Zanzibar Cafe

Great potential, but falls flat on execution.
Breakfast panini = pretty flavorless
:(was disappointed. Fresh good ingredients but zero flavor.
Rosemary potatoes=delicious, but tiny portion.
Fruit cup is nice but wish they had organic. I can’t do pesticide strawberries anymore.
Nice Selection of mimosas, but they’re served in a dinky small champagne glass, so not the best value.
Laid-​back PB pace… so your water glass can go empty. But they don’t disappear forever
Has potential, but everytime I come I’m a bit let down.
Pros–
1-​have patio
2– patio is dog friendly
I’m giving chupa cabra next door a shot next time. They look happier over there.
Please get ketchup w no HFCS!
Second review– came back for early dinner. BBQ ckn pizza vgood.
Svc again, euro style
Really really nice guy so I feel bad bringing it up but if you work in food svc, your first priority should be watching all your tables
Water and wine went empty. Big nono
Was chatting away w other table which I Loved, but I had to flag them to get his attention.
I thought he felt bad bc when I got the check, he mentioned my wine was house glass price.
But he didn’t get it
Bc another table sat, he came & took their order, & didn’t even look towards my table. He would’ve seen my credit card sticking out of the bill thing ready to go.
Sat another 10 minutes while he made their lattes
Again I don’t just want to vent.. I want this place to live up to its potential.

My three friends and I came here for breakfast. We all had egg scrambles, and all of us were super satisfied. The homemade salsa is excellent.

This review is past due… apparently it’s now closed. My rating based on tea only. I love coffee shops like this. It has a great ambiance that you can’t get from the chain coffee shops.

This place was ****ing awful. The waiter was totally incompetent and had no knowledge of the menu. The chairs sunk so low that for a 5’4″ girl I couldn’t even reach the table top. When my boyfriend and I ordered coffee the waiter asked me, «Do you like coffee, too?!» thinking I was A LITTLE GIRL. I ordered a French Roast and walked out without paying. Fucking asshole. Glad the place closed.

Nicer than the run of the mill PB grease joint. It is quaint and has healthy options like their salads. Just not too big of a fan that parking is hard to come by, service was slow and although tr food was good there was a sense of pizaz lacking…

Most breakfast places in PB do not disappoint, so I’ll stick to talking about the venue rather than the food.
The tables outside are the *best* place for people watching. If you sit near the door outside, you will also get to pet watch a lot of adorable dogs while the dog owners run in to grab coffee. Parking on the street during the day is really easy.
Will def come back for more flirty mimosas!

Zanzibar… Zanzibar. It’s a cute lil’ bougie place where the food is fresh and the feel is laid back. My cousins and I took a walk through Belmont and PB in search for some local grind that my vegetarian/​pescatarian cousin would be interested in, which is why we let her choose. Little did we know that we had to walk mad distances just to get there. Go figure, she’s also a health freak.
I’ll tell you one thing; this place beats any chain coffee shop no doubt. The eclectic design and the indie music playing in the background sets the mood for anyone wanting to step away from the Cali sun for a bit.
Now the food isn’t exactly what I’d expect from a coffee shop… well at least a few of the selections. My cousin and his significant other ordered a barbeque pizza to share (DAMN.) and I ordered the turkey panini which came with a side salad. My other cousin ordered the tuna sandwich. I love the side salad. The pine nuts with the balsamic and crumbled blue cheese atop of spring greens hit the spot while my panini complimented with its crunch and savory flavors. I had the gracious opportunity to try the tuna sandwich which was just as delicious. As for the pizza… well, I just let the two love birds enjoy their meal ;-D.
Pricing is pretty reasonable although portions are small, but then again when you’re born in San Deezy you become accustomed to the oversized meals. So I’ll say pricing is reasonable for quality, well-​portioned lunches. It’s definitely on the light side, but when you’re trying to get at that beach body, it’s just enough =).

the coffee and tea selection are great! i love the location although parking can be a bit difficult in PB. the breakfast selection is delicious and great! the service is always wonderful.
the only thing i would say is someone should be there to let you know if you can just sit down or be seated by an employee. the overall café is open and well lit by sunlight.
love this place!

We briefly stopped here while in SD. This is basically what a coffee shop should be. It’s what starbuck’s desperately tries to be, but never actually was or will be.
We got hot tea and their selection was very good and you get fresh loose leaf tea. Sat at the seat by the open window, felt the cool breeze and watched the endless stream of drunks pass by.

The 1 star is for the 1 employee that I have always had an amazing experience with. Most other employees are extremely slow and forgetful and then there is the one, the one, who is the rudest person I have ever experienced in customer service. Either she hates me, her job, her life or all the above. But she has never smiled or said thank you. I feel that I am somehow bothering her when I all I wanted was a coffee from the coffee bar… yeah. I just know how hard it is to have a job these days, especially by the beach so it blows my mind that she is still employed with this rotten attitude. She’s been in the bar I work at with that same scowl, so it’s obviously just a personality trait of hers. Great hire Zanzibar!
Oh and she has brown hair, bangs and a mean glare.
But the food and coffee is really good! A little pricy but good.

Decent salads and sandwiches, with a slightly 70s, hempy touch. I can’t quite place it, but the sunflower seeds in my salad, the odd herbs in my vinaigrette, the seasoning on my chicken, all made me feel like I was back at Claire’s vegetarian café in New Haven, or Berkeley in the late 60s. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, exactly.
Perhaps more importantly, the décor is welcoming, cheerful, and abundant. Lots of groups (mostly women) chatting merrily throughout the place, and it looks like in the late afternoon it turns into a coffee shop with light noshing (open til 10.) PB could use more non-​bar evening hangouts, and this looks like it might serve as one.

