Jazz Caffe

This is right next to where I work, so when I don’t have time in the morning to drive to my favorite Philz, this is a fantastic place to get a great little cup of coffee. I love that their «small» size is smaller than your average cup of joe-it’s about how much coffee I should actually drink anyway. Their chocolate chip cookie is one of my favorite cookies of all time-I’ve had more than I’d like to admit. And although I haven’t stopped in for lunch, their menu is crazy tempting and everything I’ve smelled coming out of their kitchen is killer.

Yummy Goat Cheese salad. Great service! Reasonable prices.

Stumbled across this place recently. I am in love with cappuccinos and this place has one of the best cappuccinos I’ve had in the Bay Area (so far). It’s been a month since I moved to the Bay Area and I’m still searching for the coffee shop of my dreams. A place with great coffee and ideal for working. I keep discovering some good coffee shops with great coffee but stringent rules. As soon as I opened my laptop here the guy kicked me out. He said if I wanted to use my computer I couldn’t do it inside the coffee shop. He was treating me like a rabid dog. There was absolutely no one inside the coffee shop. He was not pleasant to me at all. I never went back. I don’t understand why people with laptops are treated like a nuisance here. If I spend 5 hours in a coffee shop I leave there having spent almost $ 30. Much more than one customer who comes in for one cup of coffee and a me

The turkey panini: Good, except the dijon mustard was overpowering. Next time, I’ll ask for none of that.
A side salad is a very reasonable extra cost (75¢).
Haven’t tried any of the other food items yet – they were out of smoked salmon the day I was in, but I’d go back.
The small room where their kitchen is and where you order has a little seating, and they have classical music playing over the speakers.
There is more general (not restricted to café) seating outside in the main area, and there is no recorded music playing there. You’ll probably notice young musicians coming in and out to classes, some of them sitting down to review music, maybe even a couple kids picking up the cellos to jam for a bit.
It’s a very unique environment, and I prefer it to the standard people-​on-​laptops café. (though, yes, there are people using laptops in this café, too).

Best soups ever. Just delicious.

The older man who worked here tonight was rude. If he’s not the owner, he should be fired.
Despite the fact that other guests left their cups and plates on the table, he told me that I had to return my tea cup. Furthermore, when I asked for the keys to the restroom and he wouldn’t reach for the key himself; he told me to walk to the edge of the counter rather than reach for it himself.
I told him that it was obvious that was treating me differently from his other customers. He stated that it’s because «he was tired».
I don’t care if he’s tired; I paid for my drink and I should be treated like the other customers.
You suck.

I absolutely love the warm goat cheese salad. The Panini specials are always good too. The best part is the staff, always welcoming and friendly. Oh, and the coffee is excellent. Almost forgot the carrot muffin, which they warm up a bit.

I’ve been waiting and trying and waiting and trying and waiting and trying to give Jazz Caffe its requisite third chance. At a certain point, though, if I’m unwilling to try a place a third time in a year when it’s within easy walking distance of my office, then it’s just not gonna happen. Nor should it? Nor should it indeed.
I’ll start with the good. Being here reminds me of what college felt like in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, before I was actually in college but when I visited my older sister in college. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Think the first season of A Different World – and please forget what you think of Bill Cosby now; instead, just think of the late ‘80s and Sinbad before he was annoying. Think also of Saved by the Bell: The College Years and especially of Bob Golic. OK, you don’t need to picture those acid-​washed jeans, but do you remember that feeling of hopefulness, of the world changing for the better, of young people joining together and finding and creating a community even as they were just learning about themselves? Right, all of this is what Jazz Caffe feels like.
It’s a little food place in a music conservatory. There are well dressed professors sipping coffee among students of different ages, life experiences, and musical talents. There are walls painted different, bold colors. It seems as if a performance could break out at any moment, although it never does.
In short, the ambiance is four-​and-​a-​half stars, five if you’re obsessed like I am with the strange details of interior design and decorating on college campuses before they began to copy exurban, McMansion America’s tackiest, most expensive tastes.
Sadly, you don’t go out to lunch to be back in college. You go out to lunch to eat, and that’s why this review is so sad. The food is OK. It’s ridiculously expensive. I guess I could deal with OK, expensive food – I still go to Saturn sometimes, don’t I? – but it just takes forever and a day and a week plus another gratuitous twenty minutes to get your food. I would say call your order in, but who calls in a salad? And even if you did, they’d still make you wait for good measure.
So sorry, Jazz Caffe, you should be good; but you’re not. You’re really bad, actually.

The place was relatively empty and very calm on a Monday evening, which is always a nice environment to be in on a Monday evening. Tried the smoked salmon panini, which was okay. The side salad was worth the extra seventy-​five cents. The house coffee is rather pricey for its size, but it was good – not too strong, but not too light. There are enough tables, but they tend to move, which is always annoying. It’s a good place to discover, but as a new student in the area, I believe that after discovering other cafés I won’t necessarily have this one as my first option.

I ordered a vanilla latte. It was perfect! The right temperature, great vanilla flavor, perfect amount of frothy foam. The café us tucked under the Jazz school off Addison st. Its small and quaint. The pastries have a homemade look. The price for my single shot latte was kinda high but it was worth it for the quality. The only downside to this coffee shop was there is no WiFi or reading materials like newspapers or magazines. It is also very small. Not good for groups. This is still just a coffee shop and it serves a good product. Check it out!

