Emerald City Cafe & Catering

This place is closed. Unilocal won’t update the listing but trust me — they are gone! No bill pay — no restuaranty!

Nice location, great food selections and good coffee. Had the French toast it was pretty tasty. Overall good experience and friendly staff.

Awesome owners, great staff, friendly smiles and very good caffeinated hot beverages. Baristas get it right.

This is a great spot for breakfast. The good lattes and scones are a bonus. I have always loved the vibe at Emerald City and get great service with yummy food.

This morning my buddy and I were looking for a place to go eat breakfast. My friend (we’ll call him Mandon) suggested that we try Emerald City Café since my folks had tried it and said they liked it. So, we popped in there… Should’ve gone to Gold Dust West instead. Now, the food actually was ok, the location was good, and they have some pesto potatoes that were pretty rockin. Problem was that the price of a sloppy bagel breakfast sandwich and a 3 oz. fruit cup was downright ridiculous. I got a Pepsi too and the total was more than $ 13. Just for me. To top it off, the girl working the register must’ve had a long night or something because she really wasn’t all that friendly. I probably wont go back unless I have to. Maybe grabbing a cup of coffee would be more likely but then again, with Walden’s Coffee House right across the street, it will be really hard for them to compete… They probably have a better breakfast sandwich over there too.

This place is cute, good atmosphere, calming. The food is good, the coffee is good, but I’d have to say the prices are high. Im pretty sure its because its located near Caughlin Ranch. I had the breakfast burrito and a cup of coffee. I replaced ham with sausage for a grand total of almost $ 15.00! I think until I win the lottery or feel like blowing my hard earned money on some sausage, I’ll just make my own. Good place, just a little pretentious for me.

My girlfriend got the French Toast and the portions were generous, and it was fluffy and DELICIOUS! The fruit cup that came with it was surprisingly fresh. I got the Original Breakfast Burrito and it was perfect! Not too juicy or messy, but just clean and delicious! We both HIGHLY recommend it! Get on down here and get some breakfast!

We eat here once in a great while because its near our house and the food is good. They have a great space but I don’t feel that they take maximum advantage of it. Doesn’t feel cozy or charming and that is also reflected in their employees. It’s too bad because if those minus points were fixed we’d spend more money there even tho it’s way overpriced.

Great waffle!!!
I’m not a breakfast person but I ordered waffle with strawberries and cream for lunch. And it was the best waffle! My friend’s salad looked OK, and she said it was good.
Service — nothing personal (order at counter, they bring it out to your table)
Atmosphere — relaxing, can spend hours
Will go back again! =)

It’s always good here, the scones are tasty and the lemon curd is amazing.

The caesar salad here is absolutely the best I have had in years. Everything else we got was good too but the caesar is to die for. You MUST MUST MUST try it. YUM! You won’t regret it!

Judging by the crowd people really like this place, so I’ll go easy for the first paragraph or so.
My likes: The high vaulted ceilings, the outside seating area, the scones and pastries either made in house or brought in from a caterer (no Kroger brand for pastries at least), its attempt to make itself unique, the book exchange shelf that has a local author’s book on it (and he was sitting nearby waiting to hear feedback) and… well that’s it for me.
I don’t like that if you have never been in before you would completely miss the breakfast and lunch menu because they don’t ask if you want it or put the menus within your immediate walking path to the register.
I don’t like that in my vegetable omelette that none of the vegetables were cooked. If I wanted to bite into a raw onion or bell pepper, I’d go up the road to Safeway and buy one for way cheaper. I know some people don’t have magical cooking skills, but when you look around the café and see almost everyone with Tobasco, Cholula, salt or pepper in their hands you have to realize that the food is overall bland and you could do better at home.
I don’t like that on the outside of the café it advertises itself as an espresso and tea shop, yet the only f*in tea they sell is Mighty Leaf. Seriously? You can’t call yourself a tea shop if you sell what everybody else does! And the chai, expect Big Train. I find it such a let down that every single café in Reno minus one (that I’ve been to) sells Big Train. I know people have sweet teeth, but it also shows an extreme lack of effort.
Tea shop. Yeah right.
For the people that gave this place a high rating because they serve their coffee in big cups… seriously? A big cup does not denote a good coffee. Just sayin’.
Anyway, if I go back I’ll probably take a relative visiting me who likes bland food and a regular cup of coffee. They’ll find this place cute and quaint. As for me? I won’t go farther than Walden’s down the street.

