On Fourth- A Novel Cafe

Meh. I don’t want to sound rude, but the coffee here is below average. I sometimes would pass by this place on my way to class and stop in for a snack/​coffee break, but I’ve never really thought much of it. Coffee has always been on the weak side, no bold taste at all, and many of the flavored drinks have that fake splenda sweetness to them. I do like a couple of their breakfast sandwiches, just wish it was a bit cheaper for what you get.

Shout out to the owner of this place. You are rude and a rip off. I ordered a latte and she did not ask if I wanted whip cream (I assumed there would be whip cream LIKE ON EVERY LATTE) and once I opened the lid, a big chunk was missing. Uhm I’m a student and I paid $ 5 for this? Wtf this is even a bigger rip off than Starbucks… I don’t appreciate them doing this especially for how much you have to pay. Also workers here are slow af don’t come here

Hot chocolate is good but every time I come here its so scalding hot I have to wait 30 minutes before I can drink it. Unless you like to burn your taste buds off…

first time got decaf from them it was pretty much cold!
dsecond time got decaf latte and it took them 10 min to make it because the girl realized once she made a latte that it wasn’t decaf.
I will go anywhere on campus but this place to get my decaf

Service here is so slow when you order the sandwiches and bagels. Food takes a while to come out and every minute counts when you wanna grab a «quick» bite between your classes.
I had a break so I stopped by and ordered the Three Musketeers – sausage, egg, and cheese in a choice of bagel. I chose a cheese bagel. The sausage inside was so soft and the texture felt like the frozen ones that you would buy from Safeway or somewhere when you heat it up randomly.
I also usually buy a banana nut or blueberry muffin from Just Below so I thought it would be the same here. My blueberry muffin was cold. Oh so very cold like it’s been left out for some time. I didn’t enjoy it at all.
The staff is alright. They have a couple friendly and chatty staff, but most of them are just tryna do their job. Not sure if they don’t have enough staff during rushes, but they were slow-​moving during the time.

A convenient little place to grab a bagel, donut, sandwich, coffee or espresso drink, or other prepared food/​beverages when you’re at SJSU or the King Library. Tully’s coffee here is top-​notch. Sandwiches are named after famous novels… clever.

Awful. I should not have to wait over 2 hours for a soup to warm up. My original estimate given was 45 minutes, so I figured I would wait while studying in the library. I continued to check if was ready, nothing. For 2 hours. Please discover a more efficient way of providing soup when it runs out.

I give the place and staff 5 it’s the customers that go here that get 1.

Got a plain bagel, fruit, and coffee for breakfast. $ 10 dollars. Wow. Along with horrible customer service, this place deserves one star.

I absolutely love this café! It’s my favorite place to grab a quick bite on campus. It’s run by students and they are just amazing. I highly recommend this place. Also, if you like sandwiches, I highly recommend the Mocking Bird! Hands down the best sandwich I’ve ever had!

The chai tea latte is so horrible here!!! Way too sweet. I took like ¼ of a sip and I felt my stomach cry. Don’t order it with normal sweetness or else u will waste 3 bucks. The sandwiches here are decent, but are overpriced. The good thing about this place is that there’s plenty of outdoor seating and they offer a variety of foods. Plus, the workers are really nice.

This place is very inefficient. I understand it gets busy, but it could run more smoothly to get people through more quickly. Training of employees to do their jobs instead of talking to each other is one suggestion.
A line open for people who only want to buy a bottle/​can drink also would be helpful. A line 10 people long shouldn’t take 20 minutes. I suppose this facility doesn’t have to be very fast since it’s really the only place on that side of campus and serves mainly students or the patrons of the library.

Worst amenities if you are not a SJSU student.
Wifi access is through the library next door.
Bathroom is public library and again shared with the world including homeless who I saw one taking a shower at the sink.
Chair are on par with Starbucks. Hard wooden and no plush.
Only merit is spotless window and counter. Reasonable coffee not great.

Bought 2 sandwiches here not 5 min ago for myself and my girlfriend.
Really bad cut of meat in under the Tuscan sun. We actually ended up taking the meat out and eating it as a pesto cheese sandwich! The bread was okay, a bit old, the cheese was just a bit melted. But the meat was garbage! The chicken tasted bland, cold, way too salty and really gamey. It was hard to bite through and made for an awful sandwich.
Massive drop in quality from when I went here last year. Go elsewhere.

