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    Shapeshifters Cafe

    4.6 (189 reviews)
    Closed 6:00 am - 2:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

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    SHAPESHIFTERS CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Dogs allowed
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Shapeshifters Cafe

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    Too Good to Go surprise bag pastries
    Sydney J.

    I am quite delayed in writing this review, but I had ordered a Too Good to Go surprise bag. The pickup experience was quick and friendly. I was given the following for my Too Good to Go: Pain au chocolat Croissant with powdered sugar Danish Chocolate chip scone I personally enjoyed the chocolate-containing pastries best, especially the scone since I prefer more of a crunchy texture over croissant-like flaky breads, although all were pretty good. It was great value for the amount of fresh and sweet pastries.

    Jessica A.

    Stopped by for a quick bite and was not disappointed! The Vietnamese coffee was absolutely perfect--rich, bold, and just the right amount of sweetness from the condensed milk. It had that smooth yet strong kick that kept me energized all day. I paired it with their turkey sandwich on Dutch crunch, and wow--so good! The bread had that signature crispy, crackly top with a soft interior, and the turkey was fresh and flavorful. Topped with crisp veggies, creamy mayo, and just the right amount of seasoning, every bite was a delicious mix of crunch and tenderness. Great food, friendly service, and a cozy spot to relax. Definitely coming back for another coffee and sandwich combo!

    Patio
    Jwana P.

    Cute little hidden gem in Oakland. Private patio area for a chill day at the cafe. Free WiFi and easy street parking! Enjoyed a cafe latte on the patio area. Nicely shaded in case it gets hot! Staff were kind and inviting! Would recommend!

    Menu as of 7/7/22
    Kevin W.

    Sometimes, there is nothing better than a good sandwich. When I get that craving, I usually like to go to Autobahn Cafe. Located a good 4-5 blocks away from Jack London Square, it's a nice walk and offers the perfect amount of time to decide what to get. The staff, although rotating a couple of times within these last few years, are always friendly without there being too much pleasantries. They serve very tasty sandwiches, breakfast burritos, pastries, and espresso drinks. I'm not the biggest fan of their dripped coffee, but oh yes for their lattes. They serve their sandwiches with nice quality ingredients and the portions are always just-right, enough to enjoy a beverage and a side of chips.

    Lila L.

    Shapeshifters Cafe is always my go to whenever I'm in the area. The pastries at are out of this world! I tried the croissant, and it was perfection - flaky, buttery, and perfectly sweet. It's clear that they use high-quality ingredients and put a lot of care into their baking. Their lavender latte is a blend of rich, smooth espresso with the subtle, aromatic hint of lavender was both soothing and invigorating. It's a must-try for any coffee lover looking for something special and unique. Shapeshifters Cafe is a gem that I can't recommend highly enough.

    Checking out this cozy little Cafe.
    Antonio L.

    It is a nice place. And it is open early in the morning and good for breakfast. Service was quick, and food came out pretty quickly.

    Isaiah D.

    Not a huge fan, they aren't doing bagels anymore - probably to force people to spend more money. Breakfast burritos are a high tortilla ratio. And you'll walk out spending $14. I'll be back for $5 bagel and cream cheese.

    Turkey Pastrami Sandwich, chocolate crossaint
    Loren R.

    I love the Saturday brunch on first Saturdays! The breakfast burritos are great and they usually have yummy specials on Saturday.

    Egg Sandwich w/turkey on whole grain bread.

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    2 months ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    Consistently delicious fresh food and drinks. Great salads and lunch specials. Breakfast burritos are deelish.

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Really cool neighborhood cafe in old Victorian building. They make their chais from scratch--steamed tea leaves and all.

