Specialty’s Café & Bakery

Normally I get great food, but sometimes I swear they don’t even read the order tickets. Ordered a salad with chicken breast and there was no chicken at all. It even said on the sticker «add chicken.» So I paid an extra $ 2.50 to add invisible chicken, and stale croutons.

The Pleasanton location is new and I finally had the chance to try it out for lunch. Ordered the tuna sandwich and it was just ok and the size was on the small size and price is pricey. The cookies and bakery items were actually pretty good. I didn’t get a chance to try their coffee but I will next time. Plenty of seating and easy parking.

I like the atmosphere here. There’s plenty of nice outdoor seating and inside has a very mature feel, making it a nice separation from the high schoolers who frequent Starbucks. The free WiFi is pretty strong from what I’ve experienced. I have ordered from their website once and from their self-​order kiosk another time; both make it easy to customize your order without the hassle of potentially confusing a cashier, and they’re very convenient.
The only downside is that the counter is divided into Peet’s coffee to the right and Specialtys to the left. There’s some confusion if you order a coffee with your meal, because you most likely won’t realize that it doesn’t come out with your food, but rather all the way at the Peet’s counter.
The food is a hit or miss. Most recently I ordered a chicken Caesar salad, and the croutons were so salty that I chugged my iced coffee to wash it down and proceeded to remove every single remaining croûton. On the other hand, their breakfast sandwiches and paninis are pretty great.
Overall it’s a chill place to get some work done and grab a quick snack or meal.

Welcome to the land of dirty tables! As I sit here, there are no less than six tables surrounding us that are abandoned and left dirty.
The service was bafflingly slow — approximately 25 minute wait for two salads — which I only got because I saw them siting on the back counter — and an additional 5 minute wait for a lackluster Brie, bacon and apple sandwich slopped down on a white paper plate.
Very disappointing — won’t be back!

Came here the other day for lunch and was looking forward to it based on some other reviews and word of mouth from others… this was very meh to me. I ordered a fiesta salad and there was nothing special about this at all and was so over powered by tortilla strips that I had to take more than ½ of them off. I really wanted to like this place but even the chili was pretty bland and I had to kick it up with some Tabasco just to get it some extra flavor… they do look like they have some great pastries and cookies, but that’s just not my thing. I will give them another try for a sandwich or breakfast we will see how it goes…

Have only pickes up breakfast items so far. Kind of mixed feelings about ordering on line or kiosks when there, but there is no doubt the food is food and tasty.

Milk chocolate chip cookies. That’s all I need to say. The one’s from Specialty’s give me life. Buttery, chocolatey, amazingness life. If you come here and can only purchase one thing, choose the milk chocolate cookie. I personally like them not warmed up, but to each their own.
I discovered Specialty’s when they went into the office building across from Macy’s by Stoneridge. While, it’s open to the public, it is a hidden place for anyone to just «come across». It caters to the local businesses within close proximity. When I saw that this location was going to be a Specialty’s, I actually thought it was a great idea.
This location is nice because there’s so much room. They have updated it to accommodate people with electronics, meaning lots of plugs to charge various items. I’ve never been here during the peak time, but there is lots of outdoor space, both inside and outside.
They have your typical «lunchtime» food, as I’d describe it. Sandwiches, soups, salads. They also serve breakfast sandwiches and different pastries. Peet’s coffee is in the building, in case you need a coffee kick.
Service has always been prompt, efficient and friendly. I’ve never had to wait long for an order. They have tablets you can place an order on, if you want to skip the line. Cookies. Don’t forget the cookies. You’ll thank me later.

I had their club sandwich minus the pepperoncini and bell peppers and it was good! I paid $ 7 for it, which was a little pricey for me but they do stack your meat/​veggies up pretty high. Everything tasted fresh and the tall guy at the counter was very helpful/​friendly.

This place should have more stars. I have come here a lot has nice outdoor seating is easier to find than the Stoneridge one and I have had consistent good service.
I love how I can have peets instead of Starbucks here!
They have ready to go breakfast stuff too.

The service level at this location has deteriorated to poor– My last two meal orders have been incorrect. This morning, when I realized that once again, they had made the wrong sandwich, I drove back to let management know, curious to see what the experience would be like. The supervisor offered an apology and agreed to refund the original cost. There was no offer to re-​make the order correctly or offer something else in return. I then suggested that offering a complimentary sandwich or pastry was the least they could do. After the supervisor reluctantly offered one, I turned it down and left — for good. Do yourself a favor and avoid a mediocre experience!