I came here for lunch and ordered coffee and panini with salad. Their coffee was stale, but their panani/​salad were made fresh to order. I paid about $ 15 total, and still left hungry. Won’t be coming back here.

I can’t review their ice tea because I never received one. Just stood at the counter for 10min looking like an idiot while the two employees working this Sunday entered numbers in on their respective registers and never made eye contact with me. Really? You can’t even take 5 seconds to tell me you’ll be with me shortly? It wasn’t until I started laughing about the whole situation that one guy tells me a waitress would come by in a second to take my order. 2 more minutes pass and the lucky lady rolls up, proceeds to stand with the other two, and… ignores me. 3 minutes passed before I turned tail and left.
I’ve been here before and quite enjoyed the pastries and coffee, but the crap service is unforgivable. Went down the street to Pacific Bean Coffee Shop. No attitude, cheaper drinks, and their ice tea rocked. Just saying…

Been coming here for years. Their coffee is fantastic.
Most recent visit I purchased a white chocolate mocha and a lemon bar. The bar was absolutely to die for. The mocha was also delicious.
I rarely drive to Zanzibar and so the parking frustration that others have experience is not a problem. Almost never stay-​in on my visits either. It tends to get crowded quick especially on the weekends.
Will be back soon Zanzibar. Thanks for the good times.

My friend and I were looking for a place for brunch and decided to check out Zanzibar in PB. As is typical with PB, parking can be a pain so plan accordingly. We sat outside in the sidewalk café area, which was nice on a sunny spring day, and I liked the ambiance.
The food was decent but not amazing. I opted for the acai berry bowl, which I’ve only had one other time, also in PB. It was a huge bowl, and pretty tasty, but in hindsight I wish I would have ordered something more substantial, like a sandwich. I can’t fault the restaurant for my decision though. I’d like to go back sometime and try the chicken pesto sandwich.
Overall, I’d bump Zanzibar to a 3.5 star for now.

I usually try to stay away from PB due to having a difficult time finding free parking or having to pay for parking. I ended up riding with a friend who wanted to go to this café for lunch.
Not realizing that the paper menus were right in front of our faces as we entered the café, we were guided to take a seat at a table. We sat for quite some time before we were acknowledged. Since there was a big group of people and not enough wait staff at the time, we waited patiently. A little too patient that our stomachs (at least mine) was grumbling. Finally after asking for some menus, we were given a few minutes or so to decide.
I recommend the Iced Chai drink to start. I ordered the Artichoke, Tomato & Eggplant open-​faced sandwich on their homemade Focaccia Bread. It was delicious. I noticed they also have a display of desserts. Breakfast is served all day.
If I end up going to PB again, I will try other items on this menu. I now know to get the menu before being seated. It was my first visit to this café. Maybe I’ll have a better experience the second time around…

This place seems like it’d be really nice on a warm and sunny day. Today, unfortunately, was rainy and cold. There’s an outdoor seating area at the front of the coffee shop, so it’s a nice place to relax and see all the hustle and bustle of Garnet Ave. It’s centrally located in PB — there are lots of boutiques and restaurant/​bars nearby.
I like the ambiance there — very urban and traditional. I always get the iced chai tea lattle. They have a nice selection of cakes and pastries as well. I’ve never been here for an actual meal, but from the looks of the food on the other tables, I think it’s worth a shot. I saw a lot of people drinking wine there too. It’s a nice place for a casual hang out. I’d study here too, but there’s no wi-​fi and I didn’t see any outlets. But the girls that work there are really sweet, the drinks are great, and overall it’s a nice place.

Yummy!
Although I don’t frequent coffee shops too often being that I’m not a coffee drinker, I DO think this is the best one in PB. The food is super yummy. My friend and I split our orders. My friend ordered the bagel with smoked salmon. It was fresh and was presented nicely, but a little over priced. I ordered the oatmeal with fresh fruit (bananas and strawberries,) which was also super yummy.
If I wasn’t trying to start «eating healthy», whatever that means… I so would have gotten one of their oh-​so-​yummy looking pastries.

$ 1.50 for the BEST giant ginger cookie ever. Chewy, yummy, goodness.

I’ve heard tons of great things about Zanzibar, and have driven by many times, but had never gotten a chance to try it until today. My incubator working group needed a convenient place to meet in order to talk about our projects and since two members of the team lived in the area, this was the recommended place for the job.
I started off the morning with their maple-​flavored coffee as recommended by the very attractive waitress who happened to be enjoying it herself. It had the slightest hint of sweetness and maple flavor, which I enhanced with copious amounts of sugar and cream. For breakfast I decided to go with their avocado, tomato, cilantro, and Fontina cheese omelet with sourdough toast. The omelet itself was light, fluffy, and delicious but I found the potatoes to be dry and overcooked and the toast was burnt. However, the mixed fruit bowl was very fresh and complimented the otherwise perfectly cooked omelet.
While it’s a little on the expensive side for the amount of food you get, the location is very cozy and right on the main drag through PB. The service was excellent and allowed us to hang around for nearly 4 hours and it turned out to be a pretty good meeting place for our little group. There was no space for laptops so we might have to find more convenient location next time, but I would definitely come back.
Food: ⁶⁄₁₀
Service: ⁸⁄₁₀
Price: $$
Atmosphere: ⁸⁄₁₀