Plantation Coffee Roastery

Meh…
I live in San Carlos and would love nothing more than to have a good neighborhood coffee shop, but unfortunately, this ain’t it.
The store space itself is cool with plenty of seating for group gatherings and conversation, but the food and drinks really leave a lot to be desired.
My wife and I visited today wanting to try a new place to grab a coffee and latte and didn’t flinch when we had to unexpectedly order a bagel and muffin to meet the $ 10 credit card minimum.
My wife’s «small» coffee was $ 1.25, but was the size of a large shot glass. More disturbing was the blueberry bran muffin that I’d wager good money was nothing more than a marked up Costco bulk pack muffin. I ordered a toasted poppyseed bagel that could hardly be classified as «toasted,» served barely warm with a slap of butter in it.
If you eat out enough, you can smell a low-​budget, high markup joint immediately. I won’t be coming back.

Hmmmm. Not agreeing with these four star reviews. I’m all for supporting local shops but not when they charge high prices for items that they buy off other retailers and resell at a higher price. We left feeling like we got ripped off.
We ordered:
A small coffee which I was able to finish in three sips. The size was ridiculous small and they only filled it just over half way. The coffee itself was not great but it does not matter since the serving size was tiny.
A bran muffin that we ate one bite from. It seemed like one of those muffins you buy from Safeway or Costco. Not fresh and obviously store bought.
A bagel (which was the best thing but that is bc they get it from House of Bagel). Requested it toasted but got a bagel that was just warmed up. Not toasted at all.
The latte was decent but nothing special.
No plans on going back.

On my way in to work and found this little nook in the wall. Small mom and pop atmosphere that made me feel right at home. Coffee was good and their breakfast bagel was frictions! Definitely worth a shot!

Had an urge for coffee before a company dinner, and this place was right across the street. I must say, the coffee here is strong and delicious! Will come here again!

Had a delicious cappuccino! The owners work there which is always a plus. I would make this my coffee place if only I lived closer.

We will DEFINITELY return! They are now in their new location and getting settled in.
Reason #1– They serve real coffee that’s roasted there with love. It’s clean and they offer great choices on the menu.
Reason #2– The bagel sandwiches are addictive and truly delicious. My daughter who is a picky eater loved it! I pay anyone BIG money for that!
Reason #3– Oh… the ice cream is leagues better than normal chain brands. I wish I had ordered a gallon sized cup! Goofy Foot was
my favorite.
Reason #4– They have little kid tables for kids to play while adults enjoy a beautifully made cup of coffee.
Reason #5– You can feel the small-​town coffee shop feel right when you walk in. «Mom and Pap» treat you like family.
What more can you ask for!!!

Friendly service and good tasting coffee drinks, my kids love their ice cream as well!

This was a nice little find in San Carlos. It’s not your traditional quiet coffee shop. It definitely has the mom and pop shop feel, but that being said, it was a coffee place we will visit again. The have a full menu of hot and cold beverages that rival Starbucks menu, the offer pastries and other treats, oh and they sell coffee. If all the «fancy» places I go, I can never find my Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and they have it here and cheaper than the website. Great stop. great coffee. Nice service.

I have always really liked the place. We mainly get the coffee which tastes really good and the egg bagel sandwiches. The service is the best part. Sue has always known what our family likes to order and is great with kids. She is friendly and appears to really care. It is hard to find workers with such a great sense of community.
The new location is a big improvement since there is much more space. We will continue to stop in and get their coffee.

It is meh to a-​ok, prices are pretty steep for a bagel with not much in it. I got the #11 and I could barely taste any of the hummus as it was spread so thin, half of the bagel did not have any cucumbers in it. I have only been here three times. Two of those times the debit/​credit card machine has been «not working» and conveniently directed to an ATM 3 feet over so bring cash to be on the safe side.

The coconut milk latte was delicious. The staff was quick and very friendly. If I didn’t live so far away, I would make this my coffee place.

small mom & pop coffee shop in the downtown San Carlos area WHICH seems to be competing just fine with the starbucks & peets coffee on this same block
—small almond milk latte: not bad, wasn’t a huge fan of the espresso flavor here but maybe it was the almond milk? i guess i should try soy milk next time!
—almond croissant: not flaky at all
they sell a variety of baked goods & offer bagel sandwiches

Place is good but not great; I find that they have good tasting coffee (not entirely sure it’s direct from farm) but I am wary that it is definitely a locals spot in the sense that the owners don’t need to attract newcomers and so there was almost no pizazz to this place and the bagel I got was mediocre. Nice people working here though!

