Take 5 Cafe

Great tasting sandwiches — had the grilled cheese which was delicious and the chai was not too sweet but just perfect. Good pricing as well! Highly recommend this place.

Was looking for a relaxed breakfast spot in the area and Take 5 was perfect! The owner and staff person were so friendly and seemed to genuinely want us to enjoy our food and drinks as much as possible. They offered free refills on my tea and I regret that I didn’t take it! Also loved the artwork and performance space.

I really love the space this is in, and the owner is super friendly. I ordered the breakfast burrito, and it was good, but it wasn’t much food for the price and didn’t fill me up. It’s worth coming though because it’s cute and the people are nice!

Outstanding minority female owned and operated business! Great service and energy. I love the coffee and the fact that this place features local art and products from other small business owners. Lovely to meet you Karen!

I went there this morning to mix up my usual coffee place. It’s now my go to coffee spot for a good prices hot tea and pastry. It’s also locally owned and operated :)

The women working here were SO great! They were friendly and really happy. I only went to this café a couple of times while I was visiting Berkeley, but the employees of Take 5 made me feel warmly welcomed (like I was part of the neighborhood community.) Not to mention the coffee was super tasty! They were in the middle of remodeling when I was there. I hope they finish and are able to attract more customers. They deserve to have a successful business after all the care and attention they seem to put into it. 5 stars without question!

100% satisfied, and the satisfaction of supporting a local family business. The front counter guy, Elijah, was very kind and helpful. I had the breakfast burrito with avocado, and a dark roast. Everything was delicious, healthy, well made and well presented. I will be back again, and again and again and again…

Take 5 is awesome, and I feel very lucky to have such an awesome café so close. I feel in south Berkeley a lot of restaurants’ food is very «Tastes good now, feel awful later» even in some of the upstanding places– people put too much sugar in their foods or something and it makes me feel awful all day. But not Take 5! It’s made with so much love, my mama could have made this. Proper meal is mad proper!
— Dank food at a good price, just add patience for them to make food (It’s really not that long. Oh no 3 – 7 minutes! And you know– reality demands you to make something for it to exist, don’t be unreasonable!)
–Dank Coffee at a standard price (for the bay.)
–A Full espresso bar that will make an espresso addict shake. Seriously, I came here for my espresso fix when i was taking 6 shots of espresso via work— omg the double-​shots at take 5 are like «DOUBLE DOUBLE TOIL N’ TROUBLE!» Cuz you’ll be VERY awake. I don’t know what crazy voodoo magic they do to those beans– but DAMN THAT“S A HEAVY CUP.
I leave only a suggestion: Make a good item on the menu for vegans. I’ve found there are a lot of vegans in this area, and their diets can get a little stale from time to time– so if you figure out a tasty meal that most vegans don’t get a lot– something exciting for them– oh yah they’ll come.

Peaceful local spot. Got myself a filthy chai (something the guy ahead of me created!) which was yummy (really delicious chai). Breakfast sandwich was pretty yummy.
Love love love the owner, Glendys. A genuine smile and quick to correct any issue.
This place seems well set up to host small events and it seems like it would be a cool spot for that!

It’s a small place! It’s the home of the one dollar ice cream! They give you a big cup too. Nice people run the place. You can hang out and read the paper. Sit out on the sidewalk — they have chairs the tables out there. Good people! Great place!

This place is great. The staff/​owners are super friendly and the coffee is great quality (best in Berkeley). It pains me to take off a star because I like these ladies so much. However, my only complaints are that they open and close whenever they want; so, the hours aren’t dependable and if you order anything that needs to be made, it takes forever.
This all being said, this coffee shop has really added the neighborhood.

This is a cute shop, folks working there are friendly and food and coffee is reasonably prices. That said, only go if you have plenty of time. We stopped in to grab food on the way out of town and it took close to an hour all said and done. There was only one order ahead of us. Again though, super nice folks.

Coffe here is simple but good, I had a dark roast and it’s delicious. The right strength for me (not as tar thick as Peet’s but getting there!). And it comes in a mason jar with a handle. That’s adorable isn’t it?
Had a breakfast sandwich on croissant. Delicious. I saw some reviews say service was slow but I didn’t find that at all. It was early morning on a week day though… no one here! It’s nice and quiet, with good music in the background (Motown and soul, yeah!)
Really nice staff here too. They didn’t have their Square for card payments and I didn’t have cash so they let me eat and drink and relax while one of the staff went somewhere to get the Square. Nice trusting and kind neighborhood place. Definitely my new work-​from-​home spot.

I stopped drinking coffee for a little while, and now I drink only one cup a day now, so it is important to me to get a good cup of coffee for my ONE CUP! Well, let me tell you, the pour-​over medium roast coffee I got yesterday was the best one cup I’ve had since I started drinking coffee again. So smooth and beautiful.
I love the atmosphere at this café. You can tell it is a project of love for this local family. I love knowing that my cup of coffee, which I would be buying anyway, is going straight to supporting people who live right here! They have free wifi and a new, super-​cool rewards system.
I work in this neighborhood, and I am so excited to be able to get my incredibly good coffee right down the street!

So friendly. So nice. So many women employed here. Such good coffee. Open so early! I’m really grateful these guys are here so I don’t have to wait in line for ten minutes at Trieste while I rush from one job to the next. They have bagels, REALLY delicious and huge zucchini bread muffins, and very very tasty coffee. I haven’t ever had time to sit and eat lunch here but it’s great whizzing through at 7:30am.

If you’re looking for a welcoming and unpretentious coffee shop, this is it. I love this place.
The name is appropriate: you’re probably not going to get your coffee and run out the door in 30 seconds. Take five minutes out of your day. Relax, enjoy the artwork, and look around. Plus if you have time to stay there’s always a place to sit and they have outlets so you can work.
Really, it doesn’t get better than this.
Plus I think their breakfast burritos are awesome.

It’s a great feeling to know places like this are appearing in South Berkeley — a neighborhood I grew up in and moved away from a decade and a half ago.
I ordered my usual soy latte. Waited a little longer than usual but the owner advised she had dumped out the first shot of espresso because she wasn’t happy with the way it turned out. Very impressive in my book. I received my drink, which was a bit hotter than I’m used to. But I was fine with waiting for it to cool down. The latte was fantastic and the espresso was flavorful and not overly bitter. There’s also plenty of other things available like panini sandwiches, pastries, iced teas, etc. I think they even sell ice cream. Check this out — you can even buy an iced tea that includes a reusable travel cup and straw for $ 3!
I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in Berkeley.

This local spot is a gem. Unfortunate they are between south Berkeley and North Oakland and the area is still up and coming. They’ve opened at the right time and if the locals get in there often enough, we should see this spot around for a good long time.
Good coffee
Good company
Great baked goods
Wonderful events
Place to relax and enjoy the neighborhood

Great neighborhood café with cool art, much of it recycled. Hung out and had a great macaroon. Will be back soon.

Take 5 café sells pannini, oakland chocolates, ultimate cookie, and bicycle coffee.
small place, just a few tables. a few doors from moxy beer garden
brew: bicycle coffee (m2.5)
–strong, robust non acidic coffee.
–fast, friendly coffee
drips:
–only a few tables
–not much parking nearby.