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    4 years ago

    The portobello sandwich is to die for. Food is fresh, staff is friendly and coffee is very delicious

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    7 years ago

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    Page 1 of 5

    Ask the Community - Shapeshifters Cafe

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    Crave Subs

    Crave Subs

    4.3
    (284 reviews)
    5.0 mi
    $$

    I don't really enjoy writing negative reviews of restaurants, especially smaller businesses but…read moretoday's visit to Crave really left a bad taste in my mouth. One of my biggest pet peeves is when restaurants reduce the guality or quantity of their meal to cut costs while charging premium prices. I will say I didn't mind paying a few dollars more for their subs in the past. I went there today for the first time in a couple of years, ordered a regular size basic ruben sandwich (no add-ons) and was ok paying nearly $18 dollars for just the sandwich until they handed it to me. what I got was a small 6" sub. When did their subs shrink?? in this economy we are all struggling. I get it, things cost more but Craves' owner is not doing his patrons a service by charging them premiums while cutting back on the meals. If you're ok paying that much for a shrunken sub, more power to you. I l, however, will not be going back there.

    Expensive for a small sandwich and was made to the taste of cartoon character's taste instead of my…read moretaste which is weird. The veggie meat was ultra salty and the Beast sandwich had sweet strawberry jam. Did not see that on the menu and didn't correlate the names of the sandwiches to the tv characters my kids watched when they were younger until I opened up the sandwich and saw the red jam. I prefer peanut butter and jam instead of meat and jam. Only veggie was chopped lettuce and barely saw anything else. Overwhelming flavor was the jam which was squeezing out of the sandwich. Disappointed- was hoping for an impressive sandwich at this price point.

    Photos
    Chips
    Chips
    Steak Storm Fries ($16.99- weekend special!)
    Steak Storm Fries ($16.99- weekend special!)
    Patrick Star ($14.99)

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    Patrick Star ($14.99)
    Clove and Hoof

    Clove and Hoof

    4.1
    (944 reviews)
    2.3 mi
    $$

    My only question is....WHY haven't I been here sooner?! I…read morewas craving pastrami, so I looked on yelp for pastrami in the area. My mom and I came in around 2pm on Monday (8/11). It's a cute delicatessen/restaurant. You order at the counter and they bring your food to you. Immediately the staff was so friendly and welcoming. The woman at the register was very nice and asked if we had any questions. My mom and I shared a pastrami sandwich, Brussels sprouts, fries, and slaw. It was reasonably priced for the Bay Area. When they brought the food to the table I was shocked. Everything looked amazing and very appetizing, and the portions were much bigger than expected. Before she brought the sandwich over, she asked if we were sharing it and was so nice to split it into 2 plates for us. That was very kind for her to do. Let's start with the French fries. Omg they were perfectly crisp but still fluffy on the inside. They had so much flavor probably because of the beef tallow and had just the right amount of salt on them. There was a side of mayonnaise with the fries, and it tasted homemade. I meant to ask them if it was. It was very good lol I couldn't get enough. The poppyseed slaw was very refreshing and it was tangy and sweet. We loved that the cabbage remained crispy and it was great for a warm day. The fried Brussels sprouts were full of flavor. They were a nice balance of sweet and salty. I loved the bacon on them. The hot pastrami sandwich definitely satisfied my pastrami craving! There was just the right ratio of meat-cheese-sauerkraut-mustard-dressing. The bread tasted freshly baked as well. It was full of flavor. And the side salad that came with the sandwich was excellent. We loved the tanginess of the dressing. We were shocked that there wasn't more people inside, but also for 2pm on a Monday, it probably was just an off hour. We had so many leftovers as we both don't eat very much, but lol as soon as I got home I started eating some more of the slaw and salad. Can't wait to eat the rest for lunch tomorrow. We are already planning on coming back to try the meatballs next time and definitely trying their Indian cuisine! I'll have to bring my husband here next. Thank you guys for an amazing lunch!

    I'm sure there are other good things here but I keep just getting the cheese steak. The picture…read moredoesn't do it justice. It's a warm, crunchy roll, the chopped steak and cheese are perfect, and there's a salad next to it so you can take a bite of that while you're waiting for the next bit of your sandwich to cool down. Do yourself a favor and order this in instead of carrying it out. The roll is warm and crunchy and I think too much time in a bag would make everything less delicious. (I'm sure it's still good, it's just *better* if you can eat it when it's fresh.) I swear one of these days I'll try something else on the menu.

