I really like it here, not because it is that fantastic (it would be closed by now if it was anywhere else) but because it is convenient, quiet, eatable food at an affordable price. read more

The I House Cafe is well worth the hike up the hill to get there. With coffee, snacks and wifi, what better place is there to study? As an added bonus, the chicken pesto is delicious and they serve wine and beer for the much needed occasional study break. And who can resist that foreign charm? read more

Pastrami sandwiches should be bursting with pastrami! One thin slice of pastrami?? ridiculous. Luckily it was a delicious slice, though sad in portion, so 3-stars. The focaccia was decent as well. Mocha Bianca. I was sipping away when suddenly I realized my stomach was hurting. When I found it was because my coffee was too sweet, I went back to fix it. The barista was friendly and added more milk, but the sweetness was too overbearing. I ended up throwing it away after a couple more sips. Nice setting to study, ok food, but Caffe Strada a block down is a better alternative. read more

So horrible. The food is not at all good, and you can end up waiting upwards of a half hour. I waited 20 minutes for the house salad with chicken and was given SOY chicken. I asked for a refund because I was already late for class and the cashier checked in with the manager in the back who said he was "busy", which left me waiting even longer. The cashier also insisted that I had ordered the soy chicken. Just unacceptable customer service all around. SKIP IT. read more

Since I last mentioned the attitude of the manager, he seems to be getting better with that, so I guess I'll add a star for that. However, I still think the quality of the coffee and food is just not there yet. Whoever own this place need to take the business more seriously. Just because the residents there are forced to shop at the coffee shop doesn't mean you don't have to improve. This is such a good location with nice interior, I really hope someone who actually "enjoy" running a coffee shop to own this place. read more

This is a pretty convenient place to grab a quick bite and some caffeine during the day. However, the food tends to be pricey and I wouldn't recommend the coffee here. I usually get some kind of Tazo tea and the spicy chicken sandwich or the pesto chicken pasta. The chocolate croissants aren't bad either. read more

I've only had a couple things on their menu, but have been satisfied so far. For less than $6 you can get a large mixed-greens salad with 2 scoops of tuna and a wedge of foccacia. This is what I usually get, when I feel the need to eat salad. I prefer this place to Cafe Zeb (in the law school) - it's cheaper and you get your food faster. read more

I live right by I-house Cafe, so when in need of a quick coffee or sandwich, I stop by there on my way home. The coffee is decent and the food is maybe a tad overpriced now with their new menu, but the service is actually atrocious. I have been three times in the last week, and I have received poor service each time. In my first two visits, I simply ordered the house coffee. It took the girl behind the counter over ten minutes to make this happen each time, though she greeted no other customers during my wait. She chose to chat with the cook behind the counter instead of fill my very simple order. In fact, two people walked in and waited for her to tend to them, but were put off by the needless wait and left the cafe without ordering. Today, I chose to also get a sandwich. She fiddled around with trash bags and other items before taking my order, and forgot to give me my drink when my sandwich order was up. Not only was she slow to act each time, she was also rude the whole way. She acted completely inconvenienced by my ordering, when my orders were literally off the menu with no special accommodations. I would recommend adding another employee to the back counter to speed up service and perhaps a retraining of this specific employee. I am not hard to please, but I could not stand her version of customer service. I will now avoid going to I-house for my coffee needs. read more

I like most of their food! My favorite is the Chinese chicken salad or the skirt steak sandwich... It is definitely overpriced though!

International setting with an americanized menu which is deliciously satisfying..although my phone cannot find the free wi-fi, but its cool

Good coffee, solid breakfast burrito and a good tomato/mozza salad. But what really gets I-House to another level is its great atmosphere, for studying, meeting a friend, doing a group assignment, whatever. Great place. read more

Cozy environment, cool electronic multi-lingual newspapers, but food options on the menu and taste of food (and prices) are not great since the management changed in August 2011. I've only been twice or thrice before the management changed , but was really looking forward to trying other things on their menu after tasting initially. Too bad I can't do that now. Gave them another try today with the Indian dos (actually should be Dosa) crepes. It doesn't meet the expectations at all - I am Indian and make it at home/ eat that stuff a lot at Indian restaurants. Not enough salt, some other cheese was substituted for paneer in the paneer dosa (the traditional cottage cheese of India) and soggy. ~6 bucks was way too much for that crepe with a small salad. Also, if you are vegetarian, there are way fewer options there now than before- just the crepes, salad and one type of sandwich. read more

I ordered a caramel frio. um... this is my first time, so I thought it was supposed to be some sort of a blended drink, but they gave me a latte-ish looking drink. okay fine. I'm not sure if it's supposed to have THAT much milk, but the lady basically filled up the cup mostly milk... and i paid 4.08 for that. I mean... I think it's kind of pricy. the "frio" was okay, but I could go somewhere else. for studying, it's nice. but i feel like it's packed most of the time. maybe they should have a couple more workers... read more

