I went here to work for a bit on a rainy weekend day and I loved this hole in the wall. It had a nice atmosphere, with people coming and going fairly regularly, and the worker was kind and very fast with orders. I had a hot chai and it was fairly good. Pros: - plenty of seating - nice music - not too crowded - wifi - compostable cups and reusable plates for food Cons: - not that many outlets - i'm unsure about how street parking is around here, it's quite walkable though read more

This place is FABULOUS & Flawless!! The coffee drinks are made to order and so perfectly made. The food is a Mediterranean diet dream- fresh broiled salmon over impeccable green salad & beets. Delicious toasted bread for side (or for sandwiches!). Fresh baked goods to go with amazing coffee or tea drinks of all kinds. Love the vibe here- comfy chairs & tables- intimate and open ceilings. A true downtown Berkeley gem read more

OMG! I had the BEST sandwich of my life last night at Jazzcaffé! We came for a performance at The Freight and I needed something more than pizza and pretzels. I walked down Addison to this amazing cafe and ordered the Hen of the Woods mushroom sandwich on a toasted bagel. It was SO delicious in a greens marinade. I will go back to Berkeley this week JUST for another mushroom sandwich. Amazing chef and she is so thoughtful. Every person leaving the cafe raved about how delicious their food was. So if you are heading to Berkeley Rep, The Freight, or a Jazz performance - GO here for dinner before. Light fare fabulously delicious and highly nutritious. read more

4:30 pm ish after a play we 4 senior citizens looked in to review menu & ordered four separate dishes w/ side drinks& a red wine. We were awed @ how delicious & plentiful each dish was. When a tiny bug flew into the wine glass the server insisted we have a new glass. The food, drinks service & prices are excellent and give Jazzcaffè an outstanding recommendation read more

The food is tasty and fresh. I tried the Mediterranean panini, soup, and hot drinks. Everything was delicious, and the service was amazing. I highly recommend this place. read more

Delicious sandwiches and pastries. I got the fried chicken sandwich and the caprese panini and I liked both. read more

See all

I presented a guest lecture at the JazzSchool yesterday, 2/4/26 and the staff brought me the Fried Chicken Panini with a chai latte. The delicious meal made my day - and the presentation!! read more

Super kind staff and my favorite iced oat milk latte! Perfect place to come after class to study and listen to jazz music! read more

The Jazzcaffè - Cafe! - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

See all

Amazing find after show. Food was excellent, service was great and ambiance was beautiful! I had the fried chicken panini sandwich which was delicious! Other 3 orders were carrot soup and salad combo, caprese panini sandwich, and Salmon salad. All large portions. So much better than some high end restaurants. Prices very reasonable too! Will go backHIGHLY RECOMMEND! read more

Good food and very good service! Good Jazzy music of course. I came often since I got to Jazz school. Keep it up...!

pleasant atmosphere, good food,, long hours, convenient, not crowded, a respite from a busy world.

if they're busy, just go inside to order otherwise you wont be acknowledged at all from the take out window.

The room was chilly. The paninis were soaked in oil and so greasy. Worse, the hot chocolate was not hot at all, nor was it mixed. It was expensive for a drink that was unpleasantly only mildly warm in a chilly environment. Worst of all, my guests said that the soup tasted like sludge, as though it had been sitting in the crockpot for hours, getting thicker and gooier. It was served luke warm, and when I told the server that my guests had said it wasn't hot, and asked if there was any way to warm it, she announced that it WAS hot. I countered that my guests felt it wasn't hot, and she repeated her insistence that it was hot! Then, she took a ladle and cup and tasted it, as though her assessment of the customer experience trumped the actual customer experience! Then she brought me the cup and tried to get me to taste it to prove that she was right and they were wrong. Really? She could have just said there was not way to reheat the soup, but instead she argued with me. All in all, not a good experience. read more

this place is the best, the woman who runs the cafe is so nice and the food is amazing. the chai is delicious and reasonably priced, the pastries are great, and the specials are always delicious! super fast service as well, this is my favorite spot to visit on my breaks. read more

A nice option for good coffee and a quick bite in downtown Berkeley. The window opening onto Addison Street is a nice convenience. read more

Jazz Caffe wasn't my destination but i'm glad i found them. there's a small cafe dispensing soups, panninis, salads. etc. pretty quickly too. eats: roasted tomato soup with grilled corn and mint (5.25) -sliced of grilled breat too. everything's so fresh and yummy... -will be back is i find myself outside the door anytime. crumps: -lots of dining area in the "patio". read more

