This is my current study/work/read cafe of choice in the East Bay. In point form here's what it has going for it: -WiFi: free and fast (there are also a couple of pay-per-use machines in the back), with plenty of well-located outlets -Music: low-volume lounge electronica and trance -Seating: though busy, it's usually easy to get a table, and there's also a pillow seating area (where someone's almost always sleeping) and a couple of easy chairs in the back -Coffee: good and organic (about $2.50 for a double americano), with the full array of coffee condiments -Crowd: your typical young urban Berkeley affair, and people are usually reading or working on something -Parking: street and plentiful -Location: Very central on the Oak/Berk border, on a low-traffic part of Shattuck -Food: Fresh and tasty, but slightly pricey. The breakfast bruschetta, with a large mound of ricotta and fruit, is a treat. The only problem I have with this place is the variable service. Sometimes its fast, but often it's very slow. However, it's always friendly. read more

Good coffee, great service. Not outstanding overall, but a nice local hangout. Offer a quickie menu including Vietnamese sandwiches which I'll try next time. read more

Nomad Cafe - Almond milk latte... - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

I will forever miss coming to Nomad Cafe now that I no longer live in Oakland. They have great coffee, and their food is fantastic. I love the breakfast sandwiches and would go every weekend when we lived nearby. The staff is amazing and so kind. They learn all of the regulars by name and are so friendly. Please support them during this tough time! They're truly a gem that makes the neighborhood. read more

tldr: Amazing cafe with delicious bahn mis with homemade meats/tofu! You gotta try! This cafe is run by the nicest family. They are so welcoming and warm every time I come by. I was especially amazed by the person working the cash register; they seem to know every single customer's name! They bring out food to everyone, and you can tell they put in the effort to make sure each customer feels special. Next, the food!! The bahn mis are just amazing. I haven't tried all of them, but all of the ones I have had (tofu, tofu with pineapple, pork) have been so good. They're reasonably priced and scrumptious, so sometimes I have 2! Finally, as for drinks, I'm not much of a coffee person, but everyone who I've gone with has said the coffee is good. The chagaccino (coffee with mushroom thing) is a hit with many. Please stop by Nomad Cafe if you're in the area! You won't regret it. read more

I heard them cutting my fresh cherry tomatoes and cucumbers for my salad - not taking them out of the fridge. The Chicken Curry sandwich was to die for, and the iced coffee was freshly brewed. The food is so good here, the wifi is strong, and the windows are floor-to-ceiling. It's a beautiful little spot to chill at. They have lots of different sandwiches, a little Vietnamese-inspired, as well as great coffee, tea, smoothies, and breakfast. Highly recommend!! read more

Nomad Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

The people are nice. I am the one who didn't get the memo that their bagels are terrible. Honestly, I wouldn't even tried this place if Nick's was open. (They are on summer break until after July 6th.) I should have checked Yelp before I went because everyone talks about their banh mi, which makes sense because the owners/store keepers are Vietnamese. I really didn't want to give it a 2 star, it was really 1.5 or 1 star but I don't want to put these people out of business. Maybe their sandwiches are great but I am a believer that everything on your menu should be good. Maybe Vietnamese breakfast only because these bagels were seriously bad, the worst I've had in years. How bad? They were hard and tasteless. I got the veggie and even though the vegetables were fine, there was so much pepper, it was hard to not cough. I asked for hummus, which was this grey layer that didn't taste like hummus. I don't know what it was but it wasn't hummus. I also ordered a plan bagel with plan cream cheese. The cream cheese was almost non-existent. The bagel was hard and tasteless. For $3.50 each, maybe take the bagel off the menu? I know, I didn't get the coffee and I didn't get their Banh Mi. Again, if bagels are not your thing, maybe don't have it on the menu? I can't go back here, even if it is to try the sandwiches. This place literally left a bad taste. read more

Nomad is the best, especially their bahn mi. Extremely kind, friendly family. I go all the time.

