Café Leila

I don’t understand why this place only has a 3.5 star average rating, it is way better than that! Sadly, I almost never stopped in because I am a snob and only like 4+ stars. :) I’m glad I took the «gamble». This is now by far my favorite café, especially on a warm day when one can sit outside in the garden patio area. Such a relaxing ambiance and the staff/​owners are very kind hearted and friendly people. Perfect place to relax alone with a book and just as nice with the company of a friend. They have a very unique and delicious assortment of teas and everything I have tried on the menu has been pretty good to excellent. Vegetarian options are also very decent. My favorite item on the menu so far is the Grilled Eggplant Sandwich. And if you’re adventurous like me you will want to try the Chlorella or Dulce Seaweed Matcha Lattes, both of which are delicious. I would go here everyday if I could.

Came here for breakfast…
Pros:
–Gorgeous outdoor seating area, that is much quieter than you would expect being on a busy street.
–The tea is very good. I like my earl grey over ice, and I don’t like when the flavor of the teas is so weak that it is like lightly tea flavored water.
–The gentleman working here is very pleasant. It was my first visit, so I had a few questions. He was very patient and helpful
Cons:
–Unlike the gentleman, the woman working the counter was not pleasant. She wasn’t outright rude, but she seemed inconvenienced by our patronage. She gave me a copy of the receipt to sign, and that was the end of our interaction. No «Thank-​you» or «Have a seat, we’ll bring your food to the table». She didn’t even take the receipt after I’d signed. She just went back to working on her computer. After a few awkward moments of standing there, I asked if there was anything else we needed. She briefly looked up, slid a number towards me and went back to work on her computer. Ok…
–Food wasn’t great. I had the Eggs Benedict with a side of turkey sausage. My hollandaise sauce was watery and sour. The eggs were not seasoned at all, very bland. The turkey sausage was grainy and had a weird aftertaste. The potatoes, on the other hand, were very delicious.
Overall, I would probably come back for the tea. Perhaps try one of their yummy looking pastries. I don’t think I’d come back for breakfast though.

Food is good and served promptly, a consideration especially at the mid-​day period. The garden setting in very attractive. The young lady who takes orders at the counter could stand to be a little less lethargic.

Not sure if I missed the memo, but I’m pretty sure this is a café for East Bay moms. Not convinced? Come in any day and tell me you don’t see a baby stroller in every direction.
But that doesn’t make it a bad thing — you just might have some difficulty navigating their urban-​chic back patio with free-​ranged children running amok (though most of them are usually on good behavior, it’s a select few that tend to ruin it for everyone).
As for the food, we found their salads to be quite overpriced and very plain. One of my friends’ salads had nothing more than a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil on it. The way she described it: «I think they would’ve been better off not including dressing on the list of ingredients.»
Drinks were also lackluster. We grabbed a mango smoothie that tasted all banana. Grainy, as if it were from a package.
We’d come back for something simple like a coffee and to enjoy the back patio, but for anything else (including the food) may warrant a pass.

Good food friendly service nice patio!

Best huevos rancheros I think I’ve ever had. Staff is amazing and friendly. Organic ingredients and killer coffee. They hit all my marks. Plus the space is super cool with lots of plants and warm energy. Definitely a go to spot from now on. Cheers.

I love Café Leila.
It is my default place for lunch.
The patio is spacious, sunny and with shades, great to accommodate small and big parties. And kids! But what I love the most is the hamburgers, because they really do the meat the way you ask them to, and they serve them on ciabatta bread from Acme with sundried tomato paste. My dream come true. The salads are super fresh, as is the rest of the food (smoothies!). The food is good and unpretentious.
It is reasonably priced (except for the bagels with cream cheese). The atmosphere is very friendly, and the owner is always there to greet you and listen to suggestions (two years ago, the service was slow, and after customers talk to the owner, he completely re-​did the kitchen to have it up to speed).

Café Leila is great. It’s my favorite place to work outside in the East Bay. It hits all the right notes: solid wi-​fi, good coffee, good food, large/​beautiful/​welcoming outdoor space. These are hard things to find together. Great place to spend a sunny afternoon.

If you’re looking for a cool place to eat good food, rest your weary dogs (yes dogs our side) in a quirky garden setting. Then THIS IS THE PLACE!!!

