Ada’s Cafe

Great breakfast croissant sandwiches. Simple but tasty. One of the few places open early for early commuters.

Four stars for a limited menu, but I don’t know if I’d even be writing a review if the tofu banh mi weren’t such a welcome addition to the neighborhood! As far as Vietnamese sandwiches go, I’ve seen full Vietnamese restaurants with sandwiches that weren’t as good as this place. Tasty and convenient, this kind of food is sorely needed out here, and it’s directly connected to BART — which means I’d love to see this place succeed and expand their offerings. A good start, fills a need, but the bland decorations and lack of music make this feel like a recent addition.

Time: 1:26pm/63°F partly sunny
Purpose: Got a message about this place needing a heavy hitter to stop by. Reply to message why me? There are two reviews already. Yes or no? Me, no choice, I guess mumbling.
Ambiance: Located on Adeline street side of the Ed Roberts Campus across from Ashby Bart. Ada’s is a 16 person seater inside and single table outside with collapsible ad board. The campus houses people with disabilities except for the sighted. Two entrances/​exits that connects to Ada’s front and back. Simple set up here with ice cream freezer, water/​utensil station, open air fridge, oversized menu blackboard. Tables nestle against the wall with four AC outlets to a table. Basically an outlet for each person sitting. Counter with Rancilio two chamber espresso machine, slushee machine, acrylic two tier pastry box, various snacks/​fruits, register, tip jar. Corner shelf with assorted tea selections. Beyond the counter is all kitchen equipments, supplies, prep counter and sink. Behind the kitchen wall theres another area not related to Ada’s, looks like art class or project of some kind is house there. Most of the clients here are workers from ADA building with a few walk ins.
Staff: A Vietnamese couple around late 30s. Dealt with guy, as he was order taker, barsita and cashier. Warm friendly can do attitude. Jolts down order on paper submits to lady. The lady didn’t say much to customers. She just announces what order is ready for pick up. I was expecting that kind of service already so nothing surprising there.
Cleanliness: Grade A, impeccable as customers cleans up after themselves. Plastic tub on site for you to put away silver ware and water tumblers. Tables and chairs strewn around the place, here and there. Other than that, its a clean place with regulations being the best it can be.
Eats/​Drinks: Vietnamese sandwich pork chop $ 5.50. Sandwhich was delicious, the roll use had a little browning. At first, I thought, oh no! Not one of those jaw tiring sando were you chew and chew. That is till I took a bite. Just what I hope it turn out to be. Slight exterior crunch with juicy pork chop pieces seasoned perfectly. The pork juiciness soak the inside of roll, making it even better. Pickled veggies had the right amount, thus making it not overly tart tingling tasting. It was a balance well made sando. Over all, I like the sando just wish the bread was about an inch more on the ends. Not saying, its small by any means. Just like to have more extra carb of crunchiness.
Main Features: Vietnamese sandwiches of five choices. All $ 5.50 each across the board, even vegetarian. Vietnamese coffee (iced).
Products/​Services: Bagel, croissant, breakfast/​lunch, hot/​cold beverages, slushees (strawberry and mango only), fresh fruits, boiled egg, chips, energy bars, house salad, sandwiches, chicken caesar. Extra shot espresso $ 1.25, shot of Torani flavor syrup $.75, choice of roll or slice bread. Coffee by Tony’s, tea by Stash/​Tazo/​Numi, ice cream by Double Rainbow (8 basic flavors only), pastries/​bread by Semifreddis. Takes plastic no minimum. Mon-​Fri 7am-​5pm/​weekends & holidays closed.
Punch Lines: Friendly, zippy service, calm vibe, modest cost, ethnic eats, light bites, pleasing flavors, nothing out of the ordinary, ADA friendly set up, automatic doors, bike parking, state of the art facility, within steps of Bart, busy Adeline street, parking easy street or private lot.
Tradeoffs: Café is set up differently to standard places. You may need to adjust your comfort level, but food is food, no changes there.
Final Thoughts: Although its location is for the convenience of ADA people and staff. You can walk in and get services like any other cafes around, its not just for people with disabilities. Only difference here, give that person in front of you more time. They need the extra time to do what others do, but with special needs. Be patient and courteous of others, after all they’re people too.

This café is located in the first floor of the Ed Roberts’ Campus on the Adeline Street side, right above the Ashby Bart. The name is a nod to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Right now the café is run by Nomad café as sort of their satellite site. The menu is very similar to their other location on Shattuck — lots of great Vietnamese sandwiches, salads, etc. Great coffee drinks as well, especially the Vietnamese coffees. The staff is so nice. I go here for breakfast a lot, their breakfast sandwiches are fantastic. They cook them up really quick too.
There is bike parking in the Ashby parking lot behind the building. There is street parking out front and parking in the Ashby lot is free after 3.

I can’t believe no one has reviewed this café yet!
This café is conveniently located close to the Ashby bart station, which is how I discovered and frequented this cute café in the first place.
The staff here is really friendly and very compassionate. They helped customers with patience and care.
The drinks are reasonably priced and taste great! I recommend the latte. And the teas are pretty worth it for the price and variety.
They also have items like baked goods, croissant sandwiches, and snacks.
Pros:
–Free Wifi
–Cute atmosphere, they have an art studio in the back. Not sure if open to public
–Friendly staff
–Good location
–Good drinks
Cons:
–They said they might raise the price
–I didn’t see a bike parking