Great atmosphere with comfortable outdoor seating. Coffee options were limited. I was not able to…read moreorder a simple "decaf" coffee. It had to one of their $6 specialty flavored coffees that was overly sweet. Will not be returning.

Overdue review! Penelope's serves coffee and tea, pastries, and breakfast items. The husband and I…read morestopped by for some drinks and a light snack while we were in the area. We ordered the Penelope's Samosa (espresso shot, caramel, chocolate, coconut), Lillian Latte (espresso shot, lavender, French vanilla), and the Honey Berry Toast (cream cheese, sliced strawberries, almonds, drizzled in honey). Drinks and food came out quick, and the staff were super welcoming and friendly. Both drinks were really good, and I though the Honey Berry Toast was delicious! Highly recommend trying it out! Penelope's is a fairly sized with seating available inside and out. It is located within a residential neighborhood with plenty of street parking available. Overall, enjoyed my experience here and look forward to returning to try new items from their menu.

There's a pop-up coffee stand at the Foster City Farmer's Market, open every Saturday. It has been…read morea regular fixture for some time now. They offer a variety of drinks including regular espresso, latte, cortado, as well as unique options like black sesame latte and Vietnamese coffee. They also have limited-time coffee specials and sell coffee beans, which seem quite popular. The owner is very friendly. I tried the Vietnamese iced coffee, which came with the owner's recommendation to add pandan and coconut milk. It was bold and delicious, though I wished the serving size was larger - just a few sips and it was gone. Despite the smaller size, the prices are reasonable. I look forward to trying other drinks in the future.

Best small roaster in the SF Bay Area! I have exclusively been buying beans from here for the past…read moreyear. Love meeting up at the farmers market occasionally to pick up Vietnamese coffee and lattes as well.

Recently discovered this place and today I was with my baby who fallen asleep in the car. I ordered…read moreonline but I couldn't park or figure out how to pick up my order. I stopped in front of their coffee shop and run back forth saying that my baby is sleeping, let me know when it is ready. So the cook bought my sandwich to the car even though I didn't ask for that. Awwww as postpartum mama who did not have her breakfast and coffee at 11am, I was so touched by their excellent service! Coffee was so smooth and my sandwich like my grandma did - so yummy! They just earned forever customer! :-)

I have never considered throwing away a drink, but the hojicha latte was terrible. It was super…read morewatered down and sugary. I could not taste much hojicha at all. It's a very light gray in the photos as you can see. I get that it's a new drink but I was shocked by how bad this was. It's part of a corporate building around a man-made body of water. The view is quite nice, but I would recommend ordering something else.

We still love this place and wish it was open later! But we'll continue to come for a brunch or…read moremid-afternoon snack! We love biking to this place and enjoying the food at the outdoor seating area! No matter how busy it is, service is always pretty slow haha. But it's worth it and the pieces are great. This time we tried the French toast with peanut butter and condensed milk. So good. 10/10 would recommend!

Many things to say... for starters, the wait for a table and food can be quite long. Don't come…read morehungry! Granted we came on Mother's day weekend for lunch, but the place was packed when we arrived. It's tucked in a little corner next to Osaka Marketplace by the water. We were lucky that a table outside was clearing out right when we were ordering. There was almost a few people waiting for a table at all times. The restaurant was kind of small, with only 5-8 tables inside (mainly for groups of 4 or less people). Outside there was several larger tables and the weather in the area is typically nice enough to dine outside. The staff seemed very stressed and under pressure. They were constantly running out orders and so they weren't very attentive to people coming in or waiting at the counter. Nonetheless we ordered a variety of things to share through the self-order kiosk. Between four people, we shared two appetizers and four entrees with some left over food. The siu mai and fish balls were as expected, nothing mind-blowing but the satay sauce was delicious and definitely necessary. Fried chicken wings were very crunchy exterior and moist inside, but the seasoning itself was a bit underwhelming in my opinion. Again, the included dipping sauce made the dish much more enjoyable. Lemongrass pork neck was flavorful and had that jowl texture that makes pork so succulent. The sweet chili sauce paired well for this simple dish. The fried egg addition is always nice. The bbq Iberian black pork was a little disappointing as the broth was a bit plain and the meat itself not as tender as we hoped. Noodles were decent. Cheesy corn pasta was an interesting fusion. The corn added sweetness while still retaining a savory taste from the sauce they used. A little creamy for my preference but I can see the appeal. HK style toast was unexpectedly good, but maybe because I had low expectations from the other items. There was a crisp exterior to the bread with fluffy interior, stuffed with peanut butter. The condensed milk is essential for this! Overall, neat idea that resembles many cafes in HK but average execution. We were hoping for more variety of dishes but it's alright for what they do have. It's nice diversification to the area.

"Excuse me, are you done yet?"…read more It's a fine coffee spot. Just not a place to get work done, relax, read, catch up with friends, or have something with your specialty coffee. Lest you be assaulted by the stares of the envious folks in line waiting to do the same thing. Just do yourself a favor and get the coffee to-go. As suggestion to the business: If the space could be renovated, then I'd recommend a long bar top along the wall at counter height. At least then you can fit more people in the space and their line of sight would be facing the wall or watching the coffee be made. Vs staring at the queue awkwardly.