The chicken and pineapple sandwich is the BEST! I apologize for not exploring more on the menu to share with you guys lol. They have good quality coffee and my orders are always taken and served with a smile. Usually you can find a good banh mi samdwich sonewhere in chinatown for $3. These are priced at $6. Steep? Not even. You're paying for good ingredients and friendly service. Plus theres the perfect amount to get you full. I usually have to buy 2 elsewhere to get me full. Look, just come here and check it out yourself! read more

I just had an allergic reaction from eating at this place. They put coconut in their white chocolate mocha's and I didn't know. My throat started to close up and I had to take 3 Benadryl. I've never heard of a place using coconut in their mochas. I also ordered an egg and cheese croissant and the egg was green inside and it smelled like it was bad. It was completely inedible. Sorely disappointed. read more

She warned me that the white chocolate mocha had power in it. She was right. The drink was chalky and not sweet. The upside: The lack of sugar allowed me to taste the coffee. Its flavor was solid with a nice level of "roasted-ness". read more

Nomad Cafe - This is the white chocolate mocha. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

I totally recommend coming to this place. My experience here was great, i got a grilled chicken panini and it was delicious, i also got a mango smoothie and i loved it , my partner got the bahn mi and it was full of flavor! You guys should totally come check it out! read more

Great and pretty affordable sandwiches, awesome staff and now, during Covid, outside seating. Best grub in the neighborhood.

I love this place! It's such a neighborhood cafe where many of the staff and customers know each other's names. The staff is really friendly and they create a very welcoming atmosphere. Good food (my favorite is the pork bun mai!), good coffee and good people. read more

Very nice and comfy cafe, staff is very friendly. Love the coffee drinks here and kids love having bagels and treats here read more

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This is one of my favorite coffee shop. Chicken panini is one of my favorite sandwich there.they also have so maybe different kinds of cold drink.first time tried Thai ice coffee it was amazing I love it.peoples are friendly and kind also. I would go more. read more

Nomad Cafe has been my #1 spot for over 15 years. I have searched the world (via extensive overseas work travel) for its parallel and found nothing that comes close. First, the service: The family who welcomes you is always cheerful, warm, neighborly, familiar; Second, the coffee: The serve Tony's (Bellingham, WA) - something about the way it is roasted means no coffee hangover; Third, the food: Everything they serve is impeccably fresh, good quantity, tasty and they often add things to the menu. Pre-pandemic this was a regular daily spot for many people. The current outdoor-only seating is on the sunny side of the building. Nomad Cafe makes this neighborhood great, and though I moved about 2.5 miles away, I make the drive as often as possible. Thank you Nomad Cafe. read more

Good latte with almond milk, organic ingredients, nice! On the small side. I like that there's no loud music. read more

Nomad Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

They are open for pick ups during COVID-19. Order online or via phone and pick up. I recently picked up smoked salmon salad lunch with latte for lunch. In general, excellent place cafe for work, coffee break, breakfast, and lunch. Good quality coffee, good food, and friendly staff. The best of the neighborhood. read more

Good food & good prices, courteous staff. Added to our order by phone and staff accommodated promptly

Great food and awesome service! Food was timely and the wait staff was friendly. Good options for drinks and vegetarian friendly. Would definitely go again! read more

I want to love the Nomad. I really do. It seems like such a nice, community-minded place and with good coffee. But my problem with the Nomad is that I can't sit down. Not at all. The chairs are tiny and have arms -- all of them. Now, I'm not talking about Lee Press-On chairs where you sit down and it hugs your butt so tight that you have to pry the chair off when you get up. No, I can't even get into these chairs in the first place. In all fairness, I have known about this for years, since they first opened, and I have never said a word to them about it. I met someone for a coffee date there once, and knowing about the state of the chairs, I simply brought my own and sat outside. But you know what? I shouldn't have to do that. And 99% of the time I just go elsewhere. But like I said, I'd really love to love the Nomad, and so what I really hope is that they will read this and consider getting a dozen or so sturdy armless chairs to accomodate those of us with large asses. Not only would it be the right thing to do, it'd be good for business. Fat-friendly rating = 0 Love, Max read more

