Higher Groundz

I’ve only been here once, but my smoothie and breakfast burrito was affordable and super tasty! The ladies were really friendly and obviously work really hard to prepare your food quickly and deliberately, I’ll be back!

Only had a breakfast bagel. It was average at best. New owners had just acquired the place, maybe it will improve.

I’m staying for a week in Pismo. I decided to try a new coffee place each morning. Higher Groundz was my first choice coffee adventure. I got a late start this morning and didn’t make it over there until 10:30. Before I got out of my car, another lady was trying to open the door. It was locked!!! I don’t know if someone forgot their shift this morning or they’re just randomly closed on a Tuesday morning, but I was bummed. I drove down the street to Starbucks (boo!). As I was driving back to where I was staying, I passed by Higher Groundz again to see someone else surprised they were closed for some reason during the morning too.

I was going to hit up Starbucks, but I like to pretend I’m a good person, so I decided to patronize a local business. Mind you, I knew I had a limited amount of time, but I’ve been here before and they’re usually fairly zippy. I ordered an almond milk latte – pretty straight forward, right? You could make fun of me for the almond milk, but regular dairy makes my throat close up. The (presumed) owner took my order after two guys in front of me had ordered. Apparently they got drinks and sandwiches, so I was preparing for this to potentially take a little longer than I thought.
I sat outside for a bit and enjoyed the breeze. Stepped back inside ten minutes later, thinking the drink would be there. No sign. I went back outside to call someone I was supposed to meet to let them know I’d be a couple minutes late.
I walked back inside. No drink. Okay… I glanced behind the counter to see the owner slicing tomatoes for the sandwiches with the precision and care of the Barefoot Contessa. Which is great, but like, all I needed was a latte and I’d be outta there.
Maybe I expect too much out of life. Maybe that’s my great shortcoming. I could not believe – literally, my jaw dropped – that this woman was making sure these guys had their $ 30 worth of stuff before my measly latte.
I drove away, which was a weird moment because I felt like Glenn Close in Damages and Michael Scott from The Office at the same time.
As Miley Cyrus would say, «you might think I’m crazy», but it shouldn’t take 19 minutes for a latte. I counted.

It serves it purpose…

Absolutly love this place its my fav coffee spot! All the girls here are so friendly and welcoming. My son and I love Samone she is always so helpful making iced coffee with frozen espresso cubes she couldnt be more clever. Highly reccomend anyone to stop here if they love coffee!

Love love love love their boba’s! One (if not only) place in 5 cities area to get boba tea. Always great service, highly recommend Higher Groundz! :)

I’m new to town, so I’m on the quest to find the coffee shop to call my own… And this may be the place! The service is always great – the baristas are friendly and I never have to wait a long time for my order. Also, punch cards? I can dig it. Cheers!

Boba!!! Their Boba sucks here, but this is the only place near me that has it. It’s always too mushy/​overcooked and/​or flavorless when I get it and I’ve gotten it about 5 times now. So, I don’t know if I’m just getting bad batches or if that’s just how they cook their boba… But I can’t complain, especially if I’m craving boba. I miss living up north sometimes because of it! Gah :(
Their smoothies are very good though. You should definitely give those a try. They also have a punch card (buy 10 drinks, get one free). I’ve also heard that their food items are delicious. I will have to try those someday.
They have $ 2.75 16oz drink specials Monday — Friday.
* Mocha Monday
* Chai-​Tea Tuesday
* White Chocolate Mocha Wednesday
* Boba Thursday
* Mexican Mocha Friday

We stopped by here on a Sunday afternoon, no one was here but it seems everything kinda dies in the area on Sundays ;) We were immediately welcomed and the barista commented on my Sailor Moon shirt which was awesome! We ordered an iced hazelnut soy latte, it was a little on the sweeter side for myself but it tasted pretty standard. The place is tiny! it had 3 bar stools inside and 2 patio tables outside, it was perfect for the 2 of us but i could imagine if it were busy it could get hectic. I would stop by here again when I;m in Pismo or driving up north.

We were around Pismo Beach and we decided to stop by here to try out their boba. Their drinks are inexpensive and they have the main flavors of boba drinks. The milk tea was good but the boba was overcooked and flavorless. This place serves coffee, tea and many pastries which were great. The customer service was great and that’s what this place stands out for! The lady who helped us was very nice and welcoming. She even put stickers on our drinks so we don’t get mixed up with all the milk teas.

My weakness is boba! The girls that work here are always so nice. The boba drinks are the best hands down! My favorite place.

~Small Place, Okay Taste, Nice People~
Came in at 8:30am looking forward to grab a coffee and study for a while. Ordered a White Mocha over Ice with 2 expresso shots. They gave me the option for 1 or 2 shots, I went ahead and shot up to 2. I also grabbed a Classic Breakfast Burrito.
White Mocha was cool, sweet, and jump started me. Breakfast burrito was not that special to me, and neither was the side salsa that came with it. I mean, it’s Eggs, Bacon, and Cheese. I guess I wanted more than the usual, or was expecting a little more special burrito because they raved that their breakfast burrito was BOMB.
I ended up asking for my burrito and coffee to go because all they have are 3 chairs inside bar style, and two patio tables. Sitting outside wouldn’t be too bad, but the sun rose from the East and would have been all in my face. I took my food elsewhere because I needed an outlet, and a comfortable study spot.
Nice people, they suggested I should go to the library, and other places in the area. Thanks for the heads up. And the coffee :)

This is my favorite place to go for Boba! Every time i have gone, their employee Alex has always given me the best service. She is always friendly, and the drinks she always make are perfectly done!
I always recommend this place if you want great boba.

I visit this place on a daily basis every single morning before work for my latte or mocha. Very friendly service. I have yet to try any of the food but it all sounds pretty amazing. Maybe one day when I’m not in a rush I will give it a try.

Great coffee! My husband loves their lattes and breakfast burritos. I can’t have dairy and they are one of the few places that carries both rice and almond milk. I highly recommend the almond milk spicy chai latte, yum! Service is always very friendly and fast.

It’s nice to have a place in town that offers boba. I like the taste of their strawberry, but the Thai Iced Tea boba drink is not the best I’ve had. One thing that turns me off about going to Higher Groundz is that it always seems a little hectic. I’ve probably just got in at bad times, but it seems like any individual employee only knows how to do one or two things. Perhaps training should be more extensive before the employees work up front. The last time we visited, they almost gave us our drinks for free because they had forgotten to ring us up and we had to remind them that we hadn’t paid!

Second review: the breakfast burrito is excellent. Because we don’t eat meat, they substituted with avocado. Also, for vegans, health nuts, or those that are lactose intolerant, they have three options to add to your beverage: soy, almond, or rice milk.
Their food and service are five stars.

Mr Garcia mocha is the bomba!

Only place around here I can get a decent boba tea drink! Yay!
I love coming to this place. The service is really good and the drinks are amazing. Aside from their boba tea, I like their Chai-​Tea Blended, Acai Berry Smoothie, and TNT salad.
Free wifi and good place to sit outside and relax on the small patio or study for a bit away from pretentious Starbuck-​ers.
Don’t forget your punch card (or ask for one) when you visit because you’ll want to come back!