Old Jerusalem Cafe

Pretty chill place that makes a decent latte. The barista was nice and cut a good joke. I really dont have much more to say about it than that.
So A-​Ok it is!

This place no longer exists.
As much as I liked it, it is now Café la Flore (which I gave 5 to anyway). Still a great space and a new, different, great café, but not Old Jerusalem Café. This entry should be removed from Unilocal

Transition.
Food is gone for now. Apparently they are about to launch a new menu.
The rest remains the same. As many other Unilocalers confirm they earn their over four star rating with great coffee and excellent service.
Space is large if a bit drafty. WiFi is strong and there are plenty of outlet.
The new menu will make for a good reason to return.

Homey, cute and chill,
This café gives me lil thrills.
Wonderfully warm interior,
With comfy couches for the posterior.
Go upstairs to the look-​out over the floor,
Easy viewing of friends who walk through the door.
Great coffee and decent food,
Next door is Europa Express if you’re in a Russian mood!
Daytime: It’s the café that’s not too far,
Nighttime: It turns into a hookah bar!
Friendly staff always there to help,
Props to you! xoxo, Steph… from Unilocal

Me and my boyfriend would drive into the city specifically for this place. until recently. Apparently SF has banned all hookah bars and this place was the best in the city. Their teas and food were delicious, but the hookah made this place an awesome place to hang out until the late hours of the night. If you’re in the area and looking for a good chai tea latte, it is definitely worth a stop in. Their dolma and hummus were both fantastic every time we got them.
This is no longer a hookah bar :(

BEST place to get work done that I have found in this city! There’s lots of space, there’s wifi, it’s relatively quiet, comfortable, in a good location. This place is seriously a gem and I walked into several cafes on the day I discovered it that were all packed with people and all I wanted was a place to work. Then I showed up here and it was by far the best place and yet there was space for me! Amazing.
Staff is really friendly and helpful and totally cool with you hanging around and working.
I got some tea as well as some hummus and pita and they were both very good. A lot of the other food looked nice as well so I’d like to come back here and try some more.
Awesome spot that I reallly want to support. Next time I need to hole up somewhere, this will definitely be it.

Best Hookah Bar from San Francisco to San Mateo. Owner is very very friendly and nice. Takes his time to set up the set though, BUT WORTH THE WAIT. Ambrosia /​White Peach, are AMAZING. Guava /​House Mix #2, are still very good too in my opinion. Best to go with a group of 3,6,9, (multiple of 3) people because its 3 maximum per hookah set, and i dont really like paying more than 6 $ per person :3 If you go for hookah, also get hummus with pita bread. Goes great with the hookah as a snack. Also MUST TRY THE ZOTA LEMON ORGANIC GREEN TEA SODA. ORGASMIC. Always gotta get one after hookah for the drive back home.
Friendly atmosphere, except occasionally people come in and leave the door open, letting in the cold and the smoke out. Music playing in the background is usually a decent selection of hiphop and such. Only thing though, seating does get a little uncomfortable after a while. The couches are better, but not perfect. The thing I find amusing though, is that the music videos never match the songs. haha.

This is a lovely spot walking distance from my home that I had been meaning to try. When it came up on Groupon as a «now deal» it seemed like the right day to head over there. When I arrived, the cashier knew nothing of the discount deal and had to call the owner. He gave us free coffee in the meantime, not what we meant to order, but a nice gesture. Now, the employee was more than kind and apologetic, and he is what made the experience a 2 instead of a 1.
First he came back saying the deal «was for hookah only» according to the owner. It was 11am and we did not want hookah. We figured we would stick around anyway, discount or not because we were already there. The hummus and coffee were good, but I’ve had better.
A few minutes later, a representative of the owner stopped by and said the «deal was not something we wanted» and they would not honor it. Basically his excuse was that they said no and Groupon published it anyway. From a customer service perspective, he should have said, «sorry for the inconvenience. We’ve been in touch with Groupon, but since you’re here we’ll honor the deal.»
Moral of the story: interesting décor, decent food and coffee, great employee based customer service, bad management.

I felt like being outside in the sunlight while getting work done on my laptop (why can’t SF have public wifi?), so I headed here.
I don’t regularly drink coffee but I wanted something to drink so I tried the mocha. It was good, at drinkable temperature, a bit strong for me. I’m tweaking as I write. I had to add a fat chocolate chip cookie to meet the $ 5 minimum to use the wifi (boo!). I took a bite from the cookie at around 5pm, so it wasn’t the freshest, but I’m betting it’s delicious in the morning.
I enjoyed using the high table near the window, computing while standing. I need one of those tables at home! After some time the barista asked if I wanted complimentary coffee. I noticed he was just as friendly to everyone else. It was an overall pleasant café experience, no complaints here.

