Gatherings Cafe

Had the Chicken Tortilla Soup and a green salad today. The soup was great. Good amount of chicken and the perfect kick of spices.

I saw a woman order tea, and she got a cup of hot water and a teabag. it cost her $ 2.25. Seriously?
Oh, and they just raised all their prices this week. yippee.

I haven’t had much here at Gatherings, but I just want to give them a good review because I come here almost everyday, get a cup of soup (which is a good deal at 3.50 for a decent size, much cheaper than Whole Foods), pay, and am out the door in less than 10 minutes. When I’m in a crunch at BR, Gatherings is a good place to get a quick meal.

Yummmmmmmmmmm! Everything is just wonderful!
Best Breakfast items and Great service!
Fresh!Fresh!Fresh!Fresh!

Other than the poor selection there is to choose from, they don’t make your order right (not like it has that many ingredients). I asked for a croissant sandwich for breakfast — it has eggs, cheese, and meat (bacon). I asked no cheese, they gave me cheese, and no bacon. When I return it, they removed the cheese from that one, even though some of it had already melted, and added bacon with their bare hands, not real hygienic. And for those prices, McDonald’s does a way better job and it’s still equally unhealthy. This was my first time eating breakfast there, I won’t make the same mistake again.
For lunch I once had a pathetic looking sandwich that didn’t bring any salad (lettuce, tomatoes, onions), only turkey and avocado. I shouldn’t have had higher expectations for breakfast, which were already under zero.
However, their specials are ok. They have a lasagna that’s alright, it only has meat sauce, so no actual meat between the layers.
It is the only option when you can’t leave the area, and it’s ok, their food is edible and fills you up a little.

Prices are too high, lunches are not that great, basic salad and sandwhich. The one time I ordered a chicken salad it smelled liek tuna… I couldn’t even finish it.

There aren’t a ton of options, so they are a little pricey — I translate it as convenience fee — otherwise perfectly good, very good food, great service… even if they don’t smile very often, but they are working hard!!!
My go to is a large cup of Pete’s and either the special, (usually hot food) or a heaping BLT.
mmmmmm, and quick!

I have visited Café Gatherings several times in the past month. I have to say, this is my favorite place to eat in San Romon. Coming from Queens, NY I’ve had my fair share of cafes and and great sandwiches. The thing that sets Café Gatherings apart from its peers is its cleanliness and commitment to quality fresh ingredients.
My favorite item is the the breakfast burritos. They are packed with meat, eggs and cheese. Yum yum! The burrito and a cup of Peet’s coffee has always resulted in a great day.
The lunch is great too. The roast beef sandwich is probably the best thing on the menu. I’ve had it several times with the French Dip soup. The combination is dynamite.
In conclusion, this place is the best breakfast on the run you can find in San Ramon. I don’t recommend alot of places, but I think this café is definitely worth a try.

It’s been a couple years since I visited this establishment. I see they renamed it to the «Gathering» along with an interior update /​renovation. The quality of the food seem have gone up to but it is still pricey for what they serve. The only thing that would be a fair bargain is their daily special — tough luck if that’s not what you had in mind for lunch. But in matter of convenience, if you work in the Bishop Ranch buildings, this is an ideal grab and go place.

This café has recently been renamed as «Gatherings» and there wasn’t much of any change to the menu.
The staff is friendly and they use a lot of fresh ingredients;however, a lot of their food is bland and overpriced for what you get. They also charge you tax on a cold deli sandwich, which is totally wrong. This place is only good when you are really struck for time or just too lazy to walk/​drive across to the neighboring plaza for food. Yes… it is a convenient café, but I’ve worked at other places that have nearby cafes that cater to the desperate workaholics and they were much 10x better than Gatherings/​Cactus Café.
Breakfast bagels are okay with the help of a little ketchup. They serve peets coffee, but a lot of times it does not taste right and I recommend not getting it later in the day as it is not fresh at that point.
The sandwiches at lunch are really bare bones, which is just lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and mayo. I had a roast beef sandwich recently and can honestly say that it was the worst sandwich I have ever had. It was bland as hell and luckily my coworker kept a bottle of mustard in the fridge, so I douse it with mustard to get any kind of taste.
They have lunch specials with some being okay. The meatloaf is really nothing to brag about. My Co workers say their Thursday french dip is very good, but I’ll probably pass on it.
From now on, I am keeping a few packs of instant noodles at my desk, so I can avoid eating at this place when struck for time.

There are several different versions of Cactus Café inside the Bishop Ranch Business Park. They seem to be better for breakfast than lunch. They add dry noodles to most salads and the sandwiches are hit and miss. The French dip special is very popular, but there was a bread change and I don’t care for it as much. It can be pricey, but that seems to be for convience.

