Cafe Underwood

I love the feel of this place — open with big, sunny windows, communal seating, and a relaxed vibe. But the last couple of times I’ve been there I’ve been frustrated by a few things:
1.The high volume death metal music trend continues, as a reviewer wrote about a month ago, and management responded they were working on it. Help! It’s hard to talk or work with that in the background.
2. Internet is agonizingly slow.
3. $ 15 salad is super expensive and huge. I’d love some smaller options for a bit more affordable price. I would probably buy multiple meals /​snacks over the course of an afternoon if they weren’t such bank-​breakers.
4. For these prices, #2 shouldn’t be an issue.
5. On a windy afternoon, one of the staff opened wide all the windows and the door at 5:30 pm. All the patrons put on their extra layers, and one got up to close the door after an appropriate amount of time had gone by. I’m sure it’s hot in the kitchen, but maybe there can be some fans instead of freezing the customers?
I love this place’s potential, and have enjoyed it more in the past. It’s so close to a perfect café but I fear you’re driving away your customers!

My daughter and I shared a sinfully delicious grilled cheese and the vegan salad. Fabulous! Fresh! Loved my iced soy latte. Two thumbs up. Not a huge selection of baked goods (my personal downfall) but what they do offer is yummy and has always been fresh and a delight. Wish they had the lemon pound cake again!

Update: I go here all the time and the food is always delicious. There’s lots of new friendly staff. The turkey melt sandwiches are my indulgent favorite.

Wide variety of quality food and drink is great. Outdoor seating is great. Location is great.
Unfortunately the wifi is unreliable, so I can’t count on it as a work space. Still, they attract a laptop-​heavy clientele which sometimes makes it less desirable as a gathering spot.
In short — a wifi upgrade would go a long way here, if they are trying to establish themselves as a classy wifi shack.

Café Underwood: the coffee shop that Frank Underwood frequents? Probably!
Like Freddy’s BBQ Joint, Café Underwood is unassuming and humble. With large windows, you get a lot of natural light if you sit inside. They also have a lot of outdoor seating.
They have $ 6 – 7 draft beers, $ 5 can beers, $ 7 – 8 wines, and $ 3 – 5 tea and coffee options.
Internet is slow, so it’s probably not the most ideal place to get work done! But otherwise, not a bad place to hang out with a cup of coffee or a pint of beer.

Although my shrimp and grits were pretty watery, they were pretty damn good. Wife had the standard breakfast which looked great. Kid had an egg. Plain Croissant was tasty. Mocha was great.

I was ready to give this place 4 – 5 stars after the first couple of visits, mainly for their awesome Avocado Toast and espresso, and simple, chill vibe. Unfortunately, the last few visits have been more of a let down with the Avocado Toast becoming a bit lackluster, and the customer service being straight up rude.
My most recent visit could cause me to never go back. The woman working was not at all friendly, and literally did not look at me or acknowledge me when I ordered and said thank you. I immediately regretted adding on a generous tip when signing the iPad. Just to make sure it wasn’t by accident I very loudly and directly said «Thank you!» again when she called me up to pick up our lattes, and again, ZERO. No thank you, no smile, no eye contact.
Just one more tip for the café… playing death metal music is a sure way to drive customers away…

Oh Mylanta, this place is darling from top (look up to the office and see a giant spider statue and a large shelf of books) to bottom (communal seating — perfect for eavesdropping and making new friends). I came here on a first date recently, and enjoyed that the din was just loud enough to require we sit next to each other instead of across from one another, but quiet enough that we could have a private conversation at that distance.
We only enjoyed lattes (they have almond milk! Huzzah!) but enviously watched gluten-​eaters down some pretty amazing looking avocado toast. Service was pleasant, but it was really the entire atmosphere of the place that had me loving it.
And while my date and I didn’t run out of conversation, had we, there were lots of Underwood typewriters sitting around to spark a new topic.
Will be back!

Live round the corner, go there all the time, love this joint.
The food is amazing, the coffee is great (& I’m from Australia so I know: D)
If you can get your hands on the frittata it’s the bomb.
Perfect for a morning brew or hanging outside with mates on a sunny Sunday drinking ciders.

