Generally excellent. The coffee is quite good, most baked goods likewise (I'm quite fond of the old fashioned chocolate cake and the cookies). They have brewed decaf, which I appreciate. There are sandwiches, and fare like yogurt or hard boiled eggs if you want something lighter or less expensive. Lots of seating, nice ambiance, clean bathroom. It's become my go-to cafe. Most staff are friendly, all have been professional. The only notable negative is that they often feel about half a person understaffed, which can impact wait time and/or keeping the bussing area/unused tables clean. Minor negatives that others might not care about: their HVAC makes some of the seats chronically drafty. Their hot cocoa is very latte-ish, foamy and subtle. (aka "weak") The register area can get a bit congested with people waiting for their orders. read more

The seating area is large and nice I really like this place I went to this store twice a week read more

See all

I like Nero and have been to many different locations. Here are my conclusions after visiting the Arlington branch for more than two dozen times. Pros: Plenty of space to sit and get work done, many outlets, good coffee, free 3hr wifi, spacious restrooms Cons: SUPER long wait time to place an order. This location is in desperate of for more staff to maintain cleaner facilities and assist patrons. Hope the current staff are trained better as well - except for the two male managers everyone else is stern. Additionally, Nero can't beat the variety of drinks that Starbucks next door offers, but their sandwiches are better. read more

Lets unpack this review. It starts off with a hygiene issue. I entered Cafe Nero during Covid-19 season. And while it is ok for people to eat indoors I did not think it was ok for an elderly man to open mouth sneeze in the establishment. Not only was an open mouth sneeze recorded, but this elderly gentleman also blew his nose on two separate occasions. The employees did not address this issue. Next, I would like to address the service. It is slow. It's so slow I did not even place an order. read more

Love Cafe Nero. Excellent addition to Arlington Center. Great food with great seating both indoors and outdoors. The staff is superb.They have my favorite chicken Caesar salad with Kens steakhouse dressing. I miss Gabe ! He was the best . Where did Gabe go ? Does anyone know ? read more

Love this Cafe Nero. The staff is friendly and relaxed. Their service isn't always the fastest but it reminds me to slow down and enjoy. I can spare an extra minute. The best cappuccino in Arlington! read more

Coffee is good. Nice outdoor seating, but food at this location is often not fresh, especially the sandwiches which seems why they always offer to heat it up. Service is also very slow and inefficient , often only one person making drinks & taking orders, with long lines. read more

Omg love the food, the coffee drinks and the atmosphere. A real coffee shop vibe with comfortable chairs and porcelain cups and plates. I love SBUX but Cafe Nero is stealing my heart! read more

This is a great place in Arlington, not super busy and relatively calm! Coffee is very good as all Nero's as well as the sandwiches!

Great, with one irritating (and fixable) hitch. Others have mentioned the odd way they handle the order in which they serve people in line. I did not think too much about this at first, but have had some bad experiences lately. I have been here several times each week since they opened so I have figured out I think how they do this. Each barista makes a point of taking two orders at once....though it's subtle. They take an order, then look at the next person in line and say, "What can I get started for you?" Then the two orders are handled together. When both are ready, they ring up both at the same time. Odd. Have never seen this before. Happens every time. So my worse experience with this was, I ordered an espresso, and the woman behind me ordered a lot of food and drinks for her large group. So, the barista made my espresso, and then it sat there on the coffee maker until she finished all of the food and drink orders for the person group behind me. She put all of the plates and drinks on the counter, then put my espresso there for me, and rang me up first (thankfully, the least she could have done) and then the woman behind me. But honestly I stood there for for over 10 minutes, really, waiting for all of the food for the group behind me to be ready. Why? Because they only ring up two people at a time. Not one. You will notice this if you watch for it. It must be how they are trained to do it by management. It is the one of the oddest way of handling customers I have seen, and it seems to irritate others in line as well. People can't figure out the ordering. So if the manager of the place would just make this one change (handle people one at time), it would be wonderful. Otherwise, it's a great place. read more

Sucky service and to top it off my blueberry muffin had a hair in it.. avoid this place