Super nice staff, nice drinks, and a good place to study on the weekend.

This place is pretty cool. I found it on Scoutmob when I was looking for a place to work that was close to my house, had free wifi, tea, and –surprise! Hookah.
There’s nothing like hookah to get the brain cells going. It works as well as my thinking cap does, but doesn’t look as dorky.

I have been coming to this café on and off to get some work done (yes they have wifi!) but even more so when it is sunny out. There is a spot inside that is perfect to plop your laptop and get a lil tan when the fog decides to stay at bay! Seating outside as well but I enjoy the interior a little more. There is even this big waterfall towards the back, and an upstairs which is cool and has some comfy chairs. Love the ambiance, the decorations, and they even have hookah! Have not tried that yet, but I could see myself getting some friends together and having a lil smoke sesh.
The coffee is fantastic, they really do a good job making the cup for you. So far I love the mocha, cant get enough of it! I have not tried much of the food (a creamy vegetable soup a while ago which was good on a rainy day!) and recently had my eye on the cashew fingers. Never had one before, was a little skeptical, and the guy working just let me try it for free. My kind of place! It was delicious (not much to compare it to) but now I have a new and tasty treat to go with my coffee. Thanks for being so helpful when I can’t make up my mind when traveling outside of my mocha safezone :)

The Old Jerusalem Café is a great spot in the neighborhood!
I’ve walked by so many times and have heard great things about this café so today I decided to stop in and check it out. It’s a very charming quaint café with ample seating, light, free Wi-​Fi, soft music, lots of seating and a nice balcony overlooking the place. The guy working there was extremely nice and I enjoyed chatting with him for a bit.
I was so excited to discover that they had lox and cream cheese bagels! I love lox and cream cheese and to my surprise this café has the least expensive lox and cream cheese bagels yet the tastiest that I’ve found in the neighborhood. I also got a cup of coffee which was really really great and I love how they serve it in their Old Jerusalem Café mugs.
They had a lot of other tasty treats that made my mouth water and I can’t wait to go back and try them out.
I sat and enjoyed my bagel and coffee while the sunlight seeped in through the big front windows.
I like this place.

My sis recommended this café, so I decided to give it a try. As others have mentioned, it’s a GREAT place to work/​study (not so great for your 2-​year-​old nephew. He started crying and made quite the disturbance –_​-​). The cashier/​barista was REALLY nice, even while my nephew was wailing in the background. I’m a pretty frugal person, but his friendliness somehow drew a $ 2 tip out of my pocket!
I had a small Caramel Toffee Chocolate, which was a delicious medley of flavors! The price was reasonable at $ 3. Teas are also a steal at 2 bucks. Come here if you want to study with some peace and quiet, or just want a change from the hustle and bustle of Sbucks.
Heads up: Only street parking is available, so bring some change for the meter!

My friend and I– had heard great things about Old Jerusalem Café and we were both looking forward to checking it out.
But our built up excitement about the place — quickly waned once we stepped inside.
There was no one really in the place and when we inquired about ordering food at the counter, the guy at the counter told us, that the only food available was the food in the glass counter case. While it looked tasty enough, I think both of us were craving something more filling, so we decided to just sit down and order some hookah.
At around 17 dollars an hookah — shisha — is not cheap here. Not at all.
We both cringed a little, but staring at the cold chill outside — figured it would be worth it.
We ordered a fun fruity flavor and waited.
And waited. And waited. And waited.
We couldn’t understand the wait, considering — there wasn’t really anyone in the place. Finally — we both looked at each other and decided the same thing. We looked over at the man staffing the main counter and realized he’d barely started our shisha. We told him that we’d consider coming back later and that we were going to grab some food elsewhere.
He didn’t seem too phased.
We left. And as we walked out — we both determined that we probably wouldn’t be back.
It’s a bummer — because Old Jerusalem definitely has some charm and could be a real quaint place to catch up with someone over tasty arabic food — while smoking some delicious hookah. But slow and not all that personable service — paired with a limited menu and expensive hookah prices, just doesn’t make me want to hurry back here anytime soon.
Trust.

