Albany Cafe

FWIW, name has changed to «Kim’s Café». Great sandwiches and very friendly service; love the BBQ chicken and curry chicken sandwiches and am wanting to try some of the noodle dishes from their menu. Really affordable as well ($ 3.50 for a 6″ sandwich) makes this place a great and inexpensive lunch spot.

finally got there today. had the curry tofu bahn mi and loved it!
tasty, fresh food and the woman was friendly and helpful.
i’ll definitely go back.

There are plenty of seats, free wi-​fi, and they are open after normal café hours. I ate the best tofu banh mi ever and was told about how much care went into the selection of the bread (Acme) and the creation of the tofu marinade (sweet and savory and yummy). Not to mention, the owner is super nice.

love the sandwiches here. They changed their name to Kim’s café or something like that (still not very indicative of their vietnamese sandwich specialty, but hey…) Kathy (the owner) did about 50 sandwiches for our daughter’s birthday lunch. She was very accommodating (like cutting them in half, for example) and they were delicious.

Glad to have found this place, especially because now I can get my bahn mi fix on Sundays (Ba Le on San Pablo is closed on Sundays). Get the curry chicken sandwich. Not traditional, but none of the sandwiches are (they use Semifreddi’s baguettes). This makes the pricing a little higher than you’d normally find at a Vietnamese sandwich shop, but not outrageous. I’ve also tried the bbq chicken and bbq pork, but I liked the curry chicken the best.

The menu says «Tra’s Sandwiches» as opposed to Albany Café on the awning and they have nine sandwiches /​Banh Mi (
) with some non traditional ones like Curry Chicken, Tuna, and Crab (seasonal). The second page has a handful of drinks and a couple of food items like shrimp or chicken summer rolls (goi cuon).
I went for the #1 Combo (Pâté, Pork Roll, BBQ Pork (most places use ham) $ 3.50) and #5 Black Pepper Pork (Soy Sauce /​Honey, Garlic, Black Pepper, 5 Spice $ 3.25) Banh Mis.
First thing you’ll notice is the bread is not toasted and it’s cut from a longer «regular» baguette (
), not the traditional Viet kind which has a lighter crust and dough. Some reviews talk about house-​made bread and an oven, but I could have sworn I saw some white paper sleeved baguettes in the kitchen area. Regardless of sourcing, I prefer the traditional which I find easier to eat.
The Combo had a generous amount of tasty meat and pâté, except the BBQ Pork which was bland. The black pepper pork was delicious, if somewhat dry. The #5 sandwich was also noticeably lighter on the meat than the combo.
Overall the sandwiches were tasty, but very light on the veggies (
) which were also *very* lightly pickled; I could taste the onions much more than the diakon. The jalepenos were mild in flavor so don’t be intimidated by the wedges.
Probably more like 3.5 stars, but I’m rounding down today.

i’ve been looking for a really good banh mi place around here and I’ve found it! coming from santa clara (lots of vietnamese restaurants), i’m a little picky when it comes to banh mi so when i walked into this place (seemed too american café as opposed to vietnamese), i wasn’t expecting much. but wow great sandwiches and spring rolls. can’t wait to try more.

I am more and more impressed with the food here each time I go. I enjoyed a delicious curry chicken banh mi yesterday that was well seasoned, and flavorful. I do wish they used spicier jalapenos but that’s probably just me. What was really nice was a new Mango Mint Ice Tea that’s new on the menu. Definitely try that if you go.
Comfy seats and relaxed setting. I love stopping by here after work for a bite and some time to read.

I normally go there for the WIFI and for the sandwiches which are delicious. I love the freshness of the bread. The owners are nice and friendly. The one negative which only happened once is someone playing their ipod or radio that was way to loud. One person had to tell them to lower the volumn. I don’t mind people talking but these kids were still playing their radio/​ipod and talking on their cell phone constantly. This café gets lots of kids from the nearby high school, so I’m thinking maybe this is normal after school hours activity and that they normally have been allowed to play the radio. The time I went was around 1pm, so it could’ve been lunch hour for them.
I just don’t think a radio should be blaring if people are there for using their laptops. There should be a sign posted… no radios/​ipods. Otherwise I would have given them 5 stars.