Peaceful, undiscovered, and great for lunch. Jazz Cafe is a little Berkeley gem. I came here because of the good reviews, I don't think I would have found it otherwise. The small coffee shop is located in the basement of the Jazz School, with only a small sign on the street indicating its existence to the outside world. Despite their small size, they actually have quite a lot of food options. I tried their roast beef Panini, their tomato soup, and their baked goat cheese salad. All three items were great. Their panini are made fresh with unique and fresh ingredients. The roast beef was good quality and paired up well with the broccoli rabe and other goodies. The tomato soup was made with fresh basil and more importantly love, served with delicious focaccia. My only complaint would be that the goat cheese salad was on the pricey side at ~$8.50, given it was just dressed greens and the baked goat cheese. Of course it was delicious, and it did come with a lot of goat cheese, but I would have perhaps traded half of the goat cheese for some dried cranberries or walnuts. The staff was super friendly and the quiet atmosphere relaxing. I highly recommend this place. read more

I have been coming here for years! Their coffee is hands down, the best bang for your buck. It is like an espresso roast in a standard cup of coffee! Also, free refills on a good day ;) The food is of very high quality and although it may be considered a bit pricey, it is far worth the price tag in my opinion. You get what you pay for they say! The regulars include jazz conservancy students, scholars, local officials, professors and business executives among fellow coffee enthusiasts. Very relaxed and quiet atmosphere, great place to get some work done. ** They don't allow technology in the cafe space but there is ample seating to do so just outside in the lobby room. ** If you are lucky, you may even catch a live jazz performance! Which may not be conducive to getting work done but it is certainly worthwhile! Great space, love it. read more

Their daily lunch specials are super unique and amazing quality. Yes, they have sandwiches and salad, but this is not why I go there. Every day they have amazing ethnic dishes like one day they'll have tunisian lamb stew and the next they'll have morrocan chicken tagine. Wow! And it is terrific too! But their goat cheese salad is a must. Just trust me on this... read more

The Jazzcaffè - Baked goat cheese salad - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

Great atmosphere, and good food and espresso drinks. I recommend coming here if you want to hang out for a long while. There is absolutely no pressure to limit lingering. The service in the morning is indeed a little casually-paced, so it feels like it is slow. However, I'm sure it is no slower than going to any other cafe since there is never a line. Paninis are good--oily, perhaps--and salad and all ingredients are of high quality. There are 3 places to sit--in the same room as where you order, in a larger area outside of this room, where people wheeling around their instruments traverse, and two tables outside. read more

The turkey panini: Good, except the dijon mustard was overpowering. Next time, I'll ask for none of that. A side salad is a very reasonable extra cost (75¢). Haven't tried any of the other food items yet--they were out of smoked salmon the day I was in, but I'd go back. The small room where their kitchen is and where you order has a little seating, and they have classical music playing over the speakers. There is more general (not restricted to cafe) seating outside in the main area, and there is no recorded music playing there. You'll probably notice young musicians coming in and out to classes, some of them sitting down to review music, maybe even a couple kids picking up the cellos to jam for a bit. It's a very unique environment, and I prefer it to the standard people-on-laptops cafe. (though, yes, there are people using laptops in this cafe, too). read more

See all

This was a cozy spot to take a break from the cold drizzle. My friends and I stopped by around lunchtime in the middle of a puzzle scavenger hunt to work on a clue and to grab a quick bite to eat. The "quick" bite took a bit longer than expected, due to both our inability to figure out the clue and to the fact that there was just one guy running the show for the cafe. He was the sole person making the espresso drinks, putting together lunch orders, etc. It was very impressive, but I wanted food fast, darn it! :-P I ordered a turkey and cheese panini to munch on, and it totally hit the spot with the crunchy crust and the perfect amount of melted cheese and warm turkey. This is definitely a place I can see coming back to if I were looking for a convenient spot to chit chat with friends or get some work/studying done. The one thing I'd kind of complain about is that it's located in the basement, so there aren't any windows to look out of, leaving you slightly claustrophobic. :-P read more

I didn't get to try the food here, but the coffee is more than decent and is reasonably priced. The location is actually in the jazz school so it's a pretty neat little place. I'm sure they have concerts and jam sessions often which adds a little flavor. I docked one star from this place because of their active no Laptop usage. I'm all about following rules and regulations especially if the Cafe has a sign that politely requests that laptop not be used before 3pm. It's 4:20 and they are actively asking tables with laptops to not use them or leave. read more

Beautiful place and I really like the guy in front. I tried the Mediterranean panini with salad and a chocolate cookie and it was amazing. I highly recommend it read more

