Café Synapse

Try their turkey avocado … It’s amazing for a slightly overpriced sandwich but I love it the bread, the dressing on the salad. Omg so good.

Good place to eat if you’re sick of the rest of the food at UCLA. Good sandwiches and pizzas. Wouldn’t go out of my way to go here if I wasn’t on campus already.

This is a good place for coffee and tea on the UCLA campus. I’ve had their salads and sandwiches before, and they were decent if not spectacular. The grilled chicken caesar salad was chock full of chicken, cheese and lettuce and the dressing was not too heavy. I recently got their chicken pesto sandwich; I was initially happy that it arrived so quickly but that turned to disappointment once I realized they had taken a prepared sandwich out of it’s to-​go container and placed it on my plate. I guess that’s one way to be efficient…
Café Synapse met my moderate expectations for a campus dining experience. If you go, one of the highlights for the café is being able to sit outdoor in the sun!

As a neuro major at UCLA and later a grad student, I’ve had many a meal at café synapse. It’s tucked up off the street in the courtyard of the Gonda neuroscience building, and while accessible to the public, you tend to see UCLA students and employees for the most part. There is a coffee bar counter and a sandwich/​salad/​pasta counter. You go up to the counter to order and then you can either sit in their small-​ish indoor sitting area or enjoy their quiet, sunny, grassy patio. Excepting very cold or windy days, the patio is definitely the way to go. The food prep is usually efficient and fairly tasty, and the prices are quite reasonable. My favorite thing about this place is the really cool conversations you can overhear when the neuroscientists are meeting to talk at the next table.

Ordered a caramel ice blended. This is probably the only coffee shop on campus that has made coffee that I truly enjoy. The espresso shot in this drink was not bitter and it was the ideal amount of sweet.
Drinks are on the pricey side, but you pay for convenience.
Fast and friendly service.
They wish they would offer almond or coconut milk alternatives.

I love UCLA campus. And this café is right on campus. But it’s only okay. I had the Mango Chicken Salad. The mango was fresh and very delicious. The rest of the salad was fine with not quite enough dressing.
The line was also a little long and the service a little slow. But overall I’d say this was a good spot for a quick lunch on campus.

Convenient location, chill vibe, free wifi. Great coffee tax-​free if you’re a student or resident. They also have pastries and sandwiches in case you get hungry. Lots of lighting.
The only issues are that there aren’t enough plugs in the main area. There is one toward the front of the café, and some long the longer hallway on your right as you enter.
Also, try not to come during prime lunch hour, as there is a line. Otherwise, it’s a great place to relax and do work if you’re coming from Ronald Reagan hospital or the surrounding area.
There is also a small outdoor area with seating, if that’s what you prefer.

Nice place to study! It’s usually not too crowded, and there are drinks and food to sustain you. The food is pretty standard fare, and a bit on the pricey side, and I think the drinks are just from Coffee Bean. The overall ambiance is really relaxing though, and it’s a nice change of pace from crowded Starbucks. Too bad it’s only open until 5pm, or I’d be more of a regular.

I’ve eaten here many times while an undergrad at UCLA and a couple times now as an employee, as the location is super convenient to my workplace. I wish I could give this place more stars as the workers are friendly and tend to remember/​greet me, but the food isn’t all that great.
I always give it another chance and try new things, thinking «maybe it’ll be better this time» but either the pizza is soggy, the soup is watered down, or the salads lack flavor albeit the fancy names/​descriptions and the extra stuff they add to it.
The prices are average-​to-​high for a café ($ 6-​$ 10 per single order) but honestly I rather walk a bit more to the Court of Sciences Student Center and have Bombshelter or Subway for the same price!
If you just want coffee and pastries, this place is decent. Personally I’ve never had their pastries but I’ve gotten some coffee drinks and they’re pretty standard. If you are looking to get lunch or dinner, however, there are better options on campus.

