Peet’s Coffee & Tea

Worst coffee shop ever. They are not allowing people to use restroom if they don’t buy coffee from here. They are ripping us off… Literally charging to use restroom. It’s during Super Bowl.

This café is much more do-​able than the Ferry Building Peet’s on Saturday morning… it’s chill.

mayan mocha!

So, Peet’s signage out front advertised the introduction of the Almond Milk latte. Naturally, I was intrigued (borderline impressed that a big chain like that cares about the finicky, non-​dairy folks like myself), but somewhat skeptical since, well, it’s Peets.
That being said, my curiosity was high enough to where I went in and ordered a Medium Almond Milk Latte, and let me tell you, it isn’t cheap. At over $ 4 for a medium, this puts it into the high end of the range of pricing for said lattes in the FiDi. It wasn’t the best latte I had ever had, but at the same time, it wasn’t offensive.
Fast forward a few days later when I decided out of sheer convenience that I’d try Peet’s again, I ordered a small almond milk latte. My biggest issue with this: ordering the latte took forever and a day.
First, the line at 11:30am was out the door because only one person was at the till and three other staff people were milling around, filling the bags with grounds, a.k.a. nothing. Second, someone FINALLY figured out that they needed to pull in more people at the registers and the guy who took my order was, well, not that smart. I tell him what I ordered, he tells me my total, I hand him $ 5, he fiddles around on the machine and starts pressing buttons, then starts asking for help from his co-​workers because the display screen no longer shows him the amount of the latte or the change he should be giving me.
Dude. You told me $ 3.55 a minute ago. So yeah, like 60 seconds ago.
I kid you not, it literally took twice as long as it should have and 2 employees to figure this out and give me my change. So, if there’s any curiosity as to why things take so long, this is probably a good place to start. I’ll be back when desperate times result in desperate measures.

Every time I come here there is a completely new set of employees. Seriously, they can’t keep anyone for more than a couple weeks. I only go here to buy beans and for drip coffee (it’s pretty hard to mess those up and the baristas cannot make espresso drinks to save their lives). But, today my drip coffee was all messed up. Something went wrong during the brew and grounds made it into the pot, before getting brewed, which makes for weak, watery coffee. Avoid this location at all costs. Normally, I go to the Embarcadero location just so I don’t have to deal with the BS here.

While waiting for the PresidiGO and not wanting to miss it due to taking lunch, I ordered a raspberry matcha green tea freddo to tide me over. It’s basically the same as a matcha green tea freddo with some pumps of raspberry syrup – not sure why Peet’s was separately advertising it. It was creamy and delicious and hit the spot. Also got a chance to charge my dying phone on a nearby outlet. Awesome!

Just in case it’s unclear, this review is for the Peet’s inside the BART/​muni station.
I’ve been coming here on and off for about 3 years now. It’s the perfect stop for a pre-​bart or post-​work latte. So, basically, all of the people working here are awesome. The one’s that are not tend not to last long.
The coffee is to be expected for Peets. I’m under no illusions here. It’s coffee, it wakes you up! It’s better than most though. The espresso is pretty awesome. Again, it’s espresso, it puts a kick in your step! Personally my favorite is the iced mocha with a shot of rasberry, BUT! The staff is always up to experiment. If you want it, and they have the stuff to make it, it’ll happen.
My order got messed up maybe 3 times so far (that’s once per year) and they were minor things. One was an iced drink served hot, whoops. Another was a mocha that forgot how to be mayan — owell! The last one was a white mocha instead of a regular mocha. I’ve never asked for a drink to be remade, but they offer and will do it with no shame whatsoever.
Unfortunately, I’ll be moving to a new job pretty soon, so my morning visit with these fabulous people will come to an end. BUT! I hope you all know how awesome you are.
In no particular order, shoutouts to my favorite coffee homies:
Pip — you’re just adorable, honestly. Really cool dude.
Crystal — you’re way more adorable than pip, and you make the meanest mocha.
Laura — I love your espresso experiments!
Beurelle — I fucked up your name, deal with it! Also — you creamed all over that drink! Haha!
Fieryredheadlady — I’m sorry I can’t remember your name! But you are just the peppiest most cheerful lady I’ve ever met — love it!
Scruffy guy — I think your name is Ben. I think you make awesome drinks.
Everyone else — keep being awesome, dudes!

This subterranean Peet’s affiliate provides my morning caffeine fix. Consistent with other Peet’s, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable about coffee, etc. What sets this particular location apart is the extremely fast-​moving line (highly recommended if you take Muni or BART into Embarcadero Station), and the array of viable lunch foods. They serve good sandwiches and salads, whereas most Peet’s locations do not have similar lunch items. (As a Peet’s affiliate, this location does not accept Peet’s gift cards.)