The Jazzcaffè - Mediterranean panini with salad - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

See all

I think Jazz Caffe is one of the best secrets of Berkeley. We went today for lunch. Reza, the owner described the specials and set about fixing our lunch. It was absolutely delicious! We started with the heirloom tomato gazpacho. It was just a tad (barely, barely) sweet and so fresh! There was a bright green basil purée on top with a few pieces of crisp yellow corn kernels. The different colors, flavors and textures were so beautiful to look at and to taste. The fresh focaccia was toasted with a bit of olive oil and came piping hot. Afterwards, we both had a salad of spring greens with toasted rounds of goat cheese. Not sure what was on the goat cheese - crushed nuts? Bread crumbs? Whatever it was, it had an incredible texture and the goat cheese was warm and the greens nice and cool. Perfect! The stew of the day was a spicy chicken curry and was hot, hearty and thick. We finished our meal with espresso and cappuccino. They tasted as good as they looked. The chocolate dessert - looked like a cookie but tasted like flourless chocolate cake-- was amazing. I will be dreaming about this restaurant. The best part? The personal touch. Reza was so attentive, kind and made sure that we enjoyed our meal. I will make the trip to the East Bay just to eat at Jazz Caffe. If you try it, put your trust in Reza and try the specials of the day. They are fresh and delicious. Enough said. read more

See all

Wonderful little place, a cool respite from the mid day glare. Good vibe, positive energy and a very tasty Mediterranean panini. Missed out hearing any live music, but no regrets whatsoever. Can't wait to try some of their delicious appearing soup. read more

The Jazzcaffè - Mediterranean panini (with a shameless bite already taken), salad. Perfect little lunch in a cool and secluded space. - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

See all

Came to the basement for lunch. Cool that it uses a jazz school performing space as a café. I asked if they had a soup and sandwich combo special. The guy said no, so I said I'll have the ham and cheese sandwich. I ended up paying for and getting a salad and sandwich combo. Hmmm. Well, the Panini was good and the mixed greens had a tasty dressing, so it was a good meal. The daily specials on the board seemed interesting. Get in line to order at the register. If you use a credit card, you'll be asked to sign a pad and enter a tip if you want. Minimum tip was 15% unless you calculate a smaller custom amount. They'll bring your food to you at your table. read more

Gayle and I came here for some coffee and a nosh before seeing "Joe Turner Has Come and Gone" at the Berkeley Rep. The space is small, yet cozy and comfortable. Service was prompt, the scone was tasty, and the coffee was just a tad on the weak side. There's also a larger seating area just beyond the cafe area. When we were there, there was a nice quartet performing. read more

I've been waiting and trying and waiting and trying and waiting and trying to give Jazz Caffe its requisite third chance. At a certain point, though, if I'm unwilling to try a place a third time in a year when it's within easy walking distance of my office, then it's just not gonna happen. Nor should it? Nor should it indeed. I'll start with the good. Being here reminds me of what college felt like in the late '80s and early '90s, before I was actually in college but when I visited my older sister in college. Don't know what I'm talking about? Think the first season of A Different World--and please forget what you think of Bill Cosby now; instead, just think of the late '80s and Sinbad before he was annoying. Think also of Saved by the Bell: The College Years and especially of Bob Golic. OK, you don't need to picture those acid-washed jeans, but do you remember that feeling of hopefulness, of the world changing for the better, of young people joining together and finding and creating a community even as they were just learning about themselves? Right, all of this is what Jazz Caffe feels like. It's a little food place in a music conservatory. There are well dressed professors sipping coffee among students of different ages, life experiences, and musical talents. There are walls painted different, bold colors. It seems as if a performance could break out at any moment, although it never does. In short, the ambiance is four-and-a-half stars, five if you're obsessed like I am with the strange details of interior design and decorating on college campuses before they began to copy exurban, McMansion America's tackiest, most expensive tastes. Sadly, you don't go out to lunch to be back in college. You go out to lunch to eat, and that's why this review is so sad. The food is OK. It's ridiculously expensive. I guess I could deal with OK, expensive food--I still go to Saturn sometimes, don't I?--but it just takes forever and a day and a week plus another gratuitous twenty minutes to get your food. I would say call your order in, but who calls in a salad? And even if you did, they'd still make you wait for good measure. So sorry, Jazz Caffe, you should be good; but you're not. You're really bad, actually. read more