Every time I come in here it's so dirty. Bus bin overflowing, crumbs on all the seats and table that haven been wiped in a long time. The other issue is the incredibly long line for service and how slow they move. Seems the problem might be chronic understaffing. read more

Cozy and Caffè Nero go together like coffee and mugs, muffin top and muffin bottom, free and WiFi! It is such a quaint spot to meet with old friends, meet with new friends, study by yourself, study with friends! There are no bounds to what can be done here! I found it a great place to plug in some tunes and hammer away at my homework, especially with the free WiFi (only 3 hours though)! The coffee was great and not too expensive, which is always a bonus! Lots of space too! And a punch card! I'll surely be hitting ten punches soon! read more

I'm a big fan of Cafe Nero. Plenty of seating with a cozy ambiance, I feel like I could spend the whole day here reading a book and drinking coffee. Speaking of coffee it's amazing. More flavor than Starbucks and they even have iced decaf. The baked goods are great and the sandwiches are top notch. I still need my Starbucks fix occasionally but Cafe Nero is my spot when I want to slow down and relax. read more

What a wonderful addition to Arlington Center. The coffee is full, and robust - premium, and the sandwiches are second to none. Try the BLT! The service is also extraordinary every time I go. The barista Alex is always a pleasure to chat with. It's always nice when people look happy in their workspace, which is true of all the Nero team. read more

I love Cafe Nero,but not this one. The bakery and sandwich are not fresh at all. Bakeries were handled by naked hands, nasty!

What a wonderful addition to Arlington! The atmosphere is excellent-cozy and artistic! The coffee menu includes strong European style coffee, and Frappe Coffees that look delicious! I've enjoyed their muffins (Pistachio) and my husband is a big fan of their coffee. My daughters (2 and 4) loved their ham and cheese sandwich, too. It is a good environment for kids and families with plenty of space and cozy seating. If I was still in school I'd definitely come here to study and set up for the day! The only opportunity is for the staff to be more friendly. Otherwise, we love it! read more

Great place to hang out, delicious coffee, good snacks!

Friendly servers & a funky comfortable room and many delicious choices of drink and light fare. This place is an Arlington treasure!! I've had many excellent meetings and excellent light meals here and I always feel very very welcome. read more

Coffee is really good. Very strong. However, their iced drinks are too warm. They need to add more ice and less milk. Nothing worse than a lukewarm frappe or iced latte! Their foods are premade and put on display. They just warm up the sandwiches on a panini press. The sandwiches and good though, a little pricey though but they will fill you up. read more

I really love this chain but this location needs some work in terms of efficiency. I've been to this location a few times and have experienced super long wait times for ordering, getting your order, and paying. Even when it's not that crowded. I also had an employee basically tell me off for not understanding their ordering system. I know that working in fast-paced jobs with the general public can be grueling, but the some of the employees could work on being kinder. read more

Favorite hangout for my work from retreats. Super coffee and hidden food treasures if you read the menu board. They have more than all those pastries for folks looking for gluten free options. Nice place to get a little work done while enjoying a great cup of coffee. read more

Had heard a lot about this chain, and went with high expectations. I'm a Peets/Starbucks/Philz aficionado, and ordered a grande "bold" brewed coffee. While the color was dark, it tasted terribly weak. I dumped all of it (the liquid drain at the condiment bar is a nice touch, I'll admit), and went back in line to get a small (12 oz) Americano with an extra shot (3 total). It too tasted weak, and my point of reference is Sbux' triple tall Americano. Given that they tout their espresso so much on the menu boards, I was very disappointed. I will credit the relaxing ambiance, lots of good seating, and the location. But until they improve the strength to be more in line with true European coffee & espresso, I'm going to stick with Peets & Starbucks. read more

Great place to work-- easy free neighborhood parking around the corner, free wifi (fast, but can't stream videos/youtube), and solid coffee/lattes. Love the atmosphere as well! read more

The product is good but on Sunday morning there isn't sufficient help to make the line move. Today the wait was over 12 minutes just to get my order in. The workers were going as fast as they could - this is a failure of management. Too bad... read more

