Off Broadway Bean

I went here yesterday and saw some new staff. Today i learned that the place was just bought by this guy (whose name I can’t remember) who seemed nice. I don’t know whether the quality will continue, but they have added some food and seem to be open longer than before. Don’t worry, I’ll keep going back on weekends to update this post if anything goes badly.

Very, very fine and aromatic chai latte –a homemade blend made by someone in Chico. I miss the Skinner murals too, but I’ll come back around for the chai latte any day. I hope that live music @ night and a beer/​wine license are in future plans for this place.

A friend gave me a couple of Off Broadway Bean Bucks. That’s what got me to try them… but I will keep coming back. Great Coffee, Great service, Nice place.

This place is a hidden gem, plenty of table space, quiet classical music, and delicious vegan pasteries for $ 1. The owner is so nice, he gave me a free cookie sample (the best way to make me a loyal customer) and he didn’t bug me to buy anything. Perfect place to study.

On 16^th off of Broadway.
They have plenty of tables or chairs to lounge in.
Books, magazines, netbooks. serving food and drinks and I have to say it’s probably the best coffee drinks I’ve had in the area.
I like it a lot.
Real chill.

I wouldn’t have ever come in here if my friend hadn’t mentioned that there were vegan donuts being sold at Off Broadway Bean. But for the sake of vegan doughnuts, I stopped by a couple weeks ago with some friends to check out how the beloved java lounge /​16^th street café had changed. And MY has it changed. I personally think it looks good though and it’s very welcoming and very calm. It does make me a little sad that all the skinner murals are gone inside the place but I completely understand that the new owner is trying to upgrade the place. It was very chill and peaceful, almost ghostlike, but really relaxing all the same.
The owner is a very nice guy. We went in and asked if he had any vegan donuts. Unfortunately he was out but immediately got on the phone with the company to order more. He even asked us what our preference was and ordered those. It was very considerate of him. I order a small soy chai which came out hot and filled to the brim for only around $ 3. It was REALLY good! The owner was really friendly and told me the ratio of chai to soymilk to froth he put in and I my taste buds gave him a two thumbs up for it.
My friends and I stuck around for awhile. I finished my beverage and once the owner saw that my cup was empty, he refilled my cup with the rest of the soy chai he had left over from making my first one. Talk about a deal! I was initially pretty bummed about javalounge/​16^th street café going under but this place is actually in good kind hands.

PLEASE IGNORE THIS REVIEW. (Sort of.)
I really want to like this place and I really want it to be successful. What I’d like to see is several subsequent reviews by people who think I’m out of my @#$% mind and that the place is great. They have a lot of potential but my two visits were pretty seriously flawed, notably by managerial gaffes. On the plus side, they have a nice range of panini and breakfast sandwiches and their regular coffee is locally sourced. They also have a laptop and a couple of netbooks sitting out along with free wi-​fi for customers’ use.
Problems with the first visit: My daughter ordered a panini only to be informed that they were out of focaccia bread. They recommended the sourdough instead, and that’s what we got. It wasn’t good. Bottom line is that if you are selling panini, you have to have the right kind of bread, Focaccia, or maybe ciabatta, but those are the only option. I had a latte that was only ok. I tend to order lattes when I’m not sure of the quality of coffee because the milk tends to hide an imperfect shot of espresso. In this case, the thin bitterness of bad espresso cut through the milk. It wasn’t undrinkable, but it wasn’t terribly good. On the plus side, the service was friendly.
Next day, I stopped by for a quick to-​go drink. There was one person ahead of me who ordered a couple of lattes and a hot chocolate. Unfortunately, the guy behind the counter was not capable of multi-​tasking. First one drink was made, start-​to-​finish. Then the second, start-​to-​finish. Then the third, start-​to-​finish. Meanwhile, I stood there with (at first) two people behind me. During production of the second drink, the guy at the end of the line went to the counter, dropped a couple of bucks down, grabbed a cup of coffee, and took off. During the third drink, the person behind me left in frustration. (Voila! No more line!). When my turn came, I ordered a frozen green tea smoothie. After a few minutes of rifling through cupboards and such, he informed me that he couldn’t find the top half of the blender and he’d have to call someone. He did and finally, my drink was started. I think this was about twenty minutes after I arrived. Not good.
So, my experience would indicate that the owners/​management need to get going on a couple of things. 1) DON’T run out of focaccia. 2) Train employees to make more than one drink at a time. 3) Improve the quality of the espresso. Fix the machine, get a better grade of coffee, whatever. I really hope they can get this stuff together. I’ll give them a couple more chances as Sacto needs good independent coffee houses. They’ll need to improve, though, if they want to survive against the competition.

Glad to see this place is still kickin’… really, really bummed that they painted over the Skinner murals inside. If they get rid of the exterior murals too, then my first visit to the Off Broadway Bean will be my last.