating, and there's nothing to complain about with their coffee or other drinks, but I'm afraid there's not a whole lot to rave about either. I'm not a huge fan of their hours, either, and I feel like I should start taking marks off for them, because I don't know how else to complain fairly about this strange Salt Lake City custom.

I don't want to sound *too* dismissive. If Google allowed it, I would raise the point value to 3.5; as it stands I feel that I have been a bit generous with coffee shops in general over my reviews and I want to be more useful for that, and someone does have to be the first on that scale. If you are in the neighborhood anyway, I would say stop by. If not, I can't really justify going out of your way.

Best espresso. Grab a bag and make for yourself too.
Good WiFi. Simple modern interior. Excellent Barista. Clean. I like it. You can go here when you miss the front runner for work and need a warm place to shelter for an hour. 🤪

Great coffee shop with some growing pains.

Pros:
- Everything tastes great. Great coffee. Like their toasts especially.
- Aesthetic. Really great design choices. Cool layout to the coffee bar part itself. Love the shelves that are all interconnected.
- Interesting specials. They can be a little hit or miss, but they're interesting, and always worth a try. Even the ones I don't like, I can imagine that someone really would.
- Neat staff. Lots of personality.
- Good music. Found a number of good songs there.

Cons:
- They have a constantly full tub of dirty dish water that makes the entire place smell kind of of bad. Especially in the back bar seating area.
- Seems like they sometimes have logistical problems. Ingredients often run out, orders can take weirdly long.
- Weird one, but they often don't make an effort to deliver you your coffee. Maybe it's a policy thing, or I just don't get it, but it always feels a little impersonal.
- You will almost certainly get sunburn if you sit at the outside tables. They have a reflective surface that will just instantly fry you.

While exploring Salt Lake City I discovered this gem. Very friendly staff and delicious coffee. Get the pour over, you won't be disappointed!