Trendy café in residential area of Temescal. They have outside and upstairs seating in addition to the main level. Their sandwiches and salads look and smell fantastic! Don’t expect any big comfy chairs, most of the seating is metal or wood. Cool place to meet and catch up with a friend over a glass of wine, beer, or coffee.

now this is service! shrimp and grits with this superbly amazing sauce and a scrambled egg. Greeted immediately with a smile very informative courteous and just all around great people. please don’t pass on Café underwood nice secluded spot you can sit inside or outside and dogs are allowed on the deck great with family and friends your lunch will be awesome! Was looking for shrimp and grits and stopped @ aunty marys and the staff never even acknowledged my presence. Sure i had my pjs on when i went to aunty marys but i like to eat breakfast in my pjs! Walked into Café Underwood and was treated like a buddy ‘ol pal! made me feel rite @ home. I drove from Vallejo and it was WELL worth it! C u soon my new friends!

okay. I don’t Unilocal.but I had to Unilocal about this place to let out my frustration.
My roommate and I came to try out this place today. It’s warm and we decided to get some coffee and a sandwich to go eat outside in the sun in our neighborhood.
We go and order /​everything is fine /​we get our coffee and wait for our to go order. 15 minutes goes by, cool, it’s fine, no worries. Then hits the 25 minute mark for a single to go sandwich and I begin looking around at the staff to see if anyone will question why we are still just sitting there. We have finished our coffees at this point. At 30 minutes my roommate goes up and asks about the sandwich, the lady taking orders says «oh sorry, I’ll ask the chef» my roommate is calm, not angry, we are still just hangin out.
5 minutes goes by and another staff member walks by and asks «you guys waiting for something?» And we tell her about the single sandwich that we’ve been waiting for. She tells the chef, who by the way, we can see from where we are sitting. The chef is taking her time and eating a sandwich. She slowwwwly starts to make our sandwich. We still haven’t acted out or yelled about anything — mind you. But cmon, it’s been 35 minutes for a single to go sandwich. (It’s not busy! and there are at least 6 people staffed)
anyway, 5 more minutes and she, very annoyed, hands my roommate the sandwich. And THIS IS WHAT got me to Unilocal: she says «here’s your sandwich. Sorry for the wait but it’s still nice out and you’re still American»
Woooow, trying to make us feel bad? Tying to have the last word after we waited patiently for 40 minutes for a single sandwich? really really not cool.
food was iiiight, atmosphere is chill — but jeez, try and be a little more professional? not going back. that is for sure.

It’s aight.
Me and my friend got the Mocha, and it was pretty delicious. It was a good level of sweetness and they gave a decent amount. The Mochas came in the cutest mason jars which fit with the whole aesthetic of the coffee shop. The whole vibe of the coffee shop is pretty laid back as well, and the employees that I had contact with were pretty friendly and laid back. The coffee shop is decorated pretty well and everything complements each other aesthetically.
However, it wasn’t perfect. The day I went to Underwood they closed off the entire top floor so it was pretty packed. It was kind of hard to find a place to sit down and set up camp to study. Internet can be pretty slow as well, so if you’re planning on studying at Underwood be prepared to go analog. However I will give them major props for having a lot of outlets, and for having pretty large tables to sit at.

My favorite place to grab a cold brew coffee (the nitrogen kind), but they make delicious hot coffee drinks and serve beer/​wine as well.
The food they serve here is simple, but delicious. My personal favorites are their avocado toast, polenta, grilled cheese, and tomato soup. It’s a bit on the pricey side for what it is, but definitely high quality.
Service is generally friendly but hipster blasé. They have a great space both indoors and out with an industrial feel. High ceilings, lots of natural light, and reliable wifi. On a sunny day, I love their outdoor area. It can get a bit warm, but they have umbrellas at most of the tables. Bonus points for being dog friendly out there too.