    Photos
    Clove and Hoof
    Clove and Hoof
    Clove and Hoof

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    Star Meats

    Star Meats

    4.1
    (299 reviews)
    4.2 mi
    $$

    Discovered their sandwiches when we were having coffee next door and kept seeing ppl walk by with…read morebutcher paper pink sandwiches in their hands. Glad we were able to track them down cause their sandwiches look so basic in pics but are so darn good. The market is cool too but I'm always gonna start by bee lining it to the deli in back of the shop to order one of their daily sandwiches. They make 3 flavors each day. 18$ a pop. Delicious.

    This review isn't based off of one interaction that I've had, but several in which I felt Star…read moreMeats customer service was non existent. Awhile back, I tried to bring as much business to Star Meat as I could because 1. it's a small business and 2. it's inside Star Grocery (which I LOVE, so it's convenient). When I would go there, there would often be 2 or 3 people behind the counter and oftentimes I would be the only customer. I felt like I had to stand there forever before anyone even acknowledged I existed. Each person would be busy doing something, but there was no "I'll be with you in 2 minutes." Finally, I went one day and there were 3 workers behind the counter chatting with each other. I was the only customer and was standing around 6 feet away from them, looking right at them. They went on with there conversation (not doing any other work) for a full 5 minutes. Finally I thought, "OK, they really don't seem to want my business, so I can go to any one of 4 other places and get what I want." That was a year or two ago. So, today I thought, why not give it another try, it's certainly convenient. Again, I'm the only customer at the counter. One guy is washing equipment and two guys are making sandwiches. I know that they know that I'm there, there are mirrors all along the back wall exactly for the purpose of seeing the customers. After around 4 minutes I think, who knows how long I'm going to be standing here. Maybe they have to make 20 sandwiches and I'll be here for a half hour. So, I left. I don't have anything like this experience at the 4 other meat counters I go to in the area. I'm totally fine waiting if I have some sense that I'm waiting for a purpose and that the worker will get to me as soon as they can. But at Star Meat, it feels like I'm more of an inconvenience than a customer. "Hi, I'll be with you as soon as I can," goes a long way.

    Photos
    Brian Allen 18$ yes.
    Brian Allen 18$ yes.
    Brian Allen on the Beach
    Brian Allen on the Beach
    Brian Allen Sandwich

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    Brian Allen Sandwich
    Krispy Joe's

    Krispy Joe's

    4.6
    (69 reviews)
    2.7 mi

    Amazing Service and the best Pastrami Sandwich I've ever had. Will definitely be coming back soon!!!read more

    Want a free sandwich?…read more Complete this puzzle and it's all yours! The pastrami sandwich here is sooooo good I actually ordered two of them. This is the first place in the world that had me eating rye. I hate rye bread, and was worried because there are no substitutions, but the sandwiches here were so good and the bread didn't taste like the traditional prison food hard rye bread. You changed me Krispy Joe's, and had me eating stuff I never would have. Also, drinking stuff I never would have. I bought their chai and lemonade, both were 5 stars, and they offered me their pickle juice electrolyte drink to try. I was skeptical at first, but again they made me a believer. I hate pickle juice and pickle flavored anything in general. Yet, they converted me once again when they offered me a sample of their pickle-aid. It tasted like a mild tasting plain Gatorade. If I were still training for a marathon, I would totally buy this! Back to their amazing sandwiches. They are made with such care, dusting every sandwich that's made to order with their secret spices while toasting the meat and bread. The slaw was fresh and herbaceous. Again, made with care and craftsmanship. I am rooting for this business to expand and take over Ike's Sandwiches. I believe in you Krispy Joe's, you have my vote!

    Photos
    Cool mural
    Cool mural
    @ifoodiejenn | The OG - hot pastrami sandwich
    @ifoodiejenn | The OG - hot pastrami sandwich
    Order area

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    Order area
    Heroic Italian

    Heroic Italian

    4.4
    (163 reviews)
    4.8 mi
    $$

    I've been here before love this place. It has indoor outdoor seating. Service is friendly. The food…read moreis great and we love the pizza here!

