Jazz Caffe

My regular go-to at least once a week. Can't beat the super nice staff, great owner and great quality food. Lots of menu options with an excellent specials menu that changes every day and always includes a vegetarian soup, a panini, a salad and a stew. The protein choices offered are amazingly varied. I really enjoyed the swordfish salad. I often get the grilled goat cheese salad. Had a stew last week, and it was perfectly thick, chunky and full of flavor.

I used to come here fairly often, and it was one of my favorite cafes in the downtown area. It's got great food, good coffee, and the ladies working there are polite and attentive. However, the place has soured for me because of the attitude of the manager. I've never been to a cafe where I was asked to move because I was "studying" during lunchtime. That is to say, reading while enjoying my paid coffee and pastry at one of the corner tables. The manager insisted I move outside because "the older people" liked to sit there to eat at lunchtime, but why should I be the one to move given that other customers can just as easily sit outside? Would customers actually get offended if there are no seats left within the cafe? Doubt it. Meanwhile I've caused no disruption and am also a paying customer. The attitude, to me, stinks of greed and disrepect. If the manager wants to enforce those kinds of restrictive policies he's in the wrong line of business. It's a cafe, not a restaurant.

Great service, cute spot, good coffee. They don't have live jazz performances in the cafe anymore, sadly, but it's still a nice place to relax and unwind. I know some people feel otherwise, but I personally love the "no laptops" policy; makes it feel like a real old-time neighborhood café. Will definitely come back.

Walk half a block from the busiest street in Berkeley and down a flight a stairs, and you find a lovely setting: the Jazz Caffe. Although the menu is limited, the lunch specials are always enjoyable, tasty, and hearty servings. It's easy to sit and linger there while you chat because the nearby hustle and bustle doesn't penetrate this place.

Surprisingly one of the best places to get espresso based coffee in Berkeley. It can sometimes be loud when there are performances on. They ban laptops around lunch hours. Some staff are super friendly and some can be a bit inattentive. Nevertheless, I keep coming back for the coffee and a quiet place to read a book.