It’s a cute place, like the décor. First time we walked in here, we couldn’t order even a coffee to go, because it was official «hookah» hours and the café was closed, so if we didn’t order a hookah, then we couldn’t order.
The second time we came back at noon for a peppered turkey sandwich, which was good. The baklava was ok. The hummus a little bland. The mint tea was very good and the coffee was fine. The service was friendly.
The glass coffee table that was bolted to the floor was fairly dirty dusted with the ash of the hookah the night before. No one bothered to wipe the table down, even after the food was brought out.

I wished it stayed Kaleo Café, maybe I’m biased towards the Hawaiian aspect of the café, since I do like a lot of Hawaiian things… so sad they no longer have spam masubi, no Hawaiian music, no more selling of Hawaiian music & jewelry, no more ukulele classes, no more events… now they’ve got hookah blehh
Change of management, & change of workers =[ They’ve kept the waterfall but it wasn’t on when I went inside =[
Yeah Kaleo Café did look sort of run down towards the end & this place does look better, new furniture & whatnot. My heart still belongs with Kaleo, that’s when I liked it the most.
Jerusalem has nice workers. I guess it’s time to move on… maybe I’ll grow to like this place but for now, it’s just ok.

4.5 Stars
+ Great Service
+ Spacious
+ Free Wifi
+ Accepts Credit Cards
+ 2 Floors
+ Clean
— Music is quite loud
I love this place! I’ve been coming here to study almost everyday for the past 2 weeks. My favorite seating area is upstairs on the super comfy couch next to the wall mirror. Their wi-​fi is fast and reliable and there are outlets one either side of the walls. This could be a great place to study if only the music was just a tad softer.
Old Jerusalem Café gives a very homey atmosphere, and the food is quite tasty as well. I like treating myself to their Walnut Baklava
which is Greek pastry that’s made with thin layers of pastry then layered with a generous amount of walnut crumbles and honey. It’s sweet yet savory. I get to satisfy both my cravings in one. One of the girls to works there makes an awesome Soy Iced White Mocha
. You must try it to see what I mean!
As for their menu, there aren’t a whole lot of solid items to choose from (mainly breakages) however, everything is affordable and satisfying. I’ve been wanting to try their bagels, which come in pretty tempting varieties but never hungry enough for one. Perhaps next time! :)

When I saw the name of the café, I hoped that they served shawerma… but they don’t. I hope to find a place with shawerma and free wi-​fi one day.
Old Jerusalem Café is a coffeehouse that has Middle Eastern eats, a hookah, and some interesting drinks (e.g., Bedouin coffee, Arabic coffee, anise herbal).
For the laptop crowd, this is a good spot to study and work (as it was when it was Kaleo Café). The atmosphere is very mellow, with high ceilings, free wi-​fi, power outlets, restroom, pictures of Jerusalem on the wall, fans, a skylight and wooden tables and chairs. I found the constant reggae music annoying (wish they played Middle Eastern music instead).
Eats include soup, savory Middle Eastern pies, salads, cookies, croissants, pastries, and muffins. The soup is self-​serve (it would be more sanitary if they kept the soup behind the counter). Savory pies ($ 2.29) include spinach, oregano, eggplant, and cheese.
* Eggplant pie — this was like the Trader Joe’s (Arabian Joe’s) thin crust pizza in the refrigerated section but smaller and not any better than TJ’s version
* Lentil soup ($ 4) — quite watery but people probably scooped out the lentils earlier, seemed homemade
* Coffee — didn’t like how sour it was but it was strong enough

I can’t speak to the entire café-​I wasn’t there long enough! But I did drop in while waiting for a neighboring store to open and had a latte there with my friend. LOVED my latte! I have to say that it was one of the best lattes I’ve had! (Point of reference: I will go to Starbuck’s if I am in Podunk, Wherever and there are no other coffee places to frequent; I prefer independent cafes. I DO like Peet’s! But this is much better than Peet’s!)
I love when the foam on top of a latte is not too bubbly and shows some of the dark espresso color. Such was so with this latte. And the milk did not overpower the espresso-​I could TASTE my espresso!
The guy behind the counter was friendly, the atmosphere is pleasant. There were quite a few individuals sitting and seemingly comfortable working there-​so I’d assume they find it a good place to get some work done and enjoy good coffee. There is even a nice-​sized loft above.
There is also Turkish coffee which I am dying to try next time I am there. I do intend to go back! I had no idea this café existed, since I live on the other side of the park. Now that I know, this is definitely a destination-​café for me, in my book.