Thank you for replying but this was the second time your barista said that and it was NOT said politely. Yesterday my hairdresser asked if I tried your coffee shop and he had a similar experience and said the the young lady and man were very curt and rude. They did not take kindly to him asking what were in the pastries. He's not coming back either. If you read through your reviews it's a common experience. You need to train your employees. Go to CAR or Unincorporated and experience excellent customer service. read more

Came here twice since I work nearby. For the price of the drinks, I expected much more. I ordered the green Pomegranate tea- it took so long to make it, only for it to taste like water. Not impressed. I also have gotten the matcha latte here, it was decent but not anything that would make we want to come back. read more

Five stars for the quality of coffee. Pretty friendly staff. Some of the music played is awful and unnecessarily loud. Cute spot.

I'm alway looking for new places to try coffee and I came across this one. I probably should have read the reviews before making the decision to come in. At first glance the place is aesthetically pleasing and very picture worthy. However, the line took forever and lady taking orders upfront was very snobby. I asked her a couple questions and she responded very rudely. My coffee took about 15-20 minutes. The guy who gave me my drink was very apologetic which is why I gave this place 3 stars as well as the pretty atmosphere. The coffee here is pretty mediocre and a little on the pricey side for an average cup of coffee. I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon. read more

I made a Yelp account just to write this review after being surprised at the lowish rating for The Boy and The Bear, when (in my opinion, of course) the modern espresso here is the best I've had in Pasadena. The drinks are admittedly on the expensive side, so I've only been here twice so far, but both times I've been blown away by the modern Gibraltar (aka cortado) and as a treat, I think it is absolutely worth the money. You can taste the unique qualities of the beans that went into the espresso. There was a lovely fruity aftertaste I particularly enjoyed; it reminded me of some of my favorite natural process coffees I've prepared at home. The whole milk enhanced the drink rather than compensating for any bitterness in the coffee, highlighting the natural sweetness of the espresso and helping flavors linger longer on the tongue. Their in-store whole bean selection has more variety than I expected considering the focus on specialty coffees from only Colombia. I picked up a bag of the honey process Maragogype (a coffee varietal with particularly large beans that I don't see too often) on my second visit that I'm very excited to try on my V60. read more

Love the vegan mocha latte! The ambience of the place isn't exactly my vibe, but it's clean and the drinks are quality.

gorgeous interior - the plants and dark neutrals make it a soothing place to work or study. however, the downside of all the plants/dirt means a lot of tiny gnats flying around. all the times I've been there, I've had to cut my stay short because the gnats were eating me alive. the lattes and coffees I got were pretty good, but not memorable enough to make me choose this spot over others. street parking fairly easy on weekdays so far. read more

Just OK. Not bad, but not the best. I've been here 4 times now and every time I feel like an inconvenience when ordering / waiting for my drink. Not really worth the wait or attitude. Maybe will try again once things have settled and not as new! read more

Super yummo coffee. I have truly never been disappointed. My go to is the salted caramel latte with oat but no coffee i've had here has been bad. They also have yummy pastries every day. The almond croissant is . There is parking behind the shop which is a big plus and the inside is so cute! It has a good amount of seats (i've never had to wait for long to sit). Most of the workers are kind and it is my go-to shop in Pasadena. read more

Incredible! Skip Starbucks and go to The Boy and The Bear! Took the barista's recommendation and ordered a latte --- delicious!

Really good service and coffee! My mocha was perfectly sweet and creamy. The aesthetic inside is also very nice and minimalistic. Would definitely go back :) read more

My favorite coffee shop when I was in Cali. I was doing clinicals out east for a few months so coming to Pasadena was almost an hour drive. If we were passing by we would stop here or one of their other locations for their Stockholm Fog. Best drink I've ever tasted. It's a mixture of chai and mocha that is perfectly sweetened and amazing with oat milk. That's the only drink I ordered when I came here. I also got my friends and family hooked when we brought them here when they were visiting. They tried other drinks and even bought some of their signature beans as well as merch. I will miss their Stockholm fog and beautiful green interior design. Staff was also always friendly and helpful. read more

The Boy & The Bear - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Coffe is ok. Staff are not very nice.. there are better places for a coffee. I ask for a straw and the employee told me that they are "straw free.." and look very pleased with himself. Why not just say sorry we don't have straw? Why such a bad attitude. read more

Great Iced Almond Milk Latte, spare but comfortable interior. Will definitely be back.

Really good coffee! My husband and I have our top 3 favorite spots for coffee here in Pasadena and this spot is one of them. They are the only coffee shop though out of our favorites that charge extra for oat milk. So keep that in mind! read more

Huge fan of the coffee. Delicious. Slurp it down. Customer service is disappointing. Condescending. Rude. Just unpleasant. Also gnats.