Its ran by students and they can be busy but the sandwiches and food is great. I like stopping by when I am downtown San José looking for a quick bite. The staff is very friendly too.

With all honesty, this place is alright. It is personally convenient for me since it is within feet from where I work and go to school. There are certainly better places around campus where you can find better-​tasting coffee. You are also able to find better-​tasting/​filling sandwiches for the same price elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong, I do like their daily soups, ice teas, and occasionally their baked potato, but please beware of the long line. I’ve learned that it takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes to toast a plain bagel and add cream cheese (giggles) aside from the 10-​minute wait standing in line.

So today I went to Tully’s and ordered a 3 Musketeers for the first time… I ordered it on a wheat bagel with sausage, butter, and cheese… It wasn’t busy at all and I got my bagel within five minutes… When I got to my car I opened my bagel and there was nothing in it except butter…(You can imagine my dismay)…I walked all the way back across campus, showed my bagel to one of the employees at the counter, and showed them my receipt. I then asked politely if they could throw in a little avocado for my troubles, you know as a complimentary service — which is not a lot to ask in my position, right? –Well the lady who manages the café looked at my ticket and my bagel and then tells me, «Oh I see how they got it wrong»…(Which makes no difference to me)… then she has the audacity to say, «Sorry, but were going to have to charge you for the avocado –cus it’s expensive…» R U Kidding me? She actually had the nerve to still try to charge me for the avocado? She acted like I was asking blood lol. I’m like «I had to walk all the way back here, and your still gonna charge me? And then she goes, «Well I can give you your money back if you like?» Wow, she really went there. So I said, «Yeah. Okay,» I was pretty disappointed… and then she doesn’t even offer to charge it back to my card, she just hands me the cash and goes, «here,» and doesn’t even apologize as a simple courtesy… I’ve worked in food service for six years, and anyone who knows food service knows that this was a bad move on her part… Her reasoning just amazed me… and This place is already way over priced as it is, so I couldn’t believe this lady would rather give me back my money then just throw some avocado on my bagel — cus that makes real sense… Well, she definitely left a bad taste in my mouth and thanks to her Tully’s has just lost another loyal customer. Honestly, I would not waste your money here –unless it’s a last resort.
— It just truly amazes me on how ignorant some people can be!

Well, I’m only here when finals week is about. This place has okay tasting bites to eat. They serve sandwiches, baked potatoes, soups, and hot and cold drinks. The prices are okay, and staff are all generally students.
This place doesn’t suck, so I mean I’ll still be coming here from time to time. However this isn’t the type of place were I randomly would like to go to eat. More so a place to go eat because its convenient.

Iced tea: $ 1.60
«Under the Tuscan Sun»: $ 6.45
I got the sandwich on ciabatta, they automatically toast it. Pesto sauce, melted cheese, chicken, onions, tomato… it was a great snack. I wouldn’t say it was very filling. Since it was busy, I waited 15 minutes for them to make my simple sandwich.
Decent place if you’re desperately hungry & don’t want to travel far.

This is probably the closest decent food for someone who spends so much time in the library on a daily basis at school. It’s right inside the MLK Jr. Library, so you can’t miss it. They have a variety types of food including bagels, oatmeal, sandwiches, soup, and many more.
Whenever I go, I typically get a sandwich, bagel or soup depending on my mood and the time of the day. The workers are students so I do understand the fact that they do want to get you in and out quickly.
I think the food is decent and you’ll never go wrong with just a simple sandwich. But, it is a little pricey because it is a school associated café. I will be back though.

I have been here times now and I have ordered a large cup of coffee and a sandwich each time. I ordered a turkey sandwich twice and a club sandwich (The joy luck club) once. The turkey sandwich was OK but it lacked a whole lot of filling. It tasted like bread with nothing. The job luck club was even emptier and the bacon that was in it tasted weird. I ended up throwing most of the sandwich away.
The coffee is pretty standard and the service is OK although really slow. The shop can be empty and you will still wait 20 minutes for your sandwich.
Overall, I have given this place 3 chances and I have been disappointed each time. I will no longer be buying sandwiched here. I think it’s time that I explore the area a bit more because I’m sure there are much better places out there.

