Cafe Au Lait

Guy who served us likes to sit in the customers chairs and doesn’t offer them up when the customers plan to sit in with their coffee? Wtf? Why are the workers taking the customers chairs and table plus I see him often on the table that sits 5 people!!! Come on, get off your ass.

Jesus Christ, a great place!
It started a year or two go, freezing winter day, and it looked warm inside. I asked if they had anything warm, and I was greeted so friendly!
There’s nothing bad, fast forwarding…
There’s NO reason to not come here.
The food tops the restaraunts too.
Reasonable pricing.
Amazing staff, sometimes they’ll even give you freebies.
Huge variety of food!(yogurt, granola, fruit, bagels, Danish, turnover, sandwiches, muffin, pizza, donuts, and no joke, a whole lot more.
Here’s my suggestions
BLT with no mayo on a cheese (parmesean) bagel. — literally deserves a michelin star.

Cozy little place. Sat here reading for an hour and a half. Got the open face salmon and cream cheese bagel — yummy and generous portion. The lady behind the counter, Kimberly, was super nice.

The staff are friendly and helpful. The best treat are the cinnamon raisin scones.
Homemade Granola is great. Good prices. Super friendly staff.
coffee was very nice…

Visiting cafés is a hobby of mine. I’ve been doing this around the world since the late 70’s, starting in Greenwich Village, at Le Figaro’s. Café Au Lait in a word: home. Kim and Polly make you feel like you’re dropping by their kitchen for yummy on site baked scones (apple cinnamon my fav) and a coffee.
They serve Mr Espresso coffee and do a decent job with the espresso drinks. More importantly they greet us by name, and I’m driving down from Maxwell Pk and remember our order, even though we are only «occasional regs». That kind of warmth is not found everyday.

I love their homemade blueberry muffin especially when it is just hot off the oven with the slightly crunchy muffin top and really moist inside. I have never had such great muffin. I have to split the muffin with a friend all the time, as it is just too good to eat by myself. Also, their thai iced tea is also great — One of the few places in Alameda besides the Beanery and boba places that serves Thai iced tea. The place closes early, but it is definitely a must-​go for your early morning caffeine fix right before heading to work or class. The people behind the counter are also super friendly and willing to make your drink as you would like it to be. And for the fraction of the price of many places, this is place is a great bang for your buck if you are looking for some good affordable coffee and sandwich.

My wife and I have become regular customers here after moving away from the Starbuck’s and Peet’s brews in our search of something «better». Here at Au Lait we found a family-​run shop with friendly, hard working people, and a coffee that totally tantalized our taste buds. We had discovered French Roast!
As a recognized regular on Sunday Mornings, before anyhing else, the person behind the counter would tip the thermos to check if there might be enough for the 2 or 3 cups I’d bring home to my family. If not
Over the years I figured it out. The French Roast came from Mr Espresso in Oakland who roasted the beans over an oak fire the way his family roasted coffee beans for espresso in Italy.
Every one loves a bargain. I compared my large Peet’s cup with my large Au Lait cup and for a cheaper price I could get more ounces coffee that tasted better! Such a deal!
But wait, There’s more. Where else can I buy Mr Espresso? Their website tells me to go to Coffee Bar SF, Il Fornaio, Sir Francis Drake/Scala’s Bistro, Oliveto, Poggio, Dopo, Bette’s Oceanview Diner, Cesar’s, (and more).
So I can get the same coffee at Au Lait that’s served at pricey fancy restaurants? and cheaper?
Maybe it’s not a good idea for me to share this with you. I might have to wait a little longer to fill my cup because you might be right in front of me this weekend. At least we’ll both leave with a smile and a great cup of French Roast.

Quiet little family run café with only a few tables to enjoy your treats. Everyone always greets you when you walk in and make you feel at home. The pastries are pretty tasty and I have gotten the lox bagel with capers, onions, and lemon for quite awhile and it never disappoints. This is a great stop if you’re on your way to work and need a little coffee fix. Just wish they would open earlier because I start work too early to stop by on a regular basis!

Always greeted with great coffee and smiles! This is our family’s favorite way to start any day!

Great little hometown café with decent coffee drinks and great service with a really nice outdoor patio outback to sit and enjoy your coffee or bagel… they make a great bagel and lox sammy here… love to support small local shops ! Parking is ample in the larger lot just beyond the entrance off Encinal ave.

Their chai latte here is something I would never order agian here. It was way overly sweet & didn’t have the aroma a real chai would have.
The only thing I like about this place is their variety of numi tea here. They have at least every flavor & I was able to choose from many to take some of their tea bags home

I’ve come in several times and usually just buy the coffee… the smoothies are tasty but other than that… really sub par food. Its great for a quick refreshment though. The owner is very talkative and nice to the usual patrons, however she commented on my mildly fussy baby (he wasn’t outright wailing, just whimpering). I said he’s actually hungry so my plan was to give him a bottle while I waited for my coffee. She said «he complains too much but this other baby over here is so good.» Wow. Yeah she said that to my face. Dead serious, not even in a joking way. Okay. Well I’ll be leaving then.
Also, the toys in the back are waaay old and dangerous. Missing parts, falling apart… seriously its a disaster waiting to happen. The rocking horse has no foot pedals or handles, wth? Throw it away before a kid loses a limb trying to hang on. Rude lady, mostly Costco pastries (she bakes some scones but not the donuts or croissants), dysfunctional play area. Tsk tsk.

