Klatch Coffee

After the COVID-19 pandemic ended, coffee chains with roots outside Orange County began expanding somewhat aggressively here, notably including San Diego’s Better Buzz and Oregon’s Dutch Bros, each delivering Dunkin’-class drinks that overwhelm any coffee inside with sugary syrups and creamers. Around the same time, Rancho Cucamonga-based Klatch Coffee began expanding here in a different way – inside Sprouts Farmers Market stores, one at a time, starting with Fullerton (October 2024), Huntington Beach (January 2026), and Laguna Niguel (July 2026) as the first three OC locations; Lake Forest and San Clemente shops are next up as of August 2026.

If the coffee shop world is a spectrum with Dunkin’ and the “barely coffee” others at one extreme, Starbucks a few steps more concerned about quality, third-wave artisanal shops like Kéan on another level, and minimalist/bean sourcing-focused places like % Arabica and Blue Bottle arguably representing an emergent fourth wave, Klatch sits somewhere in the orbit of Starbucks – more focused on quality and coffee than some, but not up to the artisanal standards of typical third-wave indies. Mostly in the 2000s, Klatch won a variety of barista and roasting awards; today, it still roasts and sells its own beans, offering at least 16 different options by the 11-ounce bag on our visit to the Fullerton shop. Moreover, its friendly customer service leaves the typical Starbucks in the dust. But its drink and food options are somewhat limited, with menu selections leaning more heavily towards old trends and basics than either serious espressos or recently trending novelties.

Beverages such as Mexican mochas ($6.15), shakerados ($5.75), creme brulee espressos ($6.15), and sweet peach teas ($6) hint at the chain’s inspirations; the most unusual item on the very short drink menu is a coffee lemonade ($6.50), which we haven’t yet tried. As we visited on a hot summer day, we stuck solely with iced drinks, though we’re curious about the chain’s “competition cappuccino” with traditionally micro-frothed foam – a reference to the owners’ past barista competition successes.

A brief note on the food front: Klatch’s tiny display case offered only six ready-to-go choices on our visit, ranging from basic butter or ham and cheese croissants to a danish, sweet loaf, scone, and a muffin-shaped, churro-sugared cinnamon roll called a “morning bun.” Eight or nine savory options ($5.25 to $8.50) include eggs on brioche, tortillas, biscuits, or English muffins, as well as egg bites and a couple of avocado toasts. The morning bun ($4) we tried was totally fine rather than special; a chocolate croissant we’d seen online and hoped to order had “just sold out” before we arrived fairly early in the morning.