I just went here to get breakfast. My eggs smelled so bad. Didn't eat it. I ordered a blueberry vanilla smoothie for my toddlers and it's like gelatin goopey and they won't drink it. The 3 stars is for my americano (which is hard to screw up) read more

Lightbulb Coffee - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - La Mesa, California

The toffee nut latte is my favorite thing to order ! It tastes amazing !!!! I love coming here read more

Lightbulb Coffee - Iced Toffee Nut latte - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - La Mesa, California

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5 stars for the creative and beautiful/attractive decor! 3 stars for the Lox bagel. The price point is off the mark, for the quality of the sandwich. In other words, to justify the price, you need to use a higher quality bagel (this one is a basic bagel, that was relatively tough). Also, it looks like they use a higher quality lox. It wasn't too salty and it was thicker and softer, so you shouldn't bury the taste and texture of it, by drowning it in honey mustard and half a tub of cream cheese. My chocolate warrior (iced) was ok, just a little on the sweet side, and for the price, Starbucks is mass produced, but you can get a bigger/more potent cup. And really, with a name like "chocolate warrior" it better taste like the most chocolaty thing marching down your throat...lol I wanted to try some of the beautiful pastries in the display case, but several gnats, flying around, prevented me from doing so. The bathroom did not lock well. I was nervous that I locked it the wrong way and any second, someone was going to open the door during my vulnerable moment. The toilet seat needed some attention. There were no safety seat covers for the toilet seats. Service was good. Everyone was very nice and smiling! I still gave it 3 stars, because really, this was my first time here and I believe in giving a place a second chance. I will come back on a different day and bring my daughter, who loves coffee houses! read more

Lightbulb Coffee - Lox and chocolate warrior - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - La Mesa, California

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Tried the Turkish Hazelnut, went for a large, price was 7.50. Not bad, more on the sweeter side, the place is very clean, aesthetic and great place for study works or dates. Service was quick, tried the self check out, took around 5-7 mins for the drink to be ready. read more

Was in the area and looked up the nearest coffee shop to me and little did I know I would find such a gem! I got the lavender latte with oatmilk, and it was so creamy and the coffee flavor tasted nice and strong! The cafe had a nice study vibe as well, seems like a great place to get some work done. read more

I'll keep it short and simple, the girl behind the register was plain out rude and VERY UNFRIENDLY. Maybe needs a refresher in customer service. (Short highlighted hair) Not just to me but to the gentleman that were in front of me. If you're having a bad day, don't take it out on the customer. Not only bad for the company, but it makes you an ugly person. The coffee was basic nothing special about it. Won't be coming here again. read more

Came here for a poetry night for Muslim voices. It was a cool environment with a lot of seating and horse decorations lol. The food and drinks are really expensive. A sandwich and drink was $20, and with tip, $23. I got the large iced chai latte with oat milk. It was good, but I needed to let the ice melt to water down the sweetness a bit. And then I got the chicken arugula panini without onion. Any sandwich with arugula is usually really good for me. Overall I'd come here again for events, but will be more choosey when I pay for food/drinks. read more

Nice comfortable spot. Great service. The drinks are delicious and the people are friendly

My first time trying this place as I've passed by it multiple times but was hesitant to try because the name didn't sound appealing to me.. I was pleasantly surprised! After reading multiple reviews, I went with the Turkish coffee and it was delicious! I even saved it for the next day and put it in the fridge and it was still amazing! I also enjoyed my chicken panini and the aesthetic of the sandwich paper is very nice. read more

First time coming in and loved it!!!!! Our latte's were perfect! Wish we lived closer to this shop! The atmosphere is very welcoming and calming. I'm always overwhelmed when I have too many good, tasty options in front of me, but the owner gave me a few recommendations and told me of a few popular drinks. I always ask what is in each drink, and it was nice to not feel annoying asking tbh lol, he was so sweet and perfectly described the drinks. I ordered for myself and my household, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their drinks 10/10. Love the energy, decor, and music in here. Briefly said goodbye to a regular that was dining in, and he told me he hoped to see me again there. I told him, no doubt, I'll see you around! Support local businesses! Ps all employees wore masks when I went in :) read more

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Lox bagel was good. Weird that they put dressing on the arugula in the bagel, but still filling and delicious! The cold brew was very acidic but drinkable. The decor is amazing and has a great vibe for chilling with a group or studying read more

Lightbulb Coffee - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - La Mesa, California