A bit confusing for our first visit.. you can order online.
Turkey with cranberry sandwich is a never fail choice for me. Great flavor. Bread is great.
I also ordered the chicken s add lad, but they messed up and it was not ready with my sandwich. By the time it was ready. Too late… my Hungar was was satisfied.. So I asked for it to go. I ended throwing it away. I should have just asked for the money back.
Manager and clerk were very pleasant, but too high tech, for me.

Just went here to grab a quick breakfast before a doctors appointment. Waste of $ 11.
First I ordered a Denver breakfast sandwich and because I like soft bread (not the sourdough or ciabatta options) I paid an extra $ 1 for a croissant making the sandwich just about $ 7.
Then I ordered an iced chai tea. Another $ 4 for a medium and the poor guy at the register had to call in back up because he’s never heard of this drink.
The iced latte came up pretty fast. Unfortunately it is horrible and went right into the trash. Almost reminded me of a super cinnamon horchata.
After waiting 10 minutes for a sandwich, that also immediately went into the trash. I watched the guys cooking (if microwaving can be called that) laugh, joke, walk around… All while I’m waiting. One man was working hard but he was prepping and cleaning. I also noticed that all the men there (whom all had long hair if that matters) were not wearing hair nets. So who knows what is in my sandwich, I’ll never know either. Immediate garbage.
So disappointed/​grossed out by the experience this morning. Definitely not coming back.

Came in here on rainy day to grab some coffee and pastries. As soon as I walked in the garbage dispenser was over flowing and the surrounding tables were dirty. Cmon MAN!!! Can’t relax and enjoy if that’s your first impression. It’s not like it’s super busy. They serve Peet’s and that’s the only reason they received a second star.

Unfortunately, most of the lower scores are probably for Peet’s Coffee which is sold at Specialties.
Specialties it self is 4 stars! Food is good. The bakery items are a hit and miss. Sometimes I have had things that have tasted like they are a few days old and sometimes like they have just come out of the oven. Salads are HUGE! The sandwiches are OK. I wish they had more meat on them as they can get really thin!
You can order up front with a person or you can order at the kiosk stands which are nice and easy to use. Makes it quicker when there is a large line in front of you of people that don’t know what they want.
Double check your order as well. There has been a few times where the order has been wrong and I have just dealt with it since it has been minor.
As for the Peets coffee area. I don’t think they allow the Peet’s cards, so that means it is a Specialties coffee stand, that just sells Peet’s coffee. 1^st time I ordered a mocha, it wasn’t good at all. Cold, taste not right. I figured maybe it was me. 2^nd time I ordered it, same way. So what does my not so smart self do the next time, order it again! This time it was worse! If a Peets corporate person ever went in there and tasted that coffee that Specialties was serving, they would be ashamed. I know it has turned me off from going to a real Peets for anything. I guess that means my gold star butt will have to stay at Starbucks!
DO NOT ORDER COFFEE FROM THIS PLACE! YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED AND FEEL RIPPED OFF.

i had catering for Kaiser in livermore and they came on time with hot morning buns & pastries. everybody loved the pastries and fruit salad. Again, people think this location has a real petes coffee and it’s not they just serve Peets coffee. I think the building is beautiful, the chocolate chip cookies are delicious and crisp, not doughy. I cant understand why people would complain about the building not being a good place to do business or homework or a romantic date, for christ sakes this is a bakery, go home, go to the library for you wifi

Bad and noisy location. Bread is too sweet and not toasted well.
The sandwiches are dry and poorly put together. In my blt, there was just a little lump of bacon and lettuce in the middle of Walmart-​like sliced bread.
A place for wannabes.

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ORDER!!! Food is delicious, but they have messed up my order twice now. The first time, I drove all the way home before realizing the mistake and had to drive back. The manager agreed to comp my next meal for my inconvenience (and after I requested it). The second time, I discovered the error before leaving the parking lot. No apology from the staff.
Another thing is they were completely OUT of quiches at 10am on a Saturday recently. After asking if they would have more available soon, the cashier said «yes but it will be a loooooong time before they’re ready». Disappointed in the service.

The good: the pastries and the coffee
The just OK: the pastrami sandwich, toasted ciabatta bread doesn’t hold up to this hearty sammie. Pastrami should be served on rye.
The meh: Too crowded and tables are not bussed often enough. Saw several tables that were dirty so new customers either bypassed them or cleared the table themselves. Cavernous space with too many hard surfaces making for a very loud experience. Needs some soft surfaces to absorb some of the noise. Atmosphere not conducive for work. Also, the parking lot is a maze and cramped.
Conclusion: I’ll come back to try more of the food but will take it ToGo.

