La Di Da Cafe

One of the sweetest, freshest, most comfortable places I’ve been to is a long time. It is the quintessential beach café, with delicious food, kind and efficient servers. The greek salad is amazing, and there was a milk (?) cake that was so delicious that we both were in awe. There are 2 levels, comfortable chairs, good parking. Definitely my favorite place in town.

I love La Di Da Café! The nicest people there. Great coffee. And, amazing pastries too. Try the Monkey Muffins too! A really delicious, chocolate-​y, banana-​ey creation. Yum! Really laid-​back, homey atmosphere. Plenty of comfy seats around. Did I mention how nice the people are?

Delicious espresso and the lavender avocado coffee cake was sumptuous!

A wonderful coffee house! A perfect laid back environment to enjoy well made coffees, friendly staff, reasonable prices, good food, wi-​fi, and smiling faces. Half Moon Bay has half a dozen coffee houses. .. La Di Da is by far the best! Just try to avoid the half hour before school starts and the first half hour after school let’s out, unless you’re 14.

cute, family run place with friendly service and delicious pastries. good place to fill up mid-​ride.

Recently moved to the area and La Di Da is a great place to have a cup o’ joe and use the internet. It is quaint café with free wireless and lots of tables and outlets. I always prefer a local place as opposed to Starbucks because I feel so at home. I know the staff doesn’t mind if I’m hanging around for a few hours. It’s cozy, big windows so the sun shines in (if it’s sunny…) and lots of menu options. I’ve ordered Americanos each time and they were made well, not bitter. The panini I had was decent but I probably won’t order it again. Probably best to stick with the espresso drinks and baked goods. I’ll definitely be frequenting this place.

Fun décor (love the starry bathroom) and full of light. Coffee not quite as dark as I like, but tasty-​looking pastries (can vouch for the freshly baked chocolate chip cookie). Clean and attractive.

We dropped in La Di Da while I was having one of my cranky spells.
I ordered up a sweet looking apple fritter (well priced no less), which was incredibly tasty and hit the spot, basically soothing the savage Meg.
It’s a nice little community café, if not quite empty when we went in around lunchtime and while the service is young, it’s friendly. Were I a local I’d make it my regular drop spot.

After a pell-​mell search around town for a suitable lunch place (my fault, I’m overly picky), we settled on this café. Generally it’s an ok place, but not really spectacular. The menu is pretty small but encompasses enough variety. I ordered a Greek salad… the menu lists olive oil as one of the components so when I ordered, I asked for it without the oil (ugh I hate olive oil, or any excess oil period). The girl at the counter just looked at me like I’d grown a dick on my forehead. «Uhh, no oil?» she asked. «No,» I repeated, «the menu says it comes with Balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I just want Balsamic. No olive oil.» «Ummmm…uhh…okay,» she goes. Err, yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to whip out the salad calculus on you, my bad. So anyway, you place your order at the counter and they bring the food out when it’s ready. When our orders were delivered, I realized the table didn’t come equipped with salt & pepper, so I went back up to the counter to ask for some. «May I please have some salt & pepper?» said Yours Truly. The two chicks just stared at me. One was eating a sandwich and just sat there staring at me chewing. Like, the lights are on upstairs but there’s no furniture. Then the other one goes, «Huh?» and I had to repeat «Salt and pepper!!» and even made a shaking gesture with my hand to illustrate this strange complicated concept (on hindsight, my gesture could have been interpreted differently by a person of a more perverted disposition). «Uhh…oh,» said one, and finally handed me a couple shakers. Weeeeird. Anyway, despite the spacey/​stoned Children-​of-​the-​Corn employees, lunch was ok. The salad was a good size and fresh. Prices are reasonable. Décor is interesting and a bit hippie-​ish with lots of original art. Location is a block behind Main St, so a little bit off the beaten path but easy enough to find. Ok but not impressive. And a little creepy, to be perfectly honest.

Great little place off the beaten path in HMB. Has the best bakery items we saw in any of the shops we passed. We both ordered coffees and bagels… the coffee was great and the bagels were amazing! It also has a cute little bookstore next door.

I have been going to La Di Da for several years now. It’s a nice hangout when I’m with my son or when I’m looking for a quiet place to work or chat with a friend. They offer a variety of healthy and more decadent options — the veggie corn muffin and empanada are especially good. It’s simple service and food and pretty predictable. The wifi is free, the chairs are comfy upstairs, and there’s a good chance of running into someone I know. It’s not haute cuisine or fancy service, but it doesn’t pretend to be that either. The local art on the walls and the art school upstairs just add character. And being next to Inkspell bookstore is just an added benefit.
The bad reviews that are dragging down the café’s Unilocal rating are mostly from pre-​2009 — it seems like the owner has addressed the staffing/​service problems.

I used to go here all the time when I was in middle school. It is just a minutes walk.
Really good baked goods and sandwiches, along with delicious hot and cold drinks.
Very very slow service. Do not come here if you are in a hurry.

This coffee shop is one of my favorites because it is attached to a book store. You can order a drink at the coffee shop, and then go browse books next door and they will deliver it through a window which attaches the two stores. I have had their lattes, white chocolate mochas and their smoothies, all have which have been very tasty. If you don’t want to peruse the bookstore, you can always stay in the coffee shop, which has two levels and lots of comfy chairs. Also, they have nice big cups and plates if you are not taking to go.