Events at Café Leila? Why yes! We had our zero-​stress wedding reception here. I could write for days about how fabulous everything was but will attempt brevity. (She says.)
The owner, Moses, is reason alone to have an event here. He’s incredibly responsive, totally chill, and alleviated concerns we didn’t even know we had. He’s been a large-​scale event planner for his whole career so throwing a party at Leila is easy schmeezy for him. He kept reiterating his top priority, which was for us to relax and have a good time. And we could. We did. It was all so easy.
The food was ridiculously good (seafood pasta for the win). The staff was phenomenal. The whole thing was quite affordable as these things go. We could have made it as elaborate as we wanted (Moses has access lots of decorations, hookah tent, photo booth, etc.) but opted for minimal /​DIY. It was bloody perrrrrfect.
It was raining so we couldn’t really spread out on the patio, but even that didn’t matter. We were a smallish party (65 peops) and could fit inside together cozily. We were able to bring a fire pit and hunker it under some umbrellas.
In short, everything was handled and there was plenty of room for just, ya know, celebration and love. 1,000% recommended for any event you’re thinking of having. (Plus we had breakfast there a couple of times we met with Moses — that food is amazing too. We’re fans for life.)
Brevity. Right.

This place is so good, seriously, if you get the chance you should try it. Also veryyy reasonable prices.

Been here a few times and it has gotten worse every time I come here. The drinks and food are mediocre at best, and the service isn’t great at all. The environment is actually pretty nice and thus the two stars.
I come here when my work decides to change a scenery and hold a meeting at their patio. Again, the scenery is quite nice so I don’t mind their overcharged bland drinks and mediocre food. I do, however, am not a huge fan of the owner/​worker.
On my last time I was there, an old (obviously homeless) lady walked in through the patio to use the bathroom. The owner/​staff guy, started yelling and pushing her to leave, making a huge ruckus of her even being there. The whole staff saw him push her against the gate and kicking her down and continuing pushing her until she’s outside the gate and slammed it against her. She was crying and apologizing whilst this jerk just consistently yell at her for being a piece of shit.
My whole staff team and I were left with a bad taste in our mouth and it’s not because because of the so-​so drinks and food we ordered. That will be the very LAST time any of us will ever step inside this inhumane café.

Came here after going to a disappointed Far Tea Leaves visit. To my surprise, this café had a very nice selection of hot & cold teas as well as a decent menu. The Asian cashier/​waiter was very accomodating, giving me a small sample taste of the refreshing homemade cold teas before I made my order, delish! I really liked the nice outdoor garden area, the chicken pesto sandwhich was good, hit the spot, & I just loved the cookie with the caramel center! I think it’s a Peruvian cookie, wish I remembered it’s name. I would go back just for that! Yummy! Will definitely return, and hope to check out the jazz band one evening.

Another one of them places that I’m afraid to rate because it might get popular but hey whatever. Café Leila is ADORABLE and exists as a little oasis on the busy street that is San Pablo. Tangential thought — people who come to Berkeley/​Oakland/​SF from out of town tend to have the BEST reccos of all time and my friend Shirley from Galway was no exception. She was the first person to insist (with her fantastic accent) that Café Leila was just gorgeous and had I been? To which I was like uh no, it looks slightly shady from the outside. And then she was like oh no love, you have to go inside and check it out. Well 2 years later, I took the plunge (#slackeralert) and I’m a fan.
The falafel wrap was delicious. The smoothie (blueberry matcha) tasted like something my mom would make so read delicious. And take my mom I did. We hung out in the expansive backyard seating area and a little child became our friend. There’s a statue of the bird in the back that opens and closes it’s jaws like magic. If you want to encourage your inner child to come out, highly recommend opening and closing that bird’s mouth.
Mom and I had a lovely time. We were full. We enjoyed the ambiance. People were nice and yep, all in all, a gem fasho.

A very comfortable and unique place to meet and socialize. You order at the counter and they bring your food over. There is a fairly good selection of food for a café — all kinds of warm and cold drinks, sandwiches, salads, egg dishes. I hung around her for many hours with a friend — had a bagel and then later a salad. We were both drawing and found lots of stuff and people to sketch.
It was a cold day but for warmer times the outdoor patio is quite nice.

I’m not usually in this part of town so I tried this place for the first time. The woman working was beyond sweet and gave awesome service. I ordered the classic burger and a smoothie, both were super good, was not expecting that large of a meal from a café. Tons of tables to just eat or sit and study as well. Will definitely be back if I’m in the area again!

I like their falaffel wraps, this is a great place for fresh food, mid range pricing but the portions are pretty big. The ambiance is nice as well, overall i definitely recommend this restaurant.

Café Leila has a wonderful tea selection; delicious pastries, including the sticky ginger cookie, which is now one of my top favorite ginger cookies; and a most wonderful, kind, and helpful counter person – Lucero. She deserves many accolades for her excellence in customer service!

i love this place! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE.
i had some kind of spicy coffee, i think it was called the tibetan coffee or the himalayan coffee. it was delicious. my breakfast burrito was delicious too and i really appreciated that they made the bacon crispy like i asked them to. it was a ton of food as well and it kept me full for a long time. that was great.
they were also very nice and my food was ready pretty quickly. they even made my drink ahead of time so i could have it while i waited.
there’s seating up front in the coffee shop, in the back patio and another area so you have 3 whole choices. i’m told they have music and other fun stuff in the evening.
what more could you ask for?