OMG...I walked into this place yesterday, because I noticed it as I was driving by. Upon entering, I didn't notice any menu on the wall, so I assumed they just sell packaged coffee, so I walked back out. I didn't notice any food items on display either...I guess I should've asked. Now that I've read reviews posted here, I'll def stop back in to try something. The interior looked very calm and inviting...I really think they should put a menu up on the wall, to avoid any misconceptions...though I will take partial fault for not asking. Can't wait to go back and try a coffee/snack. read more

Found this place while waiting for a friend and it looked pretty cozy. The cashier lady asked for my order and gave me attitude for no reason when I asked her what was inside their specialty drinks. Ordered one of their flavored lattes and it wasn't even that good. Won't be coming back here. read more

Such a lovely and calm environment! The coffee was delicious and everyone was very kind! Would absolutely recommend

Cute coffee shop with wifi and outlets. I had a decaf vanilla latte and a plain croissant. Both were good, and the croissant was warmed up. The interior is really nice with a lot of plants. Overall a nice visit and a good place to sit and do some work! read more

Super cute place and amazing coffee. Very few seats though, will have to wait a bit before you can get a table. read more

The Boy & The Bear - a mural on the wall - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Drinks-wise, I think I prefer other nearby places that are in the same pricey/upscale indie shop category. However, the location and decor are great and I do enjoy walking here every so often to mix things up. It's a great place to relax and enjoy the environment and I'm glad that it's here. My main reason for leaving a review is that I keep having to wait in the regular line before I can reach a barista and pick up my online orders. I have walked up to the pickup counter but had trouble getting attention as the baristas were working fast/keeping their head down/passing out an order then quickly turning around to work on the next drink, etc. Not a big deal but it'd be great to just walk up to the pickup area and be greeted/asked if I'm picking up and get my online order. read more

Came here to get some work done but couldn't fix myself to buy a drink. The shop could definitely use a deep cleaning. The rafters, over head lights and windows are covered in dust. visible cobwebs throughout the shop and the plants are dying/covered in powder mold :/ the green store needs a little TLC. read more

Premium spot. I've tried the pour over and the cold brew. I thought both were spectacular. Definitely coming back and would recommend. I really like the space inside too. read more

I wanted to really like this place. I was looking for a good neighborhood cafe. The plus side is that the coffee is good (I ordered a cold brew), they offer free wifi, and the interior is spacious and clean. On the downside, there are quite a few bugs due in part to the extensive array of plants (nice idea, but maybe consider some bug spray???). Additionally, the pastries, which you pay a premium for, were a total disappointment. I ordered the chocolate croissant, it was stale and chewy. I watched the server set up a "fresh" display with the pastries. She even offered to warm it up. But it couldn't overcome the poor quality of the pastry itself. TOTAL waste. I took two bites and threw it away. That for me is a deal breaker. I also have to say, I wish cafes would let us add our own half and half! I'm over the awkward dance asking baristas how to serve my coffee. The coffee and vibes are good--please up your food game to match your coffee and you'll give other cafes a run for the money, but not until then. read more

Hmm, what can I say. Stopped in for some coffee and pastries last week when I was running errands. The service was disengaged and the employees seemed pre-occupied with something else rather than waiting on the customers, although there were only two of us waiting to order. The coffee was ok nothing special and the pastries were tasteless and stale. With so many coffee choices I don't think I'll return. read more

Tried to order a pour over, but the guys that worked there said the new rule from the boss is that pour overs are not to be "to-go" Of course no drip avail either. $6 went elsewhere. What is straight up wrong with business owners lol. read more

The Boy and the Bear is the BEST! Friendly helpful servers! I recommend starting with the sage croissant with a cup of Earl Gray with cream and sugar. Then top it off with the almond croissant as dessert. So darn amazing and I just happened to turn on the street to find it! If you live near, or if you, too, are on your way home from LAX, do a favor and visit the Bear and the Boy! You won't regret it! ***** Five Star Best! read more

Bad coffee bad service so many better options around. Go to artisan car or jameson brown coffee they are so much better and friendlier.