…So you can imagine my disappointment entering this place and not seeing a concerted recreation of the city for which it is named. There’s some emerald on the wall, but it mostly looks like a coffee shoppe.
And this coffee shoppe has a tacky display case loaded with unfinished items and tubs of cream cheese, among other things. That’s not what a display case is for. I’m supposed to look in there and want to eat something I see. It’s helpful for the restaurant and the customer.
Having to deal with that made my ordering process even worse. You place your order at the cash register, but you order from a menu. This causes me great distress, because I’m stuck standing in front of an employee looking at the menu for at least 7 minutes because I had no idea what I wanted. However, I honed in on the breakfast burritos. They both had things I liked and things I didn’t. For instance, the eggwhites came with the one in a spinach tortilla and the peppers came in a sundried tomato one. But I wanted eggwhites in the sundried tomato one.
Fortunately, that employee eagerly awaiting my order was there to help me sort this out. Turns out I could get it the way I wanted. Well that’s a lie; I wanted a plain flour torilla. They don’t have them! What?! This put me back to the drawing board, or more accurately thinking board, for a solid two minutes until I decided I could live with a sundried tomato tortilla.
It was at this point that my girlfriend went to pay with her Groupon. Apparently she didn’t read the rules and was not allowed to use that coupon yet. Now I have to pay! Ugh! What an awful breakfast! She’s lucky she’s pretty.
Moving along, the coffee was surprisingly excellent and the free refills were enough to boost the spirit of, well, grouchy me I guess.
The burrito turned out to be quite excellent. Even the tortilla! It tasted pretty fresh and nicely hot. However, the fruit cup side was most egregious! I expect there to be plenty of melon in a fruit cup (the sad state of the fruit world, I say!), but I don’t expect the fruits that aren’t melon to be brown, or grapes. OK, I guess I can expect grapes. I’m more disappointed with the brown part. The pineapple was most noticeably half brown and therefore gross. I also don’t expect my fruit cups to be coated with yogurt. I don’t like yogurt and it isn’t a fruit! Get it out of my fruit cup!
The scone was tasty, but a bit too dry.
So to recap: As a Wizard of Oz fan, I am disappointed. As a coffee fan, I am delighted. As a food fan, I am mostly satisfied but not convinced about returning anytime soon to eat (though I’m not ruling out the possibility, especially since I haven’t tried lunch yet).

Great White Mocha served in an ACTUAL over-​sized ceramic mug. Yay!
Breakfast is great!

I came in here about a year ago and then yesterday. Quite a lot has changed.
First the pros: Student 10% discount (yay for me). Fireplace — probably cozy during the winter. They now have an extended breakfast and lunch menu, with clever names after Washington locations — I was super stoked about the Whidbey Island Rice Salad (my hometown!) Now their pastries are from the House of Bread, which is great. The cinnamon roll I had was delicious. They are advertising they support local growers/​businesses and that is good too.
Now the cons: I went in just to get a cappuccino and pastry on my way out to work. I thought I’d be in and out in a few minutes but that was not to be. They were pretty busy yesterday morning, but there is absolutely no reason it should take ten minutes (let alone the fifteen plus I waited) for a coffee drink and a pastry out of their case. They had one girl running the register and one girl making all of the sandwiches and coffee drinks. So one staff member had to run around like a chicken with their head cut off while the other one, when not taking orders, sort of wandered around behind the register and did nothing.
I had to remind them to make my drink and give me my pastry after some time, and after others had been served that came in after me. The girl at the register said they were backed up, and I could see there were problems with other customers besides me. I should not have to wait for all the sandwich orders to get made before I get my coffee. When I did get my pastry, they put it in a large styrofoam box for sandwiches or something. Don’t play the sustainable/​local card and then hand me something that will never decompose. The brand of coffee they use tasted extremely burnt as well.
The reason I go on ad nauseum about this is because I wanted to support a local business and try something new for my morning routine. It turned out to be just short of a disaster. The atmosphere in there was akin to a daycare. Lastly, I looked at their menu and felt that it was extremely over priced. $ 9 for a breakfast burrito? No thanks. If I want another one of those rolls, I will just go to the House of Bread.
Recommended for moms who want a latte and have some time and money to waste.