It was my first time here. I went to the cashier and made my order. I asked her " Do you have the custard croissant?" Her reply was " uh yes, (she looks and points to the glass of pastries) Yes, we do." I looked and thought "Hmm really, their croissants must look different, but I'll trust her." I also ordered the London Fog. I specifically told her "Hot please." After several minutes, a girl yelled out "Cheese danish!" I told the young lady " I got the custard croissant. " Young lady replied " We don't have it. Was it up there?" ( Being sarcastic) Of course she wants me to say NO, because obviously they didn't have it. And! I'm sure the word Danish is so different from croissant? I told the cashier/girl earlier who took my order, I wanted the custard croissant!? Again, custard does NOT sound like DANISHHHHH! ‍My point is, their cashier took my order incorrectly, therefore they should've apologized. If I was the young lady I would've told the customer " I'm sorry, there probably was a miscommunication, would you still want this?" Do NOT INSINUATE any orders on the customer. I know because I have my own business myself. Then I also got my HOT London Fog iced?!!??? When I ordered it hot? Their cashier needs to pay more attention & do a recap on the orders with the customers. PAY MORE ATTENTION TO CUSTOMERS & GET your orders CORRECT. NOT EVERYONE IS NICE like me. I just took my orders and left. SMH. Disappointing. read more

Great ambiance, and... Best Lox bagel sandwich ever! I came here one day on a whim. I was in the area and had to get a bagel and lox. I don't know what sauce thy put in it but by far best lox bagel sandwich ever. The ambiance is great too. It's very cozy with cute signs that made want to share with my friends. I will definitely be bringing my friends here for a cozy coffee night. The drinks looked good too but I didn't get one this time since I was in a rush. I wish I wasn't though. This spot is great for working on your laptop, seeing a good friend or a cozy date. read more

love doing work here and recommend the turkish hazelnut latte ! so tasty and rich in flavor

Brand new coffee house with a sleek, industrial design and plenty of seating, making it an ideal study spot. Not only do they serve your typical coffee products, but they also have smoothies, paninis, and some breakfast items (e.g. bagels and acai bowls). As mentioned, they are new and that certainly is reflected in the skill of their staff. When I trudged in after a long day trying to tire out two very rambunctious and strong dogs, two young girls were at the helm. I don't venture to these parts often, so while I wanted to cool down with a cold smoothie, I convinced myself that I also needed a pick me up. Those females tired me out after all! I ordered a super basic *White Mocha* and some berry type of smoothie. The mocha was pretty standard, but the smoothie was... interesting. It was more on the slushed side, and my mistake was letting it sit for awhile because it did end up freezing over. I was left with a giant ball of ice in my drink. I did let it melt for an hour before finishing the rest. Mostly an icy flavor, which did serve to cool me down some! Not the best smoothie, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt since they are a coffee house and specialize in that. As a note-- their 'Light Bulb' hot coffee product is offered as a light, medium, or dark roast. Not sure if the beans are their own, but it was something very noteworthy (and sounded too strong at the time)! I believe the worker said it comes with two shots of espresso which I'm sure you can forego if you just want to enjoy the roast. P.S. Thanks Jack M. for always keep me in the 'know' about all the new coffee places. ;) read more

amazing coffee, made me happy, made me smile, i love the lavender latte, perfect flavors. i wish i could live here forever and drink a coffee everyday. read more

We order from here weekly and the service is always great. I love the chill vibe, comfy sofas and free wifi. There are so many options here for sandwiches and beverages (they make just about every type of coffee you can imagine) but they don't have options for gluten free food or dairy free syrups. I often have the acai bowl here and the lattes. My partner loves the bagel sandwiches. I definitely recommend stopping in for quality coffee and good service. read more

This is a nice new coffee shop located in the heart of La Mesa in the old Starbucks location on the La Mesa Blvd., next to Subway. I was at a meeting nearby and during a break I picked up Cafe au Lait via a medium roast. It was a nice coffee with a smooth front and finish. For about three dollars, it was an agreeable price. The place offers a open space with a good amount of seating and room for more actually. There's plenty of room for study groups.The staff was pretty nice but there was not much conversation when I probed. They seem pretty preoccupied with the business at hand which was understandable. read more

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I can't say much about the food because I only got a smoothie but me and my friend got here at 3 something and then left at 5:45pm and ig since it was closing soon they started blasting music like damn alright. It's really pretty, the man at the register is really nice and lots of spots to studying so I would go again but not close to closing time. read more

