Micro Yali’s

Hmm. This is my first time trying their food. I got a salami sandwich at almost 3 PM here. This is the hardest sandwich, nope, FOOD that I have ever tried. It hurts me so much when I try to take a bite. My mouth hurts so much. I asked the guy who runs this little café, and he says that the sandwich is supposed to be this hard. (Question marksss???)
Moreover, I notice that the cheese is not fresh and soft anymore.
I am also disappointed with this sandwich because it costs pretty expensive for all the conditions that I get. Please, UC Berkeley, provides us a healthy café where students can study and eat well.
I give two stars because the guy is nice.

Super conveniently located in VLSB for a pre-​lecture/​discussion caffeine fix. Unfortunately, the hours aren’t that convenient a it closes shop pretty early. If you have a sweet tooth like me, try their hazelnut latte!

Conveniently located in VLSB on campus, I recommend this place to grab coffee or sandwich between two classes when you’re starving to death and you don’t want to go around this gigantic campus.
The sandwiches are okay, normal, not extraordinary.
Average.

Micro Yali’s is a major reason I survived classes in VLSB lecture halls. In morning classes you are sleepy, in late morning classes you are hungry, and in afternoon classes you are sleepy again. Except for the sad days when they are closed during summer session, Micro Yali’s always comes to the rescue as the go-​to that you can conveniently stop by before or in between classes.
Of course, theses are usually busy rush hour times but they are fairly efficient in handling the high volume of stressed students. If you are urgently short on time, a clever but unethical way to jump the line would be to go outside and order from the courtyard side which is often much less crowded.
The baristas are very friendly and I always appreciate their courtesy. There are also usually pastry samples that, as I poor college student, I gladly snack on while waiting for my order.
The hazelnut latte is my favorite here and never fails to deliver me an efficacious and palatable dose of caffeine. The veggie breakfast burrito is my guilty pleasure that powers me through exams and intensive study days. It’s not impossibly ginormous like most breakfast burritos (and correspondingly less costly), so it makes the perfect indulgent breakfast that still leaves you with an appetite for lunch. Sandwiches are not bad either but run out quickly. As for the baked goods, a lot of items are supersized; I like the coffee cake which is a gigantic cube of happiness, not too sweet but with a good amount of nuts and chocolate chips.
Oh Yali’s, MCB’ers cannot be more indebted to you. We are so fortunate to have a legit full-​fledged café when all the College of Chem peeps are stuck with the Coffee Lab which is ghetto enough to look like it was converted from an actual lab.

Conveniently located on campus for those moments when you rush out the house, forget to grab food, and need a quick bite.

Semi-​annoyed with this place.
The hours are terrible and short. If you come in for a class at 4pm, which is often just around the time you’d need a coffee to stay awake for lecture, this place is closed. Choices for both hot and cold drinks are really limited and the food is second-​rate at best.
When they are open, service is really slow. It’s usually one to two people working and unfortunately always inefficient. This place has so much potential given its location in VLSB right below the VLSB library and next to the outdoor courtyard where there are lots of tables students often study at.
Micro Yali’s could well serve the throngs of students that pass through here on a given weekday, but no, it chooses not to reach its full potential and be of actual use to all the people that come to VLSB’s large lecture halls and discussion classrooms.

Does NOT accept debit cards.
The recent decision to not accept debit cards turns this place from a convenient spot on campus to grab a snack before class to a unusable place especially for their main clientele, Berkeley students, of which most don’t carry credit cards but debit cards for most of their transactions.
The first time, I went since the change the person managing the stand tried my debit card and the transaction was successfully placed. Now they refuse to even try it.
The transaction fees will be dwarfed by the loss of business that results from this change.