Small and simple café located in the neuroscience buildings next to the medical school. You can get your basic sandwiches, salads, and pizzas here. Food is decent, but a tad expensive (about $ 7 or $ 8 for a sandwich). Limited indoor seating, but you can always sit in the courtyard outside. I’ve only been here a handful of times because I think it’s overpriced. I actually prefer the cafeteria across the street at Reagan.

This is my new go-​to coffee place when I’m around the UCLA med school campus. Usually, I went to Southern Lights out of convenience; however, Café Synapse has better coffee and is a lot nicer than Bombshelter.
It’s located in the Gonda building, and is a nice place to sit down for a coffee break and do some work. It’s never swarming or packed (like bombshelter), and you can get pizzas and food here as well as coffee.
I’ve tried both the REGULAR roast and the GOURMET roast. Personally, i’d get the Gourmet roast if you don’t mind shelling out several more cents. Maybe psychologically, I think it tastes better since it’s «gourmet,» however I do believe it is a lot smoother than the regular roast.
Overall, if you are an old grad student or researcher like me, this is the place for you and your next coffee break!

Decent spot that I’d usually hit up before going to volunteer at the Ronald Reagan Hospital.
I usually get a regular iced coffee before my shift and sometimes, I’ll order food if I’ll be volunteering during lunch time. I’ve gotten the chicken sandwich on focaccia bread which isn’t bad but isn’t amazing either. They do have a pretty mean sauce on the sandwich tho that makes it good!

Since I study computational neuroscience, I felt like this was a café for me with lots of neuroscientists and medical students/​doctors hanging out. Their morning omelets are good and so are their pastries. Their lattes are okay, but nothing special.
I think the tuna sandwich I had for lunch one day gave me food poisoning though, and it wasn’t particularly good tasting either (the bread was stale). Despite this, I really wish my university had a place like Café Synapse.

Café Synapse gets 3 stars for trying hard, but the food is nothing to get excited about. Lunch specials do come with a drink, which is a pretty reasonable $ 8 or so. The salad of the pizza & salad combo is good, but it’s hard to mess up salad. My bigger complaint is with the pizza. It’s very industrial tasting, not crispy at all, and barely has any taste I’d take Costco’s pizza over Café Synapse’s pizza any day!
However, my pizza did have fresh tomatoes & green onion sprinkled on top, so they have some fresh ingredients & try to add a little personal touch. Café Synapse is probably my second-​to-​last choice in the lunch rotation, but at least it’s close.

I loved swinging by Café Synapse when I was an undergrad passing from South Campus to the Jules Stein Eye Institute. They have the italian eatery plus coffee shop all in one spot, and I just felt like a classy student for even being seen here! If I had money on by BruinCard, and if I was going to be alone in the office for the rest of the day, I was here to pick up my lunch. Plus, I got to look at all the handsome neuroscientists of tomorrow.
They change their lunch specials daily and I never disliked anything I ordered, for simple pizza to pasta or ravioli, to salads, or even sandwiches! Everything is fresh and 5-​star restaurant quality tasting. If UCLA ever did anything right for me, it was feeding me exquisitely well at all the dining halls and restaurants. Café Synapse was by far one of my top favorites.
If you’re ever passing by on a nice day, stop in for a relaxing lunch outside before they close around 4 or 5pm and I dare say that I will refund my SINCERITY if you do not enjoy the menu items.

Working just in the building next to Café Synapse, I can probably say I have eaten 90% of the items off their menu. The most common thing i get is cream of broccoli soup which usually never fails me.
Their pizzas are quite tasty and also not a bad deal for around $ 5.50. The sandwiches, which are all cold are a bit on the pricey end and I usually stay away from those as I prefer going to subway or another place for sandwiches. Their salads I would say are very typical and also about $ 7 – 8 an order. The other side of the café is the coffee shop with pastries and other simple items.
The atmosphere if very college like as there are always students studying and people having business lunches here. If you ever are on UCLA campus near the med school, this would be the place to go as it spears away from the cafeteria feel on a campus.

