Sufficient Grounds Coffee

Oh why did you have to go Sufficient Grounds! T. T
Sufficient Grounds served the best sandwiches in Berkeley bar none. The garlic rosemary chicken on wheat focaccia and pasta salad was my favorite combo. Around $ 7, it’s quite a good deal, as it can definitely be split into two meals. The garlic rosemary chicken that Sufficient Grounds makes is like no others: it is flavorful, tender, and never dry. I don’t know how they mastered the art of chicken. Nowhere else have I had chicken in a sandwich that tasted that good. The focaccia also is on a whole other level compared to focaccia you’d find elsewhere: it’s incredibly light, fluffy, and fresh.
The salad I thought was better than at most places. Not oily like at other places, and it’s definitely fresh, so it’s not sitting around soggy before you order it.
I hope someday they’ll find the funds to reopen at a location with cheaper rent. I am hard pressed to believe that the new café (Zanzibar) there will make enough money to stay…

I’ve never written a long update for a place that is now closed, but this long time Berkeley café and bakery deserves a proper Unilocal eulogy. I’ve been a fan of Sufficient Grounds since the early 1990s when it was first owned by Meeah Kim. At that time, this café was a very cool hangout with an absolutely incredible honey wheat bread that they bake every morning. The sweet scent of their breads can be apparent from afar, and often did a good job at changing my decisions on where to eat. I was also a big fan of their fresh, warm and spongy focassia bread, and my go-​to drink was their smooth mocha which did its job at hitting the spot every time.
They eventually changed ownership to Anthony and his mom during my stint on the East Coast and LA. They kept the same menu and concepts but the sandwiches were still good, but not the same. The coffee became offbeat and the décor was changed from dim to bright lighting to throw off the sleek vibe. I’m often dismayed at their service, particularly with Ashley who was grumpy throughout her shifts and didn’t seem like she wanted to be there. Anthony, however, was a real cool guy who genuinely cared about his customers. He told me last fall they were battling the ownership of the strip mall over rent and other related contractual issues that eventually forced them to lose their space. I didn’t get to follow up with Anthony on the outcomes of these issues but obviously Berkeley has lost a bakery that had a history of campus philanthropy and very good sandwiches.
Every time I go there Anthony will have an idea of what I wanted. It’s always a predictable choice between Roast Beef, Pastrami, or Turkey on Honey Wheat or Foccasia with the whole works but light on mayo. Anthony often will tip me off on which bread came out the best in the morning, and even though their sandwiches can usually feed two I often finished the whole thing in one setting. Most recently I tried their Vegetarian Sandwich embedded with hummus and avocado which I wasn’t impressed with, but I’ve also found myself enjoying their Tofu Salad and fresh cut fruits along with my staples of sandwiches. A lot of people like their Rosemary Chicken Sandwich but I thought it was a tad too garlicky for me. Fellow Unilocaler Cecelia X recently told me about their closure, and that many UC Berkeley students had came to support this business during the last week of operation. I did a lot of work and wrote a share of Unilocal reviews thanks to their free wifi. Sadly, here’s another example of a small mom and pop that fell victim to corporate opportunist who failed to upkeep the basic principles of the American Dream. Thanks for all the memories, Sufficient Ground.

:((((I wish I found out about them sooner! But I am glad I got a taste of their fantastic foccocia bread, free samples etc… I absolutely love the potato salad. never got the green salad because it just looks boring, something you could get out of Crossroads (yuck).
I usually got the salami, which was 200% awesome!
SADDDD

I will miss you sufficient grounds, mostly the fresh baked bread int he morning. I don’t know what incredible stuff they put in that focaccia and honey wheat but it is FANTASTIC.
The sandwiches never blew me away and if you ever bought it without a coupon it was never worth it really.
Never ever ever get their salad (green) because it is literally just leaves with chunky unsmooth dressing.
Their free samples were always a treat on my way to class and they were always friendly to students studying late (:
It was good to know you while you were here Sufficient Grounds. I hope your delicious bread will meet my mouth again soon.

Taste: 3
Value: 4
Service: 4
I’ve been here a couple times, and I’ve been to quite a few general meetings that got Sufficient Grounds. There are a lot of SG fans — I’m not one of them. I think the sandwiches are pretty good, but definitely not great. All the ingredients seem fresh enough, and the sandwiches are absolutely massive, but a sandwich from Gregoire beats this out of the ballpark. In fact, I’d even go to Intermezzo over this place.
I usually get the rosemary chicken sandwich on honey wheat. I’ve also tried their turkey, as well as their vegetarian sandwiches. They’re all pretty medicore.