«It sounded like the HQ for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.»
When looking for a breakfast spot in the coastal town of Half Moon Bay, my buddy and I had concerns about a place we found via Unilocal: La Di Da Café. It sounded like the HQ for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
But hunger and the need of caffeine prevailed and we braved the quaint little café. Just a stone’s throw from the main street, La Di Da Café had a small town art gallery feel. Sure enough there was art on the walls that reminded me of a junior high school hallway. And yeah, the local junior high schoolers packed the place. They were happily munching away on muffins and sipping various juice and soda concoctions that actually looked and sounded pretty cool.
Older locals chilled out in the corners with their newspapers (remember those?) and friendly gossip.
The staff was mostly young teenage gals — perky, exotic, and sweet — just how I like my coffee.
I had the California Scramble — an omelet with avocado, tomato, and cheese. Simple and light, I could’ve eaten 2 more of these, as the servings were «girl» sized, not enough for this manliest of men.
Meanwhile the coffee was amazing. Organic and rich. They have the coffee laid out self-​service style, so of course I went for 3 cups of the Morning Blend, while refilling my 4^th cup for the road.
When leaving, my friend and I saw a bald guy about to dig into sliced bagels topped with lox. We looked at each other and thought about ordering that but we had more of California to see.
So if passing through Half Moon Bay, check in for a coffee and a place that obviously cares for their community. Oh and get me a take-​out order of those bagels and lox with one of those funky sodas. And coffee.

A little off the main drag, but worth seeking out if you want to grab a coffee and enjoy some books next door at Ink Spell Books. You can order from the pass through window. I recommend the orange essence latte (forgot what it was called), but it was delicious and I would return again just for that! Some nice art on the walls. Not a fancy place, but a good place to relax and read.

La Di Da Café serves up a healthy portion of community spirit to go along with its coffee, breakfast items, sandwiches, and baked goods. It’s located a mere block from Half Moon Bay’s Main Street, but it’s a world apart in the Unilocal universe, virtually off the radar screen for day-​trippers and weekenders who don’t know the ins and outs of this appealing oceanside town. That’s too bad. Because there is a lot here to like.
Located on an unassuming corner a stone’s throw from Main, La Di Da seduces you with its simple and sincere touches. They serve Outland Java coffee, a local organic roaster, and the owner bakes many of the items herself (including a mango coffee cake and a flourless, vegan all-​day cookie made with dates and nuts). There is a straightforward breakfast menu, empanadas, bagels, ice cream, cold drinks, and other small items to choose from.
The interior is bright and airy with high ceilings and lots of hardwood floorspace to go alongside the various seating options. Local for-​sale artwork lines the walls (on our visit mainly paintings of celebrity icons, dead or alive), while an upstairs annex has a few seats by the window. In addition, there is a free pregnancy and parenthood lending library (maintained by a local women’s group) and an art studio (Art Attic,
) that offers adult and children’s evening classes. The «living wall» display of flowers made from recycled cans, bottle caps, styrofoam peanuts, and egg cartons is creative and eco-​cool. While we sipped mugs of coffee at a sun-​splashed table on the ground floor, a mixed group of local teenagers stopped in to hang out. No one seemed to mind. Smaller clutches of older men and women sipped coffee and chatted. Free wifi, a community events board, a goldfish tank, and a cute trio of enormous stuffed animals (tiger, giraffe, elephant) rounded the place out. There is even a serving window for ordering coffee directly from Ink Spell Books next door. On Sundays, they have live music as well.
I loved the way that community and commerce blended here, where local artwork, good java, and honest food shared a common location, and where first-​time customers like us could feel as welcome as the people who make this place an extension of their living room. After exploring the SF Bay area in search of superb coffee and cutting-​edge cafes, I realize that I had forgotten about something equally rare: an honest-​to-​goodness local coffee shop that is just right the way it is.

This is a place where locals go to get a good cup of coffee and some freshly baked goods. She bakes them fresh each morning and so far my favorite is the wheat banana nut bread and her coffee cakes.
It’s a local crowd and gets pretty busy when the middle school gets out.
It used to have more employees, like the other post mentioned, but it’s been pretty consistent lately with just 1 or 2 employees and the owner herself.
I’ll usually seek out La di da if I’m in search of a coffee or snack and a place I like to take my kids for an ice cream treat.

I took a chance on this café, and I will not be going back.
There were about 6 or 7 kids working (who were continuously goofing off and not seeming to understand that this was also a job), and only a couple of customers. I ordered only a veggie sandwich. I waited for about 25 minutes before going to the counter and asking nicely how much longer it might be since I needed to get to work. They said it was just about ready, so I looked around at some pictures on the wall. About 5 feet away, one of the employees said to another ‘God people are being so impatient today.’ Umm I was very nice and wished I had not tipped beforehand.
I don’t mind waiting for what turned out to be a decent sandwich, but I don’t appreciate teenager attitude, especially when the employees far outnumber the customers.

Blehck! I had a bad feeling when I saw the sink full of dirty dishes, but we were HUNGRY so we decided to have a sandwich anyway. The tuna sandwich was wet and yucky, it came with BBQ chips, which would have been fine if we asked for BBQ. We ate a couple bites and left ¾ of the sandwich behind.

This cute little place is just off Main Street in Half Moon Bay and worth finding. I’m usually there on weekdays and can always find a place to sit, I’m not sure how crowded it gets on weekends. It is filled with local art and hand-​painted furniture, and when I am in there I feel like everyone there knows eachother. It is a very comfortable place to sit and chat or read or write.
There are lots of delicious sweets and muffins to choose from; the coffeecake looks especially delicious, though I’ve never tried it. The coffee is good, and their food is homemade and simple. The service is always friendly. Stop by some time.