Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery

Shout out to Jackie for the awesome customer service. If the manager is reading this, please give her a pat on the back and a raise! Homegirl deserves it!
Made an online order for a cobb salad as this location does have sloth-​paced service. Are y’all trained by the same people that train the DMV? Slow like whoa. Anyhoo, the cobb salad is the only thing I really like and crave from here, damn them big blobs of bleu cheese. Even after arriving 15 mins later, I was still left to stand and wait for 10 – 15 mins more. Me and my coworker kept seeing food on the window that looked like it could be my salad so I asked the girl if the order was mines, and all homegirl with the spiderweb tatted on her elbow did was look at it and say «nope.»
At this point, I’m crossing my arms, giving her the b*tch face, staring her down — all the signs that she about to get hell from me in t-​minus 5 minutes. Luckily, Jackie recognizes these subtle signals and kindly asks me what my order was and tries to look up my order from my confirmation #. This is when I experience my stupid moment of the day — I had placed my order to the Battery Street location and not this one. Those 2 PM brain drains. Jackie then continues to be a help by telling me I can call and cancel my order, and lets one of the chefs know that I had made a mistake and they could make my order, FREE OF CHARGE. The call was painless, 2 minute tops.
Because of Jackie, the initial bad customer experience was forgotten, and I will continue to eat here when I’m feeling basic. #GoJackie

Ordered online, usually got to the spear street location which is being renovated but ordered a small avocado and artichoke salad which was pitiful, only two pieces of each in salad that didnt even fill the container. Very disappointing!!! Could have gotten a salad elsewhere cheaper for this one.

The 3-​stars are for the cookies. That’s it. Get the semi-​sweet chocolate chip cookie. Eat one of those cookies and all is right with the world, if only for a few brief minutes.

It is Jan 22^nd and I am still trying to keep my new year resolution of eating healthier. The Specialty’s cookie is so good, I broke my run without dessert to have one of those. You got to live a little and if you go too extreme, chances are you are going to binge at some point. At least that’s my excuse with the cookie… however I almost fell off my chair when I saw the chicken sandwich show up as 900 odd calories in myfitnespal app. Not sure if it was right but just ate half of it.

Why does this place have to be outside of my office?! I have zero self control when it comes to the cookies here. Semi sweet chocolate chip and snicker doodle are to die for!
I would pass on the salads here. My coworker swears by them but I ended up with a stomach ache after having tried the Chinese chicken salad. c

I’ve yet to see why people rave about this place. It’s meh. I’ve had breakfasts, and lunches here and things were just OK. The order ahead screens are pretty nice and easy to operate. Also the nutrition info on some of those things– holey moley!
Fair warning though– this particular Specialty’s is mobbed with aggressive street dwellers. I’ve been confronted twice in the store by people asking me for money, and when I told them no, they’ve tried to argue money out of me.

I don’t know why I keep coming here. I love the sandwiches but inevitably the speed of getting orders out is ridiculously slow. It has been 20 minutes after using the self-​serve ordering kiosks and still no sandwich.
Until the issues related to the speed of orders is addressed, I’m avoiding.

It’s better to come in the morning if you’re coming for pastry cause they be warm and fresh out he oven the aroma is sweet. They also have a little area where they sell Peet’s coffee

Delicious soft and tasty bread and cookies. I also had their Spicy Thai Peanut large salad which came with a side of bread. Salad was a good size, nicely dressed with peanut sauce, coleslaw, veggies, and topped with tortilla and peanuts.
Would recommend ordering ahead of time for quick pickup.

I try not to order lunch too often cuz it does get expensive. But I cannot say no to Specialty’s! Everything I have ordered so far has been good and on point! I have ordered a few salads and a sandwich. I especially LOVE how you can order online and just go pick it up on their shelf for online orders! Best idea ever! Saves tons of time! I have yet to try their cookies, but they do look and smell amazing! I will have to be bad one day and order one! Another great thing… FREE WIFI!!! =) YOU’RE WELCOME! LOL

Just had a delicious lunch with you. The wild chicken and rice soup was perfect! And the Mediterranean sandwich was savory! Definitely recommend them for a good lunch and they have Peetes coffee too.

Frequently come here for breakfast and I always get their fruit cup and a pastry. The fruit cup is decently fresh, only had one bad experience with rotten fruit. The pastries lean towards the sweeter side so I’d recommend them more for an afternoon snack.
However Their chocolate chip cookies are to die for and the service is always wonderful even bright and early in the morning!

Hat hier jemand Kekse gesagt? Denn wenn Specialty’s eins kann, dann die besten Cookies der Welt machen. Denkt man gar nicht von so einer doch recht großen Kette. Auch sonst wirkt der Laden eher standardmäßig und wenig anheimelnd.
Aber das soll einen nicht davon abschrecken, hier mal reinzuschauen. Die Kaffeeauswahl ist gewohnt riesig, der Iced Latte mehr als zufriedenstellend und die Cookies, ja die sind einfach mal so genial großartig, dass ich völlig von den Socken bin. Ich hatte für unsere Gruppe einmal was von allem bestellt und war wirklich happy mit meiner Wahl. Kann gar nicht sagen, welcher Keks nun am besten war, denn sie waren alle noch warm und zerbröselten so langsam auf der Zunge — das kriegen irgendwie auch nur die Amis richtig hin.
Und wenn ich nicht jetzt schon hin und weg wäre, dann spätestens vom tollen Service, der es einfach drauf hatte. Es war nicht alles vorrätig, was ich ursprünglich haben wollte. Die Servicekraft hinter der Theke nahm das sofort zum Anlass, mir anzubieten, die fehlenden Teile mal eben «from scratch» herzustellen. So viel Umstände mussten gar nicht sein, habe mich mit den vorhandenen Alternativen zufrieden gegeben. Aber der Wille zählt :)
Ich komme wieder, denn ich will noch mehr Keeeeeeekseee!