Coffee isn’t that great but when you’re about to fall asleep in VLSB (like I am now) while doing data analyses at 3 pm Micro Yali’s will do… IF THEY’RE OPEN! It’s so frustrating needing that caffeine kick to get you through the rest of the work day and there’s no one working in the shop. Hours are sporadic and the service is slow.
On the upside, there is a hummingbird feeder placed directly above the coffee shop that hummers visit. So if you want to see some C. Anna this is an ok place to go.

The location of this place is convenient if you need a coffee break but that’s about it. Service is run by one person and all hot food options are simply microwaved in front of u. Added with its early closing times, I would suggest just walking to FSM instead

Since this place is basically run by one person, service can be quite slow when it’s right after/​before a lecture. Also, the fact that two lines can form on either side of the kiosk (one towards the interior of the VLSB building, another towards the small courtyard within VLSB) does not help the speed.
Yet, I’ve had some great sandwiches here. I love the Pesto Mozzarella sandwich (not sure if this is the exact name, but that’s basically what it is). It’s a must — though the portion is not big, and might not satisfy a very hungry student.
Also, sandwiches are only available from around noon or 1PM — what I know for sure is I couldn’t get it at 11AM, so it’s gotta be some time after that. At least I know the sandwiches get delivered fresh everyday :)
They also have bagels, croissants, brownies, parfaits, bananas, chips, … oh and coffee, of course. Really a surprisingly large variety of selection considering it’s a kiosk — and, most of the food actually taste alright.
Seating: available in the small courtyard mentioned earlier. It’s not roofed, so you can get some fresh air while munching on your coffee and snacks.
If only the speed was faster. Too bad the kiosk is too small and would probably be too crowded to have two people working in there.

I absolutely love Micro-Yali’s. I work in the bottom floor of VLSB, so it is quite convenient for me to come up for a coffee break. All the baristas that have served me are super friendly. The coffee may not be as strong as most coffee shops, but I love how rich the flavor is. My favorite snack to accompany my coffee is the ham and swiss cheese croissant! Ask them to warm it up for you. So yummy!

WORST COFFEE EVER.
Remember those old comics, with a shoe hanging in a coffee urn.
Yeah.
Bleh.

One of the worst chais I’ve ever had.

Expensive drinks in smaller portions than elsewhere around here – but the location is right, right?

On the first day of school I had a really nasty cappuccino from Micro Yali’s. It had so much milk, it was like a latte. However I haven’t completely given up on this Yali’s because it was the first day of school and all… the real one and the one at Stanley are good though!

When the Yali’s opened in Stanley Hall, they mentioned their coffee kiosk on the west side of campus. Whoa! The phrase «coffee kiosk» makes me think of Blue Bottle in the city; basically it goes directly to the pleasure center of my brain. It took me a while to get to the Yali’s kiosk, which I first saw yesterday. It has a killer location on the main floor of the VLSB, which was totally remodeled around 15 years ago. The kiosk opened for business two weeks ago. It can be accessed from the open patio area in the center of the building and also from the lobby area that’s a bit east of the courtyard-​patio. The patio is surrounded by high walls (the VLSB), which tends to cut down on sunlight and probably will also cut down on high winds.
Micro Yali’s serves coffee, some breakfast pastries, and two kinds of sandwiches and two kinds of salads for lunch. Unfortunately, their price list includes the phrase «our tea is grate to.» (That really grated on me, and lowered my rating by one star.) If I worked around here, I’d be a regular customer.
I ordered a cappucino, which is the beverage that I’ve ordered (3 times) at the Stanley Hall location. The micro cap costs $ 2.60, whereas the Stanley Hall cap costs $ 2.45. At Stanley Hall, there are sizes, and it’s actually plausible that the one-​size-​fits-​all cap at VLSB is a tad larger than the small cap that I get at Stanley. The coffee is again certified fair trade organic, and it actually tastes good as well. For reference, the politically incorrect small cappucino at the Coffee Place on Lower Sproul costs only $ 1.25. That cap is quite acceptable as well. I’d say that it’s more than 48% as good as the Yali coffee that I had this morning.