Claddagh Coffee

Best café to buy coffee and hang out. Love their coffee!!! Also there’s free wi-​fi, and I live few blocks away from Claddagh Cafè. I have know idea why some people has some negative feedback. To me, I go there almost everyday just to have coffee and relax. Just I said, I like their coffee!!!

This must be what it’s like getting coffee in China. The clientele is predominantly older Chinese men, speaking very loudly and with great fervor, with zero assimilation into western aesthetics. That’s fine if that’s what you are into, but for the rest of us, it’s a real drag to go to this place. In addition the coffee is really weak, and the food is weak and over priced. It’s a shame, as there really aren’t many options in the excelsior for coffee/​pastries etc. I only go here because it’s the only option, well that and Cumaica coffee down the street which is the Latino version of this crappy coffee shop. Too bad Mamas Art Café is a piece of garbage as well. Someone would kill it if they opened up a decent coffee shop– quality coffee, food and ambiance in the excelsior.

Please clean the place up. Power wash the dirty floors so there are no flies swarming. It could be a lot nicer and inviting. Looks like the owners do not care about or are oblivious about how a café should be. It is not a lot to ask for and not too expensive. Get decent clean couches which do not look like something picked from the side of a freeway. Pretty basic stuff and you’ll get 10 times the returns on your investment.

I have always loved this place. My wife and I stumbled upon it by accident about 14 years ago while attending a convention at Cow Palace. We had coffee and sandwiches from here, (Very good btw) and also pastries from the bakery next door every morning for three days. One year later we came back for the same convention as we walked in the door they greeted us BY NAME! So far they have remembered us every year we go back and we are only there three days. That’s customer service! Now every time we are in the bay area we make it a point to stop by. Not great looking from the outside but definately a diamond in the rough.

I settled down here to do work on a Thursday afternoon around 5pm. Music is chill with no lyrics, and there’s few sockets around so it’s ideal to do work if you need to concentrate. I got an iced coffee (they don’t have decaf iced) and a pumpkin cream cheese muffin. The coffee was good enough and the cupcake was dry and dense. It could be more than three days old or just a bad recipe. Either way, I don’t recommend you get the cupcake, even if it’s the freshest looking treat in the joint. Overall, it’s a good enough place to work if you prefer to work in a café. Not too crowded and the drinks are good enough.

5 years later I thought I’d give them a second chance. Unbelievably, the service is worse than before! Today, I went in asking for the a hot chai, and explained I was happy to pay the full price ($ 4.25) of the cold chai. I was really hopeful the service would be better, and thinking after so many years they must have learned how to be kind to customers. Nope. They told me there was no way they could alter the drink because it might be bad for my health. They even have a picture on their counter of the chai made hot, like a chai latte. I pointed at the picture on their counter and explained, «I’m just asking you to make what you are displaying here as a product you serve.» She said no. Then I said, okay, I’ll just get it cold, even though it’s freezing out today. She then told me she wouldn’t sell me the cold one because I might not like it.
Terrible.
Worst service I’ve ever received any where.

Wouldnt go out of my way but a comfortable little Joint to grab a coffee or chai tea latte. Rather spicy for the chai but im used to Starbucks so its just a preference thing.

I was looking for something similar to this for a long time in this area! I am usually a big fan of small mom and pop coffee places, and they finally have one in this area so I don’t have to travel far just so I can work at a starbucks. Their coffee is whatever, but their service is top notch as well as the ambiance is amazing. We need more of these coffee shops in this area.

If you are looking for average coffee, rude service, bugs, and dirty floors this is your place. I wish there was a good coffee place in the area because this place certainly isn’t one.

I just came here for the wifi and some food when I first moved into the neighborhood and the internet wasn’t set up at my house yet.
The wifi was unlimited and worked well. When I took breaks from working on my laptop, I’d stream videos or play StarCraft and they all worked fine on the wifi here. There was an outlet near the back couch and two more in front table area. This coffee shop isn’t as nice or clean as others, but it’ll do if you’re in the neighborhood looking for a place to study or get on your laptop. There weren’t a lot of students to compete with for the outlets, but there were a lot of older Chinese men who’d come in the mornings and afternoons to hang out. They tend to be quite loud so it can be a distraction if you need a quiet environment to focus.
I’m not a coffee drinker, so I bought food in order to sit down and use the wifi. The turkey sandwich for $ 6 was a totally normal but filling deli sandwich. Their biscotti and cookies were big and tasty. Though they didn’t seem super fresh, they tasted better that simple packaged cookies or Costco cookies.
Credit card is accepted here, but there’s a $ 5 minimum.
Though it’s not the nicest coffee shop out there, Claddaugh Coffee fits the neighborhood well.

Do not get an espresso here. When the lady didn’t tamp the grounds, I was wondering. Tasted it. Threw it away. Would rather lose four bucks than put that stuff in my stomach.

