Zing Cafe

The type of customer service provided by this family owned business is hard to find in this day and age. I work in the area and was so pleased to hear of another place to eat during the lunch hour. As indicated by the 5 stars above, they have more than met my expectations. Aside from remembering my name by the second visit, their food is great, they offer a variety of foods for such a small (or should I say quaint) café, and they are extremely accommodating.
I would also like to share the following:
I went to pick-​up an order approximately 2 months before Christmas and inquired about gift certificates (for my co-​workers). Ana explained they were looking into the idea of gift certificates and that she would let me know once they have them. Shortly thereafter, on a nice and quiet Saturday, I received a text message that read, «There here :)» with a picture of the gift certificates. How cute and thoughtful is that?
I can go on and on, but I will end by stating, again, I appreciate the way Zing! does business. It is a pleasure to patronize restaurants that clearly appreciates my business. Long live Zing!

The type of customer service provided by this family owned business is hard to find in this day and age. I work in the area and was so pleased to hear of another place to eat during the lunch hour. As indicated by the 5 stars, they have more than met my expectations. Aside from remembering my name by the second visit, their food is great, they offer a variety of foods for such a small (or should I say quaint) café, and they are extremely accommodating.
I would also like to share the following:
I went to pick-​up an order approximately 2 month before Christmas and inquired about gift certificates (for my co-​workers). Ana explained they were looking into the idea of gift certificates and that she would let me know once they have them. Shortly thereafter, on a nice and quiet Saturday, I received a text message that read, «There here :)» with a picture of the gift certificates. How cute and thoughtful is that?
I can go on and on, but I will end by stating, again, I appreciate the way Zing! does business. It is a pleasure to patronizing restaurants that clearly appreciate my business. Long live Zing!

Always a pleasant experience.
I have been to Zing Café a handful of times. The barista is helpful, the food is always tasty and the drinks are good.
What finally inspired a review is the barista today actually put too much cream cheese on my bagel. I feel like those are words I may never utter again, ‘too much cream cheese’. It’s certainly not a bad thing.

Good god, the meatless with mozzerella is to die for! Friendly people, decent prices, in walking distance AND they participate in 5 STAR? Awesome!

Absolutely Love this family owned café. The Owner is very professional and they have great food. My boss Janet and myself when working in Berkeley, we always make sure we stop in at Zing Café! Love you guys, Carolyn Bonner 2016

This is by far the best café I have ever been to. My favorites are The Mediterranean platter and the Pastrami sandwich. They have perfect customer service always very polite. And I love the fact that its a family owned business! They really put their heart into everything they touch. I highly recommend trying this place out.

I went to zing café for the first time this morning and they have the best customer service out of any café around the east bay. Very friendly and the lovely woman, Ana who was working even offered me an umbrella because it was raining and said I could bring it back some other time. I will definitely be back to this café! Other cafes could learn something from the friendly vibe of this zing café!

Thursday, 5:45 PM.
Zing’s awesome service will stand out.
Quickie:
+ Good food
* Menu variety
+ Friendly staff
– Slow turnaround
* Cleanliness
And then???
It took 20 – 25 minutes to make an iced drink and sandwich. The folks here are nice though and everything else was sufficient enough for a second stop.
**********
Stuffed my face in:
1. Pastrami sandwich
* Standard lunch meat
Constructive comments:
*Option for compost
*Sustainable sourcing and practices

Cute little café. Great sandwiches, very friendly staff.

I come here for coffee on the weekends and I’m always satisfied. The prices are great and the people working here are always nice. Can’t comment on the food but I’m sure it’s pretty good. Ample seating outside too!

I lived near this café for all of summer 2015 and miss it now that I’m no longer in the neighborhood. I like that this place has almond butter and can whip up a pretty decent latte (with almond or soy milk!) but the primary reason that I gave this place 5 stars is because of how incredibly sweet the staff is. Every morning I was greeted by a woman (whose name I’m forgetting) who had a warm smile and helped me start my day off right. The prices are a little high given the quality /​portions for lunch and dinner but just right for the breakfast options offered.

I come here infrequently for the sweets. When I do, I always love the cookies and cronuts (I’m a bit reluctant to buy such a nicely crafted croissant that’s turned into a donut, seems a waste, no?).
I also like the people who work there. Very friendly. They definitely make my day better with their check-​ins and how-you-doing’s. This friendliness is what I like most about this neighborhood shop. Casual atmosphere.
My only complaint is the seating arrangement is a bit odd and is discouraging. I would vouch for friendlier sitting space. They’ve got an interesting space to work with but the tables feel separate from the café.

They’re a little slow, which I’ll chalk to growing pains but the Turkey Pesto Panini on focaccia was great. Fresh pesto and other greens in a delightfully crispy bit of bread.
I think as they get quicker, this’ll be the perfect place to grab a bite before you get on BART. Right now, it’d probably better suited for a sandwich on the way home.
I’ll definitely be back to try the pastrami and tuna melt.

