Blue Danube Coffee House

The Wi-​Fi is super slow. If your plan is to sit at the café and work on the laptop, I would suggest going elsewhere because it’s just too frustratingly slow. I would like to support small businesses but it seems to have a different vibe from before.

Thank God! I really thought that the Danube was gone forever. Still my favorite coffee shop in the world. The renovation is nice and didn’t make it s different place at all. The precious notebooks are still there and the iced cappuccino still tastes just like it used to — perfect!

Unfortunately, I am done with Blue Danube. While I love it for reading or grading papers at night, I’ve had two Saturday morning experiences now that have put me off. Once, I ordered a fresh grapefruit juice and watched the woman behind the counter examine a moldy grapefruit, cut a portion of it off and begin to put the rest of it in the juicer. And I’m talking super-​fuzzy-​caving-​in moldy. I stopped her, and asked her to please not use the moldy one. She looked at me and set it aside, but she didn’t apologize or explain at all. The second Saturday was just this weekend. Same lady. I came in with my five year old son who has a walnut allergy. He wanted a muffin, and there was only one so I asked her what kind it was. She says cinnamon raisin. I asked if it had nuts, and explained that I needed to be sure because my son has an allergy. She says no nuts. We take it to our table, I cut it in half, and guess what? It’s actually a carrot, raisin, WALNUT muffin. Good thing I cut in before he bit in! I took it back to the counter… no apology, no can I get you something else, no words at all, just reaches into the cash register to get my money back. Dirty couches, careless workers, and no customer service at all (at least from this lady).

Very, very weird vibe from this place, mostly due to the young girls behind the counter (and sometimes a random guy who I don’t think works there but is a boyfriend of one of the girls).
I tried to order a sandwich and drink and was ignored. Two girls were behind the counter, standing directly in front of me, and didn’t acknowledge me. When I asked again, the girls turned to me, visibly annoyed, and took my order.
When I finally received my food and drink, my iced coffee felt like it was put together haphazardly – watery, tons of milk, little coffee. The sandwich, however, was pretty good.
Not sure what it is about the girls, but my sense is that their hurting this business.

Cozy place where one can bring kids on rainy days. Good coffee and good food.

Ok so don’t come here at 7in the evening hoping to get HOT coffee! Tried to order a large Americano, and it like they didn’t know what I was asking for. Change my order to something simple, like a cup of plain old coffee from the pot. Guess what: it’s not even hot… And they still served it!
Chick behind the bar was nice enough to make a fresh cup but c’mon! It’s coffee: it’s supposed to be hot!

I have never ordered more than a double latte with skim milk here. But the consistency is great. I always get what I’m expecting.
It is never loud, which makes it a great place to study, get work done, or to meet a friend.
I have yet to try the food, but the menu sounds delicious and they offer more than you’d except from a coffee shop.
The fact that they sell beer and wine is also enticing. After you finish your midterm paper you can treat yourself!

Not too impressed by the place. Got a lavender iced latte and an egg sandwich, nothing special. Convenient place for group hang outs. Not really hipster like but a quick spot of you need it

I like that they have a petite cup of coffee as I don’t always want such a big cup.
I used to enjoy coming here more. It seems like they changed owners as there are new people behind the counter. Used to be owned by some Latinos now seems like it might be owned by an Asian family. That’s all cool. I like to support family owned small businesses. But I came in here about several months ago and I needed to do some work on my computer so I connected with the Wi-​Fi. I was having a especially hard day and I thought that it would be nice to have a glass of wine as I did my work. I asked for a glass of Chardonnay and there were about four people behind the counter. One might’ve been an older adult and the others younger, maybe in their 20s.
What was weird is that nobody responded when I asked for a glass of Chardonnay. In fact, they started giggling. And I recall that the older adult looked awkward. It was as if they did not know how to pour a glass of wine. Did they think I was an alcoholic on a binge? I just wanted a glass of wine to sit while I typed at my computer.
Finally someone responded as I just stood there and looked at all four of them and they look back at me. Someone finally got me a glass of wine but it all felt very awkward.
If you sell something don’t get weirded out when someone actually wants to purchase it.
I’ve been dry since then. It’s been about three months. I might go on a binge again and go get another glass of Chardonnay.

This place is so cute. Cozy vintage couches. Good coffee made exactly how you want it. No complaints at all about this place.

