Three Bees Coffee House

Very friendly lady working the counter, her positive and loving energy makes this place what it is.
Will definitely come back if I am in the neighborhood!

Nice small café with excellent wifi!
The seating can get very tight and uncomfortable, especially if there are a lot of customers but I love coming here on the weekends to study/​work while enjoying some coffee. They also have a lot of different pastry options and snacks to try!

I was looking for a place to kill an hour or so on a Sunday morning. This place had great reviews ad a fun name so I thought I’d check it out.
I ordered a quad whole milk latte with a pump of peppermint (holiday fever). It was delicious and gone faster than I care to admit. I still had some time to kill so I asked the nice man behind the corner to fill me up with their house roast. He filled me up free of charge and it was clear that 2016 really is going to be my year.
Will definitely be back!

Loved my decaf latte. The best — smooth, rich, creamy that I could easily have another cup!
Service, friendly and kind…
Place is small but doable for day time break… I must come back.

As many times as I’ve been here at 3 Bees Coffee, I can’t believe I haven’t rated them for the high service stars they deserve! Best alternate small business café on 3^rd Street in San Mateo! I just consumed my breakfast of steel-​cut oatmeal, sesame bagel with cream cheese, grande Americano coffee, and a Lemon Pelligrino to go – for under $ 10 !!!

I loved my first experience at Three Bees Coffee House! I was actually escorting my friend to an interview in Downtown San Mateo and was looking for a place to get some work done while I wait for her. Lucky me that Three Bees was literally a two-​minute walk from her interview!
Three Bees Coffee House is an extremely small coffee shop that gets a bit packed at times. As I sat there working on my laptop for about an hour, people would come and go whether it be chatting with a friend or grabbing coffee to-​go. The cashier was friendly and helped me decide on ordering an Iced White Chocolate Mocha after I told her that I like drinks that are on the sweeter side. Thanks to her great recommendation, I absolutely loved my drink and would definitely order it again the next time I’m in the area. As for the interior of the coffee shop, it is a bit cramped and tables are pretty packed closely together. It was not the comfiest or prettiest coffee shop I’ve worked at, but I definitely got some work done here with a delicious cold drink and fast Wi-​Fi at hand. Thanks Three Bees for an awesome experience!

Oh the smell of strong delicious coffee hits you in the face when you walk in, and what’s not to love.
I could stay all day!

This is my go-​to coffee house, now that I live in San Mateo. The coffee is good, the owner is friendly and there’s decent WiFi. What more can you ask for?

Morning coffee run
Place is packs in he morning. One of my fav spot for coffee that is different.
I ordered their special espresso and it’s the best in town
Made to order and piping hot
The baristas are attentive and very nice
Nice place to sit and relax if you want time
Good for a first date meeting a client or just want some alone time while drinking their delicious coffees.

3.5 stars. Cute convenient spot to give yourself a break from the larger commercial chains. They have two small tables for outdoor seating which was my favorite thing about this place. My cappuccino was very standard but the service was very kind and attentive making sure my friend’s iced coffee was balanced in cream/​sweetener. They have lots of snack options from cookies to international nut bars and a lot of options on the drink menu list. Glad they were still open late-​ish for us to enjoy a post dinner cup of joe.
Sometimes when it comes to these places though I want to say «less is more» to the owner. As there was so much going on snack and drinks-​wise but nothing super duper standing out.

Good coffee and super friendly owner. Great spot in San Mateo to hang out, grab a treat, coffee/​tea/​whatever you fancy. I came here to wait for sushi Sam next door and had I know this place existed I would have come earlier!

Simple coffee with a great atmosphere. It’s number one on Unilocal for a reason. The main thing that I liked is that they don’t doctor your coffee up with sugar and sauces. Very minimal and very good.

I feel like I walk by this coffee shop all the time, but today I finally decided to stop by for the first time because Philz Coffee down the street was jam packed busy. I needed my caffeine fix pronto!
It’s a cute small cozy independent coffee shop with great drinks and free wifi. Looks like they have some food and treats too, but I didn’t try any this trip. I got an Iced Americano, and it was great! Nice robust espresso taste. The shop never looks too busy and was fairly quiet for a Sunday afternoon which is great for anyone who needs to do a bit of work or reading!
The owner’s super nice! I kind of awkwardly asked if it were possible for him to grind up a bag of coffee beans that I had because I don’t have a grinder at home but I desperately needed to enjoy some delicious beans my friend got for me straight from Ethiopia. He was like «no problem!» Woohoo! Coffee bean grinding crisis solved! Made sure to tip for being awesome. Thanks 3 Bees Coffee!

Alfajores… oh my…
I came here because I read that they had alfajores and I’m glad I made the drive. I purchased a bunch of them (I will not tell you how many because it’s embarrasing lol). I also had a chai tea which was very good.
The guy at the register was super friendly.

