Written by Jordan Michelman.
Go out into America and talk to mobile espresso cart companies, and you’ll discover two big takeaways. One: The market for mobile espresso cart services, pop-up cafes, and high-quality coffee at events of all kinds is absolutely booming right now. The demand and interest around coffee in this style appears to have no sign of slowing down, and you can find really great mobile espresso companies operating in every corner of the country. Second: the people who make their lives doing this kind of work absolutely love it. I think there must be something thrilling about the nomadic, ronin-esque quality of it all, the utter newness of every subsequent adventure on the mobile coffee trail. Mobile coffee work sounds incredibly fun, to hear these folks tell it, though surely the days are long and sometimes the events get a little, shall we say, quirky.
In this interview, I chatted with the team at Southern California’s Moongoat Coffee—including catering & events manager Brendan Bergen—to learn more about the brand’s hybrid model approach to mobile coffee. With multiple physical locations in Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Garden Grove, as well as a catering business, Moongoat is doing some exciting things throughout Orange County, backed by a ready-to-serve espresso bar model that includes the La Marzocco GS3 and Linea Mini.
Hi Brendan, thanks for chatting with us. By way of introduction, how might you describe the work you do at Moongoat to someone who is unfamiliar?
Our motto is “we bring the coffee shop to you”. Not just the drinks, but the experience, the conversation with the barista, the presentation of the drinks, especially the specialty preparation of the espresso; all brought to your event, enhancing whatever special moment in life you’re celebrating.
In a literal sense, we are hired by people planning events to bring a rolling cart with all of your traditional cafe equipment to set up and serve our drink menu to their guests. We offer everything: Specialty espresso-based classics, Ceremonial Matcha, & MoonGoat’s signature cafe drinks made by our seasoned professional catering barista staff who have decades of experience combined.
How many employees do you have? I’m curious if you split employees between catering and retail — do some of your retail baristas also work catering events?
The MoonGoat Catering & Events Team has three full-time staff members. However, since we are neighbors with our Flagship location, on our busier days, we have guest shifts by the awesome barista team there who crush the rush with a change of scenery!
What to you is the biggest difference between catering and retail? What are some unique challenges presented by catering?
The biggest difference is that catering is truly a mobile version of a coffee shop. In a cafe, your equipment is set in place, and your flow is consistent day to day. In catering, it’s more like packing up your cafe every night, loading it all into a van, and rebuilding it from scratch each morning. That leaves room for error, so we rely heavily on detailed checklists and double-check systems to make sure nothing is missed.
The real wild card of these events is the unpredictability of venues. Every event brings something new, every customer has a different vision, and every venue has its quirks. One day, we’re sending carts up twenty floors in a service elevator, the next, we’re troubleshooting power limitations in a historic building. That’s why we always budget extra time to set up and solve problems before we’re scheduled to serve the first drinks.
The biggest difference between catering and retail is that these drinks are already paid for, so every guest interaction starts on a high note. No asking for a rewards number, flipping over a tip screen, or arguing over the price of cold foam. The guests are just excited to enjoy coffee without thinking about the cost. It creates an incredibly positive environment — who doesn’t love free coffee?
What gear are you currently using on your carts? What went into making those decisions?
Our first catering machine was the GS3 AV. It really is the gold standard for reliability for a 110 single-group machine! It gives us all the bells, whistles, and most importantly, the quality that you get from a larger sedentary machine in a cafe without the high demand for cafe levels of power and water.
As for the Linea Mini, it was more adorable while still being able to handle the volume required for our smaller events. What I wasn’t expecting was how much of a talking point it would be with guests! So many people tell us about how they have one in their home or are interested in getting one for their home. It’s been the kick-off to many great conversations with coffee enthusiasts.
Between the GS3 and the Minis, are there comparative advantages? Do certain events feel like a better fit for one machine over the other?
We have a selection of different carts, and the main differentiating feature between them is whether they have a La Marzocco Linea Mini or a La Marzocco GS3 sitting on top. For more intimate gatherings, we’ll often send out a cart with a Linea Mini. It’s incredibly straightforward, quick to set up, and perfect for taking extra time with each drink. The Mini gives our baristas control over every shot and really focuses on their craft in a way that shines in smaller settings.
For larger events, we send our staple cart that’s equipped with two GS3s side by side. The GS3s dominate a high-volume service thanks to their volumetric programming, fast recovery time, and powerful steam wands. With skilled baristas behind them, we can push upwards of 150 drinks an hour. This is the cart that we take to all our most exciting events!
You mentioned working with some pretty interesting events companies and venues — are there any individual events or artists that you’ve served coffee at that stand out? Any particularly memorable services?
Yes, that’s the best part of the job! Our relationship with LiveNation has allowed us to be backstage for artists of all different genres, both big and small, and the events we do have brought us to some incredible venues.
My favorite one recently was a wedding we did at the Nixon Library. The venue is not just absolutely stunning, but there is a history lesson down each hallway. They positioned us right next to the garden and the fountain, and from that corner, we were able to serve 450 guests in just 3 hours!
Another memorable one would be a series of shows we did at the Sofi arena. Refraining from using names, but this was the most talked-about artist of 2024/2025. We served hundreds of people from both his crew and the Sofi crew. They were amazing and even slid us tickets to the show each day, so we got to finish working and then go watch it live!
But our biggest one ever was two days at the 2025 ACT Expo. We partnered up with ZM Trucks to serve coffee to the visitors of their booth while they showed off their innovations in the electric trucking industry. We served well over one thousand guests in the two days that we were there.
Visit Moongoat Coffee at their website and on Instagram.