So here's the deal. Chris, the owner who made a name for himself by creating a cafe using organic ingredients and promoting recycling and composting within the cafe, sold the business this past summer. Before he left he brought in two of the changes people complain about most: he put covers on the outlets to discourage laptop customers from using his cafe as an office, and he switched to Tony's Coffee, which I think it inferior to the kind he used to use. The new owners downgraded the menu to nearly no food and no longer use organic ingredients (I saw the barista pour half-and-half from a Berkeley Farms container and he confirmed they're no longer using organic ingredients - allthough the prices are still high). The new owners also started baking a couple pastries/coffee cakes each day - fairly decent. And they bought new tables, which have more comfortable chairs than the old ones. While the music is still usually good, and I'll always like the cafe for how much natural light infuses it, the vibe is now off. The staff who had been hired by Chris don't seem that happy; there's one barista guy who is incredibly sullen - while taking your order, he barely mumbles as he frowns at you. Maybe that's considered hip in the Mission, but over here in North Oakland/South Berkeley, it's just considered rude. I still drop in ocassionally because it's a block from my home, but it no longer feels like a fun hang-out. read more

Yes, another coffeeshop review. My life is just that exciting. There are lovable things about Nomad: it's sunny, it's uncrowded (mostly), the baristas smile, and they've got loads of local info posted all over so you may find something to do with your life besides sitting in coffeeshops all day (I'm not bitter). I picked up a flier for an independent book fair, and learned about tantric yoga lessons from a postcard in the bathroom. Things were looking up. I'm a teetotaler, mostly, so I can't comment on the coffee. But the atmosphere was nice and mellow - perfect for tapping away for a few carpal tunneling hours. They have these cool, high-tech window shades they can lower and raise depending on how intense the sun is, and they are happy to adjust them to your liking. A nice touch. Since Nomad is off the beaten UC kid path, you can be an undercover cafe-dweller here and not have to fight for a table or an outlet. And that alone gets an extra star. read more

I'm not going back because: * Food & coffee are overpriced * Staff enjoys the power of their distinct position as "nomad baristas" much too much for comfort Ten years ago, I would've hated this place. And I would've come back again and again. This is a place for displaced youth who want to bask in the sense of belonging to a class they see as exclusive, and unwelcoming - a cover for their sense of insecurity in not belonging. I wondered how the other customers there could afford anything on the menu. Not one of them appeared to be the corporate shill that I am. If you're in for a touch of masochism this place will be uniquely exciting for you. My point is that until you start working to make fair trade and environmentally conscious purchases affordable for all socio-economic levels, you're not really changing anything. I'm not sure yet how you do this . . . but thats far beyond the scope of this review. read more

I started going to this place shortly after it opened, but then moved out of town and haven't been back until last week and this week. It was always a toss-up for me between Jumpin Java, just a block up the street, and Nomad. Jumpin Java had the most uncomfortable wood benches I had ever sat in, and variable coffee quality (sometimes great, sometimes not), though I loved the owner; Nomad was more consistent, and had those loft-style accessories and wire chairs that were marginally more comfortable. Anyway, Though I've probably bought well over $1000 worth of comestibles at Nomad over the years, I probably won't be going back again, at least not until I find out that some of my "complaints" are resolved. Allow me to itemize the reasons I'll take my business elsewhere: 1) PRICES. $3.95 for a regular latte is just about the most expensive latte in the Bay Area. They used conscientious, free range ingredients (good), but the latte was not exceptional. Certainly not worth $3.95. And, order a bagel with stuff: the bagel is $2.00, each extra is $0.75. The cream cheese was borderline disgusting -- too thin to handle the warmth of a bagel. However, $0.75 for a single, lone, wretched, flavorless, decrepit tomato slice (one slice, no more than 2mm in thickness) seems a bit exorbitant. $3.50 for a poor bagel with cream cheese and an infinitesimal fraction of a tomato from beyond the crypt was, like the latte, well, bordering on "rip-off." 2) Loud angry ANNOUNCEMENTS. Despite the fact that all of us in there had paid considerably inflated prices for our meager rations, not once but FOUR times over the course of two and one half hours employees (differing ones) would announce in a voice beyond yelling, firmly in the camp of screaming: "ATTENTION NOMAD CUSTOMERS! IF YOU HAVEN'T BOUGHT ANY FOOD OR DRINKS IN THE LAST HOUR PLEASE BUY SOME NOW, OR LEAVE NOMAD CAFE" and variations on this theme. I'm sorry dear Nomad employees, y'all so self-righteous and all, but we just paid the highest prices in THE ENTIRE UPPER HALF OF CALIFORNIA for food and drink that is not worthy of the price, and we're trying to enjoy a cafe ambience - in the absence of kick-ass comestibles, that's all you got to offer. Nothing "breaks the mood" of a cafe experience like an angry, self-righteous public (dis)service announcement that firmly convinces us, YOUR customers, that YOU WISHED WE WEREN'T THERE. Ultimately, Nomad Cafe's priorities are NOT on their customers, but on turning tables and eeking the maximum PROFIT per square feet. That's ok from the perspective of economics theory, but sorry, I do not pay my money for poor customer service and all that ANTAGONISTIC ATTITUDE. Running a cafe involves a mix of pragmatic economics with good customer service. Please excuse my UPPER CASE writing which connotes a SCREAMING delivery, I've just been SCREAMED at by NOMAD a few too many times today. read more