I walked by SG this morning around 9:30AM and verified that the place has closed up. An employee was starting to dismantle stuff; the beautiful espresso machine was still in place.
Lots of people liked SG; I’m told that there were lines out the door yesterday and the day before. But let’s be clear about a few things: The espressos were pretty terrible. The food was mediocre (albeit cheap). The place was uncomfortably crowded — Yogi Berra would say that no one went there any more. The unvented oven overwhelmed the room with odors of whatever happened to be cooking at the moment. The tables and floor weren’t exactly clean…
I did go to SG day after day for many years, but I steered away from it in recent months. The time had come.
It’ll be interesting to see whether the property owner can win his bet that he can find a tenant who will pay high rent and generate enough business to stay afloat. There are indeed places like Yogurtland and American Apparel that seem to be thriving in the area, but there are also empty storefronts not so far away (think of Cody’s Books!).
Anthony was a great guy, and I wish him well in his new endeavors. He also thought that the time had come.
Props to former owner Meeah Kim for introducing her innovative sandwiches some 15 years ago. She injected new energy into a business that was already limping along and gave Sufficient Grounds a whole new life.

Goodbye Sufficient Grounds :(
I’m not a very big fan of their sandwiches at all (I hate big bread) but they had SUCH GOOD potato salad!
I wanted to stock up on some today, but there was this line out the door. And then I went to look at the display and all the potato salads were already gone. :(
They are also very generous with donations to student organizations on campus. Much more so than Yogurt Park a couple stores down –_​_​_​–

If you are like me and dislike potato salad, you have to try this.
Their potato salad is SO GOOD!
It avoids fancy additions such as a tacky, crunchy, celery, or overbearing bacon.
It’s just fresh potatoes with a pretty light dressing that has a subtle, sweet kick at the end. Its simplicity allows you to really appreciate the hearty potato flavor. One word: Amazing.
I am so sad to hear the place is going out of business. I must stock up on potato salad before they do.

I don’t know if it is just me, but I feel that the quality of SG has seriously declined within the past two years or so. I always get the club sandwich on focaccia (with everything) with a side of potato salad. They used to have $ 1 coupons, but I don’t know if those still exist, so I paid $ 7.25.
The potato salad was really watery, with lumps of potato and sweet onion. Honestly, it was not that great, and t looked a little unappealing? The sandwich was loaded with mayo and the onions there were a little overwhelming. The saving grace was the bacon, which was nice and crispy. Yes, the portions are huge, but I’d rather have a good tasting sandwich than four pieces of a not-​so-​great one!
Overall, it’s a really nice place– super clean, T.V., outlets, great lighting– but I’m not sure I would return for the food. It’s just not what it used to be.

TINSTAAFL.
Is there such thing is as free donuts?
Yes. And it don’t matter that they’re old and stale; cut into little bite size pieces, they taste real good.
Coffee ain’t that spectacular, and when I asked for non-​fat milk, she came out with a gallon jug and poured it into my cup until I said stop. A little ghetto, but yay for service!
My blueberry muffin was a bit squishy. I don’t think that’s normal.
And don’t forget to take your $ 1 off coupon (off purchases of $ 4 or more)! Print out as many as you want from here:
Is it true they’re closing after this month? Someone, tell me it ain’t true!

I highly recommend their rosemary chicken sandwich on focaccia bread with a side of pasta salad. The sandwiches are made to order and while you wait, you can munch on their free donut samples which sometimes I think are day old but still decent anyway. Their sandwiches are huge and I suggest eating half and saving the rest for later or splitting it with another person.
They also offer other items on their menu, coffee drinks, and seating in addition to free wi-​fi.

Definitely the place to hang out as a college student.
Free wifi! Just grab a seat and maybe a coffee or a sandwich, and you’re good to go.
The coffee is nothing special, but the espresso gets the job done. Give me a double in the morning and I’m charged for the rest of the day.
The sandwiches are BIG. Share with a friend if you’re not a big eater because you’ll have more than you could ever want. The bread is made in-​house, so you’ll always have the smell of fresh bread and bacon wafting around as you pass by.
Did I mention the employees are super-​friendly? The owner Anthony is especially a fun guy and you can bet he’ll take good care of you at Sufficient Grounds.

Great campus food eaterie.
Pick up free donuts while you wait! I always indulge in at least half a donut.mmmm. Their salads are supposedly good but when I go here I always get a sandwich. LOVE the foccacia here. :) These sandwiches are always filling and the equivalent of two meals for a girl of my size. Next time I go here I shall try the tuna. I hope so at least. Whenever I go here I tend to get the rosemary chicken (so good but messy to eat!) or ham and cheese (classic and comforting). Also, I should note that they slightly pickle the onions provided in the sandwiches, it’s quite delish and unique for a campus eaterie.
The one bad thing about going here: to choose the pasta, salad, or potato salad as a side?! Such a toss up!

Ok. So I knew this place existed for a while, and it was in a convenient location, but I never really visited. However one lunch, I felt like eating a sandwich. And I heard they did sandwiches here right.
I ordered a pastrami sandwich on what I think was focaccia bread. It was awesome. The bread probably made it for me. Sure the pastrami was plentiful and cured right but the bread was a revelation. It was sweet and moist and delicious.
The next time I have an urge to eat a pastrami sandwich in Berkeley, I’m coming here first. No thinking needed.

