Berkeley is home to the University of California Berkeley, so it is no surprise that it has a range of coffee shops and cafés!
It can be a bit hard to narrow them down because there are so many in the student-filled city where we live.
This article will examine fifteen particularly noteworthy cafés and coffee shops in Berkley. Let’s get started.
1. Yali’s Café
Yali’s Café is the perfect place if you are looking for a café that can cater to various tastes. It offers a range of breakfast and lunch foods and a wide choice of coffee and other hot drinks.
The different foods available at Yali’s make it an excellent option for an outing with family or friends.
Yali’s Café offers different kinds of coffee, such as drip coffee, lattes, and cappuccinos. Café also offers other types of hot drinks, such as a mocha bianca.
Address: 1920 Oxford Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 (click for map)
2. Cafenated Coffee Co
Cafenated Coffee is a unique choice of a coffee establishment, as the beans themselves are grown and harvested entirely by women.
This is due to Cafenated’s mission to increase the number of women involved in the global coffee supply chain, as they argue that they are critically underrepresented in the industry.
In addition, the coffee from Cafenated is sourced and roasted by established farm cooperatives run by women.
The coffee is pretty damn good, too, making this an option if you are looking to support female involvement in the coffee industry while also grabbing a tasty cup of coffee!
Address: 2085 Vine St Berkeley, CA 94709 (click for map)
3. MY Coffee Roastery
MY Coffee Roastery opened in 2019 and has flourished since, thanks to its commitment to excellent quality coffee.
One technique that MY Coffee Roastery uses to achieve the highest possible quality is hand sorting the beans before and after roasting to remove any and all impurities.
When it comes to the roasting process, the shop preserves the maximum possible freshness by using a small batch roasting process.
They also allow the beans to rest for a few days, making the end product richer and more flavorsome.
Address: 2080 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 (click for map)
4. Rasa Caffe
For a blend of East and West flavors, head to Rasa Coffee in Berkeley. The coffee and tea there are prepared with organic, aromatic spices from India, the African and the Asian diaspora.
These combine with traditional coffee blends to create a uniquely delicious combination of tastes worldwide.
At Rasa Coffee, you can pair your coffee with a range of delicious baked goods, making it a great place to visit for sweet treats and beautifully spiced coffee choices.
Address: 3140 Martin Luther King JR Way, Berkeley, CA 94703 (click for map)
5. Co.Ro Coffee Room
When it comes to supporting the local coffee community in Berkley, the Co.Ro Coffee Room offers plenty of this, along with delicious, flavorful coffee.
Local roasters play a big part in Co.Ro, helping develop a hyper-local coffee community in Easy Bay, Berkley and far beyond.
This allows Co.Ro to create an outlet wherein coffee enthusiasts and professionals can come together and enjoy hyper-local coffee in a relaxing venue.
Address: 2324 Fifth Street, Berkeley, CA (click for map)
6. Victory Point Café
Looking for some entertainment with your coffee? The Victory Point Cafe—also known as Berkeley’s Board Game Cafe—offers exactly that!
Visitors to Victory Point Café can enjoy locally roasted coffees, craft beers, snacks, sandwiches, and pizzas while enjoying a good old-fashioned board game.
They even have Game Gurus who can help you pick your game and teach you how to play.
You don’t have to participate in the games with your coffee, though, as there are also spaces for studying and work should you so choose (but we recommend a game night to accompany your tasty coffee!).
Address: 1797-A Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709 (click for map)
7. The Hidden Café
The Hidden Café is another Berkeley café that showcases the work of locals. Here, the focus is on specialty baked creations made by local bakehouses and bakers from the Bay Area.
With a heavy focus on baked goods, it is no surprise that the coffee at The Hidden Café is equally delectable!
Address: 1250 Addison Street, Sweet 111, Berkeley, Ca 94702 (click for map)
8. Caffe Strada
Caffe Strada is a coffee shop that has been around for a fair amount of time. It was established in Berkley more than thirty years ago. Thanks to its dedication to excellent coffee, it is now considered something of a landmark within Berkley.