First of all, Christopher, the owner, is good people. He's a community activist and environmental leader in stressing clean practices in his business. He's one of the people that makes the Easy Bay great. Second, the digs. They brighten up Shattuck. The "kids" area is just as comfortable for adults. There is free wifi and an internet station for those who don't own computers. There are community bulletin boards. They even expanded their hours and started offering beer. (wine too?) They will loan you a lock if you're worried about your laptop getting snatched. (I believe) Third, the coffee and sandwiches are good. Nomad leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy inside in more ways than one. They used to be, and still are, my neighborhood coffee shop. For a while, I tried to patronize one at 55th/MLK, Copa de Leche, that was brightening up my hood, but they didn't make it. Now it's Nomad again! read more

I've been an off-again, on-again patron of Nomad for years. But today is my last time. The woman at the counter looked at me like I just kicked her dog. Then she took my $3 for lemonade and proceeded to pour a glass of bought-from-Trader-Joe's brand. $3 is a damn ripoff for that. I won't be coming back. read more

I give this cafe two stars. Why two? Because it serves up a decent cup of coffee. Why not three, four, or five? Because for starters, they have the slowest service of any cafe I have ever visited. And that's with two or three baristas working the counter at any given moment! At their best, the staff is chatty and friendly, but at worst, slow. But they take little care in their craft, taking one order and making it, then taking another order, then making it, and so on...rather than taking and starting on multiple orders at once. Thus there is always a line out the door. Owner Christopher Waters' attempt at creating a convivial coffeehouse culture with live music and artwork is undermined by his provision of free wireless internet, which draws the work-at-home urban yupsters like ravers to glo-sticks. That, and the art is chosen apparently by its availability, and not its ability to create a mood or thought-provoking atmosphere. One month of local school kids' Just Say No to Smoking posters was enough to make me want to chain-smoke three packs of Camel Reds. Conceptually, Waters also is proud of his "green" business, posting all sorts of certificates and accolades on his bathroom bulletin board. But that in itself is so Berkeley: "green" is the attraction, the marketing concept, put before the essential component of quality. And to see the crowds, it apparently works. The food menu is sloppy--a daft interpretation of "gourmet" cafe fare, with greasy grilled panini with oozing cheese and scant additional toppings, all for the price you would pay at Gregoire for a real, memorable, gourmet sandwich. As a breakfast place, Nomad is lame. As a lunch place, it's dumb. For a hangout, it's blind and deaf as well...the only reason I often go there is for the ample round tables where I can spread out and draw...really, I WANT to like this place... And for just a quick morning cuppa joe, I often find myself going a block down to Jumpin' Java--also a neck-stiffening hangout, but at least they serve up quick decent coffee with no lines and a friendly smile. And free wireless. read more