I’m so happy I found this place before I graduate from Cal; I remember thinking this place sounds like any other coffee shop with a very odd, albeit very Berkeley, name. But thank God I went in and tried their sandwiches, which are, hands down, the best sandwich for the money in the UC Berkeley area. I always order their club sandwich (no mustard!) on focaccia bread and it’s absolutely awesome. They smoke the ham every day and you can smell it a block away from the other side of Sather Lane and you’re just drawn to their place. The bread is also baked fresh daily, and the rest of this beautiful composition of flavors is just on point. Besides my all-​time favorite Club, their Rosemary Chicken is also very tasty, and their chicken caesar salad really is just rosemary chicken with green stuff stuck underneath it, which is good.
As for the sides, I always go for the very creamy = very tasty potato salad. It is seriously tasty. And talk about the portions! One serving can feed you well into dinner. Plus, you don’t even have to go across the hall to Yogurt Park for dessert; you can just chow on the free donuts they have next to the cashier, which may be older, but still good baked goods.
The place itself is pretty OK, lots of students (including yours truly) hang out here to do projects and talk; whenever I have a group project, I always convince my teammates to meet here. Besides, they have free internet and are open till 11 PM. My only problem with this joint are the very flimsy chairs; I feel like I’m about to fall out of it everytime I sit down on one of thems. Then again, after eating their ginormous sandwiches, I just might.

This place serves ginormous, delicious sandwiches — i love roast beef on the honey wheat bread with the potato salad. Some argue there is too much bread for a sandwich, but as a poor college student, i say save the bread ya don’t eat now for a midnight study snack later :)
The downside — they make your food behind the register, hiding if you will. And if you look behind the counter at the floors they are preparing your food on, you’ll kinda cringe at the mildew forming at the cracks of the tile. Also, the place closes at 11PM, but they start rackin up the chairs at 930ish. wtf?
Anyway, you can’t beat the quantity of food and the proximity to campus. Yee.

My ex-​gf bought me a sandwich from here one time and it was probably one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had.
I believe it was a Rosemary Chicken sandwich with some pasta.
The sandwich is huge, by the way.
Get this sandwich and the pasta.
Dang it was good. I encourage anyone, especially Berkeley students to come to this place.
The place is sorta small and it seems kinda grimy, but that’s just the nature of places in Berkeley. It wasn’t gross, but just cluttered-​ish. This shouldn’t hinder your visit here though.
Want a good picnic sandwich? Come here.

I would never come here again except that it’s right across from Yogurt Park and located conveniently close to campus. And I also like their honey citron tea. When Sufficient Grounds switched owners though, I switched to Espresso Experience and let the complaints begin:
1. They have no more paninis! True, they bake their own bread, but c’mon. What kind of heartless folks just take away the melty goodness of the rosemary chicken panini and give you… well, a regular rosemary chicken sandwich. =(
2. Their sandwiches are dry as cardboard. I like bread, but this is one of the few times I’m going to have to say it’s too bread-​y. Maybe it would be manageable if you tackle it half a slice at a time. Or maybe if they brought back the panini.
3. They honestly have no idea when to clean. I was meeting friends during a busy lunch hour and they bust out mop and bucket and started swabbing like it was the invasion of dust bunnies. The place reeked of chlorine and I lost my appetite for lunch.
Sufficient Grounds… no sufficient reason to return unless a sandwich famine hits Berkeley in the next year.

I was pretty excited to come here after reading the Unilocal reviews before– but even research did not prepare me for the monstrous plate set before me less than a minute after I ordered. I brought my books and figured that given enough time there, I could probably finish the $ 6.95 sandwich, but when all the glory was before me, I was proven wrong.
I ordered the vegetarian on foccacia with a side of potato salad. The potato salad was extremely plain, but I ate all of it. The foccacia wasn’t what I expected, but very soft and generous. As someone else mentioned, the bread makes up the majority of the sandwich. The vegetarian seems like a bad deal because it’s just lettuce, tomatoes and cheese, when you could get something with meat for the same price.
The americano I ordered was fine, nothing special. I was a little miffed that they put it in a foam cup, but there are enough rabid environmentalists around Berkeley.
Service was quick, and the guy I ordeed from was very personable and efficient. He wasn’t fazed when I took three donut samples as I waited for him to pull my espresso. I will probably come back many more times and split the meal with my friend, who lives right next door.

Bomb-​ass sandwiches.
I think this place wins best of Berkeley every other year for their sandwiches.
I think the woman who owns this place was a baker or something. I recall reading that somewhere.
I love SG because they bake their own focaccia bread.
I always get their club sandwich. For $ 6 you get a great sandwich and salad.
They also have free water, which is always a plus in my book.
They’re not anal about people hanging out there all day to study.
On the weekends students are parked there all day.
This is hands down my favorite place to get a sandwich in Berkeley.
I’ve taken several friends there over the years and everyone has loved it.