It's easy to miss the Jazzcaffe, since it's downstairs in the Berkeley Jazzschool. Only the specials menu outside gives you an idea of the hidden gem within. As noted in Lynn Eve's review, the panini are exceptional here. My favorite is the baked apple/cheddar, which is a very occasional special. Speaking of which, specials change all the time, and they usually sound enticing. Among the regular menu items, my wife loves the warm goat cheese salad. I also agree that when it's busy there, service can be slow (though warm and friendly). At least it's a nice place to sit and read while you wait -- and perhaps catch some people playing jazz or rehearsing. All in all, a good place for a nice casual bite before going to Berkeley Rep or the Aurora. read more

The thought that I only just discovered this place saddens me. But then I think, what's done is done, and now that I know about this place, I can eat here all the time to make up for the fact that I was unaware. Reza (sp?) owns the joint, and he's awesome. So nice, great service and delicious food. The panini's are tasty and homemade, the soup is also made from scratch and hits the spot on a cold day. It's a nice place to take a break from work for a cup of coffee or lunch and just relax. I recommend whatever the special of the day is, and the soups. All excellent. read more

I'm trying to like this place. it has a great location (across from my office), good food and atmosphere and decent prices. reza is friendly and prompt with producing some great panini, soups, and salads. however, the attitude of the 2 women working there is unacceptable. curt, lax and uncaring for the customer. very off-putting. if in the rare occasion it actually opens at 8 am (usually 810-815, we were actually kicked out at 755 and told to come back.) the pastries are not set out so you have to guess what you want and the girl acts like she just rolled out of bed in a storeroom and begins setting up when the place is supposed to be open. i really want to like this place. since a'cap across the street shut down, there are very few places that are not mobbed by high schoolers or internet junkies. get some decent morning help and this place will be 5 stars. read more

Just discovered this place and I'm loving it. Not crowded at all considering it's downtown Berkeley. Tasty coffee, courteous and helpful staff, and everyone here is very relaxed and musically inclined, they even have a grand piano out for folks to play if they get inspired, and I think I may hop on later once I finish my work. They have wifi and natural light, hardwood floors, and the ambiance is kinda what I've always been looking for in Berkeley, I feel like I've found a home away from home. Thank you Jazz Cafe! read more

Wow! I haven't reviewed this place yet? Jazz Caffe is right across the street from my office so it's often my go-to destination for when I have to run out and grab something really quick to take back to the office. Lucky for me this place is so reliably delicious. I've never had any of the specials but I love the paninis and salads. They are always so fresh tasting and yummy! I'm a big fan of the ham and cheese panini. :D The paninis come on yummy, spongy, focaccia bread and they do not skimp on the fillings. Super friendly staff who remember repeat customers. :) My office also does lunch orders with them when we need to bring in boxed lunches for meetings. read more

Delicious! This is the best lunch you can get for a good price in Shattuck area. I got the salad special with swordfish and an americano. Excellent. The man who served us was delightful too. And there is a lemon the size of a football on the counter! Not important, but impressive. read more

The Jazzcaffè - Today's salad special with beets and swordfish. Excellent! - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

I've been stopping here to get coffee since I've been working at Berkeley Rep, since it's right next door. I haven't eaten here but the food looks good. It's a nice quiet place, but they also seem to have great jazz concerts in the afternoon occasionally. This morning I didn't realize that I didn't have any cash, so the guy gave me my coffee for free! He was very nice about it. So this review is to remind me to pay them back next time I am there. read more

I first came across the Jazz Caffe (it's misspelled in this listing) while attending an intimate jazz performance at the Jazz School some Friday night. I ordered the creamed sweet potato soup and was hooked. I soon acquainted myself with owner and caterer, Kristine Seinsch, who was born in Berlin, Germany and from childhood, was introduced to gourmet food. I used to work nearby and so I would come often to order the best grilled panini sandwiches + plus side green salad in downtown Berkeley. She uses Cafe Umbria coffee, which is a big plus! read more

The Jazzcaffè - Jazz Caffe Interior - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

No laptops allowed and the owner acted a little rude: "this is not a library" he said and asked me to leave. Go to other place is you want to enjoy a delicious coffee while checking your email. read more

The service was great (they gave me extra grilled focaccia). The potato leek soup superb. And I got to hear some free live jazz beside me. The don't accept credit cards but it was ok. I gave them all my change and got a nice "jazz" dinner. It felt peaceful. read more

Terrific cafe for lunch in downtown Berkeley! I had a salmon salad which was yummy - tender grilled meat, fresh greens, and interesting dressing. The service was quick and courteous. The atmosphere was cheerful, including live performance by jazz students. read more