Initially I was excited about this cafe opening up in the area. The building it is in is very nice and has a Dutch "space saver" flair to it. I had high hopes for the place since they serve up fair trade coffee and organic foods. However, the idea of something is often far better then the ensuing product (remember when a company thought they could "sell" you a DVD product that had an expiration date and planned to eliminate the idea of DVD rental entirely? Great idea there, eliminating the need to go to blockbuster and return DVDs, Divx. Poorly executed, until Netflix, but that's another review). Where to begin? The service is terrible. I've never seen a cafe where the norm was "slower is better". It takes them forever to prepare anything ordered off of the menu. How hard is it to pour me a bowl of granola? That's a nearly $8 bowl of granola BTW. The service is slow slow slow. Speaking of the food, the menu is limited and what is available is at best expensive and poorly executed and at worst a total rip-off. I had a sandwich and was left wondering why they though the sandwich was worth what they charged. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a cheapo or someone who expects top notch, organic ingredients for $5, but I do expect the extra cost to carry over into the food. I expect a good deal. Frankly, I'd say while the sandwich was decent, it was not worth what I paid for it. They sell organic beer and wine that is...well...organic. It's OK. Nothing too great and not bad either. Well, the coffee is what you go for, right? It does declare itself a "cafe" on the sign, right? Wow. The coffee is terrible. I don't know what kind of coffee the people who rave about this stuff are used to, but the coffee gets negative stars from me. I've tried all their blends and espresso drinks at least once and have yet to find one with a good balance. Yes, I am a coffee snob and I expect a lot, especially in the home-town of Peet's! Sadly I was left wanting. The coffee at Jumpin' Java down the block is better and up Alcatraz at Royal/Cole Coffee it is amazing. Given that there is not just superior but FAR superior coffee in the neighborhood I'd recommend going there. The "final humiliation"? When you order to-go coffee the place charges you .15 cents for your cup. As my server responded to my question of 'what? Why?': "[we want to] encourage you to bring your own cup so we charge for to go cups" This flies in the face of basic logic. You don't want to TAX your customers you want to offer an incentive if your goal is to encourage people to bring in their own cup. Incentives are things like DISCOUNTS for bringing your own cup (much like Peet's or 99.9% of local coffee shops do) not a tacked on charge for what amounts to normal service in this industry (EG a cup to hold the coffee/drink you just purchased). Instead, the place adds what amounts to a hidden cost to their coffee. Ignore the fact that the cup and coffee sleeve are recycled paper, and can also be recycled. Ignore the fact that the plastic lid is really the only waste. Shame on this place for using the auspices of "we're a green coffee house" to add more to the cost of a cup of coffee. Given the limited seating, most people I see get their coffee to go. This smacks (to me) of a made up reason (the answer sounded well rehearsed to me) to charge you more. This "Tax" brings the cost of a small coffee to nearly $2. $2 for a 12oz cup of coffee! Speaking of seating, they have a limited number of tables. Maybe 5 or so inside, and 8 or so outside. Given the limited range of the seating, (and thus, the inability for you to even order coffee to drink on site) the aforementioned 15 cent tax is basically a given. Essentially all it amounts to is an overpriced cafe that has a free wi-fi hotspot. While I applaud the efforts to go "green" don't pass on the costs to the consumer by adding on additional hidden charges and fees so you can say that you charge $1.75 for a small coffee and not have to justify why coffee is $2. (ok, $1.90, but at that point that 10 cents is lost, or in the tip jar to keep it out of your pockets, so it's basically $2). They do support local artists and have PC's for use if you don't have a computer but the Pizzaria down the street 2 blocks has better computers and net access (and better coffee, go figure) there (Spuds Pizza). As I said, I'll take my business to the other, local shops that understand that going green and selling fair trade coffee isn't an excuse to price gouge. If I could give it zero I would. Don't waste your time here. read more

I don't know if this place is recently under new management or Chris (the previous or possibly still current owner) just got sick of having so many laptop junkies filling his cafe at every hour of the day. Anyway, all of the things that made this space kind of comfortable and cozy - namely the gourmet sandwiches, available outlets, public computer terminals and friendly people - have all suddenly disappeared. And surprise, it looks like most of the customers have disappeared too. It looks like they suddenly serve basically the same menu items as the more scrubby looking place down the street, bagels, pastries, basic sandwiches. As someone who comes in frequently to work (yes, on a laptop) I can say that we, the laptop staring public, DO buy things (like fancy sandwiches at $8 a piece as well as many many cups of $3 coffee) while we sit there for half the day, and many of us keep a tab in our heads of a decent hours-spent - to - dollars-spent ratio. After all most of us are working on small businesses ourselves. New management or old, I think they're making a business-killing mistake. read more

