What was once the Diamond Bar landmark, Julie’s Cafe, known for its bagel sandwiches and kale smoothies, has now been replaced with its average twin sister: Reborn Cafe.
The tiny cafe is located on Diamond Bar Boulevard next to the Neighborhood Walmart. I happened to go in the morning, before the Wednesday late start, so the place was pretty empty. The cafe’s interior is exactly how Julie’s Cafe had left it, with antique paintings and decorations providing customers with a welcoming ambience.
The menu offers a diverse variety of bagel sandwiches to coffees and a handful of teas. I ordered an iced matcha latte with oat milk and sweetener ($5.50) as well as their House Special bagel sandwich ($8.50). I waited about 10 minutes until I received my drink and food.
The matcha latte was the perfect shade of green, with their cup adorned with their logo and a quote. Upon taking my first sip, I was a bit underwhelmed. It was a little too watery for my liking due to the overload of ice in my cup. Undoubtedly proving that Starbucks’ matcha lattes take the cake over this cafe, which only provided me with a slight matcha taste.
However, I still had hope that the meal would be sufficient. Moving onto the bagel sandwich, my expectations were missed once more. The bagel sandwich looks exactly like the “Julie’s Special” from Julie’s Cafe. The House Special included an everything bagel seasoned bagel, scrambled egg, spinach, tomatoes, red onions and bacon. When I took the first bite, I was greeted with a mouthful of sesame seeds from the bagel seasoning and nothing more, as the overall taste of the bagel sandwich lacked some flavor. The egg tasted like a plain egg with no seasoning, but the bacon and the red onions did its best to save this sad bagel sandwich. The bacon and onions were the only things seasoned with salt, however there was an uneven ratio of too much bacon compared to everything else. I was disappointed to say the least.
All things considered, if you are wanting to try the matcha latte, I would recommend you get light ice, or in fact, getting it elsewhere. If you want to try the House Special bagel, I recommend that you get it on a plain bagel to avoid the bagel seasoning making a mess everywhere. Nonetheless, I recommend not rushing to try this place and searching elsewhere for a better tasting cafe.