Excellent! Such a fun vibe and I love the decor. They have a bunch of funky chairs and is a great place to hang out. I didn't try to the food but my coffee was great and staff was excellent! read more

The ordering process seems a bit chaotic, but the atmosphere is pleasant, the food is good, and the building is bright and spacious. I stayed there for about an hour, and I didn't feel distracted at all by noise or crowds. This is my new favorite local coffee shop. read more

The decorations are fantastic! The dessert is good too. You can collect stamps to get a free one. Good place to have friends chatting there

My girls love this place for the breakfast pastries and ham/cheese croissants. I'm not a coffe/espresso drinker so I can't comment on the beverages, but they have a decent selection of non-caffinated drinks. I'd give it 5-stars, but the prices are slightly higher than similar shops. I'll defiantly be back there again for a treat breakfast. Oh, and it's *amazing* to walk into the place on the latest heat-wave days we've been having since they keep the A/C on. read more

Nice addition to arlington center but on a busy Saturday morning, this place is slow like molasses. Don't stop if you are in a hurry.

This place makes better coffee and has way more seating than Starbucks next door. The sandwiches are solid for being heated up and are pretty large, although I wouldn't mind having the option to purchase a smaller sandwich at a cheaper price. As others have noted it can take a little while to get your order, so I will still opt for Starbucks when I'm in a hurry. read more

I was looking for a nice space to meet a friend to have a good cafe to chat and not a Starbuck. A good bakery & menu were also important. I love this Arlington location, easy parking and a really nice space. Love the baked goods and sandwiches, very creative. I had the 'fig & brie' baguette etc. The croissants look good, next time. Nice ambiance and nice staffs. Price is not bad and we will definitely be back. read more

Once it opened. I quickly came to prefer this to its better known alternative on the corner. THe coffee is well made and the big cups are more homey than the paper alternatives, and the space itself is way more pleasant. I can put up with the generally slow line. However, today I was on line for maybe 10-15 minutes (noticing again how first come is not first served). I thought it curious that noone else seemed to be asking for coffee, but it was after lunch and as there were only three or four others on line that didn't seem exceptionally odd. However, when the server finally got to me (not with any expediency, as he had a bit of a chat with his colleagues at the other end of the counter after his prior customer paid), I made my order (for a cappucino) and was told, "Sorry, our machine isn't working and we can't make any espresso drinks." Well, gosh -- it sure would have been friendly to have posted a sign to that effect, and not wasted my time. I've usually been happy with the folk behind the counter here, but this was really egregiously poor customer service. read more

The. Worst. Service. Food is just so so, but the service is the worst. Did I mention that the service was bas? Go to Kickstand across the street. read more

Nice roomy place and good selection of drinks and snacks. The lady who took our order and made our drinks was really nice too. Good service and made us feel very welcome. We will be back. read more

Great place to drink your morning coffee while chatting with friends. The interior looks chic and cozy. The sandwiches taste very good!

This place is spacious yet comfy, with exposed brick and bookshelves. The furniture is vintage, which I love. My favorite part is that they serve coffee and food on real plates with real silverware! And the chocolate croissant was light, flaky, and yummy. The staff is nice too. read more

I believe they have fixed the used dishes area by making it face the seating area and not be part of the queueing area. There is certainly no squeezing past people in line to get to it. The only issue right now is that dishes are piling up too high too often. coffee is great. read more

I love the layout and outdoor access. Hurray for something tasteful and badly needed in Arlington. Now suggestion for improvement, the service is dreadfully slow and off-putting .so far I've waited an average of 10-15' to order and receive a latte and I only had about 5 folks in front of me today. Please, pick up the speed and get more efficient. This is far too long a wait. Also, it would be great if lattes came hotter, and with more milk. I request extra hot to simply get an ideal temperature. I like your flavor, but a more generous splash of milk would be appreciated. read more

I just tried Caffe Nero for the first time. The vibe inside is great, but when I got back to my office with my Caprese sandwich, I found that there was only one piece of mozzarella, about the size of a quarter, on the whole thing. $8 wasted, because who wants to eat hot bread and tomato. read more