This is a very nice café. The food is pretty good (not great) and I love the atmosphere. There is a BEAUTIFUL, LARGE PATIO with a lot of foliage that I find simultaneously relaxing and invigorating.
The café, both inside and out, has very AMPLE SEATING.
Drawbacks: very few of the tables have access to outlets, and they don’t have wifi on the weekends.
I have had their Greek omelet, the breakfast burrito, and the salmon bagel. All were tasty. I also had their special ginger, lemon, rosemary tea, which was fantastic!
Overall: great outdoor and ample seating, good food, great tea, limited outlets, and no wifi on weekends.

I haven’t had a good experience to write about.
Tables need wiping. They run out of their specialty drinks too fast.
Bland menu.
Popeyes across the street has better service.

The portions are large at this place, so beware! I really enjoyed their hibiscus tea/​juice, as they were out of their lavender lemonade. For lunch I had their greek omelet and potatoes, which was ridiculously filling. My plate also had 2 full slices of toast. Use their parking lot as sometimes San Pablo can be filled during the week.

This is my local go-​to place for dependable and fast service, good matcha latte and espresso. The seating, both indoor and outdoor, is ample. I love the owners, and people who work here are always friendly. It’s simply a joy to be here. There is wifi on the weekdays, a water fountain and greenery on the patio, and I can even hear the sounds of delighted birds chirping as I sip my beverage of choice (usually the matcha latte). My favorite meal here is the Greek omelette, and their smoothies are always good. Options abound on the menu, for vegetarians and meat eaters alike, though I do tend to stick to my favorites. I will continue to return here again and again.

Great breakfast options here, plus they have a lovely outdoor patio/​courtyard in the back that makes a great escape from the city! You can easily sit here for hours with a book, drinking some tea while watching birds drink from the fountain.

Service was good for an «order at the counter» establishment.
Well behaved dogs are allowed up to the counter, and it has a patio for eating that is as large as the inside itself.
As for the food, I’ve been there a few times, always at breakfast, and their basic items are superb. Eggs and bacon, homemade hot chocolate and pancakes. Delicious.
The menu could be more clear as to what toppings they put on some of their items. And although it’s not their fault, there was a dog wearing a prong collar, along with a service dog vest, that had an improperly wrapped injury on its foot.

I had forgotten about Café Leila… and I am so happy I remembered it this weekend. I have only been there for brunch and tea, so that’s all I can speak to, but I love it there. I love the Alex in the Morning (especially that it includes coffee — it feels like a steal) and it hits the spot every single time.
I especially love that it’s busy enough to feel like you aren’t in an empty restaurant, but I’ve always felt comfortable getting settled in and spending a lot of time there. The garden is especially welcoming — I recommend it on a sunny day :)

This is a charming Berkeley café with a casual atmosphere. The food is fresh, organic and delicious. You would never imagine from just driving by how cute this place is inside, and large with two rooms and an outdoor space. The patio is a terrific area to relax on a warm day under one of their colorful umbrellas by the bubbling fountain. They have daily specials, the homemade mushroom soup is really yummy. The have a large drink menu with healthy sugar and caffeine-​free options such at the hot Moroccan tea which is made just with fresh ginger, lemon and honey. Beware — service is on the slow side.

Well, one can not overestimate the ambiance of the patio, its fountain, and numerous shrubbery. Spacious and inviting, Indeed.
The coffee, scalding hot, a latte. Undrinkable for 30 minutes.
Maybe it was an off morning. .. hmmm?
the breakfast, numerous healthy and a few somewhat unhealthy items.
All cooked adequately but not great.
Nice romantic or good morning hang with a friend.

In search of interesting eats, while I was in Berkeley in early 2015-​April, my friend in Berkeley directed me to Café Leila for breakfast because of their signature «spicy chai».
Chai ($?)
— It’s just listed as chai on the menu, and you can have it hot or cold. I recommend hot.
— The cold one isn’t (fluke mistake?) mixed for you and obviously comes with ice.
— The hot one tastes better — you get more of the experience of flavours including chai spices, hot-​spiciness, and sweetness.
— You can also apparently have varying degrees of «spicy», which may be independent of the 11 secret spices used. The hot-​spiciness of the chai is not a burning on the tongue, but a peppery bite at the back of the throat. If you like ginger beer, you’ll probably like this a lot.
— There is also quite a sweet aftertaste (from honey as a sweetener, I think).
Date Omelette ($ 10.95) fancy medjool dates, feta cheese, toast, fries
— It came with what appeared to be squashed and seared whole seedless dates plus feta cheese folded inside a large, thin omelette. Served with «fries» (pan fried potatoes), four half slices of toast (you can choose from various types of bread), and two small wedges of watermelon.
— Toast was lousy — two slices overdone to too much dry crispiness, and they were barely buttered and only in a spot on the toast. No butter or jam on the side.
— The omelette itself was interesting for its composition, but otherwise unremarkable. As breakfasts go, for $ 10.95 your plate is on the heavier side of breakfast so if you want a lighter breakfast, maybe ask them to hold the toast.
The café front looks small, but it stretches deep, all the way to a garden at the back, with seating.
Price is OK, food is OK. Some interesting things like their spicy chai, but otherwise not very special unless you count the «invisible» factors indicated on their website: «We specialize in healthy, tasty food, at affordable prices. When you visit us, you’ll find foods prepared on-​site daily. We use organic ingredients and chemical free foods. We offer you dishes that are naturally low in fat and cholesterol, yet high in taste.»