Time: 11:47am/60°F partly sunny
Purpose: Needed to meet with next door up and coming bakery/​kitchen business.
Ambiance: Nothing fancy here just a place to sit down get your coffee of the day and breakfast pastrys. One bistro table out front few inside. There are light green plush cushion for the little guys if they aren’t comfortable seating regular chairs. There is a back area as I see mothers in strollers going back there just a vague description but it gives you that family feel or preschool for kids. Not too big can hold a normal conversation for things you don’t mind saying in public. For more intense chats netter head outside or in front it echo’s. Standard counter with the café type set up one wooden danish donut case. You can even see drawings from local kindergarten school being places in open areas.
Staff: A Cambodian husband and wife duo. The husband usually not around or in the back wife works the front doing the usual café procedures. Very welcoming and talkative asking you if you wants samples.
Cleanliness: I would say passable but cleaning may be needed soon. Glass and wooden pastry case needs a good cleaning little dead insects wedge between glass slot groove.
Eats/​Drinks: Espresso single shot $ 1.50 everything else didn’t look appetizing. Not saying it looks bad just for me at the time I just didn’t see anything appeals to me.
Products: Numi tea, coffee by Mr. Espresso, breakfast/​lunch items, danishes, donuts, cookies, soup, salad, bagels/​toast, hot/​cold drinks, bottle juices, fruits.
Punch Lines: Quiet area, high st bridge, supermarket, sushi restaurant, hardware store, private lot, bar, insurance agent, not much choices, danishes are outsourced.
Tradeoffs: You come for the convience of being a coffee shop but with limited choices of what’s available.
Final Thoughts: I had stronger espresso before their version here tasted like they’re learning the method of making it. There wasn’t a frothy top which I’ve always love. I was handed a version like regular coffee mix with water, not too strong or bold tasting. Oh well Mr. Espresso brand is for the people who doesn’t know how to fix their machine when there’s service needed. The company will cone out and that’s the redeeming factor of why people chose Mr. Espresso. Now if shop owners have a little more knowledge of coffee and fixing the machine I highly doubt we would see this brand.

I’m giving this tiny café/​mini mart feel of a place 2 stars, because the people are friendly, but the food atrocious.
Again, I’m not from the area and couldn’t seem to find anything close to where I was headed so I opted to try it out and I thoroughly regretted it.
I’m sorry, but heating up my eggs in a microwave and slapping some ice cold ham is not my idea of a decent breakfast. I’m even ashamed to say this, but even dirty greedy Mc Donald’s does a way better job than this place.
For some «insane» reason I actually thought I was walking into a real breakfast joint, where they cook the food. I was dead wrong. I’d say this place is at best a 7/​11, which is not good. If I wanted mini mart gas food then I would have just eaten at a gas station.
Long story short I hated the food, barely ate any of it and I just couldn’t wait to get the heck out of there. I left hungry and annoyed and was super disappointed. I guess next time I’ll have to plan ahead and make sure I do some serious Unilocal research before I make another half *ssed decision like this one.
I absolutely do not recommend this place, but if your into mini mart gas station food at Starbucks prices then knock yourself out, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Randomly found this place on Unilocal because I wanted coffee and took a chance on ordering the Caramel Silk. I was starting to regret it as I watched her measure out the torani syrups thinking it was going to be overly sweet, but it was perfection. Location is random but plenty of parking.

Came in during the day to work on some stuff. Just had myself a cup of tea, but everything seems very affordable.
Café Au Lait is a family owned establishment, don’t expect anything fancy, it’s quite charming. The people here are very nice and they seem to have a root within this neighborhood, as you’ll find regulars coming in throughout the day and an area dedicated to family photos of these regulars.
During the day it’s quite quiet, with a few tables inside and a couple tables outside in the back and front of the store. The back is quite nice on a sunny day, very porch-​like. Café Au Lait is located near a school, so when students are let out, it seems this where some of them come through, may get a little noisy with all the chatter and student smooties being made, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
There’s a pretty good sized parking lot. And the internet is fast (probably because not many were using it), and there’s no limit! =]

I came here one day for a latte and to work remotely. It’s a family owned café and they have coffee as well as snacks and food.
The latte was good; I was more interested in people watching, though. They have a lot of regular customers. I think the mom and son were at the store while I was there and they were so nice to me and all the other customers.
Nice little mom and pop café.

This place catered a work event and the food was amazing. They make the most delicious apple turnovers & cinnamon scones. The coffe was very good as well.
The Café itself is small, not really a hang out place. But If you enjoy good coffee and amazing pastries, this is the place.

Café Au Lait is small and has a cottage feel about it. wi fi is available though no one was using it post lunch. just a few tables available.
drink: mr. expresso french roast (m, 1.75)
–robust but not harsh
–smooth with no distinguishing body.
coffee drips:
–cordial, friendly service.

This morning, on a desperate search for anything but gas station coffee, I flipped open my Unilocal app and did a nearby search for the aforementioned. Low and behold, off in the glittering distanced danced Café Au Lait. Promises of specialty coffee and morning munches drew me in and after pulling open the chim-​chimey door, I was greeted by everything I could’ve ever hoped for.
The standard café fare of muffins and bagels extended into a real menu that featured bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches. Ham even made an appearance. I selected my bread, english muffin, then my protein, eggs and bacon, followed by dairy, American cheese, and topped with a fruit, tomato.
A Colombian roast and 5 minutes later, my toasty, melty sandwich appeared before my mouth and I devoured it without haste. With convenient parking, dog and people friendliness, Café Au Lait will definitely become a morning staple whenever I’m in the hood.