Excellent, well-​proportioned Vietnamese sandwiches on delicious rolls. FYI, I’m not a fan of the French rolls that shatter like glass, and this café uses a chewier and more hearty type. Really good goi cuon too. The café is also clean, quiet, and tastefully furnished, and has wifi.
It seems like they have access to an outside courtyard that looks super pleasant — hope that will be open to customers when it gets warmer.
One pork banh mi, goi cuon, and a container of cut mango (about 1.5 cups) ran about 8 bucks. Pretty reasonable. I’ll be back.

Albany Café reminds me of your college coffee shop. Comfy, funky seating with lots of magazines and newspapers? Check. Fliers for local businesses? Check. Coffee? Check. Bah mi? Ummmm… CHECK! Yes, that’s right folks, these guys make Bah Mi! What could be better than enjoying some coffee in some cool, funky seating while eating bah mi? Nothing? Yeah, I thought so. While the bah mi isn’t 100% percent traditional, the fresh, homemade baguette elevates the sandwich. I’ll be back to study and hang out.

Very pleasant family running the café.
Much brighter inside than pri-​pri was and they managed to make the hallway entrance inviting for people who want to work quietly on their laptop.
Kid friendly too.
They have Italian AND French sodas (which is an Italian with cream). Coconut and vanilla ones are both yummy.
Favorite sandwich so far is the curry chicken — bread is fresh — perfect crunchy outside soft inside.
I hope more folks will give it a try.

Five stars! This is the new best kept secret of Albany. But get the word out because the Albany Café is the perfect place to grab a coffee, have a nice lunch or peruse the internet (for free). This place is easy to miss as you drive along Solano Avenue so keep your eyes peeled. Their lunches are extremely reasonably priced and they have freshly baked bread every day. Yummmmmy… I think I’ll go back tomorrow!

Great Vietnamese sandwiches!!!

Hidden away (kitchen in the back) and run by a local Viet Namese American.
Makes very good Viet Nam sandwiches and the usual Barista offerings.
$ 12 for 2 sandwiches (foot-​long fresh-​baked baguettes cut in half) and 2 drinks.
Lunch and dinner the same menu.

Woohoo! I love this place.
Close to the Albany Library so a great place to study in a different location then go back to the library.
Ordered a chicken curry sandwich and had a Coke Zero = $ 4.94.
I definitely realize what my friend was telling me regarding the choice of bread. The bread is soft and unlike other places, does not scrape the top of my mouth. (Though other places are tasty too… just the bread!)
Chicken was yummy! Not too much curry but still some great flavor.
THANK YOU FOR TAKING CREDIT CARDS … and not having a minimum :) — Visa/​Mastercard only.
The location offers plenty of parking since it’s not in the area of Solano Avenue where there are a ton of people. Also, the café has a lot of space, friendly people, and free wifi (woohoo).
Will be back!

A wonderful, clean café on Solano with free wifi. Decent selection of drinks (coffee and sodas) and a decent menu – though I didn’t eat anything here. Glad to have a spacious place to be able to work.

Walk down the hallway to the café. They’ve redecorated and are planning to add an oven to bake fresh bread.

Imagine sitting in a cozy café, basking in the free wifi, drinking espresso, when all of the sudden you get an urge to eat something. Something HEALTHY. Should you leave? No don’t leave! This place has a solid lineup of Vietnamese sandwiches for 3.50 each, which coincidentally is the same price as an assy 1500 calorie chocolate muffin at starbux. The owner is warm and friendly, baking her own bread, so it’s just like your momma is making you snacks while you study for the final exam.