Yes, it’s overpriced. Yes, it’s convenient. Yes, I was served chicken tenders on two slices of bread… Wait, what?
Our office recently moved to Bishop Ranch. I had been hearing about Cactus Café long before our move. I just thought I’d never have to eat there. Well never came way too soon. One day I was at my desk at about 2:00 PM and I realized I hadn’t had lunch yet. I knew Cactus Café would still be open. I wanted to check out what Unilocalers had to say about the place before going. The reviews were all over the place, and that was no help. Finally, I decided to go ahead anyway.
I can say that the restaurant is very clean and the servers are very friendly. But, when I ordered a chicken breast sandwich on sourdough with lettuce and tomato I had no idea that it was going to turn out being chicken tenders. The sandwich came sliced so when I picked up half, filling went everywhere. Needless to say (but I will) the sandwich was very messy to eat. Of course that is no reason to condemn a place, and I’m not. I’m just saying, $ 9 for a sandwich that looks like I made it at home and falls apart when I try to eat it, a bag of chips, and a soda is a bit much.
It’s a great place for emergency situations where it’s «eat or pass out,» but I won’t be going there every day.

First time and I will be back everyone is so friendly and the food is delish I got the bagelwhich and a coffee and the price was reasonable. I recommend

I have to say, this place is probably best for breakfast on the run or if you want to have an informal lunch meeting or just to sit quietly with a book. The menu is nothing special but they do have daily specials that range from cheeseburgers to full turkey dinner meal to sushi on Fridays.
I only like a few things on the menu and so i always order the same items. The clam chowder is fine but the rest of the soups are not good. The salads come with LOTS of extras but they put too much lettuce on the sandwiches to compensate.
Mostly, I love their breakfast burrittos. They may look small but they are packed with meat, egg and cheese. The second choice would be the breakfast sandwich — again, full of goodness for your morning!
There is also a whole slew of drink options and goodies if you want something to nibble on.
They don’t claim to be a big fancy café and so don’t go expecting a million options and white glove service. But go and check it out when you want something quick and easy.

The food here is good enough to keep me coming back when I didn’t bring a lunch and don’t have time to drive somewhere. It’s mostly stuff that you would make at home… sandwiches aren’t gourmet or anything– just on sliced bread, some of the soups are a bit bland. I haven’t tried any of their specials since I usually want a salad or sandwich when I come here, but I’ve heard good things from coworkers.
For what it is, it’s a little pricey. But since it’s conveniently located in our business complex it’s understandable.

They are extremely kind, fast and fresh food…
Don’t listen to these other reviews, just understand that this isn’t Ruth’s Chris… this is a convenient café for those who work in BR1 and are too busy to go to Whole Foods for a half hour…

Gotta agree with Amy T. It’s like a bad addiction. You come here most likely because you work in the same building and are pressed for time or just don’t want to make it out to Whole Foods. 3 stars for freshness.
Not having any reason to go there in recent times it fell off my radar until I was running errands with my mom who was starving and wanted a half sandwich and soup for under $ 8 (her exact words).
The place is clean, the ingredients are chilled and pretty fresh. I have eaten here 10+ times and never had lettuce with dried or brown edges. The selection is far from great, just your standard sandwiches made on oroweat bread. You can get half sandwiches for a little less but not on their «club» sandwiches which i guess are kind of more special. like adding avocado? not sure how that works.
Anyway, the people here are Korean, always kind. It doesn’t seem like they’re too interested in improving their food because they’re always going to have business. Overall, their soups are a little bland but if you’re trying to cut salt it’s fine. They have a decent stock of drinks, juices, chips and some sweets.
You can get a bigger fill with a $ 5 footlong from Subway any day. But this place is for those who work at BR1 that don’t want to walk or hop into their cars to go somewhere else. At least afterwards, you don’t feel like you had your sodium for the week and you don’t experience food coma.

My boss and I come here when we’re pressed for time. The one saving grace is that we get a kick out of the Korean Mr. Clean. He’s actually a nice guy and provides great service.
They need to use restaurant grade bread because all their sandwiches fall apart. Ingredients are fresh.

When I worked upstairs from this place, my co-​workers used to rave incessantly about the chicken katsu here. When I finally got around to trying it, it tasted, and felt, like a stack of Carl Buddig chicken coldcuts, breaded and deep fried. Yeah, if that sounds good to you, then you’re probably going to want a side of ketchup too, which is how the same co-​workers ate it also.
But as for me, I’ll opt for the nine-​month old cream puffs in the office fridge.

Cactus Café is like a bad addiction. You want to kick it cuz you know you should, but you still find yourself going back to it. Over and over and over again.
Yes, you will most likely walk out having spent under $ 10, but the price doesn’t usually match the quality of the simple and mediocre fare that is offered. Yes, it’s all made fresh, but you PAY for it. However, on the flipside, they also give a bit more too since they probably know their prices are outrageous. Instead of giving you 4 pennies change, they’ll just give you the nickel. Want substitutions in your sammy? You probably won’t pay extra for it.
They have daily specials and Thursday seems to be the favorite day for most people around here. It’s French Dip Thursday and people come flocking for the fresh roast beef. They use the same beef in their roast beef sandwiches as well in case you don’t like french dip like me.
Friday they always have California Rolls that have way too much rice in them ($ 4.75 +tax).
They make a mean chicken salad sandwich as well. However, you pay $ 5-​$ 6 for it…
Yet, it’s very convenient … so even though I spend way too much on simple foods that I should probably just make at home and bring with me to work, I find myself going over there at least 2 or 3 times a week…
Also, the ladies who work there are really nice, so from a customer service standpoint, they’re pretty darn good.