Although Caffe Strada specializes in espressos, it also offers other hot drinks, including its unique White Hot Chocolate.
Address: 2300 College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704 (click for map)
9. 1951 Coffee Company
Not only does the 1951 Coffee Company offer some amazingly tasty coffee choices, but it also has the admirable mission of aiding the refugee community within Berkley.
They do this by offering a two-week Barista Training Program to refugees—supported by a tax-deductible donation that you can make when you buy a cup of coffee—which can then create job opportunities with benefits and good wages.
Delicious coffee with a good cause to go with it! What could be better?
Address: 2410 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 (click for map)
10. Bartavelle
Bartavelle is a café with a menu that rotates daily to include a wide range of tasty pastries and foods. Their coffee menu is a bit basic compared to some other establishments we have looked at, but sometimes simplicity is key!
The range of delicious pastries makes up for the simple coffee list, with plenty of sweet treats for you to take your pick from to enjoy alongside your cup of joe.
Address: 1609 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702 (click for map)
11. Souvenir Coffee
Featuring locally roasted coffee, Souvenir Coffee is a shop known for crafting premium and small-batch roasted coffee and focusing on community alongside high-quality coffee made with care.
Souvenir Coffee strives to be environmentally friendly and is a green and low-waste product. It helps that it is pretty tasty, too!
In addition, the shop also encourages local musicians by sponsoring them when performing in public spaces.
Souvenir Coffee is a great choice for a community-driven coffee shop with delicious coffee to boot.
Address: 3084 Claremont Ave, Berkeley, CA (click for map)
12. Blue Bottle Coffee
Blue Bottle Coffee has a Berkley location and cafés across the United States and internationally, including in Korea and Japan.
It is no surprise that Blue Bottle has become so popular. They have a list of requirements that they must meet as a company and their coffee to ensure that their customers only get the best. For example, they make sure that most of their coffee meets the certified organic criteria and that their specialty coffee needs to register with eighty points or more on a one-hundred-point scale.
Their dedication to fine-tuning their coffee makes for one super tasty caffeine hit.
Address: 2118 University Ave Berkeley, CA 94704 (click for map)
13. Babette Cafe
Babette is the perfect place for a relaxing coffee with a pastry or light food. On the weekends, they offer brunch (on both Saturday and Sunday) and dinner (on Saturdays only).
Whether in Berkeley alone or with your friends and family, Babette Cafe is a great place to kick back and relax with tasty food and a simple yet splendid cup of coffee.
Address: 2033 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA (click for map)
14. Philz Coffee
Philz Coffee has locations in San Diego and across America, including Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Chicago.
Philz’s popularity is due to the customized coffee blends they have provided their customers for over twenty-five years (courtesy of Phil himself!).
These blends are particularly varied, with their drinks made from two to up to seven different kinds of beans from around the globe.
Address: 1313 9th St Ste 110 Berkeley, CA 94710 (click for map)
15. Artis Coffee
Lastly, Artis Coffee is a coffee establishment that prides itself on achieving peak flavor with its coffee beans to provide its customers with the freshest tastes.
Artis roasts its coffee a pound at a time using its Live-Roast method to achieve this, and it’s safe to say that they are successful in their mission for fresh and consistently delectable coffee!
Address: 1717 4th Street, Berkeley, CA (click for map)
Final Thoughts
Here are fifteen of the best coffee shops and cafés in Berkley, California.
You don’t have to be a student to appreciate a comforting coffee shop, and we have discussed some of the best in Berkley in this list so that if you find yourself in the area, you know exactly where to go to get some tasty food along with a delicious cup of joe!
Check out the best coffee shops in California in the other Californian cities we cover.
Other California Cities: Pasadena coffee shops and Oakland coffee shops.