Peet’s Coffee & Tea

Just walked out with a perfectly crafted vanilla almond milk latte. Happiness.
Clean store. Music was a touch loud, but I wear headphones anyway. Friendly enough folks. But honestly, can’t say enough about the perfection of the product I came in for. For that, bravo.

Got there at 7:45 and they already locked the doors! When it clearly says they are open till 8! Bummer!

Beware! Cars are regularly broken into in the parking lot. Do NOT leave anything of value in your car– not even for one minute. You are guaranteed to be sorry. It’s a shame this problem has gone on so long. I personally know of 4 people who have had their front window smashed and items stolen from their vehicle while they were in Peet’s. Management needs to put up extra large warning signs in the lot. Not fair to the customers to not warn them that this is a frequent problem.

The guy Darius was very helpful and nice. Best customer service! such a great happy man and so funny. Glad he is working here. I came in around 10 or so and wasn’t sure what I wanted. I then proceeded to the register where he was so helpful asking if I needed some help but I just ended up getting a Caramel macchiato instead. Anywho, he then helped me and said that my total was going to be 4.05. I then proceeded to pay with a gift card and he said I get 10% off so excited for me. Lol. He said «for this entire month when you use your gift card you will receive a 10% discount.» and this made my day even better! But the fact that he was so exited made me even more excited and glad I went to this peets!

Well. Peet’s coffee is always good. No doubt about that. But this review is for their wonderful staff who kept the kindness of either their team or a guest who found my husband’s wallet. He dropped it while he was there and 3 hours later, my husband got his wallet back with the $ 100 bill still inside. Thank you for their honesty and integrity :)… I am sure my husband will continue his weekly routine there.

My go-​to coffee spot when I’m near the plaza. The parking situation is a draw back and seating can be limited at times, but staff is super friendly and no attitude like you can come across in the SF locations.

I’m not a regular here, so I can’t speak to their prep of individual drinks, but I’ve ordered coffee/​tea for two large parties and the service was great. The staff was impressively friendly and helpful, particularly Darius. Not related to the quality of this Peet’s, but be careful, the parking lot is a little nutty… or rather, drivers seem to be challenged by the layout of the parking lot.

Do not leave valuables (purse, laptop, etc) in your car while you run in to Peets «just for a minute».
Seriously.
Don’t. Leave. Valuables. In. Your. Car.
This is true in general, but especially true in this particular parking lot, where smash and grabs are rampant.
My wife is a regular at this Peet’s. We love their coffee, and we love their staff. We don’t love the number of cars that have been broken into in their lot.
Last holiday season there were apparently dozens of cars that got broken into. It’s tapered off now, but the last time I was there a nice new black Escalade had the passenger window broken.
The Peets staff is torn between wanting to warn people and being scared to lose customers. They appear to have settled on the side of not saying anything, which I think was the wrong call. Minus 2-​stars until they can resolve this. You might not think 3-​stars is a big deal, but I assure you, I’m such a fan of Peet’s coffee that it pains me to give them anything less than 5 stars.

Usually great service and friendly baristas at this location. I’m a peetnik myself (yay Pinole Peets!) so I believe I’m giving a pretty thorough review. Especially after the change in management, things have been improving more and more.
Love the new store remodel! Brings a more modernized look with pops of color (dark blue, but still) and cool wall art.
Can get busy on weekday mornings since the Bart station is right across the street. Drinks are made well and baristas are knowledgable and personable.

One of the best in town. Shout-​out to Darius and his excellent customer service! Thank you again! I asked about the new drink the white mocha macadamia javiva which he recommended and whoooo let me tell you lol i usually don’t like there iced drinks because they’re usually to strong but this one right here was great! Thank you again to you and the other guy that helped.

