Blue Bottle Coffee

Definitely have been to better bluebottles. Coffee was cold.

S l o w

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 2

The baristas r talking constantly and small talking with a random person and stand still not even doing his job and the other barista also get distracted clearly not paying full attention to preparing and everything is like in slow motion lol average waiting time so long

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

I had a strange experience here. It was early on a weekday morning and there were sleepy patrons there getting their morning cups. The space is set up where you are sort of meant to wait at high tables in rows, sort of watching the baristas do their thing. But due to the open concept coffee bar and stark arrangement of the seating, the baristas are on display more than at other coffee shops. This didn’t stop the young baristas from loudly complaining about another coworker (not present, thankfully) in great detail, making an awkward yet fascinating live theater environment for the quiet patrons witnessing it.

Atmosphere: 1

Service: 4

I love trying new coffee shops around the area, but seriously, the staff here needs to be checked. I always passed by this coffee shop and intended on trying it because it looked so cute inside, but the worker who served me (mind you, this was my first impression of the staff) literally told me he only wanted to give me the pre-prepared black coffee instead of taking the time to prepare the pour-over coffee because it would be easier for him. Wow, I was disappointed. Out of respect, I ended up getting the pre-prepared black coffee, but to tell your customers to order something just because it's easier for you? You've got to be joking. After I ordered he just poured coffee out of the jug behind him and handed it to me, thankful that he got an "easy" order. Why be a barista when you don't have basic manners? Mind you, Peet's coffee tasted better than their winter blend, and that says a lot. Won't be coming back, but sad because it looked like such a cute place inside.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 1

Caffeine Fix and Natural Light!

We were in Berkeley for a business meeting, and my colleague suggested we stop by this Blue Bottle Coffee location for a caffeine fix.

The place is nicely set up. It has large glass windows on two sides, letting in plenty of natural light, so you can enjoy your caffeine drink while watching the foot traffic outside. We opted for takeaway drinks, but the wait was a bit longer than usual due to a rush and a shift change. No worries, though! We had a chance to chat while we waited. My Winter Blend coffee with cream hit the spot! The caffeine boost did its magic, and we returned to the meeting feeling alert and ready to tackle the rest.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

I do love Blue Bottle! There was a light line, ordered my cappuccino, and spent 15 minutes waiting watching the two barista’s stand and seemingly do nothing. Two of them. During that 15 minutes, saw one drink literally one drink come out. Waited five more mins. Two drinks, cancelled and left. Not cool to disrespect people and their time.

Service: 1

Service is always extremely slow which I understand it’s in a college town but the workers there tend to be dismissive when people ask about their orders after a 10-15 min wait. And today my name was called out wrong which I don’t mind telling people how to say it right. It’s not a hard name to say “Jorge” but the barista looked upset and rolled her eyes. And some items were missing from my order once I opened my box but not wanting to deal with the attitudes of the cafe I just don’t wanna bother going back.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 2

very good coffee ! clean and cozy. not enough outlets if you want to sit there and work on laptop tho

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

It took 40 minutes to get 2 toaster oven breakfast sandwiches made. When I went up to check in around the 30 minute mark, the person who took my order said “oh okay, I’ll make it right now” as if it was news to them. They blamed their printer, but a simple “sorry about that” goes a long way. Whole milk in my cappuccino wasn’t properly steamed. Lots of big bubbles, not the velvety microfoam you hope for. The team seemed to huddle and chat around the coveted espresso machine without much pep in their step. As a former barista, I was unimpressed. Overall, disorganized, overpriced.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 1

Literally slowest coffee shop I’ve ever been too. It took over 30 mins for them to make 2 coffees

Service: 1

Underwhelming cold brew

i got the iced matcha and it was probably the worst matcha i've ever had. when i picked it up, the drink was the lightest shade of green, but i was still optimistic. however at my first sip i realized i was drinking practically milk-- like a cup of milk with a *side* of matcha. maybe their coffees are okay. i think the baristas should worry about putting more matcha in a 6-7 dollar drink instead of giggling amongst each other, because the shade of my matcha wasn't that funny tbh, lol.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 2

This Blue Bottle location was and is a prime example of why I will be careful about going back to this location. It’s located in a prime location in Downtown Berkeley which is quite convenient from the BART location, so I figured to go here and get my work done.

Here was my experience thus far at the Berkeley location:

(1) The first thing that irked me big time was the fact that they didn’t have outlets… let alone blocked outlets that you don’t allow guests to use. No wonder that’s why there was such less foot traffic than all other local coffee shops in our area…
The atmosphere of the coffee shop was absolutely unwelcoming too. Chairs were just the right size but tables were too close — I didn’t have enough personal space to get my work done and it was annoying having to tend to protecting my things because of the fact that the staff wasn’t going to do anything to let these homeless people stay or leave.

(2) The service was just very unwelcoming - it felt rushed and I had to force myself to smile through the ordering process of things. I was constantly looked down at the baristas like I was being surveillanced, and to be honest, it made me feel really uncomfortable.

(3) Food wise: the iced NOLA with whole milk was actually a delicacy. It wasn’t bad and the equilibrium between coffee and milk was right just there.

Overall, i don’t know if I’ll be back honestly.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: Almond Butter Toast

Excellent coffee.
Staff a little talkative......

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4