International house cafe has AMAZING FOOD! The menu has lots of variety and their burgers are the best

Honestly, after reading some of the reviews I was about ready to give up on this place and I am so glad I didn't. First of all, if you go there on a Tuesday like I did chances are you'll meet some of the friendliest baristas of all time. These people went out of their way to make me the perfect latte made sure I felt 100% welcome and that I liked my drink. I struck up a conversation with one of the baristas and was helped when choosing a snack that would pair well with my drink. Second of all, the snacks! There are so many snacks, there are maybe over 30 choices of fruit bars, protein bars, chips, and other snacks I had never even heard of. I also got a yummy chocolate croissant. Overall I think I'll be going back for sure, and I just hope I see the same friendly staff I met on Tuesday. Side-note: I did not order anything off of the food menu, but did notice that the wait was just a bit long. But honestly from what the baristas kept assuring the people that everything was cooked fresh so it wouldn't come out as fast as McDonald's. And let me just say, these people have the patience of saints, if I was being snapped at as many times as these people were I would've been rude right back. Be nice to your baristas, y'all! read more

In antediluvian times (that's long ago) they didn't have food in the cafe, only soft drinks and coffee. In those days - remember, it was after Adam and Eve, just before the big rainfall - Starbucks & Co hadn't invented all those frivolous mixtures of caffeine, chocolate, soy, skimmed milk, chai, syrup, and other ingredients that make out of a 35 cents cuppa a drink that costs now approximately as much as a full tank of gas cost then. Espresso machines were fairly new then, and the coffee was good and bitter, at least in my memory. The rest of my lunch money was spent on carrot cake, a perfect balancing act to the coffee. What was best then, is still the best today at the I-House Cafe: the atmosphere to read, study, discuss, hang out, philosophize about the world, professors, and the relatively bad food at the cafe. I still go there once or twice a year. Every student should. There are better places for drinks and food on or near campus. But the I-House cafe is a destination like Cody's Books. No, wait, that has gone out of business. read more

A touch on the overpriced side, but there's a good vibe, plenty of interior and exterior seating, and they have yummy mozzarella-tomato salad that goes well with that much-needed glass of white wine on an otherwise tedious Wednesday afternoon. Hurrah for transnational drinking and dining! read more

Frustrated because I used to come here almost once a day for a meal. Ever since the menu changed, the food preparation is laughable. Every sandwich I've gotten has been sloppily put together, missing ingredients or a complete departure from what the menu advertises (especially the steak sandwich, which is actually just a scoop of fatty shredded beef that is more suitable for feeding the dog). I go here every week to get the egg, bacon and cheese breakfast sandwich, which has been missing cheese the past two times I have had it. When I politely asked where the cheese was this morning, the chef told me it was "cooked into" the cheddar AKA this place is so stingy they can no longer afford to give you an actual slice of cheese. The result is a tasteless stack of bacon and egg (found zero cheese in the eggs) on a soggy roll. I will say that the young man who works the cash register during the morning shift is always kind and friendly, but that's about the only redeeming quality this establishment has left to offer. Save your money instead of paying inflated prices for an inferior product that is not at all what is advertised on the menu. I didn't use to mind paying a little extra because the food was so good but the new management has clearly sacrificed consumer satisfaction so they can cut corners and save money. iHouse, you just lost one of your most loyal customers! read more

I have gone here dozens of times. usually, I'm desperate and it's the closest thing. but every time, they remind me why I hate this place. the orders are always wrong. the food is mediocre. the service is the worst of any place in Berkeley I've been to. it's a real trainwreck read more

I House cafe is kind of weird. I have been here a few times, mostly because it is close to my school. I want to not like it, but I can't not like it, I also can't really like it. I do like their salads and I find that they are reasonably priced. Try the Mayan Salad with Chicken if that's your thing. I did have a sandwich once and it wasn't amazing, but I was hungry and so I put it in my face. It was alright. There are a lot of Cal students (obvi) and sometimes one too many frat boys, so I don't spend time there, but it's fine for take-out if you forgot your lunch and you just gotta eat. read more

i like the ambiance here, but i never seem to get what i order. case in point: chef salad, hold the ham. it came with turkey (lunch meat), whole black olives, gigantic red peppers, 5 cucumber slices, 1 hard boiled egg, shredded cheddar cheese and red onion. basically, they concocted their own salad. but for 6 bucks and change, they throw in a piece of focaccia and lint on the egg. sit outside because the view is nice and you (hopefully) wont get sticky-gross tables. read more