Their tables are well spaced out. I think they have lots of seating inside. It's clean inside. The atmosphere is okay, although I don't get a "home-y" feel from it. The workers (female and male) are nice. They have two sizes: regular and large. We got two regular sized coffees and it came out to be $10.75 I ordered an iced caramel latte. I wish that the coffee was stronger, I felt like it was overpowered a little by the caramel they used. Although I cannot taste the flavor of the caramel, it's just like a sweetener in my latte. Rated: 4/10 My friend ordered an iced vanilla caramel, asking for less of a coffee flavor. Although we both agreed that her drink had more coffee than mine. Perhaps they mixed up which one would have less coffee. It almost tastes like a Milky Way (like Duet's Milky Way Coffee) there's also some sugar in the raw at the bottom of the drink, I had received some crunch in the coffee. (We traded lattes) Rated: 7.5/10 Their coffee sleeves are pretty, but they are super thin. They only have one size for their straws. The straws are made for their large cups. read more

Lightbulb Coffee - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - La Mesa, California

I had the iced pistachio latte here and it was such a nice creamy treat. It wasn't too sweet and had a great flavor. They were busy on a Saturday morning but there's still plenty of seating. They also have a lot of latte flavors with great variety. read more

This place just opened and is definitely a step up from Starbucks! The ice blended Cali pistachio is unique. It was delicious and not overly sweet. Great flavor! The white chocolate mocha was tasty and my dad said the americano was very good, very good flavor. My mom noted that they prewarmed the cups which is a good sign. Lol. The portions of the cups for there are huge. The place is super spacious. Parents said baklava was good. Will definitely be back and hope to get to know this place better. Welcome to town, Lightbulb! read more

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The muffins are especially delicious here. There are 20 or 30 drink options, so expect a bit of thinking before attempting to order. The cafe has nice decor and a friendly staff. read more

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The coffee here is great the service is very nice and the staff is friendly! The drinks tend to be sweet so I'd personally recommend to do half sweet it always comes out great! I love this coffee shop and I will be returning. read more

Came here this morning and spend half of my day, reeeally nice and quite place, great atmosphere and customer service! My coffee was GREAT, Lox Bagel and tea was really good too. I'd give this place 10 starts if I could! Definitely coming back. read more

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My first time here. Close to my house so I decided to check it out. Arrived a little after 8am, it wasn't busy but it sure did pick up pace within the hour. I enjoyed the music. Short wait time for food. Service friendly. The bread was soft and the sandwich big enough for two to split. The latte was a smooth surprise. I'm used to hot lattes. Also, there was ice--- and this latte wasn't cold. In an odd way it was just perfect temp and literally smooth. The coffee didn't give me an upset stomach after (some coffees give you that acidic feeling). Really enjoyed my morning reading in the corner. Also, appreciated the Halloween decor. Good luck to this business! Definitely coming back. Gave it 4 stars as I only had 1 visit. read more

Lightbulb Coffee - Cali Pistachio and Turkey Pesto . - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - La Mesa, California

THE BEST CAFE IN SAN DIEGO the whole team is so friendly and brighten up my day. The drinks are amazing I would recommend the lavender matcha latte. Their pastries are all amazing and the vibes are great it's usually busy but with drinks and vibes as amazing as lightbulbs it's understandable. read more

We ordered the cali pistachio and turkish hazelnut with some pastries on the side which paired great with each other. Despite it being a busy time we got our coffee and pastries fairly quick. The inside was pretty and unique with lots of spots to sit at. read more

Lightbulb Coffee - Cali Pistachio Turkish Hazelnut - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - La Mesa, California

This shop serves a huge selection of delicious coffee drinks at an affordable price. With a variety of ways to customize your drink (and patient baristas), we left extremely satisfied with our experience here. The decor on the inside was outstanding and was both classy and trendy. The floors are constantly kept clean by an elderly gentleman, and I would not hesitate to spend a day working remotely from this location. read more

Pretty consistently, orders at Light Bulb take a very long time. I recently waited over 25 minutes for cold brew for example. I hadn't written a review prior to my experience today because I totally understand and can empathize with the fact that everyone is severely understaffed right now. Today I placed an order for pickup on their website around 10:45 am. The order was paid for and marked confirmed. After the status hadn't changed for 15 minutes I called just to make sure it was received. Unfortunately, it had not been so she had to start the order at that time. The order was not ready until 11: 25 am. Almost 45 minutes from the time of my original order. For a sandwich... What is frustrating is that there was no indication that their online system wasn't working or that they weren't currently using it. What would have happened if I hadn't called to check on the status of my order? What I have just paid and never received my order? Would I have had to have gone in and waited the normal 25 minutes for an item? The whole point of ordering online and picking up is for convenience and this was definitely not convenient. I will not be using the online service again. read more

