SubRosa Anarchist Café

A little sparsely staffed, but the collective focuses on the quality of the experience over paying the bills some months.
I would also be very sad if Subrosa ceased to be a community resource!

This is the funniest establishment I’ve ever come across. The very idea of rules in an anarchist space baffles me. This place is a tax right off for some rich bastard fronted by a bunch of hippy/​anarchist types trying to organize action and educate the interested. Good intentions backed by ridiculousness which creates an interesting environment.
They participate and organize things like food not bombs and free school Santa Cruz, which is awesome. They give a safe space for street kids, travelers, anarchists of all walks of life, professionals, artists, and students to create, drink coffee and tea, read, and use free Internet. They have an info shop which provides underground magazines and media to be read and heard. anyone can volunteer. And they have open mic night, which is sometimes fun. Random bands come through that I like.
But they won’t let you climb the awesome tree in the courtyard or smoke cigarettes. I’ve seen them ban people for ridiculous accusations and for doing things ive seen. Staff do. ive seen them gang up on people for no reason. Sometimes I feel some of the employees are on a high horse, but others are totally chill and down to earth.
The fact that this place is so open about who they Are makes me sketch. There are cameras from telephones poles facing this place, the cops always drive by, and im sure they’re infiltrated. Like i said, an open anarchist space can’t exist in this society. And it baffles me that they call this place one.

As visitors from another city, we were welcomed and greeted with kindness. What more can you ask? The coffee was good too!

Open Mike night (currently @ 8p on Thursdays) is not to be missed, every week it is something new. I have not tried any of the food/​beverages and I don’t expect they would be anything more than you might expect your college friend to whip up in his one bedroom apartment. I’m guessing the hot chocolate is from powder mix and the coffee comes from a tin can but I don’t really go to this place for its culinary masterpieces. The people you meet here are not like people in other coffee shops who have taken the time to go out in public so they can have some private time, ignoring others while they navigate their iThing. The staff is always friendly and it is a great place to hang out if you just want to relax without the pressure of feeling like you have to consume in order to justify your presence. Of course this policy does attract some of the homeless and street people which might frighten some, but I have never been accosted or even asked for money while at Subrosa.
I read the other reviews and noted the negative ones complained of pretentiousness, filth, paranoia and dogs. I have yet to see a dog there or had anyone treat me with anything but a friendly attitude. (Perhaps I’m «one of them»?) There are quite often street people hanging out but my sensitive sense of smell has yet to be offended (and I really do have a sensitive nose). As for any other filth, it is a volunteer run place and there is a sign saying guests are welcome to contribute by various means, one of which is cleaning.
This is NOT a Starbucks or Pergolosi or an attempt to be one. This is more of a Firefly. I actually think of it more as a sub-​culture information dispersal zone and relaxing hangout. I do wish they had more than one comfy chair.

As as random white guy who they had never seen before, I expected some negative vibes going into SubRosa, instead however I found them the be very nice and welcoming. I’ve gone back several time and everytime experienced the same generosity. Additionally, they have a lot of great zines and papers that can’t be found anywhere else in the area. Only complaint I’d have is that their hours are fairly spotty and definitely not the 8 – 8 they say on their website (Tuesday and Wednesday are especially bad) so calling ahead is definitey a good idea.
Take many of the negative reviews with a very small grain of salt. About a year ago some Anarchists broke some windows downtown and naturally after that a bunch of people who would probably describe themselves as «tolerant» decided to take out their anger against the bookshop of SubRosa?! (guilt by associtation,) and I believe that many of the negative reviews are these people deliberately trying to discourage people from visiting SubRosa. Don’t let the yuppies dissuade you, if you like independent media and are open to new ideas you’re very likely to be in for a treat.

I enjoy this community space for its print resources (free lending library), art, free skool, and especially open-​mic. I am neither young or a hard-​core anarchist, but I also am not one to judge those that aren’t like me.
For the most part, the volunteers that staff SubRosa have been pretty good and available to answer any questions I’ve had.
I usually go here for open mics or to see what new books/​zines are there.

I believe the sign read no «hierarchy» and I totally witnessed some last night when they would not let my friend play his music (who is TOURING and gas aint cheap) because they received emails from an outside «source» that he is «dangerous.» What happened to equality and innocent until proven guilty? I believe Sub Rosa should have made up their own decision by letting him play and decide later wether or not he would be allowed to come back. Not very PC if you ask me.
That is my honest opinion, and the debate/​discussion that people believe needed to happen in order for this dude to play his songs seemed downright PETTY.
People everywhere should be allowed to make up their own minds, we deal with enough BS info in the mainstream world– we do not need it in our communities as well.
This place has the right idea, but it seems to be a little corrupt.
in solidarity.