TL;DR — One of the best lattes in the area. Order it hot, no syrup. A good latte doesn’t need syrup or flavorings.
After living in NYC and LA, I’m no longer that girl ordering iced lattes and coffees with syrup or expecting a macchiato to be what is advertised at Starbucks.
Now, I’m all about Americanos (black, duh), regular lattes and cold brew.
I judge a café by the lattes. A good latte needs whole milk, good foam (and maybe even latte art?), body and well pulled shots. This place has it! Although I feel like the medium size needs one more shot, the lattes here are definitely satisfying. I’ve had places that advertise lattes and the end product tastes like hot coffee with milk. If I wanted hot coffee with milk, I would have ordered that.
The only reason I took off a star is because the service really sucks. All the other baristas (other than the owner) had a major case of resting b**** face. The owner, however, is always smiling and my mornings are definitely made better when he takes my order.
Oh, and the place could use a little brightening up and redecorating, but thats probably because I’m used to those «hipster» cafes in the big cities. Ha.

An unsuspecting, independent coffee shop in San Mateo! Kind of hidden on 3^rd Street — you could easily walk right past it! Glad I noticed it and stopped this time around — they make a mean latte.

It’s a small place in busy streets of San Mateo.
It’s location is hard to get to since theres so much auto traffic if your planning to come in the rush hour. Theres a garage around the corner with cheap parking fee. It’s convenient! If your lucky to find a spot.
The interior Is pretty nice. If your planning on studying here the tables to the right have outlets that’s enough to fit a many cords.
The owner was pretty nice to me. I asked him what I should get and he recommended the latte. Which was pretty good. I was having a pretty bad day so it was nice that he decorated my drink with a nice smiley face.
You must ask the front for the password for the internet. The owner will give u a small piece of paper.
FREE INTERNET!
I didn’t get to try anything else besides mY drink but I liked it a lot. I plan on coming back here when I’m in town to study while I wait for traffic to shimmer down.

I was already super caffeinated before coming here, but I just needed a place to work, and Unilocal told me this was a good spot. Very quaint and feels like I walked into someone’s home. I decided to order banana bread and a chocolate milk… the most randomly awesome combination of snack foods I could ask for. The cashier was super sweet, and one of the other workers brought me my homemade chocolate milk. Both were delicious. The banana bread is apparently a popular option (and recommended by the cashier) but definitely needs a beverage to wash it down. What better way than with chocolate milk?
With free WiFi and plenty of outlets, Three Bees makes the perfect peaceful environment to get some work or relax time in your day. Simple is good.

Three Visits to Three Bees
Visit #1) It was New Year’s Day. My dog was sick at the emergency vet, and I needed a pick-​me-​up. I headed over to Peets, one of the few places open that day. On the walk over I noticed Three Bees and decided to give it a try instead. I prefer supporting the independent businesses, and Peets is only okay for me anyway.
The barista was super friendly. I appreciated that she asked if I wanted my drink «for here,» and put it in a glass mug when I said yes. And my pastry on a ceramic plate with a real fork. My coffee and pastry were both quite good.
The vibe was pleasant and relaxed. Several people were hanging out and working on laptops.
I think I had been here once several years ago, but couldn’t remember what I thought of it then.
Visit #2) It was a Saturday and the place was fairly busy. I had a different, less friendly clerk (she wasn’t unfriendly, just not as spectacularly friendly) take my order. She automatically reached for a paper cup for my drink, until I said, «It’s for here.» She switched from the paper to a real mug. Phew.
When I looked around, I noticed several customers were drinking coffee at their tables from paper cups (my environmentalist side comes out when I see this!), and only a few using «for here» cups. I guess I made some incorrect and hopeful assumptions based on my fantastic first visit, and then figured it depends on who is working the counter.
Visit #3) I stopped in on an otherwise dreary Monday and was helped by the same barista as on visit #2. This time she asked if my drink was for here — is she some sort of mind reader? Her friendliness improved, and this time she made a smiley face design in my soy capuccino — cute! A Sting song was playing, which added to the pleasant atmosphere.
Overall, I am a big fan of the coffee, free wifi, friendly service, good vibe, «for here» real cups, plates, and flatware, and the fact that it’s a small business.

Cozy coffee shop in downtown San Mateo
Tucked in the middle of a bunch of other larger stores and restaurants, this place is actually a little hard to notice even though it’s located in the center of downtown. The logo and store sign is also unassuming, which makes this place not really stand out.
But! Once you walk in, you’ll notice that this place is legit. The interior is very well decorated, clean, and has all sorts of tasty treats and pastries lying everywhere. The drink quality is also pretty good – the latte was pretty frothy and warm. mmmm. On most days, you’ll also notice that the small little shop is quite packed.
Overall, a good place to visit for a warm cup of coffee