We recently went to Emerald City after not having been there in YEARS. It seems like a lot has changed. I always loved Emerald City, so that’s not why we haven’t been in so long — I guess we just don’t drive by often enough to remember to pop in.
If I remember correctly they used to be geared much more toward the pastry type stuff they sold, and sandwiches, in addition to their coffees, teas, and other drinks. But the other day when we walked in we saw a more sparse pastry selection and were given two well rounded lunch and breakfast menus (we couldn’t decide which we wanted so the girl at the front gave us both — meaning I don’t think they have a cut off time for breakfast or lunch which is a huge plus!).
I ended up going for breakfast and boyfriend went for a lunch sandwich. I got the french toast and boyfriend got a sandwich (caughlin club I believe) with tomato soup. I can defiantly say that since Lisa R’s review I think they decided to do away with the microwave concept because my french toast was defiantly freshly made. It took far too long to be something that was just nuked. I also made an extra effort to listen to kitchen sounds because I had read Lisa’s review a while back and remembered when I walked in that she had mentioned that they have a cook come in to prepare things ahead of time. I heard lots of food making noises lol — on the stove etc. So maybe they decided to hire a full time cook now!
My french toast came with a wonderful fruit salad. I had anticipated a blah fruit salad consisting of cut fruit in a little cup — but this was cut fruit with sliced almonds and yogurt on top, very tasty. And it had pineapple and strawberries in it to, not just the crappy grape and melon fruit salads you get at other places. My french toast was thick, and yummy. A very nice breakfast for me! Much more filling than I had planned on — I thought it was still the same little coffee place where all I ever got was a bagel… Now I’m getting full-​on meals!
My boyfriend got his sandwich with cheese jalapeño bread and it was big and he said delicious. The best part was his tomato soup — another surprise! We thought it would just be like canned tomato soup, but it actually had big tomato chunks in it and everything. My boyfriend hates everything, and he said «next time we want a big plate of delicious food, we have to remember to go here.» Yay! Boyfriend likes something I like! Oh, and I almost forgot… they DO carry grape juice here (which is something boyfriend must always have).
The inside is pretty much the same, with the quotes and all on the walls and the seating near the fireplace — and outdoor seating.
I was sad they didn’t offer the pot of tea anymore :(The girl at the register informed me that they switched to new teas since I had last been in too — so I’m assuming that’s why they don’t do the pot of tea to share anymore. That was always fun though, to get a big pot for you and whoever at your table and just share it. Their Jasmine tea was my favorite, but they still do have a Jasmine Flower tea available.

Food is very good!
Service is very good.
Coffee needs to be a little stronger as one would expect from a Seattle influenced coffee house.

I’ve seen the man behind the curtain and he ain’t pretty.
Hungry? No no no no no! Don’t waste $ 10 or $ 11 dollars for nuked food that’s been pre-​prepared.
Here’s the skinny — They hire a cook to come in every 2 days and bake cookies that are forgettable, 2 types of scones 1. hockey pucks 2. haystack style dropped biscuits a la Bisquick with sugar and shredded cheddar added. BLECH! And the cook poaches up a bunch of chicken and cooks a batch of squiggly pasta with a smidgen of pesto sauce. The cook also makes unbaked lasagna. When you come in they nuke your order and charge you a fortune. It’s a total rip-​off.
No receipt is offered. You must ask if you want one.
Tables are frequently dirty (2 out 3 I tried weren’t even wiped down).
The place is nice, but the chairs aren’t comfy and people come in there with screaming babies or talking on their cellphones. It’s a cafeterria atmosphere and that’s about the level of the food too.
I tasted the curry squash soup and liked it. But $ 6 per bowl is overcharging.
Nice staff but young and not very experienced.
My friend and I will not go back for food ever again.
She did like her tropical ice tea ($ 2 for a small I think).
If I’m ever in the area again I may try a tea or coffee.
Sorry Dorothy, but they’ve bastardized you and your’s!

Our bookclub group of 10 women came here at noon on Sunday to meet and to discuss our book. I had never been here before, so like others, I was a bit confused about whether this was a sit down restaurant or not. There was a menu board for the coffee choices, but nothing obvious for any food to eat (later, we were offered a menu, but that was after we already ordered just pastries because that’s all we thought was available). There was a display case of pastries, but nothing was labeled and no prices were listed. No big deal, I’m just sayin’. It’s just that this is the second Reno restaurant in a row that I noticed this in and frankly, it’s a little strange that an obvious thing for a restaurant to do isn’t done.
Anyway, I ordered a Sobe juice and had one of their rather monstrous cinnamon rolls. They heated it up and brought it to our table a few minutes later. The creamy frosting literally was melting yummily all over the roll as it was put in front of me. It was very good.

Just an update to say that I finally had breakfast here, and the quiche was just as good as I’d hoped. Good enough, in fact, to pop this place up to five stars if it weren’t for the spotty service. It’s like they can’t decide whether they want this place to be a café or a coffee house. We eventually placed our order at the counter since there was no server and no menus. I figured they just did counter service. But then I saw other people receive table service. What? Just not us? Weird. I didn’t mind the counter service so much – a lower tip saves me money – except that getting up and taking my coffee mug to the counter every time I needed a refill was kind of annoying. Not to mention the fact that I had to then tote it all the way to the other side of the restaurant to add cream and sugar because there was none available at the table.
Anyways, if you don’t mind these annoying hiccups in the service, the food is really fantastic. Try the quiche. And make sure to get some lemon curd with your scone… YUM!