I am gunna be up front about this, their food is over priced and not good. I know this when I go and I have gone a few times anyway. The main reason I come back is because in a hectic day running around San Pablo Ave. I want to stop for a moment and relax. Their garden area is relaxing and the waitstaff pretty much forgets about you after you get your food. The other reason I go is because I can take my dog on a date here and not be ridiculed for our interspecies love.
The biggest reason I think it’s not good is that they actually use the cheapest possible ingredients. It says farm fresh, but I just never get the feeling they are really buying too much stuff farm fresh. Their jelly (see photo) is the cheapest pink goo that is on par with a school lunch, the lamb for the lamb burger felt old and dried up and their fries are nothing special at all. I’ve gotten eggy dishes here too and there isn’t anything farm fresh about those either.
lastly, you have to order at the counter and I personally feel a little rushed with the menu. Given that their ingredients are sub-​par at best, I would like some time to sit with the menu and consider my options for the best plate if it were made out of crummy stuff. For example an omelet is probably less noticeable than a lamb burger.

I’ve been to Café Leila a couple times now over the past four years. It’s great for a sunny weekend morning or lazy afternoon.
My most recent trips have involved my wife and I ordering from their breakfast menu (standard breakfast fare for the most part) and enjoying an hour or so on the huge patio in the back.
The patio’s definitely the main attraction — there are plenty of tables of varying sizes, and lots of shade provided by umbrellas, plants, and the various pieces of odd furniture they have. They have a stack of papers if you want to read through your favorite East Bay periodical.
The prices are fair — not cheap, but maybe a buck or two under high-​end brunch places. The food itself is good — don’t have any favorites on the menu but I’ve been generally satisfied with everything I’ve ordered.
(Dogs are cool on the patio, by the way)

Gf ordered chicken pesto sandwich.
I ordered lamb burger.
Both agree that they were delicious choices and well made with fresh ingredients.
We loved the fries and the lightly dressed salad greens that come with it.
Both pleasantly supposed to find this café which has a great garden seating area in the back.
Service was good.
Coffee was good too.

Do you know the concept of a Plan B?
No, it has nothing to do with birth control. Maybe a different metaphor would be better.
How about the concept of a «safe school»? You know, the backup if you don’t get into that fancy-​smacy Ivy or that liberal arts boutique place in Portland you’ve been drooling about.
Café Leila was our Plan B late breakfast spot after our first choice — Bartavelle — was closed on the day after Christmas. It was the Plan B, the safe school.
And it was pretty great, for what we wanted, in the end.
The mission was to get decent food, for sure, but also to find a comfortable spot where we could settle down for about an hour or so to meet a friend and share some catch-​up conversation. It was a winter Saturday, nothing fancy, and the café’s walk-​up, order at the counter and take a number approach was just the right mix of casual and control. One chorizo scramble, one fresh oregano omelet, one bowl of granola, a large pot of Yunnan tea, and a macha latte, and we — party of three — were good to go.
About an hour later, after finishing off the slices of pink grapefruit, mopping up the hash browns, and sipping the last of the tea, we still had time to relax, chat, and soak up the unique feel of the café’s expansive indoor seating area. Original artwork, local posters advertising upcoming events, plants and natural light and funky collectibles, it all embodied a West Berkeley vibe that was just this side of hip and more than enough interesting to keep us engaged in our deepening conversation.
Hmmm … this Plan B/​safe school sort of thing just might not be such a raw deal after all. Not a bad choice from such a plethora of eating-​out options. Our Berkeley day trip was rescued from an early and untimely end by Café Leila, and no one left their plates disappointed. Hard to find fault with that!

Think happy thoughts. So happy and so very Berkeley. This brunch place in West Berkeley has a good vibe. The garden is gorgeous, though wet on that particular day we showed up. Food was quite simple and delicious. The finding your own table business makes this place quite efficient. I remember how hard it once was to find a table to eat in Berkeley on weekends. This place was hassle free. Better yet, N let me take photos of the food and the backyard garden without finding me geeky and tedious.
Thinking to come back for a casual dining expedition before visiting Urban Orc, next.