Mobar Coffee Co.

Mobar sits inside Montebello Town Center mall, next to a children's playpen, and the noise from screaming kids at busy hours is a real part of the experience to plan around. The setting reads as mall-quick rather than coffee-shop cozy, and the cafe doesn't try to pretend otherwise with the layout. The format is the format. The menu has been built around it.

The Mexican-inspired drinks are the reason to stop here rather than at any other mall coffee counter. The Cafe de Olla Cold Foam Cold Brew is the signature and the order regulars name first when they're recommending the place to friends. Straight cafe de olla, hot, is the more traditional version of the same idea and the one to order in cooler weather. Refresher drinks round out the menu for the not-in-the-mood-for-coffee crowd that gets dragged along on weekend shopping trips and needs something cold in their hand to make the trip bearable.

Nathalie, the manager, gets called out by name by customers, which is the tell that the service has held up despite the mall-counter format. Small thing. Matters in a setting where most coffee operations don't bother getting service right in the first place. The team here does.

This is a stop for mall shoppers who want a Mexican-style coffee drink without leaving the center. It is not a workspace. The playpen makes that a non-starter even before the sound of a Saturday afternoon crowd kicks in. Parking in this kind of mall lot can be a real consideration depending on which entrance you pick, and the closest entrance to Mobar isn't always the most obvious one. Treat it as a mall coffee stop with better drinks than mall coffee usually means and the visit works. Treat it as a destination and you'll end up disappointed by the room before you ever taste the cafe de olla.