New coffee shop fosters community

MoonGoat Coffee, initially based in Fountain Valley, opened a new location in Costa Mesa on Sept. 27. Founders Martin Stern, David Yardley, and Mark Evans aim to foster a student-centered environment in the location.

Beginning out of a warehouse, MoonGoat Coffee started as a dream for Evans following the closing of his favorite café, according to Yardley. He took the idea to Stern, who later enlisted Yardley.

“Mark wanted to open up a coffee shop,” Yardley said, “and [he] saw a void in the market for a place that did a lot of arts cultivation—whether for music or for photography or painters—and also a place where people could hang out.”

One of the major aims of the new location is entertainment. According to Yardley, there are already events planned for Tuesday through Saturday nights. 

They plan to have karaoke, spoken word, stand-up comedy, and trivia as some of the activities, Stern explained.

In this new location, the founders have made it their mission to conform to the needs of the community. While they have goals for the store, they are primarily relying on the culture of the area to decide the atmosphere. According to Stern, the greatest chance of success would be embodying the needs of the community.

“Sometimes people just try to stick things in different communities and go, ‘Why didn’t it work?’ It wasn’t needed,” Stern said.

Part of mirroring the needs of the community is catering to the college crowd. Stern and Yardley expressed that the numerous schools in the area influenced the move to this location.

“[What] comes with late-night entertainment is late-night studying,” Stern explained, “And how boring does the library get during finals week?”

According to Yardley, some of the ways they are trying to attract college students is through affordable teas with re-steeps to encourage longer visits and a rentable conference room, equipped with an Apple TV and printer. This room can be reserved and either has an additional cost extra or minimum drinks quota.

Additional ways they hope to make the location college-friendly is by staying open 24 hours during finals week, providing a shuttle for students, and creating a rewards system with prizes like mugs and bags of coffee, Yardley explained.

Their primary attraction is their product. According to Yardley, they hope consumers know them by the quality of their product.

Between their product and atmosphere, their goal is to cater to the community.

“Make it [the atmosphere] feel, in the best way, homegrown. Sometimes that can denote a lower quality, but in reality, it’s more to say that when you walk into the door, hopefully, it feels like you’re walking into a friend’s house,” Yardley said.

To celebrate its opening, MoonGoat Coffee is extending a 15% discount for the next two weeks to students who say Calli sent them.