    We ordered via DoorDash, and I wouldn't call our experience "heroic."…read more The pinsa was very good. We got the Calabrian shrimp. We found it very tasty, but paying over $25 for this on DoorDash--certainly not worth the price even though we really enjoyed it. The spicy chicken parm sandwiches were not good. The chicken breast was flabby, and came across like it was one of those frozen cooked Tyson jobs. I would be very surprised if they actually breaded chicken breast, fried it, and made the sandwich with that. It was mushy, and the breading was like paste on the chicken. Pretty awful. They charge extra for sauce, which is a little much, given that we paid $21 for each sandwich. But we figured out pretty quickly why they do this: there was hardly any sauce on the sandwiches. And precious little cheese. We each ate half of our sandwich and figured we doctor the leftovers up the next day with a jar of Rao's and a bag of shredded Italian cheese. That helped, but nothing could save that chicken. The meatballs. We paid $15 for four, and we had high hopes, but they were so mushy that they fell apart in the sauce, and I couldn't tell what was sauce and what was meatballs. The only flavor that came across was fennel. Why any meatball should be so fennel-forward strikes me as bizarre. We got what we thought were pretty basic things, and they were fails. If an Italian place can't make a decent chicken parm sandwich nor a decent meatball, that says something. If you go, try the pinsa.

    Photos
    Inside counter
    Inside counter
    Come enjoy an OMG on the patio in the sun before the next storm hits! An organic Italian soda pairs nicely as does a glass of wine.
    Come enjoy an OMG on the patio in the sun before the next storm hits! An organic Italian soda pairs nicely as does a glass of wine.
    Calabrian Shrimp! Wild Gulf of Mexico shrimp roasted with brown butter sage, garlic, lemon juice & Calabrian Chilies ..Comes with crostini

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    Calabrian Shrimp! Wild Gulf of Mexico shrimp roasted with brown butter sage, garlic, lemon juice & Calabrian Chilies ..Comes with crostini
    Mezzo

    Mezzo

    4.2
    (1.1k reviews)
    4.8 mi
    $$

    Right next to UC Berkley this sandwich shop Mezzo lemme tell you this place was so BOMB and the…read moresandwiches are freaking huge (last piz for reference) it was so fresh and every bite dead ahh got better it was so so gas. I also had their pozole it was the special for the day and it was really good as well it had a lot of flavor and was a good side with the sandwich So what I got for the sandwich was the Cheese topped ciabatta roll and in my sandwich I had the following: * Turkey * Bacon * provolone cheese * Tomato * Lettuce * Alfalfa sprouts * Red onion * banana pepper * Pickles * Avocado * Mayo The service was great. I love how they make the sandwich in front of you and the ambience is great as well.

    first time here and they been popping on my fyp on tiktok, finally had the chance to try it before…read moreheading to a concert! line was by the door was it was moving fast. Reminds me of chipotle, poké, subway etc but healthy version! soooo many options to choose from so I went for the combination (half sandwich and soup or salad) : marinated tofu sando and thai chicken coconut curry on my marinated tofu sando I chose honey wheat bread with everything on it along with the pickles and onions. It was very big and generous for a half sandwich (love it!) but I do wish they can toast or warm up the sandwich because I like my sandwiches warm. thai chicken coconut curry was sooooo delicious I would come back for a big bowl of that! Taste very coconutty and creamy, not too sweet or spicy! I am not a picky/germaphobe customer but my friends and I noticed they dont change gloves for each orders they are in the making touching all of the toppings, meats, and vegetables. I don't mind it but I am sure if other customers have certain food allergens or germaphobe I would be more cautious and do cross contamination . Provide tongs for the workers. can't wait to come back and try other sandwiches on the menu!

    Photos
    Entrance
    Entrance
    Veggie delight salad
    Veggie delight salad
    Chef's Salad

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    Chef's Salad

    Shapeshifters Cafe - coffee - Updated July 2026

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