Gold Bean Cafe — Restaurant in Berkeley

Came to Gold Bean while waiting for my boyfriend who was in Hayward at an appt. Saw this place on IG and decided to make the 38 min drive to try it out. Super excited! Parking was an issue but that's not the cafe's fault. Finally found a spot and the excitement was building! Got inside and realized there's no human to order with.. Just 2 kiosks. Ok. Whatever. I was able to ask a barista about which drinks were recommended since it was my first time. The extremely nice barista told me her recommendation for the Iced dulce de leche latte so I decided to go with that. I added the pink foam (was told it was a vanilla flavor). Waited a good amount of time and got my latte. Upon my 1st sip, I couldn't believe how sweet it was.. Like pure caramel.. So much that it was warm and this was an iced drink if that even makes sense. I tried to stir it around but it was just a sugary mess. There a zero taste of coffee. Like did they forget the espresso?! I was highly disappointed. Not only because of the hype on IG but also because I came from so far! I stopped at whole Foods on my way back to Hayward and bought a can of black unsweetened coffee to try and cut the sweetness. It helped a tiny bit but it just was gross if I'm being honest. So I threw it away. I guess you win some and you lose some in the world of cafes but for a $9 cup of coffee, this isn't somewhere that I'd return to! The employees were nice enough but the lack of interaction is just not my favorite either. Maybe this is the future of all businesses but I sure hope not and I guess it makes me glad I was born when I was.. I miss the days of actual human interaction and conversation while ordering. Regardless of that though.. The drink was really subpar. And if you're looking for your drink to actually taste like there's coffee in it, I might skip the dulce de...

While visiting from the East coast I was trying to find a coffee shop that opened early enough so that I could make an 8am engagement. Sadly, California doesn't wake up early. :) As I pulled out my phone to check for open shops near me, I didn't realize that I was already standing on the corner of the best shop around.

When I removed my phone, a very important piece of paper came out of my pocket without me noticing. A lovely lady from inside the Gold Bean Cafe came rushing to the front doors, unlocked them, and informed me about the paper. I was a little slow on the uptake (due to lack of coffee, and my ears not being tuned to the lovely Latina accent). But eventually I understood that I had dropped something important.

After picking up my precious paper credentials, the sweet barista asked if I was looking for coffee. Yes! She had just started to brew and was setting out pastries, which of course I felt compelled to sample. The coffee was rich and delicious, and the pain au chocolate was flaky and delicious.

Due to the kindness of the barista, I was able to get to my 8am appointment on-time, well fed, caffeinated, and with a lot of positive vibes. Thank you!

TL;DR The coffee and food are great, but the people are what set the Gold Bean Cafe above the rest. Definitely worth your...

I walked into coffee place as i was in the neighborhood, and thought it was a normal cute spot to a grab a quick coffee. Little did I know it was not quick and there was no coffee in my vanilla latte. I waited 25 minutes after ordering from a very confusing kiosk. My whole drink tasted super watered down, it was all ice, and the milk seemed to be off. I asked the barista who was super nice and apologetic. She offered another one but considering of my drink i did not want another one and did not want to wait another 20 minutes for a simple vanilla latte, she could refund, but also was so overwhelmed by the kiosk orders she couldn’t really help me. I get the kiosks are faster for ordering but not really if i have to wait 20 minutes for my drink because baristas are overwhelmed by the kiosk orders. Wouldn’t recommend, if you want a normal cafe experience with good coffee. But also can’t really blame the baristas the kiosk systems seems super overwhelming for them and the time it took was not worth...