Croissonut ! Cronut! Beats the hype at this mellow corner café. Get the delectable SQUARE donut made of flakey, tasty croissant. The espresso is good too.

I live in the neighborhood and saw the banner that a new café had opened. I checked out the Unilocal reviews and everything was very positive so I decided to give the place a try.
It is a cute café and the location is nice. I wanted to support a local business. I ordered a roast beef panni sandwich to go. The guy was very friendly and chatty but it took a very long time to make my sandwich. It wasn’t busy, I was the only one waiting, maybe he was just new. Unfortunately it wasn’t until I got home I realized he made the wrong sandwich. Being hungry, I ate the ham sandwich instead. Later in the afternoon, I had such a bad stomach. It was just very disappointing experience.

Monday morning lunch went into this cute café right next to the Ashby BART station on Adeline. I ordered a pastrami melt and an Americano.
The Pastrami melt on whole wheat was decisions he onions were crisp and unlike other shops weren’t concentrated on one part of the sand which. They also weren’t too chunky so not overpowering the same which, same thing goes for the sauerkraut, didn’t notice it was there till I was done.
The Americano was brewed just right.
Note: I usually hate sauerkraut.
If you find yourself in this neighborhood and need a bite I recommended this spot. the servers are really welcoming and they have cute outdoors seating.

Here’s the situation:
You spent the evening dog-​sitting for your friends at their sick-​ass apartment right across the street from Ashby BART. In the morning, you’re craving a quick, but delicious breakfast cause you have to get ready for work.
Enter Zing! Café.
You walk over, and order the best looking bagel on the menu: A bagel with Veggies. As your bagel is being made, you’re chit-​chatting with the dude behind the counter (my one regret is not getting his name, he was so friendly!) while looking around at the fine assortments of pre-​made breakfast items they offer.
Once your bagel’s done, you pay up, leave a well-​deserved tip for the friendly service and head back to your friends’ sick-​ass apartment to enjoy your bagel while watching Season 3 of House of Cards. Then you go to work. But only if you work on Sundays. Stay home if you don’t, enjoy your time off.
Perfect Sunday morning, brought to you by Zing! Café.

Zing Café (it’s counter and backspace) is smaller than my walk-​in closet.
offerings: pastries, cookies, pannins, sammies, coffee, juices, drinks
brew: organic coffee (m2,15)
–not specified, smooth, slightly harsh/​bold
drips:
–talkative, friendly barrista
–no room to seat in, only seating is outside.
3,5 stars for the coffee.

My wife, Margaret, and I visited Zing Café for one of our weekly dates. This is a nice new place right across the street from the Ashby BART Station. The coffee is tasty and they serve up several flavors of cronuts (croissant dough donuts).
Margaret enjoyed the «quadro bar» and a chai latte with almond milk. It was nice to have a local place that offers milk alternatives. The quadro bar is a lemon bar, but is not like your usual lemon bar made with lemon curd. It had a very unique texture. Margaret describes it as, «A little crumbly with a brown sugar flavor to it and chewy. I like that it was not super sweet like a traditional lemon bar.»
We both were offered a sample of a new menu item, Fusion, by the sister & brother owner team. Fusion is a blended veggie smoothie containing kale or spinach or romaine lettuce combined with fruit and juice. We tried the kale and orange juice Fusion. Very good! Unlike traditional juice, which expels the fiber, the Fusion blends the fiber right into the drink. It was filling and refreshing. Since moving to Berkeley from San Diego in 2012, I have been on the hunt for a full fiber veggie smoothie and finally found it!
We elected to sit indoors at a table just outside the indoor entrance. The table can accommodate 4 – 6 people, unlike the small two-​top tables on the patio and along the side of the building near the outdoor entrance.
The owners are super friendly and welcoming. Go grab a drink and snack ASAP!