This rating is primarily for coffee and muffins.
I’ve never had the sandwiches there, but I hear it’s quite good. My issue lies mainly with the lattes– they make them too sweet here. The muffins are very good. I’m not sure where they get them. I’m a fan of lemon poppyseed muffin!
I’d stick with the brewed coffee.

Time: 10:09am/56°F partly sunny
Purpose: Needed to used the men’s room not much businesses open up yet, library caught my eye.
Ambiance: Not much to say here as it’s located inside library with adjoining share entrance and posted security guards. Seating is not an issue here but there wasn’t much people in here as all were lining taking it to go. Your usual standard place order/​pay first and grab a seat DIY throughout the whole process except when they’re cooking it for you.
Staff: They seem to be going about business like any other day can’t say mean or grumpy there was no emotion to be seen. Overall it’s kind of like a daydream drag watching them.
Cleanliness: B+
Eats/​Drinks: Didn’t eat or drink anything just use the restrooms and walk in here, curious.
Products/​Services: Morning, lunch, snacks, in betweens, free Wi-​Fi, cold/​hot drinks, sandwiches, soup, salad, smoothies, pastries/​danishes, chips, combos, substitution, cereal bowls, fruit&yogurt, coffee by Tully’s.
Punch Lines: Library, city hall, downtown, street parking, sjsu, bike rentals, theater, pubs/​bars, Viber, Ike’s sandwiches, security officers, free shuttle bus, dormitorys, homeless transients, wheelchair accessible, family/​kids friendly.
Tradeoffs: Good for all day/​night bookworms that stays in library hours on end. BYOL (bring your own lunch) applies here for students on a tight budget.
Final Thoughts: It’s a place were I may find myself one day if I needed to catch up on some work without much noise around. Too many options around if you can wait it out that would be ideal, if not come here.

School is tough, how would I get through a day without some sort of caffeine is beyond me, much less food. Sometimes you finish the coffee your brought from home way too fast, or you didnt get a chance to pack a lunch so you have to buy. This is the niche that On Fourth: A novel Café serves, to refuel sleep deprived and hungry college students.
The selection of drink is your standard, Mochas, Lattes, Espressos, Red Eyes. But they also have other non coffee related drinks (both bottled and not).
Food wise is where it gets cheesy, the sandwiches are named after books or famous authors, which I guess adds a bit of kitsch and memorability to it all. The sandwiches are pretty decent, everything I have tried has been good, but nothing has said «wow, I NEED to buy this again.»
Price wise, this place is pricey to say the least. The sandwiches range anywhere from $ 3-​$ 6 depending if it’s a half or full and what kind.
Pricey compared to the selection available outside of school. But that would defeat the purpose of this café. To provide a convenient, quick, and easy fueling station in between classes.

I enjoy coming here for a quick snack or a coffee during SJSU hours. It’s pretty much right inside the library, at the corner of Fourth and San Fernando Street in Downtown SJ.
The service is great and I never get a fancy brew, just the house coffee and either a bagel/​cream cheese or a yogurt parfait. Sometimes if I’m going to class during lunch, I’ll get the sushi –it’s like the box of sushi that’s from Safeway that’s not made there –it’s not much to talk about, but it’s something light and fast to gulp down and get out.
The seating area is pretty good, but spotty sometimes. There’s not too many outlets that I can remember so if I need to charge up my Macbook I get what I need here and then go to the study floors of the MLK.
I don’t sit outside, because there are riffraff that seem to congregate close to the street entrance of the café. It’s not encouraged but there’s not a lot that they can do about it. There are security guards at each end of the library’s entrances, but they’re out of view and inside of the library, not guarding the café.
The wait time isn’t unreasonable and the line might be long, but one won’t have to wait too long.
I’ve never ordered a sandwich. Like I said, I just want to get in and get out, because being a F/​T student and mom I don’t have a lot of time to spare once I’m on campus. Everything goes into class time, studying and commuting like everyone else. So I appreciate the pit stop that On Fourth: A Novel Café is (love that name) and the quick service.