Royal Ground Coffee House

I like this place for its seating arrangements and lightings. Coffee is okay, They have hot cider too. It is a nice place to read /​study. Earlier staff was more friendlier.

The natural lighting here is fantastic — I don’t think any other café in Berkeley beats it. The café itself has lots of tables but tends to get full. There’s usually one or two empty tables. The wifi is really reliable so that makes this a great spot to study. The drink’s aren’t that great though.
The white mocha I got didn’t taste very caffeinated at all. I mean it’s drinkable, just not great. The drink did come out pretty quickly though, and service is friendly.
All in all, this is a great place to study, but not-​so-​great place to stop by for a caffeine fix.

When I think of this coffee shop, I think average. Average coffee, wifi connection, and service. They have lots of syrup selections (I’m a big fan of amaretto or almond flavor in my coffee drinks — they’ve got both). A friend of mine really enjoys their chai lattes (and says they’re more on the spicy side than sweet), but I find those pretty hard to screw up.
I like the location, it’s open with lots of tables and completely glassed in, providing quite a bit of natural light. The atmosphere is generally pretty quiet, and would be a nice place to study.
Keep in mind that they have a $ 5 minimum for credit card purchases.

Good food and good coffee, big windows which allow lots of natural light, nice staff, plenty of seating.

I am adding a star. I’ve been coming here a lot lately ahead of finals. One thing that really impresses me is how friendly the owner is at all hours! I had an early morning event to go to so I was at the café at around 6 am. When I came home around 8 pm (I live right on top of the café), the owner was still there! And he looked just as lively. That’s dedication. I plan on returning here often, not only because it’s super convenient and the food is pretty decent, but I think this guy deserves it!

OMG!!!
Absolutely rude management!
Can’t even begin to express how horrible they’re!
Came in a few weeks back and they made my drink wrong.
When I returned to bring it to there attention, I was rudely spoken to in front of guests and treated as if I was a liar!
Being the forgiving individual I am… I returned today only to have the situation brought up again in front of a whole coffee house full of guests.
The Asian lady is beyond rude/​argumentative and wanted to make an ass of herself in front of others!
It’s not as if they’re the only coffee joint in the area.
This was a, «Quick fix» on my lunch break. If I want, «Real Coffee»… I’ll go to Starbucks or Peets where they treat there customers with respect and actually don’t screw up orders!

Their breakfast sandwiches are SO GOOD, and the employees are very friendly :) There’s plenty of seating and outlets — a great place to study. The lighting is really good too cuz they have huge windows that let in tons of natural light.

I’m writing this review as I’m sitting here which I find kind of funny but anyways, I digress. I’m no coffee expert by any means but this has got to be some of the worst coffee I’ve ever had. I’ve tried the iced coffee and latte and they both taste watered down and just a little off. Maybe it’s the beans or something but I just do not like the taste one bit. Price wise, it’s your typical Berkeley coffee shop price so $ 3.75 for a medium latte, and they have a $ 3 card minimum which is easily reached with any of their espresso drinks.
The reason I’m giving another star is because of the sheer size and amount of tables in this place. Every time that I’ve been here, I always manage to get a seat on the sides where the outlets are. Weekends are more crowded than weekday evenings but it’s never usually full, which is perfect for college kids or if I need a place to camp out for a few hours on my laptop. The wifi is actually pretty good and I’ve had no problems with it so far. I love that there are big glass windows so there’s natural light and you get a sense of what time it is. The owners seem really nice too so it pains me to give them such a meh review. From other reviews, I’m definitely willing to give the food a try next time!
TL;DR: Come if you want somewhere to camp out for a while but if you’re looking for good (or event decent) coffee, this is not the place for you.

Im no Banh Mi expert, but I’m about to drop some knowledge on you SF Foodies out there.
The Pork Chop Banh Mi just changed my life, seriously, whole new perspective. The veggies were pickled just the way I remembered them in banh mi sandos growing up, pork marinated like it was godsend, and the bread roll — very important — and of course, nicely toasted.
All I wish is that there were more than 3 banh mi options. Luckily, they have an array of regular sandwiches and boldly flavored ice coffee. Oh, free wifi you say? Yes, I do say.
First time here, soon to be long time fan. If you want to look up this glorious sando —
…jk that’s not a real link; but should be.

Great study spot, good wifi, decently quiet, pretty clean bathroom, awesome friendly service and good food!
Had their medium soy latte (not as strong as I would’ve liked tbh) and their Denver Omelets bagel (egg, tomatoes, avocado, bacon), which was super flavorful and delicious. It is a bit pricy with my bagel + drink coming out to be about $ 12 but not bad for how long I stayed. Great study spot and I definitely will be back in the future!