Their daily lunch specials are super unique and amazing quality. Yes, they have sandwiches and salad, but this is not why I go there. Every day they have amazing ethnic dishes like one day they’ll have tunisian lamb stew and the next they’ll have morrocan chicken tagine. Wow! And it is terrific too!
But their goat cheese salad is a must. Just trust me on this…

Jazz Caffe wasn’t my destination but i’m glad i found them. there’s a small café dispensing soups, panninis, salads. etc. pretty quickly too.
eats: roasted tomato soup with grilled corn and mint (5.25)
–sliced of grilled breat too. everything’s so fresh and yummy…
–will be back is i find myself outside the door anytime.
crumps:
–lots of dining area in the «patio».

This is a nice, laid back pale to hang out while waiting for the theater. Glass of red wine, banana bread, plenty of tables to hang out at. Not at all rushed or crowded.

2.5 stars
Just OKAY and rather uninspired smoked salmon panini ($ 7.50 sandwich only). Bread tasted a day old; cucumber dill capers etc not very fresh – nothing seasoned. The dinner specials (~$ 10) looked interesting. Lots of jazz students walking past the café. It’s a nice hideaway with good quality coffee. Might come back.

Wonderful little place, a cool respite from the mid day glare.
Good vibe, positive energy and a very tasty Mediterranean panini. Missed out hearing any live music, but no regrets whatsoever.
Can’t wait to try some of their delicious appearing soup.

Peaceful, undiscovered, and great for lunch.
Jazz Café is a little Berkeley gem. I came here because of the good reviews, I don’t think I would have found it otherwise.
The small coffee shop is located in the basement of the Jazz School, with only a small sign on the street indicating its existence to the outside world.
Despite their small size, they actually have quite a lot of food options.
I tried their roast beef Panini, their tomato soup, and their baked goat cheese salad. All three items were great.
Their panini are made fresh with unique and fresh ingredients. The roast beef was good quality and paired up well with the broccoli rabe and other goodies. The tomato soup was made with fresh basil and more importantly love, served with delicious focaccia.
My only complaint would be that the goat cheese salad was on the pricey side at ~$ 8.50, given it was just dressed greens and the baked goat cheese. Of course it was delicious, and it did come with a lot of goat cheese, but I would have perhaps traded half of the goat cheese for some dried cranberries or walnuts.
The staff was super friendly and the quiet atmosphere relaxing. I highly recommend this place.

This place is such a gem! It is very unassuming and a perfect place to rest from the dregs of downtown berkeley. I feel like I’m whisking away into some super cool 1950 beat generation new york basement hangout that was for writers and musician. This is also part of the jazz school so you definitely get the vibe amplified.
The coffee is caffeinated, hot, and addictive. The staff is friendly and helpful. They also graciosly let my networking group use the grounds to host our meetings at 6:30 in the AM, which makes me every more proud to support them and let others know about this diamond in the rough. Next time I’m ordering some foods for the belly.

One of the best places to have lunch in Berkeley!
The man in charge of the counter is super friendly and nice, always offering you a cup of water while you wait for a to-​go order! And if you happen to be eating at one of the many tables outside of the café area, you’ll probably get to hear one of the students of the Jazz School Institute performing/​practicing! Jazz Caffe is a great place to clear your mind of the stresses of the world, to have lunch with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time, or because you’re craving one of their tasty lunch options!
I really enjoyed the special of the day last week. I got a hearty cup of chili, a wicked delicious side of salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, jalapeño corn bread, and some garlic bread! All for $ 10! I’ve tried to make my own salad dressing using balsamic vinegar and olive oil, but it only comes out okay… here the combination is simply divine!
Today, I ordered the special panini of the day: roast beef with aioli and onions. I didn’t know quite what to expect because some places give you real measly pieces of that deli beef counter stuff… but not Jazz Caffe! They were thick juicy cuts of beef, toppped by some melted cheese, jalapenos (not spicy though) and onions on top of some delicious bread. It was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. I’d probably rank this sandwich higher than those at Slow.
Since Jazz Caffe is on the way to work, I’m probably headed there at least once a week now!
If you have trouble finding it look for the menu board placed outside with the specials!!!

I’ve been stopping here to get coffee since I’ve been working at Berkeley Rep, since it’s right next door. I haven’t eaten here but the food looks good. It’s a nice quiet place, but they also seem to have great jazz concerts in the afternoon occasionally. This morning I didn’t realize that I didn’t have any cash, so the guy gave me my coffee for free! He was very nice about it. So this review is to remind me to pay them back next time I am there.

Wow! I haven’t reviewed this place yet?
Jazz Caffe is right across the street from my office so it’s often my go-​to destination for when I have to run out and grab something really quick to take back to the office. Lucky for me this place is so reliably delicious. I’ve never had any of the specials but I love the paninis and salads. They are always so fresh tasting and yummy! I’m a big fan of the ham and cheese panini. :D The paninis come on yummy, spongy, focaccia bread and they do not skimp on the fillings.
Super friendly staff who remember repeat customers. :)
My office also does lunch orders with them when we need to bring in boxed lunches for meetings.