No shame in declaring Kaizen as my favorite coffee shop in the Bay Area!…read more Kaizen is a coffee shop located blocks away from the Hillsdale shopping center. It does not have a dedicated parking lot, so be sure to grab the first street parking slot you see! It's a modern, small shop with some seating options (if you come early enough, you will be able to get something!) My usual here is typically a black sesame latte and I will say, probably the best one you can get in the Bay Area. It's toasty, nutty, but not over powering. I have been having a hard time finding a comparable contender. Besides that their vanilla latte is delicious and bright. For me their miso is a bit salty but that might be a preference. They also have some amazing selections of pastries you can get. I always get something new while I'm here, most recently, I got a pork floss croissant but I did enjoy the ube croissant when they still carried it. Their baristas are always very kind, and are willing to help. Despite coming in some busy times, I always get my drink in a reasonable time. I will continue to rave about this spot to my friends! It's a gem. :)

I come here on the weekends after swim class for lunch. I love the avocado on toast with Lox,…read morethe green tonic shake (very healthy) and quesadilla. They are only open until 3pm on weekends and 4pm on weekdays.

My new fave coffee shop!! Everything was great- service,…read moreambiance and mostly importantly the coffee!! I got the pistachio delight and beef sausage pastry. Definitely recommend it! Can't wait to come back!

Hours need to be updated. I tried going inside at 7:20 pm on a Sunday and the doors were locked. A…read morelady inside said they were closed. Looks like a cool spot. Maybe I'll try again at a different time.

The food was oh so delicious and yummy and the prices were excellent!!! I got the vegetarian…read moresandwich with cheese, onions, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes with a green goddess dressing and a special secret garlic aïoli. and washed it all down with a large yummy hot chai latte.

Lovely local bakery with fresh baked goods. Hard working family that is attentive to customers!read more

The bakes here was some of the top ones I have had. I tried a couple of bakeries on my road trip up…read morethe Pacific Northwest and this was one of my favorites! I tried the cheesy twist, morning bun, and the ham and cheese croissant. I am pretty sure I tried other things but I can't remember exactly what but these were the stars. The cheesy twist kind of tasted like there was an Alfredo type sauce along with the cheese. It was delicious. One thing I wish I would have done is ask for it heated because I saw some other people doing that and it looked delicious. The morning bun was so good. It had a beautiful medley of spices that truly brightened your morning. The flavors were so balanced. As for the ham and cheese croissant, the star was the ham. The flavor of the ham reminded me of a thanksgiving ham. It was amazing! Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with anything here. I regret not getting a full loaf of bread to take home with me.

Update 4/1/26 - came in yesterday and tried a new item. The passion fruit danish, and omg... I'm…read moreobsessed!!!! It was so dang delicious, I went back today in the hopes it might be there again. Needless to say, I figured the chances were pretty slim!!! No way it would be there. however to my overwhelming happiness it was Don't judge me. had to get a couple!! I even told the kind staff members helping me... PLEASE..... tell the Chef.. to make these a regular. & That all the baked goods are great, but this danish is amazing!!! It's just that good, to me!! The dough is a perfect soft chew, layered almost with just enough butter and sweetness. The passion fruit shines with the perfect tart and zip.... And that marshmallowy meringue on it, is delightful. " You did your thing with this danish Chef" This danish now trumps my go to kouign Amann. By the way. I'm from Hawaii, so it might be one reason this flavor speaks to me, but I'm pretty sure anyone who likes a little tart, bright, perfect sweet will also enjoy it. If not more for me I did get an epi for my friend and a couple other goodies as well. I dropped off two items to a friend who works near and she could not thank me enough and tell me how much she enjoyed her goodies too.

did you know? there's a nice buffet in the bay area? I just love buffets and really wish there were…read moremore around. this place doesn't seem to be on people's radars. Cafe Florian has a chill sunday brunch buffet. I like the extra decor and festive vibes during the holidays. I went a week before Christmas and it has the lights and Santa and reindeer figures along the buffet line. it's easy to relax and stay awhile. no rush. just enjoy yourself. there's a calm, unhurried atmosphere that works well for quiet conversations or casual meet ups with a group. There are two large rooms you can sit in. Either the outside lobby where more of the decor and higher ceilings are, or the inside banquet room which has lively tropical music when I went. I sat outside lobby and enjoyed it! food highlights- -dessert bar: so many choices and they were tasty! mango cake, mango cheesecake, chocolate cake, chocolate/vanilla fro yo machine with a sprinkles/toppings bar, fruit tarts (these little guys were a nice treat!) -prime rib! they do run out and takes time to replenish so don't go too late in the day -jumbo cocktail shrimps: these guys are big, eat with cocktail sauce -pork ribs: the meat is so tender and the sauce works very well with it - bottomless mimosa! I just got one glass even though it's bottomless, it's enough for me, just to feel like it's a celebration service was friendly and welcoming. dirty dishes could have been moved away sooner because i would come back with new food but have to juggle placing it on the table with old dishes. maybe they needed more staff. set your expectations appropriately for this is a casual buffet. You can't expect a Vegas style spread, you're in the bay area. good time!

Hands down, worst brunch to date…read more I watched videos, I read reviews, so when I took that hour drive to Foster City, I just knew this brunch would be worth it. I was wrong, so so wrong. First impression, was that it reminded me of the breakfast buffet at the Embassy Suites. Not bad but for sure not $60 worth. They had freezing cold, almost cold crab that I knew would be cold but when I asked for warm butter, all the could offer was movie theatre margarine, that was so salty and cold, I could eat it at all. Everything, I mean everything was lukewarm if not freezing cold! Could not enjoy the soup, the prime rib or the mash. the mash also had some really thick cheese which, when I tried to pull, it lifted the whole thing off of my plate.... gross. The service was great! Marcia was great and she did everything she could to make us comfortable but at the end, it's not her fault. She was the best part of this process. It did come with bottomless mimosas so I thought that would be the saving grace, but no.... the most tart bottom champagne, not even Andre. This experience was so disappointing and I will never be back.