I have eaten at and had catering from specialty’s many times but this time I am reviewing my experience with a delivery from the Pleasanton one in particular. I was supposed to have a delivery between 11:30 and 12:00pm for a noon meeting. They called at 12:05pm to say they were almost there and were late due to traffic. I was a little disappointed with the excuse of traffic in the middle of the day but I know it’s possible. Next time I will set an earlier delivery time because it’s very inconvenient to get the food late.
In terms of the food most of the order was good except one sandwich was missing a key ingredient and the cookies were a little bit too crunchy.

Nice spot for an afternoon cookie and cup of coffee.
Liked the space, in/​out.
Cookie — YUM!
Meh for the confused and (almost) inept counter help.
First visit was «okay.»
Has the potential to be great… or terrible.
Straight down the middle — 2.5 stars (okay 2.6, rounded up to three!)

Ambiance: Wow, what a really nice bakery-​café. Giant indoor dining area with good WiFi and lots of comfy outdoor seating.
Service: Ummmm… I think this place is staffed entirely by angry mutes. No one smiles, no one is polite and the barista wouldn’t even stop and make eye contact when telling me she was out of what I ordered… and she wasn’t all that busy. Luckily they have ordering kiosks so employee interaction can be mostly avoided, but I can’t help wondering why everyone always looks mad.
Food: They serve Peet’s coffee which I don’t really like, but I won’t hold that against them because I know it’s popular. I have ordered the egg, cheese and sausage sandwich on a croissant twice. Both times the eggs were overcooked to the point of being dry and the eggs were also under seasoned. The croissant was tasty, but pretty poor value considering I tossed out the egg both times. Between the underwhelming food and down right horrible service, I don’t see myself returning.

First impression is that the building is fantastic. A ton of seating and design was executed well. I’ve been to other Specialties in SF and knew the food was good and usually quick. We walked in and no greeting. We went up to the counter to order and two employees looked at us and we’re doing something on the computer they looked up after about a minute and said they would be with us in another minute. We then placed our order and received good service. After 18 min we were called up and told they ran out of ciabatta and sourdough. Then no only out of sourdough. We picked different breads and then our sandwiches were ready 4 min later. Total wait time of 22 min and 38 seconds. Too long. Good was great though but won’t be back to this location.

Nice large sandwich, pastry and coffee shop. Pastrami with cheese sandwich didn’t wow me. Ran out of morning buns and other pastries didn’t interest me. Nice place for conversation and WiFi.

Excellent quiche. Ham and cheese version is outstanding, and for the same price as a Taco Bell breakfast entrée.
The have A PEETS integrated into this location. That’s great as PEETS is the best and an East Bay icon.
Customer service is not that wonderful. Seems to be more geared towards catering jobs to businesses. Three people were at the counter when I visited and nobody wanted to ask for my order — and I was the only one in line on this early Morning. They had to go find somebody to take my order. Then he seemed put out by having to heat up my quiche. «It seems warm enough» he said. Guess he wasn’t working for tips.

I’ve been to a few other Specialty’s but this one was below par. we were there an hour before closing on a sunday so I’m willing to discount the food somewhat, but the sandwiches are made from scratch. the turkey, applewood bacon and brie sounds great but there is wayyyy too much mayonnaise on it. if you don’t like a lot of mayo on your sandwich, make sure to tell them. tuna melt was okay, but also too much mayo in the mix.
the space is nice, very open and airy, comfortable seating. there must be free wifi because there were a lot of people with open laptops hanging out. the prices are okay, the most expensive sandwich is $ 9 I think. I might come back someday, but there’s no rush.

My experiences at specialties have been right down the middle — some better than others.
The good: the Chinese chicken salad was huge & tasty & exactly what I was looking for. The Tuscan Vegetable salad is my new favorite soup! So delicious and piping hot; I definitely recommend it. And the option to order online and pickup at the restaurant is definitely an added bonus!
The bad: the roast beef sandwich: the meat tasted more like bologna, the proportions were way off (tons of bread, too much lettuce, not enough meat); in general I found this sandwich to be very bland. If I was eating it by myself I would not have finished it (I was sharing a half). I would not give this another chance or recommend it.
That being said, Specialty’s is definitely a welcome addition to the neighborhood! It’s a little pricy, but most chains are. It certainly seems to be a popular choice with the business crowd at lunch time!

