Farley’s East (33 Grand Ave) has been a fixture of Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood for eight years now, and after the space next door opened up, owners Chris and Amy Hillyard jumped at the chance to expand the shop. Especially as the purchase would mean that Farley’s East would finally acquire a full kitchen! Yes, it’s
Read more

Drip Line 1940 Union St., Suite #21 West Oakland Website $5–13 Obligatory Disclaimer: This review of Drip Line is based off a media dinner that was entirely free to me. Hidden in the warehouses of West Oakland, you’ll find a new coffee shop full of bright light, much like Trouble Coffee three-quarters of a mile
Read more

Zing Café is located in the Marmot Mountain Works suite of buildings, a really unique complex done in old Storybook style right across the street from the Ashby BART station. The Marmont Mountain Works has been defunct for a number of years now— –but there are still plenty of businesses in working order within its
Read more

I’ve stopped in to take a break at this coffee shop a number of times now, on my way to some errand or another downtown. The interior is sparse, a simple collection of tables and white walls, though the entrance and coffee counter greet customers with soft, mint-chip green. It opens early (6 am) and
Read more

I headed out to Albany for the first time to check another café off my East Bay Indie Coffee Passport. I met up with a new friend and fellow UCSC alum who was excited to show me around her neck of the woods, which means you’ll be getting another Albany review from me soon. Four
Read more

Welcome back to the Gourmez! In August 2013, when we moved to the Bay Area, I combined all of my writing pursuits into one main site, RebeccaGomezFarrell.com. At the time, housing them together made the most sense for my sanity–too many sites to manage was too much in the midst of such a huge life
Read more

Last week, Marc Callado, who launched Shift Local in 2012 with his fiancée Mari, swung by my About Me page to let me know about an amazing opportunity for lovers of coffee on this side of the Bay.  When I say this is a bargain, folks, I say it as someone who knows just how
Read more

Last summer, the husband and I moved away from the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina after spending eight years watching the cities expand and their food scenes skyrocket off the heat-charts. Seriously, the New York Times is obsessed with the place! So I was excited to head back for the weekend in mid-September—my
Read more

I have found it at last, a coffee shop with a relaxed vibe, good drinks, and hours past sundown a walkable distance from my apartment! If Café 4 were a mile closer, it’d win for local coffee shop options, but Café Rumi is a very acceptable runner-up, plus it stays open an hour later. Super
Read more

Jubala Village Coffee 8450 Honeycutt Road Lafayette Village, Raleigh Website $2.50 — $7.50 I have heard endless praise for Jubala since it opened in the beautiful Lafayette Village in North Raleigh about a year and a half ago. Much of that praise has centered on the coffee artistry of its baristas and on the Belgian
Read more