It’s almost a little too convenient that there’s a specialty’s within a 3 min walking distance of me/​work. I’ve been to various specialty’s and they’re all generally the same. I haven’t had bad service or anything unfortunate except for when the cookie I want is sold out but hey, it’s not Specialty’s fault their cookies are so darn good!!! Along with cookies there are sandwiches! One of my fav sammiches I often get here is the turkey pesto, I just substitute Mozerella for the havarti and it becomes a party! I’ve had food catered from here to previous offices I’ve worked at, and they’ve never steered my taste buds wrong!

I was the only person in the store, at 4 PM, today, and they still couldn’t make me a sandwich in under 10 minutes. The service here just sucks.

I’ve been a big fan of Specialty’s even when I worked in the South Bay because their sandwiches are delicious and you can order online and pick it up in 15 minutes. Plus I’ve been able to get many free sandwiches through their loyalty program. (which is the only Sandwich loyalty program I belong to, I promise.)
These are your typical expensive sandwiches, but the ingredients are always very neatly stacked and arranged and taste great too! I’ve got their smoked ham sandwich listed under «Favorites», mostly because I love the poppy bread and the wonderful crunch of the pickle with the smoky ham. I mostly order the cold sandwiches, but sometimes will stray into the Hot Sandwich land and get the BBQ chicken.
Salads are also a great option. I like ordering Dawn’s Vegan with chicken breast which I know defeats the purpose of a vegan salad, but the salad itself is such a great base a some protein-​packed lunch!
And finally… big fat cookies in all different flavors. A meh day turns into an awesome day at the office when someone announces they’ve brought Specialty’s cookies for the team.

It’s really hard to decide the star rating for this one. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe how amazing the cookies are. Yet, the salads that I’ve been eating here have been about 3-​star quality. That is, solidly good, and will repeat, but the salads just don’t seem to come together in that way that would have me give it four or more stars.
Overall, a lovely place with a nice ambiance, though, most of the time, I take my food to go.
I’ve never tried the bathrooms here and I’m not even sure they have any? Hmmm…

How do you run a business with NO ONE EVER answering the phone. Pathetic.
For online ordering, it is hit or miss whether the computer system works or not. After 4 – 5 tries one day, after it not moving past the initial screen, I gave up. Tried to call every number possible, to no avail. Whatever happened to customer service?

In love with the Roasted Veggie Egg Sandwich! Ciabatta bread is crisp, amount of cheese is just right & melts in your mouth, and the garlic butter is ultra flavorful. Ordered a small coffee once, but after more than 5 minutes of waiting, they realized they didn’t even ring up my order so no one made it. They then gave me a large to make up for it.
Free wifi, but it’s super slow. Couldn’t really go past a single webpage. But love the open, cozy space. Wifi aside, it’s a great place to have a coffee break, lounge on the couch with your kindle, or have meetings at.
The service is great. It can get pretty slow sometimes during morning rush hour of course, but staff are super friendly. I like going here in the morning because they help jump-​start my day with their smiles and bubbly humor. I saw a homeless guy come in to order once. Hey if you got money to spend, do your thang! As some people stared, the staff remained professional and didn’t treat him any different. Cashier has definitely seen him before, asking him how he’s been since the last time she saw him. It was just awesome to see her carry on a conversation and that she was genuinely interested in his day.

I’d accurately give this 3.5 stars but I rounded up because the staff is so kind. I’ve been a couple of times now and it’s similar to my true passion in life — panera– so i enjoy it a lot. They have a strawberry salad and it’s wonderful. They have 2 sizes of salads and I opt for the bigger one because it’s so filling. Strawberries, walnuts, goat cheese and arugala– a great combination and it’s really filling.
My issue is their wifi– it’s just not really reliable and I’d like to work here more but can’t if I can’t get online. Hopefully it will get better in the future!
They have lots of comfy seating, large tables and even a fireplace!

Cookies are always great, breakfast sandwich way too buttery. When it glistens off the wrapper and your fingers like buttery popcorn, you have to wonder. I got the breakfast ham and egg sandwich, the pepper seasoning was all the way near the end of the last bites. Got to find some soapy water to get the buttery flavoring off my hands… Next time less butter more filling.

I was excited that they finally opened after remodeling. Unfortunately, every time I order a salad… there’s always something wrong. Last time, they didn’t put the dressing on the side and the romaine was swimming in dressing. This time, I asked for no onions and there were definitely onions… I have the breath to prove it. I don’t know why I keep coming back when they mess my order up all the time.

Woah. I dig the remodel, for sure, but it’s pretttttttty slow. Maybe that will pick up in the coming weeks?
You can order ahead online, which I recommend. Then wait 15 minutes, then go grab your food.
They also have this strange kiosk in-​store where you can order on the computer and pay and then grab your food… AND they have cashiers. I don’t quite get it.
The food is like the food before the remodel, nothing has changed there.
The good: amazing cookies, still.
The bad: slow like woah.