Nomad has slowly shifted identities in the last six months since the new ownership settled in. It is still very much the same decent-coffee-and-light-lunch-chill-working-cafe that it always was, but the new folks have made a few changes, some for the better. Young, local baristas used to run the show, which gave it a certain hip aura, but I find the Vietnamese(?) family to be more competent in some ways, with a more humble and accommodating approach to service. They also extended the menu to include spring rolls and other random edibles. Prices are still slightly higher than anything else in the area, and food has taken a mild dip in quality (there is no excuse for an iceberg lettuce salad) but overall it's still an oasis in an underserved part of North Oakland. My biggest complaint is the lack of evening hours. Once a rare late night establishment, Nomad hasn't been open past 8pm for more than a year. New ownership indicated that they would consider extending hours but that hasn't happened. Also, the new outdoor chairs are very poor excuses for furniture, cruelly cutting off circulation in your thigh. Buyers: sit in a chair for more than 30 minutes before you make a decision. read more

There's a new owner, and I hope things improve. I think it is totally bizarre that you place and pay for your order, and then nobody makes any effort to tell you when the order is up. Goodness knows, all that standing around behind the counter must take a lot of energy, because nobody can be bothered to tell you when the coffee that took ten minutes to serve is FINALLY ready. The menu has gotten progressively yuckier, and the staff seems totally uninterested in their jobs or customers. If you're a regular, you can amuse yourself by seeing if they ever serve their drinks the same way twice. Hot chocolate in a pint glass one week, and in a mug the next. Do they pick serving styles at random, or never wash their dishes? Who knows. read more

Three stars is pushin' it as far as I'm concerned, but I'm not going to be nasty, and, in this wealth of caffeine-driven establishments, I DID choose to check this spot out. Part of the appeal, admittedly, was a 50% off coupon...To begin, this is a somewhat skanky stretch of Shattuck...not terrible, but not a destination, that's for sure. Secondly, every seat was taken by lounge lizards endlessly gazing at their computers and nursing the cheapest item on the menu. I wound up squatting on a bit of raised floor (which, I might add was dirty & covered with crumbs). I ordered the Mediterranean plate but they were out of hummus....ummm, isn't this the bulk of most Med plates?! Well, I got double baba ganoush, and it was okay. No great shakes. The pita was warm but chilled immediately. The olives were okay, but just kind of mushy...no real integrity left to them, as tho' they had been sitting in a bin for too long. The lemonade was quite good, tho'. Not too sweet, not too tart. On a hot day this is the drink to get here. I like the eco theme here tho' someone who planned the place didn't think things through...they put the majority of tables on the coldest, most shadow-filled side of the building... Would I return? Probably not, unless I was dying for a lemonade & happened to be in the neighborhood. If you got one of those coupon Metro Guide books, use the coupon and see for yourselves. The coupon made it an okay experience. Full price would have demoted this review to 2 stars easily. There are just too many good cafes with good food & great service in this town to settle.... One final point, the old saying, "Be here now"??? Well this place is filled to the brim with people occupying space "Being anywhere else but here now".... read more

I used to like the Nomad when they first opened. The architecture of the building is great, and the staff was very solicitous. However, they have become very popular, particularly with folks who use the free wireless internet and hold the same tables for hours. Worse, the same staff who used to know me now ignore me. I ordered a simple grilled sandwich and waited for about a half an hour, while the counter person chatted amicably with some friends. read more

Funny, I don't remember this place being run by coffee snob douche bags. It's first thing in the morning, I ask for a breve. He wants to me clarify what kind of breve while the barista tells him exactly what I want. I tell him that, yes, in fact I want the latte breve. If I wanted a mocha, I likely would have said I wanted a mocha. Just make it, don't ask questions. Then he tries to charge me $4.25. Since when is a freakin breve $4.25. I can get it at the Berkeley Bowl for $1.75! This guy was such a coffee snob douche I had to go plug Jack Johnson in my ears. Where did all the good people go, Jack? The coffee, as a side note, that I ended up ordering out of attitude, was fine. read more

