Gloria Jean’s Coffee Bean

The latte was it the best … Cashier was visiting with a young girl who was eating on the counter and acted like me being there was an intrusion. They need a Peets or Starbucks in the Mall

I stopped by this little coffee shop while at the Northgate Mall one evening and ordered a plain iced soy cappuccino. The coffee was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. Although I did ask for it iced, they ended up giving me it hot. I didn’t speak up about it because I honestly didn’t mind too much.
My boyfriend ordered one of their strawberry chillers and he couldn’t finish it. He said it was like a big hunk of ice and too hard to drink. Even after waiting for a while, he said he couldn’t really stomach the taste anymore.
Otherwise, service was good. We stopped by late in the evening, so there was no wait (I think the mall was mostly closing, asides from the theatre). I don’t know if I’ll be at the mall again, but the coffee was pretty good.

Gloria Jean’s Coffees is smack in the middle of San Rafael’s Northgate Mall. We stopped by on a recent Sunday morning while in the neighborhood. I was curious: I had never heard of Gloria Jean’s Coffees, but the handsome store seems professionally designed from the outside logo to the store interior.
I always like seeing if a new coffee shop has something different, something not available at places I usually frequent. That was definitely the case here: Coconut? Pistachio? We were all in!
Their iced-​blended drinks are called «chillers». I had the Mocha Coconut Chiller while my wife had the Pistachio Crème Chiller. Both were excellent — as good or better than Starbucks or Peet’s. The Coconut was especially tasty and a nice mix with the mocha.
But looking them up on the web, there’s more to the story of Gloria Jean’s. It’s an international coffee business, based in Australia as another reviewer mentioned. This San Rafael location is the only Northern California Gloria Jean’s; in fact, other than one in Modesto and Burbank, that’s it for California. They have a scattering of stores across the US, about 50. But they are in dozens of other countries. Browsing their website I see China, Egypt, Korea, New Zealand, Philippines, Vietnam and several dozen more.
This unassuming Northgate Mall is the sole Northern California portal to a global collection of coffee shops.

I usually hit this place up whenever I come to this mall. They have a lot of different flavors to choose from. I usually go for the coconut flavor since I can’t get that at Starbucks.
I believe the owner is always at the shop, which is a good thing (means he making sure the drinks are made correctly). In a nutshell If your at the mall and in need of a tasty drink, make a stop.

Super friendly service! There are no calorie counts listed with the pastries, which are refrigerated in the display case. But sometimes… ignorance is bliss. I got an almond corner, which was big and very delicious. I had half and saved the rest for the next day.

I’ve been here on more than one occasion. It’s small and not overly crowded. Just to me they are a delightful pleasant surprise. I believe i ordered some type of caramel hot drink (which basically to me is the equivalent to Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha with Caramel). I will revisit whenever I am at Northgate.

When I lived in the area, I would grab a coffee drink from Gloria Jeans. Their drinks were always a treat for me. I stopped by recently for old time’s sake and ordered up a carmel vanilla blended drink with lowfat milk. It came out SUPER SWEEEET. Next time I’ll ask for less sweetness. Still love the unique flavor of their drinks. A great place to grab your coffee while shopping at Northgate.

Gloria Jean sells coffee but that wasn’t my mood. went for the pastry. passed on the breakfast burrito (4.50) when i saw it was premade and pretty small.
sampling: black and white shortbread (2)
–it is definitely shortbread. didn’t taste the chocolate nor the white stuff cuz i wasn’t concentrating.
–first bite was cold to the taste. seems the coookie et al has been hiberating in a referigeator overnite.
drips:
–early morn, no one here
–probably only the coffee next time.

I ordered a half-​caff coffee today around 1p.m. (manager-​take note who was working that shift), with a little room for milk. I noticed the (manager-​again, take note) young, Asian gal was working use the spout labeled hot water to fill my cup. It seemed strange but then I thought perhaps the spout may have been labeled incorrectly or whatever. Besides, the clerk actually made eye contact with me while she was using the spout labeled hot water so I thought, surely, she wasn’t filling my cup with hot water… that would be so bold and blatantly wrong to do that, especially with me watching. The young lady gave me my coffee and I proceeded to go to the condiment station to add some milk. That’s when I actually noticed that my coffee was quite transparent. I poured a little into the drip tray supplied to catch dumped coffee and I was shocked to notice it so dilute. It was unbelievable. I think half the cup was simply plain hot water added to half a cup of coffee.
I feel completely ripped off and appalled that someone would be so cheap to dilute a cup of coffee. Is the business hurting that bad that they have to scam their patrons? It’s unbelievable! I know it’s only a cup of coffee, but I feel a bit robbed and will NEVER go there again. It’s shady business practice. Unfortunately, I had to hurry on my way and could not take the time to ask to speak to a supervisor, but I am going to call as soon as I“m done typing this.
Beware! It seems silly to have to watch to make sure your $ 1.95 cup of coffee is actually a cup of coffee, but otherwise, it’s an expensive cup of hot, tinted brown water.

Having made a study of hot cocoa in the coffee houses around Marin, Gloria Jean’s clearly offers the best lip-​smacking chocolate of them all. Their blend is creamy and doesn’t leave an aftertaste. Plus, it’s never too sweet or too plain.
Forget Pete’s (the worst ever) or Starbucks (half the time theirs tastes like warm milk/​no chocolate).
If you want the best, go to Gloria Jeans.

I love Gloria Jean’s. I’ve been a customer for 10+ years. Whenever I go there I don’t even have to tell them what I want. They know my order already. This is a great place to sit, chat with a friend and have a cup of coffee or get a cup to go. I tend to get a cup to go and take it with me while shopping in the mall.

I don’t shop at Starbucks. It is an evil establishment that multiplies like a cancer and preys on Independent businesses.
Gloria Jean’s is also a chain, but much smaller, and it based in Australia. Since I’m half Aussie, it’s almost like supporting a local place!
They have great specialty drinks like the Mon Cheri Mocha. Also the Morning Loaf is a tasty and healthy treat.
I would much rather see a small indie place in the area, but that seems unlikely, since Terra Linda is rather strip-​mall-​ish.
But I like the crew here: Zheng and Lupita are very cool and get to know your tastes. I work in the area and quite like stopping by a few times a week on breaks.