Alumni Cafe

The food was good for a café. It was cheap, convenient and clean. I ate here several times during the week since I had a training in the same building, food was consistently good every time. My only suggestion is I would like to see more fruits and veggies available for purchase.

My favorite on-​campus RD&E Auxiliary (Olive’s, TAP, Russo Café, etc.) that takes Meal Plan Dollars. The coffee’s fine, but I’d go to Coupa or Starbucks for that.
Well-​lit, pretty spacious. There’s always seating outside (which is quite nice) or elsewhere in the Alumni Center, anyway. Nice variety of cooked food (as opposed to the grab-​and-​go sushi boxes and what have you). A little out of the way — it’s actually negligible, but enough people think so that the place’s never really busy. Noise ranges from pretty quiet to average. Wi-​Fi and reasonable number of outlets.
They also serve alcohol here.

I love eating at this spot, mainly because of their outdoor seating area, which I like to call a «secret garden». There are plenty of trees outside, so there’s a nice combination of shaded and sunny areas. And there’s also a large flowing fountain nearby, which makes this place feel very tranquil. I also like that it doesn’t get very crowded, so it’s the perfect place to come for a nice and relaxing lunch.
The menu items change every day, depending on their specials. Today I ordered the lobster roll for lunch, and it was amazing. I had them put the mayo on the side for me, as I prefer my fresh lobster all on its own. The lobster meat was tossed in butter and was very flavorful. They gave you a decent amount of it too. The dish came with two sides, so I went with the eggplant rice and the carrot slaw, which were both very delicious.
I am so glad I found this little hidden gem. It’s one of my favorite spots to come and eat on Stanford Campus.

Amazing selection for lunch, cheap for the plethora of food they give you, and a pleasant change from the crowded Tressider area. Feels home cooked.

Asked for caramel machiato, no caramel available, no apologies from attendant, just given options of other syrups… Offering either a refund or a free item from their baked goods would have been nice. Didn’t want the hassle.
Go to Coupa Café for coffee drinks not Alumni Café. My $ 3.10 still irks me… i should have gone to Coupa Café.
Food is generally good.

As a Stanford student, I really like this place.
Most important for students: THEY TAKE MEAL PLAN DOLLARS.
They change up the meal every day, and some days they’ll have something I actually want, like the gyros plate or baby back ribs. It is a great change up to dining hall food, and you can get take-​out.
They offer beer and wine and even have wine tastings (free for stanford students).

They are really trying to spruce the place up, but all the effort is going into furniture and refrigerated cases. Today I went to buy an apple and every single apple in the fruit basket was bruised – large, soft bruises, as though someone had been playing tennis with them. Why is this? Why isn’t management paying attention to the things that matter? I try to have high expectations for this place but I am always disappointed. And really I am not that hard to please! Believe me if the place were halfway decent I would eat here daily; but alas it is not even that, not even halfway decent.

Good food. Clean.

After the surprisingly-​good, if uneven, food at Munger I guess I set my expectations too high for other lunch spots on the Stanford campus. The ingredients look like standard low-​end deli fare (wilted produce, nothing to write home about), and the service is puzzlingly slow. Two people handle one order at a time, very slowly, with no multi-​tasking and no thinking ahead, while getting in each other’s way. How frustrating it would be to eat here regularly.

I think I like Alumni Café way more than it deserves to be liked, but then again, I’m not stuck getting lunch here however many days a week.
Joan is super sweet and friendly, I love the muesli, and the bagels are actually some of the best bagels I’ve had in the Bay Area (kind of hard to believe, right?)
Also, they’re one of the very few places on campus that serve wine and beer, which is another nice little perk.

The best thing about the café is Joan, the cashier/​barista, who remembers the favorite drink of over 250 people who work in the building, down to the type of milk, and always with a smile on her face.
The worst thing is the same boring food every day. I wish their food was more like Munger.

I’m a little frustrated with this place. Business is booming — which is great for the café but, customer service is sliding here! Only one cashier ever seems to be on duty during lunch hour and that person is also expected to be a coffee barista as well. I don’t like standing in line with my lunch choice for up to 15 minutes before I even get to pay! Please hire a barista and let the cashier move people along before their lunches get cold!

Nice out-​of-​the way café option for meetings or laptop work in the Palo Alto area when the downtown cafes are packed with business-​y jokers like me.
Pro:
— Clean, well lit and relatively spacious
— Nicely air conditioned (or heated in winter)
— Better-​than-​average food and drink options
— Reasonable access to outlets
Con:
— Only Stanford WIFI, so BYO data plan unless you’re a student
— Jammed around the lunch hour
— Paid parking for non staff/​students

Boring, very few new things on the menu, and way overpriced.
So many better places to eat at on campus. This is my least favorite.

Average… very average. I usually get the (cold and wrapped) Cubano panini. Only problem with calling it a panini is that they don’t actually grill it — isn’t that what a panini IS? So I eat it cold anyway. The bread is very tough… I sometimes have to gnaw on it like a dog gnawing on a Kong toy. Of course, this could all be fixed if THEY GRILLED IT. (can you tell I’m bitter about that?). I will give them props, however, on the dressing they put on it. It’s not spicy mustard, which, quite frankly makes it NOT a Cubano. But it’s some sort of chipotle mayo that is awesome.
So we’ve answered two things about the Cubano Panini… it’s neither a Cubano, nor a Panini. Change the name to «Chipotle Ham and Swiss» and I think I’ll accept it more. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure it has Swiss on it. Man… I’m starting to not like this place more and more.
I’ve tried their weekly/​daily hot portions and they are ok… nothing to get excited about. Warm (not hot) BBQ ribs that are sitting under a heat lamp all day. Warm (not hot) tri tip, also in said heat lamp. The salads are good, but come on, how can you screw up a salad?
They are trying to be fancy option for Stanford employees/​Alumni. Instead, they should stick to the basics and become an actual deli. I think people would appreciate that more than their attempt at 4-​star dining. Go to Cool Café at the Cantor Art Center if you want to step it up a couple notches.

yes, i must concur, the alumni café is overpriced. THe only sandwich that I like is the pesto chicken sandwich. That is good but I am confused about their hours and when they can make hot sandwiches. It seems like most of the times that I go, the place is closed, or if it is open, the sandwich guys are gone. The pesto chicken sandwich and the salty chips are good, but the prices and weird hours weigh this place down. They dont even give discounts to fellow Stanford employees.