By Megan Sullivan
Assistant Circulation Editor
With its comfy seating, warm coffee, and fresh pastries, “Coffee Cartel” gives its customers a home away from home where they can socialize with friends or enjoy the quirky character of the shop.
“Coffee Cartel” is a unique and comfortable coffee shop that offers a variety of creative and delicious drinks for its customers, but lacks a quiet and effective study environment due to its social ambiance.
“Coffee Cartel” is located in the Riviera Village in Redondo Beach and is a common spot for people of all ages to enjoy coffee, study or socialize. There is free wifi, large bookshelves stocked with books, and board games for customers to enjoy.
“Coffee Cartel” is open daily and on Tuesday nights it hosts an open-mic poetry night where people can share their work. Participants of all ages are given the option to perform poetry, live music, or any other sort of writing or expression they choose.
The coffee shop has a huge menu that offers a large variety of different drinks such as coffee, tea, smoothies, boba and sodas. There are also numerous food options such as muffins, cookies and candies, which ensures that there is something that appeals to all customers.
Not only does “Coffee Cartel” have a diverse menu, but many of the items they offer are enjoyable and unique to their store. For example, they have frozen coffee drinks of various flavors such as chocolate, mint, and vanilla, which adds a refreshing twist to a popular drink. They also offer fresh baked goods which make the shop feel very home like.
“Coffee Cartel” also includes couches, board games, and large book shelves which further contribute to its friendly atmosphere. It features art from local painters and also sells sculptures and antiques, keeping all aspects of the shop related to the South Bay.
Although “Coffee Cartel” is a great place to go to socialize, it lacks comfortable study areas due to its small tables and large couches. It is a perfect place to read a book or talk with friends, but is not suited for studying for a test or completing homework assignments that take extreme focus.
In addition to lacking the appropriate study environment, the coffee shop is usually crowded and fairly loud due to the amount of people who go to enjoy the friendly atmosphere. This makes it difficult for students to study and get their work done as distractions are plentiful within the shop.
“Coffee Cartel” is overall a great place to try new drinks, enjoy coffee, and talk with friends, however it fails to provide a successful studying environment because of its social atmosphere and distracting layout.
The “Coffee Cartel,” is open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and is located on 1820 S Catalina Ave #102 in Redondo Beach.
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