Really nice place to study. Ample power outlets, a good variety of food, and a clean atmosphere. One of the best places Downtown to camp.

Great location and tons of spacious seating, that’s about it. The drip coffee is subpar and my almond milk cappuccino didn’t fare much better. Definitely make the extra journey to Philz further up Shattuck or wherever else for good quality caffeine.

If you find yourself walking by this place and in need of a coffee, keep walking, you’ll thank me. I was killing an hour because I was waiting for my brunch reservation. I don’t consider myself to be a complete coffee snob, but my almond latte was the worst I’ve ever had. I tried my best to drink it, couldn’t, then tried to hand it off to my husband, but he didn’t want to drink it either. The best way that I can describe it is that it taste like burnt water.
The positive side to this review is that the location is great, very open, and plenty of seating. If the coffee was good I could see this being a really awesome place to come study.

I’ve been going to royal ground pretty much every time I’ve wanted coffee near home while I’ve lived on south side. Was surprised to see it rated so low! I’ll admit that the coffee quality is not fantastic, but it certainly gets the job done, and the great service/​atmosphere and bagels/​sandwiches make up for it.
The closest competition is Lindgren’s café of Dwight, which I’ve found to be less than spectacular. Royal Grounds, by contrast, is a fantastic place to sit, have a coffee and bagel, and get some work done in the morning. They have free wifi always (though the password changes daily, so be sure to ask), and I’ve never had any trouble with the internet speed.
My personal favorite has been the #5 bagel: turkey + cheese + bacon + egg + toasted = omg yum. I’ve spent many a morning chowing on one of those while watching webcasted lectures, coding, etc.
Top that off with a staff that’s attentive and helpful: they even started remembering me after a while. Makes for an ideal coffee shop experience, I think.

I can’t say anything for the drinks here but I love the breakfast food that is served here. You can’t go wrong with any of the choices, and the servers are really friendly.
There’s a lot of tables, plenty of light, and free wifi. They can also take your order through phone before heading to pick up as well.

In terms of breakfast food in Berkeley: This place is my fave.
The staff is super friendly.
The Breakfast sandwiches are awesome. HUGE PLUS ADDED SPROUTS, and TAPATIO PACKETS.
Coffee is good, strong, fresh.
I do wish they offered more vegan/​vegetarian options, but that doesn’t deter me from coming back.
The cost is the best park. Awesome sandwich and coffee for like, 8 bucks.

As a coffee shop they are okay. I say their coffee is on par with Starbucks but the environment is more open and less crowded than Peet’s so it’s a good compromise. Like many/​most place downtown they don’t do a great cappuccino, they over steam the milk and then put too much in. There are plenty of pastries to choose from and they make sandwiches. I had the turkey on bagel and it was good.
I’ve had good luck with the staff here. They are helpful and get things done in a fair amount of time. When they are busy I would love it if they were a bit faster pulling together a to-​go order.

Royal Ground Coffee House is a nice open air/​open door coffee house. seems roomy, that’s all.
brew: sumatra medium roast (2)
–didn’t taste smooth, dense, heavy
guess i wanted a smooth brew, surprised med. roast not smooth.
drips:
–quick, friendly, cordial service.

Like Unilocalers said before, this place has lots of tables and natural lighting. The staff is also very friendly.
I got the Thai iced coffee, which was delish! It’s sweet, refreshing, and has that dose of caffeine. Cost was $ 4 for 16oz.
I also got the breakfast sandwich with an egg, sun dried tomato, and spinach on a cheese bagel, and the cashier added sprouts :) cost was $ 5, and it hit the spot.
Overall, I’d come back to study from time to time.

Wifi password changes every day! No free mooching! =P
Great study space with tons of tables! Not lots of outlets though because of all the windows, but i really like how bright the café is.
I came on a super hot day in Berkeley and beware, this place does not have air conditioning. It was manageable though. This place serves coffee, smoothies, pastries and sandwiches. I ordered the thai ice coffee and it was delicious! My only gripe is that the drinks here are definitely on the pricey side! Close to $ 4 for a regular coffee drink.
You also have to get the key for the bathroom, which can be annoying if you are in the café for long hours, sipping lots of drinks and need to use the restroom often.
Staff is friendly and Royal Ground seems family owned. Nice.
Good location to study, but drinks are on the pricey side!