Good Karma Cafe

All I ask for in a coffee shop:
Music: check
(today it was a mix of chill electronic and 90’s R&B throwbacks. It’s usually something upbeat, but note that it’s played pretty loudly)
Super Hipster baristas: check
Caffeine: check
Beverages: If you’re a coffee snob (which isn’t a bad thing), you won’t be blown away by anything, but it’s flavorful and not burnt. Lots of specialty drinks too (gingerbread latte, chai tea etc.). They have soy and regular milk out and some syrups in addition to regular sugar, so mix to your heart’s content.
Food: decent sandwiches, soups, and baked goods available. I’ve only gotten an egg + bagel sandwich before, and it was a solid, toasted, cheesy mouthful.
Work space: can get a little cramped; 8 – 9 small tables and a little bar stool area. It can get busy, but I’ve never not found some place to sit. They have outdoor seating in good weather, which expands options quite a bit.
Another winning note is that an entire wall is windows, so great natural light/​you know if you’ve been there too long… a good staple in the coffee shop rotation!

Good karma café has become my home base to coffee-​shop work. I really don’t know what I would do without it.
So many perks:
The Internet is always fast and reliable.
They have a decent selection of sandwiches, salads, soups to tide me over. Try their Senegalese chicken.
They’re open til 10pm everyday.
Plus they will accept packages for me that I can pick up within 3 days.
Negs:
Sometimes their music choice can be loud or annoying. Their chairs are hard. They can get really busy on sat afternoon. I’m not a huge fan of their pastries (Kermit’s), but they are buy one get one free after 7pm. Lastly, there are always Med students studying there. Always.

I’ve visited this location several times with no issues but tonight was pretty disgraceful.
It was very clear that my boyfriend and I were being watched the whole time we were sitting in the café. When we first came in it was pretty busy but patrons started clearing out within 30 minutes of us being there. My boyfriend ordered a large drink, I hadn’t ordered anything yet. The two guys behind the counter kept pacing past our table. First we were told that we couldn’t have outside food in the café when he saw an unpeeled orange and an unopened iced tea sitting next to our computers. Understandably, we put them away. I would say about every 15 minutes or so from there he kept walking out glancing over at our table. A few couples had come in and sat down. My boyfriend got up to throw away his empty cup. The next thing I know the guy working behind the counter came over and told my boyfriend and I we could not «hold up two tables» because it was now getting busy… on a Sunday evening… with many vacant tables surrounding us. He told us we needed to purchase something else. I had the intention of purchasing a cup of coffee but became very disgusted with how we were being treated. No one else in that establishment was being bothered. The constant pacing was making us very uncomfortable, it was like he was waiting for justifiable reasons to reprimand us.
I am completely aware of coffeehouse etiquette. I have full speed wi-​fi connection at home so I’m not just looking for a warm place to hang out and get some free internet. I’d been in my house all weekend due to multiple feet of snow and I needed a change of scenery. We were paying customers who would have continued purchasing drinks if the staff were friendlier. I’ve sat for hours in other Good Karma locations and never seen anyone track patrons purchases or ask them to buy more drinks or give up their seats. I’m all about supporting local businesses but I’m very reluctant to support Good Karma again.

Great coffee, espressos & lattes! Atmosphere is relaxing and a perfect spot to study or catch up on emails after work. Baristas are kind and knowledgeable. But when it comes to food it’s sub-​par. My chicken sandwich was something I could quickly whip up myself, and it had a bit of mold on it. Would have said something but I got it to go.

I loved the outdoor seating outback. Exposed brick, tastt latte. No extra charge for Almond milk was my fave!

The coffee here is actually quite bad. Their «dark roast» is this pale and as weak as one could imagine. Add to this the attitude of the servers behind the counter here, and you have an overall awful experience. I’ve tried this place multiple times, and I’ve never cease to be disappointed. Awful is the only word.

This is a great café near Fitler Square, not Rittenhouse as the ap seems to think. This is a small chain of cafes all over the city. They make a great latte here and they have all kinds of fresh baked goods from cookies to muffins. I love their cranberry orange muffins which are both tart and sweet at the same time. They don’t kill you with sugar either. If you want something more substantial, they have breakfast bagels, sandwiches, great soups, and specials each day. The emphasis is on free trade coffee beans, seasonal, local, and natural ingredients. Baristas are really nice and chatty. Hipster atmosphere with lots of regular locals stopping in.