This review is strictly for breakfast. Synapse also has sandwiches, pizza, and other goodies for lunch, but I’ve only been here for lunch a few times.
I love the location. It’s very close to all of my classes. I pass this place every morning when I walk to class.
However, whatever time I save by going to a physically convenient place is wasted by the time I always spend waiting for food/​drinks. This morning, I was the only person in there (at 7:30AM), so I decided to get an omlette. It did not come out until 7:50. Yes, I kid you not. Maybe I was the first person to get an omlette this lovely morning, so they didn’t turn on the burners yet? I don’t know. But all that I know is that I ran out of time and couldn’t even eat my breakfast since I had class at 8:00. Saved it to eat during break in the middle of class, so it was no longer hot. Annoying.
I’m not much of a breakfast person and I only eat breakfast when I know that I won’t be able to eat lunch that day. I’m not a fan of many breakfast foods anyway. But, the omlettes here are pretty good. For about $ 4, you get an omlette the size of half of a dinner plate. The other half is filled with yummy potatoes. The veggie omlette is my fave because I find most breakfast meat to be overly salty. Today, I decided to be different. I had the Denver omlette, which contains ham. My salty-​meat theory unfortunately proved to be correct. The ham tasted good, though slightly salty, but then I was thirsty the whole day! :(
Synapse loads your omlette with veggies and/​or meat so you can count on getting a super FAT omlette. They are not weak on your toppings AT ALL. However, the actual egg part of the omlette was too thin. It had the thickness of a crêpe. I would rather have an egg crêpe stuffed with veggies than an eggy mess with toppings sprinkled on. Today’s omlette was a disappointment though because I had to eat it lukewarm.
Coffee is okay. Pretty much the same as anywhere else on campus. If I absolutely need to get my caffeine fix, I just get the regular house blend iced coffee. It surprises me that the wait for this drink is relatively long. If I went anywhere else on campus, I could get my drink in like 2 seconds.
Pastries are overpriced. I love me some almond croissants, so I had to try it here. It was actually really plain and somewhat soggy. It cost $ 3. If you’re looking for a bomb diggity almond croissant, go to Whole Foods. It’s ridiculously OMNOMNOM for about $ 2.
Synapse is nothing special, but it’s a decent cute little place. The outside eating area is a big plus. However, a major no-​no is the wait time. Definitely not a place that I would go to when I’m counting on getting something quick.

This place has the best food on the UCLA campus. Sure, it’s a little pricey, like everything else here, but hidden away on a nicer part of south campus, it really does have the best-​tasting food.
I like the separate counters for the coffee bar and for lunch. Rotating variety of soups, sandwiches, salads, pizza and pasta. Everything I’ve had is delicious, I really like the raspberry chicken salad, cream of broccoli soup, BBQ chicken pizza, and any of the combos. Everything is around $ 7 or $ 8 but the portions are pretty huge. I do wish they sold half salads or sandwiches, like they do up here at Espresso Roma.
Pretty courtyard, away from noise or traffic, to enjoy your meal, and indoor tables too.
The pastries and coffee are pretty average, and they close early, which is why I have to deduct a 5^th star. But if you want good food on campus, it’s worth the walk!

I am so sad I went here on my last final of undergrad.
The location is in between the campus and westwood.
They have perfect lighting and comfortable seats.
I ordered an omelette, banana, and coffee for the breakfast.
The omelette had perfect seasoning and comes in big portions.
For a little bit more $, you can get potatoes on the side.
It got a bit heavy. I didn’t want to get food coma so I opted out on that option, but my friend got it and I had some of hers.
If I have reasons to study at UCLA again, this will definitely be the spot to get breakfast, coffee, and study.

One star-​off for: closing early at 5:00pm and prices that target professionals (i.e., non-​students).
Star-​on #1 — salads, pizzas, gourmet food not found elsewhere on campus
Star-​on #2 — tucked away from traffic, hidden on 2^nd floor of the Gonda
Star-​on #3 — view of courtyard, magical
Star-​on #4 — the lovely cashier Natalya (: