Royal Ground Coffee

I got the Thai iced tea: it was refreshing on a dazzling warm day, but unfortunately the main ingredient was ice. Wished there was deeper flavor in the tea. Since it was to go, I didn’t get to relax in the charming shop, but the murals and homey touches were nice.

I ordered a Thai ice tea from here. It was awful. Taste like water. The environment is good and pretty, but the restroom is so dirty and smelly.

Not pretension. Comfy couches, plenty of space, and good, inexpensive coffee.

I was searching for a coffee place that was open late at night, having to make the long trip back to Menlo Park and feeling in need of a caffeine stimulus. This was the only nearby place still open, but I found it rather charming. They have free wifi, excellent oatmeal cookies, and decent coffee. The lady at the counter was also very friendly and helpful and I rather took to the un-​chainlike vibe of the place.

I’m reviewing as someone who works in the area and popped in for a breakfast sandwich. No, I didn’t order coffee, but I still would like to review for those who, well, might not be looking for coffee.
Ambiance: quaint, clean, and comfortable. There is nice seating with tables that I could see would be great for meeting with a friend or studying.
Food: disappointing. I ordered the breakfast sandwich on an everything bagel. The bagel itself was fine and was toasted. However, the cheese was American cheese and the egg was microwaved. I should have just gone to McDonald’s for this kind of quality (to be honest, I’d prefer an Egg McMuffin to this). It didn’t taste good.
Service: Terrible. I’m not expecting formal dining room service, but a smile, friendly tone, or even a thank you goes a long way. I know it was 6:15 am, but I’m a patron and the negative attitude coupled with the microwave egg sandwich will not bring me back. Any time the man taking my order asked me a question (which bagel, salt and pepper?) he had his back to me so I couldn’t understand him. When I asked him to repeat himself, he seemed extremely annoyed. Plus, he didn’t wash his hands between serving the customer before me and handling her money and making my sandwich.

How do you review a coffee place, when you didn’t order coffee? Unilocal keeps prompting me, so here goes… we split a veggie bagel, it was great, probably the best I’ve ever had. Was a first date and we’re still together, so now it’s kinda’ nostalgic for us. We pop in occasionally and order up a breakfast bagel.

Quick reliable service, clear offerings and clear pricing, perfect for a morning or mid-​day pit stop! I have not tried the sandwiches but only standard bagels which are pretty standard but meet par.

Staff was friendly, bathroom was clean. Chai tea was the worst I’ve ever had. Do not order.

Bless this place for their abundance of electrical outlets! It’s usually pretty quiet in here, so a nice place to work, especially when your wifi at home is acting real hungover.
This isn’t normal coffee shop wifi. You know, the kind where one dude’s Netflix’d episode of GOT is ruining everyone else’s life. Nay! Somehow this place has figured it out, and no matter how many people are sucking the wifi teat at once, there is always strong connectivity.
Y’all make one helluva BLT too.

Wow. I come in here every so often when I’m in the City and get some coffee. It’s not bad! I’m in here working right now, using MY OWN internet. The place is ²⁄₃ EMPTY, and the lady just said I had to order something or leave. RUDE! I’ll go to a Starbucks from now on.
I understand why this place is empty most of the time!

I’m not into gourmet food when I’m looking for a café. My priority is:
1. wi-​fi
2. spacious with lots of tables/​chairs/​outlets
3. near a bus stop
all in that order. I go there to surf the web and relax while listening to my laptop music for a few hours after I do my shopping on Geary. If it has great food, great but it’s not a priority with me. The same goes for the people behind the counter — as long as they’re not doing things that are totally taboo like giving you rotten food, then it’s fine since «small talk» chitchat is not a priority with me either. I’ve gone many times to Royal Café and the experience has been very good to great. It’s spacious enough that you don’t feel squished/​claustrophobic next to everyone else. It isn’t very scenic and you won’t think it’s very clean because they can’t afford to just easily finance a million dollar café makeover like Starbucks, but the café is fine with me.
The people behind the counter aren’t the most sociable but they aren’t mean either — it’s just how most Asians are. Most Asians are introverts and cautious. If they sound bossy, especially Asian females, it’s just confidence (and the fact their family owns the café and/​or the main workers in the café) and a need to get their tasks done quickly and should not be an assumption of arrogance. I have never had a problem talking to them about my order, getting good service, asking about the wi-​fi, asking to use the restroom, etc. When you’re in line to make your order, get your order ready asap and don’t waste their time while other customers in the rest of the line are waiting to be serviced too. Asians usually chitchat with friends they already know, not total strangers.
The coffee’s not the best but they have smoothies, teas, italian sodas, regular store beverages, dessert cakes/​pies, sandwiches, bagels, omelets, gyros, etc. They have sofas as well as tables/​chairs. Right in front of it is the 38 bus stop which is a plus with me.
The noise level can be medium-​high in the afternoons but level off in the late afternoon to night times. They do accept CC but I think there’s a $ 5 or $ 10 minimum. They’re one of the few cafes on Geary that stay up as late as 10pm and there’s no «2 hour maximum» (for wi-​fi time before you get kicked off to force you to buy more stuff) which is common in some cafes… cough… Peet’s… If i’m going to be at Royal Café for more than a couple of hours, I usually order $ 20 worth of stuff anyway all in 1 order.

I’m giving them two stars to praise their sandwiches. But the coffee drinks here are pretty terrible. Twice, I have had lattes and mochas taste like what I imagine dirty water to taste like. There was this strange, metallic taste, enough for my taste buds to notice. Maybe their espresso machine broke and the staff didn’t know. Either way, I’m staying away from the coffee beverages here and just sticking to real food.

Was wandering around Clement St to Geary for 40mins looking for a healthier option breakfast. Stumbled upon RG exasperated reading another blah coffee shop menu. Steps into the doorway you arrive at a counter filled w oat cakes $ 2.25, raspberry oatmeal bars, Aussie bites, fresh made salmon spinach feta quiches and pasties/​turnovers salads, salmon lox bagel capers red onion and you know you HAVE arrived at the right location. Menu is not yuppified which would actually be my go to but RG is solid on food. However, Royal Grounds is in need of a groundskeeper… Décor is grimy, chipped painted tables mural walls old wooden floors that long to be the highlight of a much desired makeover, single unisex bathroom.
That salmon lox bagel $ 5.50 however is AMAzing, my first ever ordered and now my marker. Thicker ¼″ freshest cuts of seemingly house made, non commercial salmon (it is tho? I guess??, I asked…“ordered from THE company??”, still I’m returning on my 3-​day stay!
$ 1.55 reg 12oz coffee $ 1.95 Americano $ 1.95 Mighty Leaf teas! $ 2 – 3 slice red velvet carrot cakes. Come get Royal!

Frappé is like milkshake’s cousin.
Did my Avocado Frappé bring all the ladies to the yard?
No.
But it brought a cute nonhipster* chick from the bus stop to the door.
To the bus stooooop! To the door! To the door!
*jk I heart hipsterettes.

On s’y sent bien dans ce petit café du coin. Avec un peu de chance le canapé sera libre lors de votre venue ! Si vous êtes à la recherché d’un lieu pour jeter un coup d’œil à vos mails de manière confortable, l’endroit est idéal. Le wifi est gratuit et le local généralement très calme. Loin de la propreté de certaines enseignes, le café n’en demeure pas moins très accueillant, et je m’y rends parfois tout simplement pour squatter le canapé avec un chocolat chaud; prendre le temps de souffler après une journée chargée.

I would really like to give this place more stars. Unfortunately, I just can’t do it. If there’s one thing we learned from Ted Nugent, it’s that just because we want something to be awesome, that doesn’t make it true.
Some of the other reviewers say the service is amazing, but I have been several times and that’s just not the case. They aren’t unfriendly, but they sure aren’t sociable. The food is good, but there is nothing distinctive about it. Other little things take away from a next-​level café experience, like the pre-​cut «cream cheese patties» on their bagels and the ingredients throughout their menu that aren’t always the freshest.
Bottom line: this is a relaxed, solid little café. Good coffee, good wi-​fi, good food, good service. Nothing to write home about, but it’s the only place in the area that is at least average for all of these things at once.

Love this local coffee shop in my neighborhood, it has a bit of old school charm interior, bunch of seatings and outlets. Nice for just having a coffee and reading, or working with a laptop. I like the variety of beverage they have, so sometimes at night I just grab a freshly made smoothies. They also serve light food like sandwiches and bagels, which I like a lot since I am not big on heavy stuff. The only thing I’d say is one time there was a customer sitting close to me mumbling almost all the time, a little scary to me (didn’t expect this from a coffee shop :/)

There are plenty of cafes in the Sunset I can go to this day but I sometimes I want to venture to the other side of the park. Also this just happens to be across the street from Sharetea so thats another plus. Came here to do some studying for a final. Was mildly crowded but there were plenty room for seating. I ordered house coffee and Apricot oatmeal bar. The coffee was what you expect from drip coffee, plain. Though I didn’t mind the bland taste of the Apricot bar it tasted too dry and had a chewy texture.
What is the best thing about this place? IMO its the sweet location on Geary being near so many businesses and restaurant. What is not so great about this palce? For sake of brevity I’ll label them in points and give short description:
Not so great:
–Dry not so fresh pastry
–Slow internet. Gets bogged down easily with few users online.
–Discourteous staff. When you engage any of the baristas you immediately get the vibe they don’t want to be there serving you, and they don’t want to be there period.
There is a lot of better cafes in the area I’d recommend people go to where staff is friendly and ambiance is much nicer.

A comfortable Café to watch the world go by as people, buses and cars rush down Geary Street. Perfect place to grab a nice white chocolate mocha, freshly grounded coffee, breakfast bagles or yummy list of tasty sandwiches. An ideal place to study, chit chat with friends or read a novel. I go here for the studying for hours and hours, no inturruptions and always helpful staff.

Came here first time for coffee and pie, bad idea!!!
First no one gave us attention for the first 5 minutes .
Pie is stale and the americano I ordered was just plain coffee. I ordered «for here» but she put the coffee in a paper cup. I asked her for a cup and she reached for a glass, hello, really!!!
Never again

I got the Vanilla Frappé. It was good.
I snagged a primo spot in the corner bench seat with table. Studied for a solid 4 or 5 hours. People here are so nice. I’ll be back!