New Cafe Opens on Manhattan Beach Pier
Sep 29, 2014 03:36PM ● By Mb News Staff
A customer gets some drinks at the newly opened Manhattan Beach Yacht Club cafe at the end of the Manhattan Beach Pier.
Though it recently gained notoriety for the Great White sharks seen in the water below, the Manhattan Beach Pier has a new claim to fame: the Manhattan Beach Yacht Club by Two Guns Espresso.
"It's a fantastic new addition to my morning," said Cory O'Daniel, who works in an office just steps from the pier. He says his daily MBYC trip is a happy replacement to his previous Starbucks routine, predicting that once folks who congregate at the downtown MB Starbucks learn about MBYC, their habits will change, too.
"I'm a pretty big fan of new coffee shops, and getting addicted," he told DigMB.
For Cory, discovering MBYC's parent operation, Two Guns Espresso, a year or so ago has been a great find. "It's the best one without driving to downtown (L.A.,)" he said.
Cory discovered MBYC last week as he took his daily lap on the pier. He said he noticed things were looking new at the pier's resident cafe when he spied bags of coffee beans with the Two Guns Espresso brand name.
MBYC owners, which include Ted Brown who is on site daily, are excited to be bringing superior coffee and tea beverages to folks who wander the pier. Their menu so far includes most of the coffee drinks you find at Two Guns, along with tea, ginger ale and other sodas, water, and Cool Haus ice cream sandwiches.
Brown says their menu will expand as the cafe settles into operations. The MBYC team took the keys to the location September 2, and spent time building out the space to their requirements, including the proper coffee equipment.
As with Two Guns, MBYC will focus on "getting the drinks right" and serving customers what they want. Four Adirondack chairs are set out front.
"We want people to have a place to sit with their coffee," said Ted. "And we'll be asking customers what they want (to see the cafe offer)."
A similar slow and steady strategy proved a winner at Two Guns, which opened on Sepulveda Boulevard in Goat Hill in 2011, gradually adding pastries and food from local vendors and morphing into their own on-site kitchen last April.
That kitchen has become extremely popular, adding yet another winning element to what Two Guns offers.
Owner Andrew "Stan" Stanisich says the owners like to "do a lot of research and look at a lot of multiple" options and ways of doing things.
"We use the best ingredients we can afford," he told DigMB. "And we price it right, and fairly."
MBYC is following suit, of course, using Strauss Family Creamery's organic products, organic teas from Art of Tea, and giving customers the choice of milk, soy, almond and hemp products.
Popular drinks include the Frozen Bullet (two shots of espresso with non-fat mocha powder, a couple of pumps of mint syrup and the milk of your choice), green tea, a white coconut tea, French Press coffee, and their signature Flat White, 8 ounces of heaven (espresso and steamed milk with very little air added--a New Zealand-style latte).
Just recently, the Two Guns team, including Ted, spent a "couple of months" tasting coffee to create their own Two Guns Espresso Blend. The exclusive roast is described as "very caramel, very chocolatey, sweet," said Stan, "very heavy on the Brazil content."
The sweet flavors of the coffee means many folks don't need to add milk or anything sweet to their drink, resulting in a lower calorie coffee beverage.
MBYC is open daily at the end of the pier, 7 a.m.-4 p.m.; (310) 318-2537.
"It's a fantastic new addition to my morning," said Cory O'Daniel, who works in an office just steps from the pier. He says his daily MBYC trip is a happy replacement to his previous Starbucks routine, predicting that once folks who congregate at the downtown MB Starbucks learn about MBYC, their habits will change, too.
"I'm a pretty big fan of new coffee shops, and getting addicted," he told DigMB.
For Cory, discovering MBYC's parent operation, Two Guns Espresso, a year or so ago has been a great find. "It's the best one without driving to downtown (L.A.,)" he said.
Cory discovered MBYC last week as he took his daily lap on the pier. He said he noticed things were looking new at the pier's resident cafe when he spied bags of coffee beans with the Two Guns Espresso brand name.
MBYC owners, which include Ted Brown who is on site daily, are excited to be bringing superior coffee and tea beverages to folks who wander the pier. Their menu so far includes most of the coffee drinks you find at Two Guns, along with tea, ginger ale and other sodas, water, and Cool Haus ice cream sandwiches.
Brown says their menu will expand as the cafe settles into operations. The MBYC team took the keys to the location September 2, and spent time building out the space to their requirements, including the proper coffee equipment.
As with Two Guns, MBYC will focus on "getting the drinks right" and serving customers what they want. Four Adirondack chairs are set out front.
"We want people to have a place to sit with their coffee," said Ted. "And we'll be asking customers what they want (to see the cafe offer)."
A similar slow and steady strategy proved a winner at Two Guns, which opened on Sepulveda Boulevard in Goat Hill in 2011, gradually adding pastries and food from local vendors and morphing into their own on-site kitchen last April.
That kitchen has become extremely popular, adding yet another winning element to what Two Guns offers.
Owner Andrew "Stan" Stanisich says the owners like to "do a lot of research and look at a lot of multiple" options and ways of doing things.
"We use the best ingredients we can afford," he told DigMB. "And we price it right, and fairly."
MBYC is following suit, of course, using Strauss Family Creamery's organic products, organic teas from Art of Tea, and giving customers the choice of milk, soy, almond and hemp products.
Popular drinks include the Frozen Bullet (two shots of espresso with non-fat mocha powder, a couple of pumps of mint syrup and the milk of your choice), green tea, a white coconut tea, French Press coffee, and their signature Flat White, 8 ounces of heaven (espresso and steamed milk with very little air added--a New Zealand-style latte).
Just recently, the Two Guns team, including Ted, spent a "couple of months" tasting coffee to create their own Two Guns Espresso Blend. The exclusive roast is described as "very caramel, very chocolatey, sweet," said Stan, "very heavy on the Brazil content."
The sweet flavors of the coffee means many folks don't need to add milk or anything sweet to their drink, resulting in a lower calorie coffee beverage.
MBYC is open daily at the end of the pier, 7 a.m.-4 p.m.; (310) 318-2537.