Awful espresso drinks. Asked for a cappuccino, got a full hot cup of milk with no foam and a little espresso. Asked for it to be remade, and I got a very wet cappuccino with scalded milk. A total waste! Come on Berkeley, I expect more. read more

Out of chicken for their sandwiches at 3 pm and no free water cups? Seriously? Rude service too - was lectured for not coming up when my number was called although they don't tell you at the register what number you are... read more

I am writing this because I am so livid as I am eating my $6.20 ceasar salad which is literally just a handful of cheap old lettuce, 6 croutons, a small sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and ceasar dressing on the side. what a waste of money. This salad should not be worth 6 dollars, it should be barely worth $1.50. This is not the first time I have encountered major disappointment in iHouse cafe. It seems that they have undergone change in management or major cost cutting in the last semester. Menu items are the same but ingredients and preparation are entirely different. For example, the steak sandwich was so good last semester and included real slices of steak and avocado. Now its just greasy a philly cheese steak kinda of sandwich with "avocado spread". It's really sad how quality has plummeted here. Never again. read more

Alas, the I House of my youth has changed. While the views and charm of the interior remain, the food and management seem to have undergone a decidedly downward change. The I House of yore did not take over 30 minutes to make a simple sandwich, did not callously disregard increasingly angry customers, did not serve a salad with overly oily, soggy lettuce. Ah, nostalgia, you are a fickle friend... read more

yes yes...coffee and food suck. the only reason why i'm giving it 3 stars is because i live upstairs and sometimes i want a beer....or a pitcher. sometimes i want to study. this is a great place to do both. simultaneously. read more

I have not been back to this cafe because the last two times I went there the employees came from off the street and did not wash hands before beginning to prepare food. My favorite thing to eat from there use to be the fresh mozzarella and avocado sandwich. I have had breakfast there a couple of times and it wasn't bad but it wasn't exactly good either. read more

I used to love this place, but after reading a couple of bad reviews I was a little nervous. I had a latte in the morning, and I was actually suprised at how good it was. I decided to go back for lunch and try some of their food. I tried their lamb shwarma and it was amazing. I'm really excited to have a place on campus that I can go to study and get good food. read more

It saddens me to say that I House has officially gone down the shitter. And the reason why? New Management is TERRIBLE! I repeat TERRIBLE! If you have food allergies, are vegetarian/vegan or just want to opt out of onions or mayo, let me tell you, they will make it very hard for you. I'm also not a fan of the new decor or new menu--it seems pretentious and what I ordered was not even very good and I paid $8. I ordered a sandwich when I was visiting Berkeley a few weeks ago on a trip to town and was so excited to return as I am an alum. I asked them to remove the aioli because I am allergic to eggs and to put some dressing on the side instead. After waiting 30 minutes for my food, I received a dry sandwich that was not appetizing at all. I again requested salad dressing on the side. The cashier/bus boy went back to the kitchen and came out and said the dressing was already on the side salad. I repeated I needed it for my sandwich and he went back again. I kid you not he comes back out again and said they already provided the dressing on the salad and wouldn't provide it on the side for my dry sandwich. I asked again and a lady--I assume the new manager--came out of the kitchen with an unbelievable amount of attitude saying they already removed the aioli so what else did I want. I was taken aback and repeated I wanted dressing on the side because the sandwich was dry. She LITERALLY would not do it. After repeating my requests 5 times, I could not get salad dressing on the side, no joke. I then mentioned, could I get some mustard please? And she brought that out and I told her that I was very disappointed and they may want to be more accommodating because restaurants can get sued for that or, at the minimum, lose patrons. I am sad to say, I may never go to I House again, it has become a dull, lifeless and unaccommodating place where I do not wish to waste my money on subpar food and service. I think if they replaced the terrible management, it may be able to return to what it once was ---a sociable, lively, easy going place to eat good food and hang out with friends. read more

So bummed. I have been going to this place since I was an undergrad in '99, and just this summer the cafe has changed management and menus. No more mezze plates or italian sodas. Other than the electronic newspapers on the wall, they've changed everything about this place. Plus, the management seems to be pretty new to the restaurant industry. Their food ticket system "broke" after I ordered my sandwich. After several of us waiting for our food started to inquire, they finally told us about the problem and that our food would be out shortly. But that was not the case. My friend and I ended up waiting 30 minutes for a very small sandwich. Definitely a disappointment, seeing as the old cafe had their paper ticket system functioning well. Sadly, the I-House Cafe is no longer a place to grab a quick bite when you don't feel like walking down to telegraph. Probably still a good place for a cup of coffee to sit and study, but the food (and service) has lost its charm. Sad to have a reliable Berkeley establishment not only disappear, but to have an inferior substitute in its place. I hope the new management realizes that the original I-House Cafe was great, and that they bring back the old menu and service system. read more