Needed a place to get some work done, but wanted to avoid the crowd at the local Starbucks. I’ve always passed by the Blue Danube so I figured why not give it a try.
Honestly, I quite enjoyed the ambiance of the place. It was extremely quiet and cozy. There were only a handful of people there, all absorbed into their own work. It’s the type of place where you know If you got up to use the bathroom, you wouldn’t have to be afraid of someone stealing your stuff. Also, the people look nice enough that if you ask them to watch your stuff for a while, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. Overall, it’s a really nice place to study or get some work done with minimal distractions.
I ordered a vanilla latte, which wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but what I appreciated about the drink was that the star was really the espresso, as opposed to other places where the drink starts tasting overly sweet as the drink begins to cool down.
I don’t mind that you need to purchase something for the wifi, but the only downside is that the code only lasts two hours, which is understandable, but inconvenient if you’re in the middle of something.

Pros: Not overcrowded like Starbucks and Pete’s down the street.
Cons: Slow and overly-​complicated wi-​fi setup, music selection is… uninspired.

A cute coffee house with a cute name. They serve all the local favorite grinds and have a good selection of teas as well. During the day you can nom on tasty dishes from their kitchen: soups, salads and bagels/​sandwiches. Great pastries, too — some vegan pastries as well!

WORST WAIT TIME EVER.
Waited forever for someone to help me, even though there were 3 or 4 employees standing by the sandwich station who could have taken my order. So I stood there and waited till the woman behind the counter finished making hot chocolate and talking to a bunch of kids.
She finally took my order and I waited 12 minutes by the counter and still no sandwich! I thought the guys at the sandwich station were making my sandwich but then I saw then clean up and come to the counter for a chit chat. Finally I gave one of them the «wtf are you doing? Where’s my food?» stare and he was like «are you waiting for something? NO SHIT! MY TURKEY SANDWICH FOR OVER 15 MINUTES NOW!
3 minutes later my sandwich finally came out. No apology for the wait… nothing.
By the way, the sandwich was poorly assembled and did not taste all that good. Bland. Wilted greens…

I hate this place because of a barista named Shienna. She’s bossy, annoying, and likes sticking her feet up on your dashboard. Gross. «Ew, yuck.»
Haha just kidding (kind of). The only reason I come here is because of Shienna. If a «barista of the year» award exists, it belongs to her. Sweet, charming, and makes the best smoothies. No one makes a Bright Eye like she does.
I heard she’s not working there anymore, so needless to say, I won’t be back here too often.
¹⁰⁄₅ stars with Shienna
⁴⁄₅ stars without

Not great. I’ve been here twice now. First time I was there, I ordered (if I remember correctly) a mocha of some type. It came out, I kid you not, in a pint glass. Like, one of those glasses you’d use to drink a beer out of, with no handle, which of course makes it too hot to hold.
Second time I was there, I asked for a regular mug and the barista was really quite rude about alleging that I must be wrong because they would /​never/​serve a coffee drink in a pint glass, which left me wondering if the person behind the counter was trying to call me a liar.
Either way, the coffee both times was marginal and the service was lackluster.

It’s unfortunate that I JUST discovered this spot… after moving down to SoCal. Boo!!!
The staff was friendly and prompt and did I mention that their coffee was actually really good? YUP — finally, Alameda has something decent rather than crossing the Posey Tube for Blue Bottle. My soy mocha was smooth… strong but not bitter… it was rather perfectly made for that much needed pick me upper that sorrowful day.
So to all you islanders who frequent Peets (like myself) or Starbucks… try this spot and support something local. If you don’t like it, um… blame me but hey, at least you tried :)
I look forward to enjoying your cuppa next time I’m up there — keep up the good work!

I thought this place was going to be a charming homey coffee shop but it was a let down. I ordered an ice blended mocha and it took 30 min to prepare. My friend ordered a small cup of loose leaf tea, took 20 min. The consistency of my drink was so bad. Very powdery and sugary. Tried to take a break from Starbucks to go and support a local coffee shop but in the end I was burned.

I always prefer to support local businesses over franchises.
As much as I would LOVE to support a place like this, I do not love this place.
I can be the only person in line, with two or three people working the counter, and not get acknowledged for quite a few minutes, even if they’re not doing anything. Once they finally DO notice I’m there, they’re clearly bothered by the fact that I decided to support their business and give them money, and glare at me until they decide to take my order. Once they do, it takes forever just for them to pour my PLAIN coffee into a cup. This was not a one time experience, it happens every time I go there. I’ll sadly be taking my money somewhere corporate because at least they follow customer service protocols.

You know when you have to have emotional support that can only come from a dog? I desperately needed a doggie fix. So, we met up with a friend and her big pampered pooch at this coffee place. Our friend’s a regular here and we hadn’t been yet, so it was nice to try it. They have outdoor seating for customers with canine companions.
We each liked what we got. I had a mint mocha (asked for skim milk to be used) and my sweetheart had a croissant. I shudder to think how many calories were in each, but we worked it off petting the beautiful long-​furred dog. The service was good, but the prices are a bit high. Still, it was worth it as they had a nice clean bathroom.