I’ve been going here off and on for the past couple years, solely because it is the only coffee shop in the area. The coffee is usually pretty basic, nothing special or amazing. The chai is pretty nasty though, and most of the cookies are really dry and old. I do like their selection of syrups that they have, and the free wifi is handy.
The cashier that seems to always be there is friendly, but slow and screws up the transactions pretty often.
The thing about Claddagh that really bothers me though is the cleanliness and care of the place. I was there last week and it was full of flies. Just dozens of big flies swarming in the middle of the store. The counter where they keep the cream and sugar is usually a mess and the whole shop feels dusty and stale.
For any other city, Claddagh would be your average mediocre coffee shop; however in San Francisco when you have places like Blue Bottle, Four Barrel, Ritual, Sightglass, etc. the bar is set really high. Claddagh just doesn’t compare. For me its a last resort to get my fix of caffeine.

RUDE! INCONSISTENT! CANNOT DO MATH!
You would think these people could use the register properly.
They might be fast and the croissant sandwiches may taste alright, but they cannot get an order correct to save themselves. And to add to that, everything is over-​priced. $ 5 for a mediocre blended coffee that would have been 100% better quality and 2 $ cheaper at Starbucks.
I ordered my drink and my sandwich; when they give me my order, the sandwich had egg in it, and my drink tasted like dirty milk with no syrup and expire espresso shots.
When they corrected my sandwich and drink she said «Oh, I overcharged you» as I was walking out.
–Extremely crowded with smokers outside. Watch your lungs!
–Dont bring Kids.
This place confirmed my hopelessness for the Excelsior.

Coffee is great!
Prices = reasonable.
Service = sour. I mean, really? You work in a freakin’ coffee shop, try to smile at your potentially bushy-​eyed clientele, would ya?
Saying thank you here was falling on deaf ears.
I’ll be back for their coffee drinks but I’ll know better than to waste my breath making small talk here. Sheeesh.
Same thing the second time… lol

Had a coffee craving and this was the nearest coffee shop to my house.
Theres only one working as both the cashier and barista, so if there happens to be a few people before you or someone ordering a lot, you’re going to have to wait.
I got the white mocha and it costs roughly a little over $ 4. I watched as the girl scooped in powder for the white mocha and I was pretty surprised because I was expecting a white mocha sauce.
I tried my first sip as out I walked out of the coffee shop and I was very displeased. It tasted like raspberries to me for some reason… odd right? The more I drank the more it tasted like raspberries. I drank about only half before I tossed it away.
Quite disappointed with the whole experience and I wont be coming back again.

Only been here twice. Same woman working. Same classy jazz music. Unfortunately, same crowd. I was the only woman customer in here, & you could only hear the music if you were lucky. I’m Asian, so no offense… but the Asian men in here DOMINATE the place. All the tables were taken & all I could mostly hear were them talking. They were the kind that stare. Fortunately the first time I went here it was near closing time, so the bathroom had just been cleaned. Don’t know how it was prior though. Convenience of this place is awesome, just a few minutes to walk to from my place. I’ve only had 2 drinks but they were made quickly & tasted pretty good. Haven’t had anything else. If it weren’t for the crowd, I’d be back more often.

I was glad to find this little coffee shop in the neighborhood I was staying in. I don’t know the area and glad I didn’t have to travel too far to grab some lunch and coffee.
When I first glanced at the menu I was hoping to see more food items but it was just a few sandwiches and mostly drinks. I ended up ordering a turkey sandwich with a health nut cookie, a soy latte and cold bottled tea.
I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and mild their coffee tasted and how fresh and tasty the sandwich was but the winner of this meal goes to the health nut cookie.
That was the healthiest treat I saw on the menu so I went for it and I’m glad I did. I’m definitely going back for a second cookie. The total was $ 14 about the same as Starbucks, which seems fair.
The only downside I see with CC is that the store itself definitely needs a major makeover starting with a deep cleaning because it looks very rundown and dirty. I know the buildings here are old but for a restaurant to have black grimy floors is beyond disgusting and a turnoff.

They do accept credit cards but at a $ 5 minimum. I had some sort of latte (I went during winter break) and I had no complaints, I didn’t have to add anything more to it. The lemon pound cake was good too. Or at least it tasted and looked like one… =T I don’t really eat white people food LOL sorry in advance if I offended you.
There’s hella room (seats*cough*) inside so if you’re waiting for your order or want a place to sit to enjoy your lunch, it’s waiting for you.

Had the cameral mocha blended ice coffee for 4.15. Decent price for a medium size cup. Its sweet but you can taste the coffee flavor as well.
When i came inside, there were a bunch of chinese men that take up most of the sitting area while chilling in here in late afternoon. It makes all awkward just being the only female customer other than the female worker. Friendly staff and made my drink quick since no one didn’t order any drinks before me

Oh Claddagh I had such high hopes for you! This coffee shop seemed to be the nicest and most convenient in that area of the Excelsior. However, as I walked in I was surprised to see how a tad over priced their coffees were. I am used to paying a high price for coffee but this seems more expensive than Starbucks! The coffee is strong and I usually stick to the hot chocolate that for some reason isn’t very hot everytime I order it.
There is free wi-​fi, but it is almost impossible to get a plug for your laptop and even less of a chance to find a table. You will find the shop full of men chattering it up for hours, loud elevator music playing, and you will forced to sit on the couches. This wouldn’t be an issue if they were more comfortable and there was more space for people to walk in and out of the couch area without you moving or saying excuse me/​thank you every 2 – 3 minutes. Oh and to top it all off… it’s CASH ONLY!