We come to Santa Cruz from Oakland pretty regularly to visit friends and family and enjoy the spirited culture that makes SC such a vibrant, creative and down right fun place to be. Subrosa, as well as the bike church, the computer kitchen and the fábrica are all collective minded establishments that add a great deal to the diversity and creativity of the city of Santa Cruz. The folks we have met there have all been kind and generous and caring. We love to drop in and grab a cheap cup of coffe and chat with folks or sit outside in the garden and read or play a game of scrabble. Subrosa is a Santa Cruz gem! Go say hello and you’ll see what I mean!

Let’s get this out of the way first: this is not a coffee shop. This is a not-​for-​profit volunteer-​run community space. Go somewhere else if you’re looking for a cappucino, but stay if you’re interested in reading some zines/​books, seeing some art, and meeting some new people. Once you understand that, you’re sure to have a good experience in the space.
Subrosa can be a little intimidating at first, but the conversation is stimulating, and Free Skool and the lending library are two of Santa Cruz’s most important community resources. Seriously, go check out a book from there, you won’t regret it!

I love this place! I’m not even an anarchist, but there is such a great sense of community, kindness, and unconventionality that makes it a really interesting place to spend your time. I especially love the open mics on thursday, which happen to be my favorite open mics in town! I can see how one would consider it a bit of a «dump», but come on, it these are anarchists and it is entirely run off of donations, after all!

Great vibe! Friendly!!! But ruined by the free loaders drifting in and out using the bath room and getting free cookies. Having dogs drift in and out also not a good thing.

I was appalled at how Santa Cruz (or at least the authorities) treated SubRosa as a scapegoat for the May Day «riots». Any connection is extremely tenuous, especially when in reality this space provides so much for the community.
So thanks SubRosa, for hosting the Free Skool classes, for the concerts, and for the $ 1 coffee. Stick around please!

I went to the Sub Rosa open-​mike night. I was very impressed by the warmth of the staff. It was a casual, offbeat atmosphere. The performers and audience were clearly supportive and open to any form of expression and encouraged the artists. I had never been to one of these performance events and was curious about the place. The room is small, and holds about twenty or so. They had good coffee. They had open sessions where people voiced community concerns, which were very different than mine – but it was interesting hearing their perceptions of the police, and support of the homeless. I left touched by the sincerity of the performers, and pleased they had a venue that they clearly valued and needed to develop their poetry and art. Another thing I liked, the staff very affectionate to each other and connected to their regulars. I’m not a big fan of the anarchy angle, which I find pretty sophmoric, but one of its positive attributes is a community space for all types of people, which is great, but I don’t think you need anarchy for that. Still, a nice welcoming place that can give artist a chance to read poetry or their writings or rant or whatever. Fine by me

Wanting a cup of coffee I stopped my bike and walked in. The immediate smell was bad. The people working there did not look clean. I walked away without any coffee. I don’t know how they stay in business. The place was incredibly filthy.

I’m with Jake M. don’t fall for all the hype surrounding the May Day mayhem. SubRosa is a community space. A space where human optimism over comes greed. Plus $ 1 coffee… and art too. :)

I bought a cool zine here about the March 1994 youth revolt in France, and dollar coffee is enough to make the trip worth it.

$ 1 coffee (and it’s good!), plenty of space to sit outside in the sunshine an partake of the free wi-​fi. Lots of smelly anarchists with their unruly dogs. Sometimes they have cookies. Once I was even offered some dumpstered cheesecake. I love it.

A REALLY dirty dump.
My friend, a filmmaker with an iFlip camera, was recording our coffee conversation and we got accosted. Evidently we were thought to be FBI (WTF?!). Go to the Perg if you want a good cup of joe sans the schmuck-​ness.
UPDATE —
Wes M.‘s comment on your review:
Hi, Jon. I can see that your friend would be put off. In order to ensure the comfort and privacy of our patrons, we have a photo policy. We merely ask people who want to take photos in SubRosa or in the courtyard to ask the staff on duty, and to get the informed consent of anyone who might appear in the photos. We weren’t meaning to be schmucks, only to honor the requests of our visitors.
user photo
2 weeks ago
I’d be fine with that, but the 1^st Amendment protects freedom of speech and the press, and I don’t recall seeing any signage about your photo policy anywhere. And we weren’t filming the café at all, we just tried to film a coffee mug and my mug talking to the camera.
So yeah, the schmuck-​ness review still stands.
Sorry.