My wife’s Cobb Salad included a bug!
Manager refunded only the cost of the salad from our $ 21 bill.

I don’t know why this Specialty’s location only has 3 stars. The food tastes fresh, the employees are nice, and there’s actually parking in this lot (compared to Gotta Eatta Pita which is in the next lot over).
There are self-​serve kiosks for you to order your food so if you’re feeling anti-​social and/​or need extra time to order, you can do so here. You don’t need to have a Specialty’s account, only a credit card. You can even customize your orders easily on here.
I had the Chicken Tortilla Soup which was very flavorful and well-​balanced. It might be my favorite non-​homemade soup. All the ones I’ve had at Safeway, Whole Foods, etc. always taste like they have too much of a certain ingredient. I tried a sip of my friend’s Thai Curry soup which was another winner because it actually tasted like curry and not some weird American interpretation of it.
I also had the Chicken Cobb Salad which had fresh greens and tasted great with the egg, avocado, and bacon bits. Dressing was automatically on the side. I said I didn’t want focaccia but they gave it to us anyway and I enjoyed both the flavor and fluffiness. Even my gluten-​sensitive friend was eating this up.
Everyone knows this already but the cookies are amazing. They’re huge, cost almost $ 3, and are warm most of the time. They even have day old cookies for ½ off which I would opt for next time – a little time in the microwave would do the trick.

This reveiw is mostly based on the Pete’s coffee. The food is great but the baristas need more training. There is one one girl there on Fridays that knows what she is doing (blond with a tatoo on her forearm). I can sadly say that the quality of drinks is much better at a regular Pete’s coffee than at this Pete’s location in specialties café.
I love the turkey and swiss croissant and the lunch sandwiches are great as well. This location just needs to correctly train the baristas. Either way I’m still frequenting this location on a weekly basis.

As a long time Specialtys customer, I was initially stoked that there was a location even closer to me than the one at Stoneridge. Normally, I’d laugh at some of the reviews here– clearly not familiar with the awesomeness of the brand.
However, after over five visits with the same issues, I’m okay with driving further to get the actual Specialtys experience. The salads always have wilted lettuce, breakfast sandwich breads are always over toasted and the cookies are ALWAYS overbaked! Wtf. I don’t say «always» lightly either. Posting a pic of the most recent pb cookie purchase (today) — overbaked, and the damn thing just fell apart once I reheated– because none of the cookies are ever warm– are they even made fresh here?! It’s like they threw the ends of the batter together, without enough butter, and then overbaked it so it sucks even more.
Totally driving to Pleasanton or even the Norfolk one in San Mateo instead. Bummer.

When one hops off 580 E at Hopyard, ready for a hassle… Left at the very next light (U-​turn disallowed). U turn ASAP and then turn Right to go between BK and what have you to land at Specialtys. CHORE:(
Special pain! But!!! Yummy full croissant for $ 2.59 and great dark choc cookie

The food’s really good. I like the sandwiches, love the cookies (and the little chocolates that come with the catering platters), and the salads look really good. This location is beautiful inside, but they still seem to have some kinks to work out.
Don’t come here if you are in a hurry (like, for lunch), but if you are just looking for a quaint place to hang out, this seems to be the best option around. Starbucks can’t beat this atmosphere.

I guess I came on a good day! I was shocked to read all the bad reviews. Never would have stopped in if I had Unilocaled it first.
I love me a great sandwich, and they have really great sandwiches here on fresh bread. Unique ingredients, generously portioned.
You can place your order at an electronic kiosk. Super easy to customize your sandwich, add and subtract ingredients, and pay. You can get it done very quickly, or take your time evaluating what you want. Nutritional value and cost is updated as you play with your options. Then pay with your credit card and grab a pager. I LOVE THIS SYSTEM!
Huge place, free wifi. I look forward to coming back!

Overall I like the layout. When I go to a café I want some space to talk or work.
The service is not up to snuff yet. I’m not sure if the franchise allows this and doesn’t so good training or what. But do go here for the service.
My hubby knows and likes specialty’s from SF. There, he says the are known for their cookies, buns and coffee. But he did notice right away that the size of the cookie is different here than in the city. My husband thinks it has to do with the calorie count. But truly, the cookies are awesome.
If you like a sweet, tender cookie this is the place for you. Yummy. I’ve had the chocolate chip and the snicker doodle. Yum.
2 stars because of the service and because there are other places locally to go. But we do stop in and grab cookies. We’ll give it another try in a couple months.