Dropped in here the other day to get a few hours of studying in before dinner. I’ve been to the good karma on 23^rd and walnut many times, but this was my first visit to this location. I was overwhelmed at the extensive specialty drinks menu and finally decided on the iced pumpkin chai latte. Vanilla chai tea with pumpkin syrup — how could you go wrong?! I got only 1 pump vs. the normal 3 of the syrup and it was the perfect amount of sweet for me! The café is small but cozy, and there is outdoor seating as well. Definitely will be back for that latte (and maybe try the hazelnut nutella too…)

Delicious coffee and super chill bariste (plural of barista? I’m just going to pretend this word is Italian. Va bene.)
I’m a big fan of their lattes, especially the scare-​a-​mel. I like mild coffee with lots of sugar, and this one definitely fit that bill :)! The croissant was lovely, and my friends pistachio cake was tasty. Cute seating area, though it’s been packed every time I go in!

Organic tea and coffee. Got bombay chai tea, which is pretty good, but I don’t know a lot about tea. Pretty cool place, small and quaint but also modernized. Nice window views for people-​watching/​car-​watching.

I really like this place mainly for the outdoor seating area in the back, it feels like a mini escape from the city. They have good drinks and not horrible prices. It usually has plenty of people inside studying, but for me the inside décor lacks some personality and its not overly inviting to sit down for a long time studying or reading. This is just my personal opinion and I would guess it wouldn’t bother most people. Either way this place is still great!

I love Sunday brunch, but not Sunday brunch wait times and long lines.
Sonia S., Mayur C. decided to come drop by here! We all ordered the bagel sandwiches and a drink. I got the Happy Buddha (hummus.subbed for cream cheese though, onion, tomato) and the iced lavender latte.
The drink choices sounded amazing and I told Sonia S. that I was excited to insta them cause I thought they’d come out in cool cups and garnished with fresh lavender. nah… :/​plastic cups.
Our bagels were pretty standard unfortunately and same with the cream cheese. For a $ 4 – 5 price tag, it didn’t seem tooo much better than lunch trucks. I did love the drinks though! Also, $ 1 extra to add any veggies like wtf $ 1 for 2 slices of cucumber in my bagel? NO thanks.

I had an Iced Almond Mocha and it’s just probably because of preference, I didn’t like it very much.
I like my mocha to have a subtle chocolate taste that goes smoothly with the coffee. Their drink had a very strong chocolatey taste that I personally think overpowered the taste of the coffee.

Five stars for the quality of the menu items, and mostly for the quality of the staff. I was here from out of state with my two teenagers while shopping and going to a doc appointment in the neighborhood. I left my bag of purchases on the counter by mistake. The staff not only held it for me until I finally called and figured out I had left it there, but they MAILED it to me with a sweet note inside. Good karma indeed.
The hot caramel cider was to die for by the way. Stop in.

There were plenty of ‘exotic’ drink specials, and I opted for the iced lavender/​green tea/​lemonade one – which was super refreshing and delightful. I sipped on it in the nice garden patio area provided out back, since all the seating inside was already taken (mostly by people on their laptops).
I can really only judge this place based on the vibe it gave off and the one drink I got there, but I definitely see myself coming back to see what else there is to offer (i.e. if the desserts taste as good as they look, and the rest of the drink specials taste as good as they sound).

What a poor experience from start to finish.
First off, all out of bagels which I personally feel is a sin for a place serving breakfast.
On top of that, the substitute, a whole wheat toast breakfast sandwich portioned for a 2^nd grader, still cost me an arm and a leg and left me completely unsatisfied, which was another let down as a hungry customer.
Not to mention, the wait time two sandwiches and an iced coffee exceeded 20 minutes while the store was dead!
Will never return to this location and would love to recommend Rival Bros., Gavin’s Café and Ants Pants to anyone else who’s looking for truly good service and an exceptional product.

Pros: good music, indoor and outdoor seating, more than just coffee — you can get some delicious looking bagel sandwiches and smoothies, wifi
Cons: cash only

This is a review of good karma’s fruit «smoothies». They are made of ice and fruit juice from a bottle blended together. This concoction of ice and processed fruit costs $ 5 and is not worth it! The strawberry and banana «smoothie» also has an awful artificial taste. For $ 5, how could they not even put real fruit into the smoothies???
Otherwise a nice environment. Clean and cozy. Staff was friendly.

The epitome of coffee shops! Great coffee Equal exchange, great soups, local made pastries. Lots of tables and a cool vibe.

This café has a very clean and cozy interior design. Its a great place to study although seating can be limited.
The drinks there are phenomenal– they taste fresh, healthy, and seasonal too. I ordered the iced sundew green tea which was very delicious, not too sweet, and the green tea flavor wasn’t too overpowering. My girlfriend wasn’t too fond of her iced black tea passion fruit drink, although I loved it. The taste is a bit bitter at first, and then the fruity flavor of the passion fruit settles in. With these drinks, we shared a sesame seed bagel with cream cheese. Thank goodness they were generous with the cream cheese because it was so good I unashamedly ate it by itself.
This place is great for students to study as it doesn’t get overly crowded. They use organic ingredients and all their food and drinks are made from high quality ingredients. Definitely going back!