After having given this Peet’s 10, yes 10 chances I am finally done with giving this particular store my business.
1^st Visit: Completely botched my order «Medium Decaf Unsweetened latte» — Not only did I get a CAFFEINATED latte, but it was sweetened «Extra» as the barista told me after about choking on the sweetness.
2^nd Visit: I found a charge for $ 44.54 a day later. The charge for my Medium specialty drink should have been $ 4.45. I took a copy of my statement to the store and they completely denied any wrongdoing. Luckily my credit card company rectified the issue.
3^rd Visit: I waited 10 mins… then 15 minutes only to find that my order was nowhere to be found!
4^th Visit: The blueberry muffin had a dead fly smooshed on the bottom of it. After biting into it and nearly hurling– I immediately returned to the store with only a partial bite in the muffin. Asked for the manager who was «too busy» at the moment so a woman at the register asked me «How do we know the fly didn’t get into it after you left the store?» REALLY!!!
5^th Visit: I ordered a small soy unsweetened matcha green tea latte easy on the foam. I picked up my cup to find about 3 sips worth of any latte.
6^th Visit: See 1^st visit. Once again, I received a triple shot of someone else’s order! BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS that day!
7^th Visit: See 5^th Visit. Yes the same issue, even after asking and this time asking NO FOAM!
8^th Visit: See 3^rd Visit.
9^th Visit: See 5^th and 7^th Visit.
Alas… this morning was my 10^th visit. Not only could they not find my order but they made my small soy unsweetened matcha green tea latte in a hurry to find that it tasted of a mix of espresso and green tea. I also saw the barista use lowfat milk– right in front of me. She insisted it was soy! The taste between soy and milk are worlds apart. I’m DONE. DONE DONE DONE.
Tip for you… go to the Peet’s underground at Embarcadero. They are efficient, friendly, and get your orders right!

The location right outside of the Embarcadero Bart station makes this Peet’s Coffee very convenient. The Baristas are friendly to commuters on their way to work in the morning!

On few visits, staff recognizes you and now I have couple of friends who knows what I am going to order. As I am addicted to coffee and I specially likes their breads. If you are weight watcher then they have reduced fat versions. So, as my turn comes on counter they just ask me for card to charge only… as they know what I will order, though they confirm it first.

Went here this afternoon for coffee. Nobody in line, five baristas working, no coffee brewed. WTF?
«Hello,» was all the clerk said to me. Not, ‘what can I get for your?’ or ‘how are you?’ «Don’t worry,» the rude clerk said, «it will be ready in 90 sec.» Even though they hadn’t started brewing it yet. «How can you brew a pot of coffee in 90 sec?» I asked. «You just can,» was her reply.
No. You can’t. What they did (while a line formed) was pour the coffee as it brewed, meaning the first cup poured was very strong and the last cup, very weak. I was a barista for a long time and have forgotten more about coffee than any of these flunkies will ever know. What I cannot come to terms with is: a) how you can run out of coffee on a slow afternoon, and b) how you can pretend brewing coffee in this way is anything other than disgusting. Apparently, Peet’s thinks their customers are as stupid as their baristas, will gladly pay for garbage, and be treated like dirt in the process. Maybe they should actually train their employees and focus on customer service.

It was unfortunate that all the Peet’s that I went to during their August 1^st drink giveaway had ran out of some vital ingredient. One was out of milk, one only had coffee and tea, and this one didn’t have any ice. Sigh, I was really craving a Matcha Green Tea Freddo, but at 530pm on their busiest day of the year, could I really complain?

This is one of my fave Peet’s. Why? They’re right off of the BART station and I can hop onto the Muni to get to where I’m really going. Also, they’re super fast even when the line is forever long. You still get your coffee in less than 5 minutes and they’re super nice, smiling all the time which you do need to start off your day.

This Peet’s is in a great location. However, the one problem I have it is, the cashiers sometimes get the order wrong. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a «Medium Latte with whip.» I mean, really? Latte? Mocha? Granted, the automated Muni announcements do get in the way sometimes, but simply repeating the the order would alleviate the problems.
But recently, they’ve gotten things squared away. And I’m addicted to that blueberry danish. So, just for sheer convenience for me, I’m glad they’re here.

NB — This review is for the particular Peet’s at Embarcadero BART station. It should have been a godsend for me, but I have learned to avoid it to save myself daily disappointments. Good for me, saving the $s doesn’t hurt.
Much as I usually prefer Peet’s over Starbucks — this one has been dubious since it opened, and has only gotten worse. Horrible service, clueless baristas, sloppy, burned tasting lattes. I’d rather hold out for the Starbucks at Powell, or go without caffeine on the morning ride.
Great idea, poorly executed.

I love the abundance of outdoor seating here (behind the shop facing California St), but hate all the cigarette smoke from smokers who lounge in the area. Most of the time I can’t stand it and have to walk away with my coffee. I also notice that the smokers typically don’t have Peets coffee in their hand. So management should look into this. It’s messing it up for the real customers. That aside, the line moves fairly quickly here.
A while back, I signed up their mailing list and got a free coffee — woo hoo!

Ah, Peet’s you never do me wrong!
So, I took a break from coffee for a bit, a detox if you will… This AM though, I needed it. BADLY. I used to stop by and visit my Peet’s every morning, they new my name, everything. It felt like cheers (where everybody knows your name!) if you know what I mean. Having put coffee on a hiatus for a while, I thought they have forgotten all about me and my Medium nonfat Vanilla latte, to my surprise. it felt like I never abandoned my Peet’s. I was greeted by my name following my order. I haven’t even had a chance to open my mouth yet! This I LOVE, that and the coffee is superb, tastes exactly the same… each and every time.

25 kinds of burnt coffee. This pretty much describes the roasting
philosophy of Peet’s. With so many, many, many better options, why
anyone would buy beans from this or any other Peet’s is beyond me.
So why 3, and not 2 stars? It’s unfortunately the best of a number of
bad options in downtown. It’s far, far better than *$, and more likely to
be open during off hours.
They still can’t make a proper cappuccino, late, or espresso but at
least it will be (slightly) better than *$.

Hey! When did they add a Peet’s to my BART ride? No line, lots of baristas, and whoosh! I’m on my way with my favorite cuppa in hand. Minus one star for being out of currant scones. :(
Now I just need a bar with to-​go cups for the way home!