Just simply great coffee. Now serves organic too which is pretty rare around here. I think they roast their own beans too.
The little bagel sandwiches they make there are better than any of the rival bagel shops.
The woman there is sooooo friendly, and you can tell she knows everyone of her customers well, since they all call her by name.

It’s a little ‘Grandma’s nook’ up in here but I think I like that.
It’s a pretty stark contrast to the highly stylized coffee shops of Silicon Valley and kind of reminds me a little of the rinky dink coffee spots back home in Chicagoland, so I guess I’m a fan… though I was certainly expecting it to be a bit more polished.
I’d been wanting to come here for months now but had a hard time finding it and on two separate occasions just ended up going to Starbucks because my phone was bunk and could not give me the correct map location if its life depended on it.
I got an iced chai latte and my colleague got a regular iced latte that he sipped down at lightning speed. My chai was pretty sweet… even for a me, a person who normally takes her coffee with 35% of the cup as creamer and sugar.
The atmosphere inside is a little cramped if it’s busy, so we chose to sit outside where it’s still a little cramped if more people are out there but still pretty nice unless someone takes one of the tables to smoke at.
I don’t actually know if they have wifi but I had no problem getting on the Paxti’s wifi guest line and getting perfect internet connection (Thanks, Paxti! I’ll be actually patronizing you next, I promise). I was surprised at how much work I got done here since I have a history of being completely unable to concentrate when not working from the comfort of my apartment, but I think having a coworker to supervise and give me disgruntled looks when my mind wandered or I attempted to start unnecessary conversations helped.
The streets of San Carlos are quaint ones so sitting outside was really nice until school let out and the monster spawn of San Carlos’ finest began loudly roaming the avenues, screaming into their smart phones and carelessly spitting ice cubes into passersby, but as a person who just isn’t all that into kids to begin with, this heinous behavior is what I’d consider pretty par for todays tween.
I’d like to come back again at an earlier time and try their pour overs since that seems to be a thing here. Also worth noting– they do bulletproof coffee here with some sort of special Irish butter, if you’re into that kind of thing.

I am not sure why so many rated this place 4 star.
The Soy Mocha was not what I expected. You have to try it somewhere else! The bake goods looked like a day old, and I tried the croissant — Unilocal proved me right.

I love this place! The coffee is so fresh, so tasty, and I love the fact that the owners who work every day and see hundreds of faces never forget my drink and tend to treat me with a complimentary scone or cookie.
I’m not even there every week but they start making my drink the minute they see me and they make me feel VIP!
I’m so happy I found such an awesome coffee spot!

Smelled like morning farts inside :/
Their medium size is the size of a small :/​
Ppl smoke in the tables out front :/

A disclaimer before we start off: I am, by no means, an expert when it comes to coffee. If we’re talking about straight up black coffee, I definitely have my opinions about it, but when it comes to anything that’s not straight dark caffeine, I tend to not notice much in the way of differences.
So, that said, my friend and I swung by after lunch down the street at Cuisinett, with myself ordering a soy latte (damn that lactose intolerance!). And, hey, it was a good, solid latte. While the froth was not as nice as a café I used to frequent in Seattle, I’ve been told getting soy milk to froth up nicely is actually fairly difficult to accomplish.
***Accessibility Info***
Venue — The venue is a little on the smaller side, and the two-​top tables are not ideal for scooting under, but all around, the place is fairly accessible.
Bathroom — Didn’t check them out, so no comment.

I was in the area and needed a perk and found Plantation Coffee, many thanks to Gold Unilocal Elite buddy Victor G. for his awesome review (
)
I was surprise they were roasting their «in-​house» coffee beans when I walked in. It was a fun sight to see and hear while I waited for my cappuccino to be prepared.
Plantation Coffee has a few tables inside to sit, and a couple of tables outside for you to enjoy the great weather. BTW, free Wi-​Fi is provided here so the next time I’m in the area, I’ll bring my work laptop to finish my day.
It is always humbling to find a family owned business that will provide a homey ambience, nothing too fancy… just down to earth service. Fantastic!
Cheers! ~ :p