Nomad does not back its claim to support the arts. When I was participating in National Novel Writing Month last year, I arrived early to secure a table for a group of aspiring writers. Nomad gets crowded at lunch, so I came early to get that table. This meeting had been put on a calendar and the other writers were expecting to find a table when they got there. HOWEVER, as the time for the meeting grew near, a member of Nomad's staff told me I had to leave because some members of Mayor Brown's staff was coming, and they had requested that specific table. I'm sure that Mayor Brown had no intention to disrupt community arts activities, so after I lost the argument to keep the table, I tried to leave a not to let Mayor Brown's staff know who they had displaced in demanding a specific table. Nomad cafe staff removed my note twice. I then stood near the table until Mayor Brown's staff arrived. I then tried to explain what happened. Mayor Brown himself wasn't there - it was just a staff meeting of some sort. They didn't do the chivalrous thing and relenquish the table. I'm not sure they even absorbed what I was saying to them. This really made me feel like the local government didn't care about the people they were supposed to be representing at all. I haven't been back to Nomad since. I think if they want to be honest, though, they should stop saying they support the arts. They could, however, make a just claim that they kiss up to political staffers at the expense of the local arts community. read more

Wow, Yelp users are brutal! This is by far one of the best coffee shops I've been to in the Bay Area. And I've been to a few since I need somewhere good to get my morning coffee. The staff is amazing, friendly, and helpful, and the coffee is consistently caffeinated and delicious. I don't know why you all are griping about outlets, inorganic products, and the like. This economy has hit small businesses hard, so organic ingredients might have been a sacrifice they had to make in order to stay open. Many restaurants and cafes have undergone this change in the last year and a half. Grow your own food if you're so concerned. As for the outlets, there are still outlets available, and there usually aren't more than four people needing one so you are fiiiiiine, calm down for goodness sake! At least they don't charge you for wifi! I come here almost everyday. You should too! Best soy latte ever! Ample bike parking! Great music! Awesome conversations! Everything bagels! What more can you ask for? FIVE STARS! read more

I went on a saturday afternoon driving past it feeling a desire to be quenched by something juicy. Instead I needed a wake up call from an Americano. For a single shot $2, the espresso was weak plus I'm not a regular coffee drinker. My friend's orange juice was oversweet. Instead of the freshness, quenching aspect, he got a syrupy drink. The barista was fast and accomadating. Instead of saying "Can I help you?" when I blankly stared at their well arranged menu, he told me to take my time. The female barista, I thought I recognized her before on Telegraph. She was blonde and tall but also very muscular. Which makes me wonder about my friends who were volleyball players. read more

Nomad is my laptop home away from home. I like that there are more Mac users there than pc users, it's a great place to ask other Mac users annoying questions. And sometimes I wonder if Nomad Cafe is sharing my iTunes library because so many of the songs they play seem to be ones I listen to as well (a lot of Nick Drake, for example). Overall, the vibe is cool; there is a cozy corner, eco everything, bands on the weekends, and generally friendly service. Sometimes I have walked out because the cafe is full. That has happened maybe one out of every five times I've walked in. I don't drink coffee but I do drink tea and I like their Numi and loose leaf tea selections. As for their food...I haven't eaten much of it because there is not much for me to eat. It is mostly a coffeeshop afterall. There seem to be some veggie and vegan options (hummus/Mediterranean type fare and salads). But there is hardly anything that is both gluten and dairy free. That's okay. I just like to be able to plug in and sip some tea in the cozy corner. And every so often I meet someone for tea, laptopless. read more

Nomad, Nomad, Nomad, you wandered into a fairly sketchy part of Shattuck and look what you did. You brought a thriving and wonderfully edgy business to life in the middle of it all. So Nomad isn't quite in Temescal - but it is very close. When you try to be on the cutting edge your are bound to be loved by some and not by others. For me I love this place. It is a feel good community focused place. Comfortable. And from the way that folks hang around, others find it comforting as well. Then there is the owner, Christopher. He sets the tone for the Nomad- community building, consciencous to a fault, tireless in the pursuit of eco-friendly right business. You don't support folks like this in chain stores. Your do find folks like this in wonderful local places like Nomad. read more