I've been here a couple times before they remodeled the place, personally i loved the "weird" and funky decorations they had before, but now after their remodel... it lacks the interesting personality the shop had that was so fun. I ordered my favorite panini i used to get all the time, (muenster mushroom chicken panini) before, it was a delicious, crispy toasted bread and packed inside with so much flavor. instead, my bread was cold. crumbly and thick. it was more bread portion than anything else. no sauce or anything to go with it, just what tasted like old bread. at first i assumed it was just a one time thing, but my sister also got a panini and her bread's quality was also the same cold crumbly and dry texture, and lacking any fillings. really disappointed, i loved telling people about this place but now have to unfortunately reconsider. staff friendly at least. coffee decent. read more

Super cute spot. Love the decor, and really liked the strawberry banana smoothie. There's outside seating and parking. Will definitely come back. read more

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Great chai! Oh my goodness it was so good. After a long day I got a delicious chai! The service was amazing! The barista walked me through her favorites because there were so many delicious options! She was so kind and excited to share about the different coffees they had! The ambiance had great music and a setup of chairs, greenery and overall gorgeous atmosphere. I definitely wanna decorate my house like this! read more

Where do I start?! All the employees are so sweet and kind. Everytime I have a question or request, they always help out. I love their Turkish hazelnut half sweet and the Nutella croissant is 10/10! read more

I tried an iced Turkish hazelnut coffee. It was delicious my favorite coffee. It is very nicely decorated the staff was nice

Light Bulb Coffee is located in a strip mall in La Mesa. Walking in, the first thing I noticed was how spacious the place was. There was a lot of seating and the decor was eclectic and nice. They even have a few couches for customers to sit at. I walked up to order and saw there was a HUUUUGE menu. I don't think I've ever seen so many options for coffee at a coffee shop. They literally had 20-30 different latte flavors, so it was so hard to pick just one. I went with the Almond Joy Latte and Turkey Bagel Sandwich. I took a seat at one of the comfy sofas and waited maybe 5-10 minutes for my coffee and bagel sandwich. When they called me up to pick up my order, to my surprise, the barista had my HUGE sandwich and coffee ready for me. The Turkey Bagel Sandwich was MASSIVE and looked really appetizing, with fresh arugula, egg whites, and Boar's Head turkey. The sandwich tasted fresh and delicious! Also, for $5.50, that sandwich was a great deal! The Almond Joy Latte tasted like I was drinking an Almond Joy. The subtle, but not overpowering, chocolate flavor was very good and it had bits of coconut in every sip. The food, the coffee, the ambience, and the customer service exceeded my expectations. I wish I had found out about this hidden gem a long time ago. I've been wasting my time with production line coffee and pre-frozen microwaved sandwiches from Starbucks, what a mistake! Light Bulb Coffee is one of those local businesses that is an asset to the city. They will continue to have my business! I was in heaven with the coffee and the sandwich that I forgot to take pictures. I'll make another post with pictures for my next visit. read more

I love this place! Favorite go-to coffee in La Mesa if you have a sweet tooth! The food is also to die for, I love the chicken muenster sandwich. It's always packed full and you'll get your moneys worth. The staff is so kind and helpful when you have questions, and they're very quick and accountable to fix mistakes if they make any. The staff is very diverse and you can tell this place is really accepting of all different kinds of people and cultures. On top of this the ambiance is so nice and peaceful, they're always playing amazing music and the decor is adorable. I really recommend Lightbulb Coffee! read more

Not only is the atmosphere of this place welcoming, it's beautiful and in such a great location! The staff are super friendly and there's so many options for coffee & pastries! This is a must try when in San Diego! read more

Where do I begin?! Lightbulb has the best pastries, my favorite is the pistachio croissant. I love that they have a cardamom infused coffee. I also love the decorations and how cozy and rustic it is. The service is always great and one of my favorite baristas here is Lana. You can tell she crafts every drink to with so much care, God bless her hands. I recommend lightbulb to friends all the time. read more

The coffee selection is amazing. I ordered the Turkish hazelnut latte and it was amazing. The light bulb cups you can buy that are reusable are so unique too. Great idea. Their paninis and sandwiches awesome...try the raspberry turkey panini. You won't be sorry!! read more