Time: 2:53pm/58°F partly cloudy
Purpose: For more than half a year in the making, I finally got notify that they’re indeed open. So since I was wrapping things up in SF, looking towards Battery/​Market street no traffic up to 76 service station on ramp. Punch the pedal Ford Taurus took off, I was on my way.
Ambiance: Located right across the street Ashby Bart station sits this older church like building. Back in the days it was a place were people gather for funerals. When that closed up it was couple more small eateries, most recent Flacos vegan Mexican restaurant. ZC is stilling in the process of building it out more as there are paint buckets and spatula seen throughout the place. Outside corner has about 5 bistro style table with chairs resting on top of gravels. Don’t expect much inside though. Its a really small place that can probably fit 4 – 5 average size adults in ordering line anymore you’ll be elbowing each other. Charming little place that has it all is how I can best describe it. Starts with Faema espresso machine, clover payment, tip jar, CC processing machine, acrylic pastry case, cookie jars, cast iron tier dish holders, bagel basket, fruit basket, granola tubs, freezer w/​four flavors of ice cream. Utensil/​condiment station on opposite side as designing it with rivet design puts nice touch of somewhat old school look. Finishing it off two door beverage cold fridge and shelf with snacks. There is a hidden room once you make your way in a little more. Inside a 4 – 5 person seater with feelings of quiet calm energy. I was afraid to take picture for some reason. It just has that eerie haunted look and feel to it. There’s even an elevator with manual chain gate links. Best to take your convo outside were you can people watch and bask in sun.
Staff: A girl and a guy around the same late 20s appears to be gf/​bf or brother/​sister duo running place. Both really friendly answering all you questions. The guy doesn’t know how to ring up prices as he struggle a bit but, the girl was fast and efficient. No up selling or pushing for a sale. They are more interested in getting the place together first.
Cleanliness: Grade A, brand new everything spic and span. Only gripe here was the dust from gravels settling on table top after a gush of high wind. Some janitorial supplies strewn here and there. However I understand first week trying to get act together. Certified food handler certificate on display.
Eats/​Drinks: Pastrami sandwich was the special of day $ 7.50, Mexican wedding cookie $ 2, brownie bar $ 3.25, lemon pistachio shortbread $ 2, and lemon/​blueberry pound cake OTH priceless. Sando not bad very well made and flavorful. Pastrami was really good when melted with cheese heated on panini press. Edges of bread with crunch oozing stringy cheese, perfect. Mexican wedding cookies as expected chockful of nuts dusted with a coating of powder sugar. Brownie was ok needed more cocoa or chocolate was not too sweet. Lemon shortbread good but, was very dry and dense inside. Throw it hard enough it can crack a window, seriously. The icing was showing hairline cracks meaning its been around. Wash it down with water as, I didn’t see anything that I want without sugar on it. Water is the natural way.
Products/​Services: Coffee-​Mr. Espresso, tea by Stash/​Bigelow, toranis syrup, baked goods by Good Butter Bakery, bagels, sandwich, salads, chips, croissants, pound cakes, brownies, cookies, fruit bars, shortbread cookies, cocadas (coconut macaroons), hot/​cold beverages, juices/​sodas, italian soda, ice cream/​premade scoops in cup. Choice of wheat, sourdough and rye bread. Open on weekends.
Punch Lines: Within steps of Bart, heavy travel street, corner location, first week of opening, charming, limited sandwich options, outside patio, minimal seating, takes plastic, wheelchair friendly, zippy service, in/​out within 5 min, casual and delicious, freshly deliver baked goods, on par prices, nothing out of the ordinary, street parking unmetered, residential/​business.
Tradeoffs: Smaller than average size café that packs a punch of regular size places without an square inch of wasted space.
Final Thoughts: I wasn’t sure what to expect from this place till I walk in. From the outside it looks like any other café once inside your thoughts of just fills your mind. Curious and wanting yo know the history. Look like a mini wedding chapel, church, funeral home, morgue, could be even a home if furnish enough. Anyways it’s a café that carries almost what others already carry, it’s convenience to Bart and connecting cluster street makes it prime location.

They’re open! Yay!
I work with a business next door (Trackers Earth) and we’ve been anxiously awaiting their grand opening for months. Finally they’re here, and best of all, they’re great! The coffee was decent (haven’t tried espresso drinks yet) and they have a gigantic selection of tasty baked goods including cronuts and cronut holes. (We’re basically doomed.) There are also sandwiches etc. for savory things. The family that runs it is super super nice and had to jump through a ridiculous number of delays and hoops beyond their control to get the space opened up. Please come and pay them a visit.

Zing Café is a zinger! So pleased to happen upon the grand opening today and meet the family who runs the newest sweet spot in Berkeley. This corner of Ashby between Emerson and Essex badly needs a pleasant lunch spot. It is across from Ashby Bart, down from the Ed Robert’s campus and is nestled next to popular wellness and spiritual center Terra’s Temple. There is a lovely, flower filled terrace and limited inside space. The menu is small and growing with well priced $ 7 sandwiches on crunchy rolls, my pal Carin had a pesto turkey melt. She’s a pro chef and gave the expert thumbs up. The baked goods choice was large including maple croissants and dainty pastries.
Davy enjoyed the gelato selection!
Did I say great coffees and fast service. They accommodated the opening day lunch rush with ease and had time to cut the ribbon and accept the local priest’s blessing and well wishes. Everyone who enjoyed this sweet spot joins me in wishing them well. Lucky Ashby… this is my go to place in the east bay especially when I m at Terra’s Temple or Shotgun Players.