Bad Ass Coffee, Makuhari, Chiba

Bad Ass Coffee...  From the name, who would know that Bad Ass Coffee is a chain of Hawaiian-themed coffee shops?  While the name of the shop is funny because it is based on the asses used to climb mountains that coffee grows on, most people don't get the connection between the name and Hawaii.  As a result, perhaps the theming aspect of the coffee shop might fail to attract customers with an interest in Hawaii.  The name even caused some controversy as I remember reading a story about how the city of West Dundee initially opposed the name of the shop when a West Dundee shop opened in the mid-2000's (it folded pretty quickly from my understanding).  However, the name is unforgettable and might help it stand out.  The theming is pretty good with palm trees, Hawaiian motif furniture and Hawaiian music.  No tikis though...
Unlike Honolulu Coffee Company, Bad Ass does not originally hail from Hawaii.

I visited Bad Ass on a Saturday a little after 2pm, and people were still eating lunch.  The place was absolutely packed as along with the coffee, it serves Hawaiian-style food.

 To get an idea of what is on the menu, please refer to the following picture.  Don't you love the Japanese-English with "The dish of legend" and "Pan Cake"?  At least they tried though; I can't imagine House of Kobe (a Japanese restaurant in Merrillville owned by a Taiwanese American family) trying to create a Japanese menu.

Here is one of the legendary bad asses:

They have a good variety of coffee blends such as Hawaiian Pie and Coconut Macadamia, but I was interested in the 100% Kona.  A large ice 100% Kona set me back 530 yen, which is about 6 bucks.  They had malasadas too, and I couldn't resist getting one.

 My meal looked like this:

The malasada was the bomb.  For a second, I thought it was fresh out of the deep fryer.  Maybe it was...  My little golden puff of joy was warm, slightly firm but soft on the inside, and had just the right amount of sugar.  The coffee was, well great.  You can't lose with 100% Kona, the king of coffees.  I definitely recommend that you make it out to Makuhari for this place.  Although the website still lists the Jimbocho location, it closed about 2 years ago.  The closure is a shame as I have some good memories of the Jimbocho location- I spent one of my birthdays there with a buddy and also it was the place where I learned of some great news.  For all of you Chicago people, there is a Bad Ass somewhere in the city.  Please try it and let me know what you think.

The bottom line- for the malasada, Kona and theming, I give Bad Ass Coffee five coconuts out of five coconuts.