They serve Highwire coffee and the baristas know what they are doing. The cappuccinos are great!
Now the food: we have only gotten breakfast here and all have been good. The polenta with eggs is creamy and cheesy. The French toast is a thick challah slice that is eggy and covered with fruit. The jersey breakfast sandwich is a great staple — Kaiser roll with fried egg, sharp cheddar, ketchup, and ham. Really really good!
My only negative is that it tends to take a while to get your food order. So if you are in a rush, probably not the best place unless you just want coffee. Other than that, great outdoor seating that is pet friendly and great indoor ambiance.

Café Underwood is on 41^st and Telegraph. Some metered parking and free residential parking if you park a couple blocks away.
They have a full coffee bar, some beers on tap and kitchen.
I ordered the steak and eggs which was pretty tasty. I hate when folks overcook overeasy eggs but they didn’t. I did feel service in the kitchen was a little slow but I think there were a few orders ahead of me.
I’ll come again.

They serve Highwire coffee and tea here.
I ordered a drop coffee for here, smooth and juicy the way I like it. I also tried their morning mist tea, tasted like a sencha, jade tea blend. Both served in a nice mug. I also tried their turkey sandwich; The Mighty T-​bird, it was tasty, it was a little too buttery for my likings but their salads looked great.
The service here was very warm, the place itself clean and they offer wifi and outdoor seating. The beer and wine selection was of a nice variety. I’d stop in again.

Good food + big attitude. $ 14 steak and eggs dropped on table without a word & no silverware or napkin provided. When a fellow eater inquired why the plates were served with brown paper under the food she was told that it was because they don’t like doing dishes. It is tough to eat steak and eggs with brown paper on the plate without getting a little extra fiber with each forkful. Maybe they are just helping me mitigate the effects of steak and eggs on my arteries. With so many great places to eat in these parts the attitude doesn’t play well.
They say that customer feedback is the breakfast of champions…

Oh boy. Where do I even start?
I wanted to like this place. I really did. They have outdoor seating, there are rustic benches and industrial steel inside, the place was packed, the food was already starting to sell out by mid-​morning. But unfortunately, this place was. Well. A disaster. Maybe it was an off day. Maybe there were one-​off issues that usually don’t happen. But my experience dining and seeing other diners’ situations made me decide I probably will not be trying this place again.
I think one main issue was that it felt really disorganized. We sat at the counter so we could see/​hear everything going on with the orders. There were countless issues with miscommunication of orders between the front of the house and the kitchen (wrong order, missing order, super delayed, ran out of ingredients). Multiple other diners walked up to the counter to ask for their food or note that something about their orders was wrong. I was secretly crossing my fingers that we wouldn’t have any issues with our food.
Thankfully we didn’t, but the dishes did come out intermittently. My friend R was done eating before A and I even got our dishes. I’m glad we told him to go ahead and eat; otherwise, his food would definitely have gotten cold. As for my food, I got the grits with Parmesan and olive oil, and it was really underwhelming. I think the key issues were that there was too much olive oil and not enough seasoning. I didn’t really want to finish eating it, but what can you do. I certainly didn’t want to order something else as well.
Like I said, maybe it was an off-​day for them. But personally, I doubt I’ll be coming back.

Finally, finally, finally came here about 6 weeks ago to start utilizing the coffee card I had purchased from their Indiegogo campaign, and while it was a great experience getting a couple of coffees, wanted to wait for a more full experience to review.
Went for Mother’s Day breakfast yesterday… and really glad we did. We were looking to grab something for sustenance before driving up to the Petaluma area for a hike. Came here and definitely got sucked into the fuller breakfast experience by their menu items. We got Polenta & Eggs (2 orders), Shrimp & Grits, and the Challah French Toast. Every single item was delicious. My shrimps & grits dish was just right… not very spicy (good for me — love spicy, it doesn’t love me back), so if you’re looking for spicy don’t expect that. The egg over easy was cooked perfectly… very happy with the dish. Daughter’s egg over easy in her polenta & eggs was overcooked… but as she said «I’d rather have it overcooked than undercooked.» Totally edible and blended right in with the polenta anyway.
And of course, they have the patio for the dog people. Which is who we were. Downie’s been here before for coffee, so we knew it would be okay to bring her for breakfast. And by that, I mean to watch us eat breakfast. Poor doggie.
Will most definitely be back — and not just because I have my Indiegogo coffee card!