‘Community first’: A new coffee shop brews instant popularity in Irvine
When MoonGoat Coffee Roasters started, co-founder Mark Evans had never thought they’d be talking about opening more than one brick-and-mortar location.
Never mind their fourth location, which they opened officially Thursday afternoon.
The new storefront, tucked inside of the UC Irvine Research Park, has been operating since February and has served more than 6,500 orders since doors opened on California Avenue.
On Thursday afternoon, it bustled with life as baristas moved swiftly behind the bar and students settled in to study for approaching midterms. The sound of someone grinding coffee beans was in the air and Evans smiled proudly as he watched on, cradling a drink of his own.
MoonGoat Coffee Roasters, which first established its roastery in Santa Ana in 2018, opened a retail location in Costa Mesa the following year, then expanded into Garden Grove and Laguna Beach.
“When we started, we did a lot of events with the Irvine Co. through pop-ups and catering. That kind of got us in the door with the Irvine Co., and we knew that [this] spot was special just through our Costa Mesa location,†Evans said. “We had so many people from UCI coming to us and asking, ‘When are you going to open a spot in Irvine?’ so we knew we were going to do it eventually. We just didn’t know when, and the opportunity came up here. It used to be a Starbucks, then it was a Steam [Coffee Bar]. The minute we rolled up, we were like, ‘Yes.’
“I didn’t even have to walk in the door.â€
Evans said the rest came together swiftly over two months, and the opening of the Irvine location was the most successful to date.
A former musician, Evans said he used to tour around the country and would see interesting coffee shops all over the world, but when he’d return to his native Orange County he wouldn’t see anything close to the coffee scene elsewhere. He liked the community feeling he experienced in other shops and wanted provide the same ambiance in every location MoonGoat would eventually set up.
“There’s a couple of mom and pop shops [here], but nothing like I saw on the road. And so, my dream after music was to open a coffee shop. I’d never worked in coffee in my life, which is crazy, but that’s when the out-of-the-box thinking comes in. I partnered up with David [Longridge], who was corporate Starbucks and was at the same roadblock,†Evans said. “So as the perfect storm, we got together and found a location in Costa Mesa in an industrial area.
“We thought we were crazy for opening there, but it turned out to be a super success.â€
At least or now, the business is staying in Orange County because there’s already an oversaturation of coffee shops in neighboring Los Angeles County, he explained, and because he wanted to bring something special to this region, specifically. Any plans for physical expansion past the Irvine location, he said, would have to develop organically.
He said he felt what makes MoonGoat unique is the quality of what it serves. The company sources its coffee beans from all over the world, as well as locally. Evans regularly makes purchasing sojourns to Japan because he appreciates the quality of their matcha.
The food served at MoonGoat, he said, is also made in house.
“It’s a place people can go and hang out. It’s not like a store. I’m not throwing Starbucks under the bus, but if you go into a Starbucks, there’s a couple of places you can set up your laptop. Here, I could have 60 people studying and having work parties,†Evans said. “What separates us is community first, then our coffee and matcha and our fun chagaccino drinks — the mushroom drinks, which I didn’t think would be a super hit. I think that it’s a lot of that, plus the work we put in.â€
Evans said his team is passionate about their work and that he sometimes feels through MoonGoat that he is still a musician, putting in as much effort to perform in front of a crowd as he is sourcing the ingredients and maintaining the brand. The Irvine location, he said, like the three others that the company operates, is for him about providing a safe space for people to enjoy their experience
“I’ve heard this a million times from our customers. They’ll come up to me and go, ‘Are you the owner? Are you one of the owners?’ and I’ll be like, ‘Yeah.’ And they’ll go, ‘I just want to thank you for opening a spot where I can bring my family and feel comfortable.’ I’ve heard it so many times that I should record it because it always warms my heart to hear,†he said. “It means we’re doing right by the community.â€
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