Five Local Coffee Shops to Visit This Finals Season

With finals season just around the corner, it’s a great time to start your hunt for the perfect coffee shop to study for finals. It can be difficult to find a space that contains all the elements for a successful and productive study session, like comfortable seating, strong Wi-Fi, good customer service, a welcoming atmosphere, and of course, delicious beverages. Luckily, as students in Orange County, we have a plethora to choose from, and this article will be your guide to finding the perfect coffee shop. If you’re looking for a space that offers alternatives for coffee, read to the end for some options.  

Golden State Coffee Roasters 

If you’re looking for a well-lit, open space, Golden State Coffee Roasters makes the twenty minute drive to Placentia worth it. This coffee shop provides a great amount of seating, including large circular tables for when you have a big study group, tall two-person tables, couches, and outdoor seating. The shop is spacious and has a skylight in the middle of the main section, bringing the perfect amount of sunlight. Golden State Coffee Roasters roasts their coffee in-house, and even has windows that allow customers to see the roasters at work. There are outlets along most of the walls and strong, free Wi-Fi. The menu offers a variety of delicious coffee, tea, and matcha, and the staff is very friendly. I recommend the iced matcha latte with almond milk, sweetened with agave. 

Cafe Cito 

Located in downtown Santa Ana, founded by Latino natives of Santa Ana, is Cafe Cito. This coffee shop is twenty minutes away from campus and offers great service and a welcoming environment. Cafe Cito has a good amount of outlets for charging your devices, some outdoor seating, and indoor seating which is upstairs from where orders are taken, making it a lot less distracting and easier to focus. The menu offers a variety of beverages, specializing in coffee inspired by Latin culture, like their signature “Cafe de Olla Latte”. Overall, Cafe Cito is a great choice if you’re looking for a quiet place to get a lot of work done. 

Corazón Coffee Bar

Corazón Coffee Bar is located in Santa Ana, twenty minutes away from Vanguard University. This Latina owned coffee shop prides themselves on providing high quality, Latin-culture inspired, coffee and beverages. The staff is friendly and dedicated to serving customers. There is indoor seating available which includes small tables with outlets along the wall, and a bar with stools. Outside, is a large patio with picnic tables.

Corazón Coffee Bar’s outdoor patio. Photo credit: Nadia Sosa

I had the chance to speak to the owner, Jessica Hurtado, and ask her a couple of questions about Corazón Coffee Bar. When asked what inspired her to open the shop, Hurtado said that coffee runs in her family, and her vision for the shop was to create specialty coffee for the Latino community of Santa Ana and the surrounding areas. She said, “Something that I focus on here is the quality of the coffee…I wanted to create a place where our community could go to get a good cup of coffee rather than just drinking a bunch of sugar.”

What started as a small coffee cart in downtown Santa Ana, became a community-oriented business. Corazón Coffee Bar is named after what downtown Santa Ana is known as, the heart of the city, and aims to hold a place in the hearts of its residents. As a born and raised resident of Santa Ana, Hurtado explained that the location of her business holds great importance for the standard and mission statement they uphold. The wall reads, “Cafe, Amor, Comunidad,” and Corazón Coffee Bar provides just that, quality coffee, a warm, welcoming, loving environment, and community for all. 

Corazón Coffee Bar’s wall art. Photo Credit: Nadia Sosa

If you’re looking for a welcoming, safe space and community this finals season, check out Corazon Coffee Bar. 

Looking for study spaces and shops that offer alternatives to coffee? Here are some options.

Contra Coffee and Tea

Contra Coffee and Tea is located only 15 minutes away from campus at the Orange Circle. This coffee shop provides a big, open study space, complete with small and large tables, couches, individual bay-side window seating options, and some outdoor seating. Contra Coffee and Tea is open until 9 p.m., and is perfect if you need a calm space to work later in the evening. Their menu includes a wide variety of hand-formulated and locally sourced experimental coffees and teas on tap. Contra Coffee has strong, free wi-fi, and sells merchandise in-store which includes a room full of stationary and locally sourced clothing. 

Summerfield Tea Bar

Summerfield Tea Bar offers two locations local to Orange County: Santa Ana and Garden Grove. This Vietnamese, family-owned business was founded in 2015 and strives to cultivate a warm and welcoming community. Summerfield is pet-friendly and open until 1 am, perfect for those late night study sessions during finals week. As for the menu, Summerfield uses fresh ingredients to create delicious teas and treats. Outside and indoor seating, as well as strong Wi-Fi, is also included at Summerfield Tea Bar. 

With these local coffee shops to choose from, this finals season will be filled with delicious beverages, great customer service, and productive study sessions. Not only will you have a successful finals season, but you’ll be supporting locally-owned, small businesses that strive to serve the community that surrounds them, including students like us.