The Grove- great for eating, studying, and people watching!

The Grove is an eclectic café on Fillmore Street, in San Francisco. If you do not know much about San Francisco, Fillmore Street is where you go if you are— about 30 years old, trendy, and (probably) wealthy. The boutiques, restaurants, bars, and specialty shops are all high-end; or at least they act as if they are.

The Grove is no different. The food at The Grove covers quite a range. The breakfast options are delightful. A few of the delicious bagel combinations include: Raul’s Bagel (scrambled eggs, melted American cheese, and thick-sliced bacon), Derek’s Bagel (hummus, avocado, sprouts, red onion, and tomato), and The New Yorker Bagel (smoked salmon, cream cheese, and sliced red onions). The bagels however, pale in comparison to the rest of the Grove’s extensive menu. Other breakfast options include—granola, oatmeal, French toast, breakfast burrito, waffles, and crab cakes. If you are more of a lunch person, the Grove offers hot pressed sandwich platters, salads, and a full entrée menu. For example, the Berkeley Bowl is an amazing (and huge) salad that features sweet tomatoes, carrots, English cucumbers, red onions, ripe avocado, roasted peppers, alfalfa sprouts, and garbanzo beans with homemade ranch dressing.

Although the menu has endless options for any craving at any time of the day, it is not the food that keeps the Grove packed from open to close. Looking around the café, food is not what covers the tables—it is laptops, books, and briefcases. It seems like since the invention of laptops and wireless Internet access, people have started to leave the comfort of their homes and head to a café or anywhere else they can find. I know getting out of the house to do work, helps me focus much more on the task at hand, instead of the dishes, laundry, and even the television. The Grove’s laid back atmosphere makes it easy to study and get loads of work done. They have an ample amount of outlets to plug in laptops, and they offer an Internet service with daily or monthly rate options. Most importantly, no one will hassle you if you sit and do work for endless hours and only order a white chocolate mocha.

The Grove opens early and closes late. I love this place. It has everything I need—a ‘homey’ feel, Internet access, and great food. Just a warning…the Grove is no secret so it tends to get really packed. But hey, who doesn’t love a little people watching?

Best Barista: Centrally Located

In a city like San Francisco, it is hard for independent coffee shops to compete with the usual suspect like Starbucks and Peets. Thankfully, some do survive including Central Coffee, which is located on the Northeast corner of Central and Hayes, right next to a Hayes bus stop which is great for the business and the businessmen alike. Central Coffee has managed to thrive by staying true to themselves and providing a cozy, laidback, and eclectic atmosphere for their customers. Central Coffee seems to break every rule that Starbucks and Peets stick to: none of the furniture matches, the music is anything but mainstream, and most importantly the Internet access is FREE! When you walk into Central Coffee you instantly feel comfortable, the music is relaxing and everyone inside are extraordinarily nice (customers and employees alike).

Ali, the owner of twelve years, has clearly worked very hard to set Central Coffee apart from the coffee industries moguls. It is a very “neighborhoody” place explained Michael, who has been a Central Coffee employee for six years. “We have a lot of regulars. We know their names and what they want. I think that is important…something you would not find at most Starbucks,” said Michael. Central Coffee offers a full menu, and Ali is adamant that everything they serve is made of all natural and fresh ingredients. Central Coffee has at least ten different types of bagels at any given time including jalapeño, plain, egg, blueberry, onion, combination, garlic, and pumpernickel! In addition to the wide variety of bagels that CC offers, they also have savory cream cheeses that will leave your mouth watering. The delicious cream cheese flavors include: roasted garlic with fresh herbs (my personal favorite!), smoked mozzarella with slow roasted tomatoes, smoked salmon with dill, and habanero jack with roasted peppers.

The cozy coffee shop has everything you need when it comes to the perfect cup of Joe experience. A random mix of tables and chairs are great for reading the Chronicle, getting work done on your laptop (using CC’s free wireless internet), grabbing one of the obscure books that fill up the bookcases in the shop, or just relaxing with a cup of coffee or a spinach pesto quiche. To be honest I have been a Starbucks fanatic for as long as I can remember and I even drank the same Venti Chai Tea Latte every single day. However, since moving 1/2 a block from CC I have ended my long-term relationship with Starbucks and always find myself at Central Coffee ordering a large (much sweeter) Oregon Chai Tea!