Moonstruck Café

When I’m doing around-​Winthrop errands or don’t feel like driving to Eastie/​Revere for Starbucks, Moonstruck is where I go for caffination.
Moonstruck does coffee right at least by my standards. (My standards being: sweet, hot & strong) It’s a teeny space so I usually take my coffee on the run but they have a few cute seats right at the window & everyone has always been nice to me. I never feel unwelcome either, the employees are very nice.
I’ve never had any of the soups or sandwiches but they have these filled cookies that are amazing.
If you need a near-​by option or your thing is supporting local businesses, then go for Moonstruck.

I’m a café aficionado, coming from a small European influenced city full of brick-​paved side alley purveyors of caffeinated beverages and small cakes. Moving to suburbia in the form of small town Winthrop would have killed my café style, if it weren’t for Moonstruck.
So, firstly an update to previous reviewers. The café used to be on the corner but has now merged with La Luna Boutique a little down the street. The consolidating of the owner’s two businesses must make financial sense, but is the reason one star is missing from my review of Moonstruck. The other location was better. More space to sit and enjoy a beverage and more space on the walls for a local mini-​art gallery, and more space for live music on occasion. More gorgeous golden-​white fairy lights. The new place is cozy, but much of the floor space is devoted to the boutique displays instead of to a seating area, making it just that bit more of a take-​out place than a linger-​in place. That said, there are a few tables, and a bar-​style seating area at the window. The warmer months allow for al fresco snacking and sipping on the other side of the window.
The menu has been downsized along with the café’s footprint, and the reduction of menu items is a good thing. There remains a small range of rustic pizza and delectables such as scones, cookies, croissants and muffins. There’s a soup of the day. I think Moonstruck still offers still offers paninis (?) but all the other hot foods that distracted from their strengths are gone and not missed.
The coffee here is the star, which is as it should be in a café. The quality of the beans is excellent and the syrups they use are superior those of Starbucks and almost any establishment that comes to mind. The flavor is clear, rich and delicately sweet; the syrup manages to avoid that sickly sweetness that bedevil most brands. There is simply no better coffee in Winthrop. Moonstruck would be at home in Cambridge, Somerville or downtown Salem.
I am eagerly awaiting the return of their fall special, hot caramel apple cider. And come November I’ll be impatiently awaiting the December holiday season that makes their peppermint mocha latte’s extra-​special.
I have not encountered the rudeness spoken of in other reviews, and guess either that server has gone or has found more happiness in their life and work. The staff always greets me with politeness and even warmth. I have no quibbles with the service.

Disagreeing with a few of the negative reviews, I have to say this place is great all around. I have been there a few times now and have yet to have a bad experience. The service is tremendous and the food and coffee are excellent. Not to mention the overall atmospher is unlike anything in the area… it almost feels like I walked into a café in the North End. My only negative criticism would be that the sandwiches are a little pricey but they are delicious not to mention a couple can easily split one and be satisfied.
Winthrop could use more places like the Moonstruck Café!

after stumbling across moonstruck café, my fiancée and i were looking forward to making this place our regular sunday morning spot to wake up to coffee, bagels and newspapers.
the café looks extremely inviting until you arrive at the counter to place your order. it is here where the guest is consistently greeted by a very bitter young woman. its taken us a few trips there to confirm what we noticed on our first visit to be true, the staff IS EXTREMELY rude. the service comes complete with mumbled comments under her breath, rude looks and acerbic rhetorical questions that attempt to diminish the spirit of her guest.
i have worked in understaffed restaurants where the servers are in the weeds constantly and miserable because they cannot be supported by management or an owner, yet they do not take out their unhappiness on the customers THEY DONT KNOW. the culprit counter help, also mentioned in the review before this one, appears to act very friendly with her friend who usually accompanies her. (its not hard to identify this interaction and her abrupt change in mood) at first i simply attributed her behavior to the fact that she was slammed with a long line. however, i have noticed that she acts this way even when i am the only person in line.
i have just returned from my final visit to moonstruck café. i do not wish to be verbally assaulted with seething sarcasm and attitude because the counter help is so obviously upset with having to make a coffee, a sandwich or assist a guest.

Oh Moonstruck… it pains me to give you a two. Your décor is so charming… your coffee perfect, sandwiches tasty and desserts, mouthwatering. As a life long Winthrop girl– your arrival was a dream come true!
Your staff however is rude (well actually one staff member). When my friends and I ordered our three panninis we were barked at with the threat of ‘you know that is going to be at least 15 minutes’…ok…fine…thanks for the warning…15 minutes…
Well close to 40 minutes later, and after the help had left the site and came back our sandwiches finally arrived. Tasty yes– but not 40 minute wait tasty. It was a stinking BLT. No pig… not even that Arnold from Green Acres is worth that kind of wait.
The dishes of food were essentially thrown at us and while we weren’t given napkins, we were given plenty of scowls. This server just had a puss on and seemed to complain for having physically move. I literally saw her complain about having to fill up the milk container.
I hope this was an isolated incident… I don’t know the owners but I can’t imagine they would want people to feel the way my friends and I did.

This place is great. The coffee is really good. It’s a great place to have a panini and a cup of great coffee and check your emails on the your laptop. I hear they have great jazz on Saturdays but have yet to experience it.

Yum… brownies. I had an overwhelming need for something unhealthy and sweet and stopped here to grab a chai and a treat. The brownie was deadly — I recall chocolate and caramel and chocolate chunks — but mostly remember the sugar coma I had after one bite. It was pure heaven and just what I was looking for.
If you are in the area, try this place and keep a local establishment going. They also have jazz nights so check out their website for more info.

I am a huge fan of coffee shops. I recently have started getting away from the run-​of-​the-​mill Starbucks and started supporting the mom and pop local family-​owned businesses. Moonstruck Gourmet & Café is a hidden gem, inside a hidden gem. Winthrop is a town where the most of any chains or franchises that you find are CVS. Every restaurant, coffee house, bakery and pizza joint are owned locally and the flavors generally reflect their local pride.
Moonstruck café has the best coffee. I was a little bit struck by the lack of soy milk on my first trip there, but I have one of those coffee cards that you stamp every time you get a cup. I’m almost «filled up» so most of my experiences have been great. They use Illy coffee and it’s becoming my favorite brand of bean.
The sandwiches are pretty god there too. I definitely recommend the Tuscan if your ever stopping by for lunch. The cookies and pastries are great too and the muffins are out of this world.
I think they do have live music on some nights, which is amazing for a small coffee house like them but one of these night I have got to check that out.

The panninis are outstanding — really recommend them! Coffee wasn’t great, because it wasn’t freshly brewed apparently. Considering it’s a gourmet café, we expected it to be perfect. But overall very good expereine and we will definitely be back.

I am enamored of this little place in Winthrop Center. I stopped there on a whim once because I had a little time to kill before an appointment, and I was so glad I did! It’s such a cute café. They have all sorts of coffee and such, but the real gem is the MUFFINS. Their muffins are among the best I have had. Crunchy on top, moist and delicious in the middle. They also have great flavors like cappuccino chocolate chip. The servers are really nice too. If you are in the area, stop by and check it out. I hear they have live music sometimes too.