Peet's Coffee — Restaurant in San Jose

They recently changed their hours so that they are only open until 8pm! This is pretty strange considering that it's summer, the movie theater in El Paseo is much busier now that the AMC theater in Vallco shut down, and it's not even dark at that time 🤔 I seriously think they're missing out on a lot of business.

They also put a code on the bathroom door, so maybe they were having problems with non-customers using the bathroom before? It's anyone's guess. All I know is that during the short time I was there, every single person they told the code to had troube opening the door because they just had to throw a special chatacter in at the end of a long string of numbers that no one could remember. 🤷‍♀️

They make good coffee and pastries/baked goods and their staff is knowledgeable and friendly. The strawberry "pop tart" had a nice pastry crust that appeared to have been brushed with egg white to give it that egg sheen. The filling tasted exactly like Smucker's strawberry jelly 🍓🤔... In fact, I think it might have been Smucker's strawberry jelly... Whether that's good or bad is up to you.

One thing that struck me as odd is that while they have a bunch of unusual ingredients to make strange concoctions, like tumeric and ginger for "golden" drinks, they have an extremely limited selection of more standard flavored syrups. No raspberry, no strawberry, no berry of any kind... Basically just chocolate, honey, and coconut...oh yeah, and tumeric 😦😬 🤢

Their "golden" drinks are really a Wintry flavor profile anyway (hence why they're not currently listed on the menu). They currently have NO SPECIALS (just said they can still make the tumeric stuff), NO fruit flavors, and an extremely LIMITED SELECTION of syrups. Come on, guys! Don't rest on your laurels. What are you doing to keep up with the competition?

Get your tumeric...

The prices are ok. Seems to be the cheapest coffee you can get in the San Jose area that isn't gas station coffee or that awful 24/7 mexican donut place.

Aside from that the location sucks. There's rarely available seating since there is always a crowd of people hogging all the tables. The location is literally in the middle of a desolate and depressing looking parking lot. Just sitting there makes me feel awful, it is such a depressing and gloomy location.

You'll routinely have to ask the staff for basics like cream, sugar, cocoa powder etc as they neglect to have it ready for customers often. Also make sure to inspect both the food and the cocoa/cinnamon powder/cream containers for bugs. I've found bugs in them at several of the Peets here, I think because staff dont actually clean them

Also, unlike the Peets in San Francisco which are all open until 8 PM, this one closes very early. Most of the Peets in San Jose lie about their hours online. This one's google search result says they're open until 6:30. That is a lie. They close at 6. Don't waste your time and gas money...

Look, this is a corporate coffee shop, although I'd put it at the top of those in terms of buying coffee. But the staff here is just remarkable. They have this guy Dom working here who is amazing. He is super friendly, helpful, greets every single person walking in the door, and seems to love working here. Peet's should keep this dude at all costs, because he knows every regulars' name and greets them by it every time I drop in. Dom is one of those employees that add so much value to a business. He creates a standard of customer service that lifts the culture of the workplace. Staff like this take a place that would be a generic franchise and turns it into a real local spot that people look forward to coming to. Thanks Dom, and the rest of the staff working here. They go...