Sadly… I received the wrong drink yesterday, however when I called in this morning to report the problem, I was able to speak with the manager, Dametrius who gave OUTSTANDING and OVER THE TOP customer service…
He was extremely apologetic for the mistake and offered to have me come back anytime for coffee on the house and another drink recovery coupon for my next visit.
I was highly impressed with his professional behavior and would highly recommend this Peets location.

Just want to share my love for this place since it’s been a while. Awesome staff and the drinks are on point!

First, I have to say, I LOVE Peet’s coffee. But you REALLY need to train your minimum wage cashers better, and teach them to NOT be low life beggars! Order a large cup of coffee. $ 2.50. Hand her $ 3, she takes my change and drops it in the «tip jar (I refer to these as pan handling jars). I hold my hand out and say, where’s my change. She give me one hell of a dirty look… and digs out the change. Actually, why not get rid of the pan handling jars and go for a more professional look?

Peet’s is a solid coffee shop. I usually buy the coffee con panna here. I have to explain how I want it made, a small cup of espresso with lots of whipped cream on top.
I wouldn’t say that Peet’s is the best of anything that they do, but they good at everything they do. I admit that I haven’t ordered a cappuccino here in a long time, as i love my con pannas.

I really love this particular location of Peet’s coffee. Like all Peets, the coffee is consistently excellent and well made. The only reason I bother to write this review is that the staff at the El Cerrito Peets is special. Efficient, friendly, focussed on the business at hand, and they appear to LIKE each other. Which seems to translate into a group of people who like other people. Which translates into good, authentic, genuine, customer service.
LOVE the vibes, LOVE the coffee, HATE the parking lot. Nothing to be done about that, I usually park on the street, but there are times I don’t go because I can’t face the parking lot.

Admittedly I stopped by this Peet’s for the WIFI since I was in the area house-​hunting. I was greeted by a sincerely friendly individual. I ordered a decaf coffee with room for milk. It wasn’t quite brewed yet and they said it would only take a few minutes. During my brief wait, I noticed that all the employees were smiling and interacting warmly with each other. I’ve got to say that this is the friendliest coffee shop I’ve visited, whether Peet’s or any other.
And guess what, they actually left me room for milk — a common miss because people are usually automatic and do things out of routine than actual customer service. Thanks, Peet’s El Cerrito!

Orded and PAID for a DOUBLE shot of espresso. Coffee maker dude calls out, «shot of espresso for John!» I look in the cup and ask, «is this a double?» He hesitates just a tad too long and guiltily replies, «uh… yeah.» If that was really a double shot in my cup, what a fuckin ripoff Peets. If it wasn’t, fuck you ya lying piece of shit coffee maker dude.

The guy at the counter was nice and friendly and helped me to get a drink with less sugar in it. However I generally dislike the stuff they sell there and just went for the wifi. But three stars for the barista guy :)

Definitely better than Starbucks and also priced less.
The little shopping center is a bit strange though because there is very little parking. Also, the San Pablo Ave driveway scrapes my car as I exit, poor design

This is the 6^th Peet’s location I’ve reviewed & all those reviews have 1 thing in common…
I love Peet’s coffee!
Based on coffee alone it’s 5 stars. So the overall rating comes down to the who, what, where variables of the specific location. This Peet’s is across the street from El Cerrito Plaza &, consequently, has certain, ummm… idiosyncrasies. Yeah, that’s the euphemism I’ll go with.
Traffic around this place can be a mess. The parking lot is tiny, so parking around here can be a total pain. It gets super busy at times & at those times service may not be totally on point. Honestly, I was expecting a 3 or 4 star experience on my last visit here.
But, I suppose I got lucky. The girlfriend & I were on our way to a Labor Day weekend road trip to Monterey & stopped in for some caffeine before hitting the freeway. The parking lot & inside was mostly empty. Service was friendly & prompt. We got our drinks & were on our way in no time. It was just about as good as it could get for here, or anywhere really.
I love Peet’s coffee & I love getting lucky! Put the 2 together & it’s 5 stars, for sure.