I visited Boy and The Bear for the first time because I had a gift card from a friend. I brought my two kids for some reading time and ordered a hot vanilla latte. It was luke warm so I asked if I could get it heated up. The barista flatly said no then when I asked what my options are he said he could remake it asking "so you want it extra extra hot" and I suggested "just like normal hot" (duh) he proceeded to make it boiling hot and when I came to retrieve my coffee he said "here's your extra extra hot coffee. You can't drink it, be careful don't touch it". It felt very petty and rude to me to make it so hot that I couldn't even touch it for about 15 minutes and by that time it didn't even taste good from being scalded. Ugh. Ruined my coffee date with my kids. I won't be going back or using the $20 left on my gift card. :( Also, the other barista working with him was laughing when he handed my the "extra extra hot coffee", made me feel pretty stupid. read more

The coffee here never disappoints and it's a cool spot to get some work done. The only minus aspects of the place I've experienced are the constant tiny flies that love the real (!) plants inside, and the selectively helpful and often unfriendly service from the baristas. Definitely worth checking out tho read more

Good coffee, a little pricey, but good. However, "cards only" is a little exclusive. I don't like to pay with my card as I get my card hacked often and less charges on it is less checking my card for fraud. Also, low income people and immigrants often do not have bank accounts or credit card, which I doubt is there target audience anyway but comes across as tone deaf. But keeping a small cash box would not break them for the rare cash customer. Bad optics but doubt they will change because of my review. Hipsters hate me and that's their core business. Go to the Chocolate/Coffee place instead, cool local guy owns it and he takes cash. read more

Great coffee and awesome atmosphere. Coffee won't disappoint, high quality beans. Must try if you are in the area.

I have been here a few times. Consistently good. They are always really fast and today was especially good service. Great staff.

Let me just say that my wife and I LOVE The Boy and the Bear coffee. We live in the valley and make sure to go to the Redondo Beach or Culver City locations whenever we're in the area. While we love the coffee, the customer service has ALWAYS been lacking. Simply and frankly, they're just not friendly but we love the coffee. When we heard there was now a Boy and the Bear location in Pasadena, we were thrilled! We visited yesterday, bought merch, coffee beans and a couple of drinks. We even mistakenly gave WAY too generous of a tip because it was based on the percentage of the grand total with the beans and merch instead of just the coffees. We tried chatting with the staff and saying how excited we were that they were in the valley now and....crickets. At best there was a very unenthused, "yeah" after a very long period of silence. It was so awkward it was laughable. The girl making the coffee was more quiet and awkward than unfriendly but the guy at the register was just not nice AT ALL. Literally, giving the vibe that he's annoyed and almost mad that you're there. It was as though he's been there so long, HATES his job, couldn't care less and couldn't wait to quit. They've only been open for a couple months so if he hates it that much already, not a good sign. And it wasn't just us, while we were waiting for our coffee, a guy who was at a table said, "bye!" to the workers as he was leaving and they just looked back at him with blank stares. You could see on his face that he was perplexed and felt so awkward with their rudness. I'm used to bad customer service at Boy and the Bear but this was the worst for sure. And it's upsetting that it's the location that's 20 minutes away instead of an hour! Also, you could tell right away that this branch was trying a little too hard to save on AC. It was cooler than outside but still, way too warm. You're in the valley in June. You'll need to use your AC. Boy and the Bear coffee is our absolute favorite but their customer service...wow. It literally feels as though they tell their employees to not waste their energy in being friendly at all. I wouldn't say they're generally really rude, they're just annoyed that you being there means they have to work. I'd say that it's like this about 70% to 80% of the time. Unfortunately, this is 100%, a top down, franchise problem. We've been to 3 of 4 locations and the customer service is consistantly bad at all 3. We love the coffee so much, we bought a ton of coffee bags to give out to friends for Christmas. We rave about the place but always have to warn of the bad customer service. That's not good!! I don't know if it's high-level coffee snobbery or what but I really wish they'd turn this around. When you wish they'd replace the cashiers with self-service kiosks, you know the company really needs to work on their customer service. Please, I beg you....fix this. read more

This place used to be good when it was just opened. Now people work there are not friendly with no emotions when they talked.

The late is good, quility coffee. However they don't have a good selection of tea and of that selection, they don't know how to make it. I got a silver needle white tea that was so burnt, it tasted like black tea. I asked for ice cubes to cool it down, but the damage had already been done. For a $5 cup of tea it should be great or at least good. read more

From reading their website, I was expecting elegance and artistry. Unfortunately, what we found were dead plants as decor, flies everywhere, and a snotty Barista. The coffee was very good, but I couldn't enjoy it due to the atmosphere. Also, there are no vegan food options. read more

Been coming here at least once a week since they opened, great coffee. Usually the baristas are really nice and the drinks taste great. Today however I asked about my drink and the barista proceeded to give me attitude about it before I could finish my sentence. I then asked more about my drink and she continued to be rude. I am so disappointed things like this make me not want to come back. She was the redhead employee. read more

Great coffee and nice interior with room to sit. Parking is easy as well. I usually order the vanilla latte and it is one of the best in pas, at least in my opinion. read more