Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery

Sometimes I head over here to get some work done before heading to the library. My last couple of visits have not been so great. The first one was a few weeks ago in which I ordered an espresso and had to wait almost 20 minutes at a time the store wasn’t busy and it wasn’t made correctly. The barista was extremely slow and had no sense of picking up the pace. Today I went in and placed an order for an extra hot mocha. My name was called and as I approached the counter the barista (different) grabbed my drink and hesitantly said she’s afraid she overfilled it and would like to pour it into another cup. I told her it’s fine, I’ll handle it. She insisted and I told her «if you pour it in another cup, it’ll get cold and I ordered it as extra hot. It’s fine.» She then placed it to double cup it and said I just don’t want you to spill it. It was just weird because the cup was closed and there was no leakage or spillage and didn’t understand why she’d want to go to the back to transfer it to a new cup. I felt really uncomfortable about the drink I just paid $ 5 for and just threw it away in the garage. She did come to offer me a refund or to make it again but I declined. Any barista shouldn’t call out a drink if they aren’t ready and definitely shouldn’t take back a drink after calling it out. Let the customer decide if they’d like a different cup.
I definitely won’t be coming back here. It’s a busy area and people go there to get a good cup of coffee or other item to either work or relax and shouldn’t have to deal with undertrained staff. As much as I like the location and internal atmosphere, the staff could use some polishing.

They let my order sit on the counter for ten minutes, messed up my order, burnt the bread on the new order and accused my 3 year old of stealing.

Use to work here I understand the poor reviews. Very poor management. If they paid more than the minimum I would have cared more about making sure everyone had a good experience.

We really like this place! Customize our order on our own device. Like that feature. I just wish they were open on weekends and holidays! No clue why they would use that business plan and miss out those customers.

This Homestead and Lawrence area is such an otherwise awkward area. There’s so much traffic and people and there was only the one Starbucks to serve everyone who needed breakfast n’ wifi around here and who wasn’t willing to eat garbage donuts/​bagels.
It’s a godsend. I visited it for the first time this morning and it was a great experience all around. The service was fast and very friendly and my coffee and food were perfect.
And of course, it’s big and cozy, lots of places to comfortably set up with a laptop.
Thank you for setting up a Specialty’s here!

A more expensive alternative to panera, actually a pretty bad place for takeout.
We often come here when we are getting tired of panera — it costs a little more, but the food is tasty.
Because they promote their pickup ordering everywhere, i thought i would try ordering online today and it was very disappointing. It took over 30 minutes, they were out of items their website listed, and they didn’t even seem to start my order until after i arrived
I would come back to eat inside — people seem to love hanging out all day to use the large tables and wifi — but this is not a good takeout restaurant.

I like this new location. I imagine during lunch hour it gets pretty busy here. It’s located right across the street from Kaiser. With Apple being built a few blocks down this place is sure to rack up business in the future. I’ve had specialty’s in the past so I know their food quality is pretty good. This time around I had the egg, sausage, and cheese sandwich. The eggs here are pretty fluffy and everything tasted phenomenal.

Normally Specialty’s makes my favorite breakfast sandwich, but this location’s quality is so poor, I had to leave this review. The toasted bun is never toasted and usually soggy. The eggs are grey from being overcooked. This is not a one-​time incident, but every single time. I’ve thrown out over a dozen of their sandwiches. The manager seemed more inclined to blame me over the sandwich, trying to tell me it was the pepper that made the egg so disgusting. No.
They lost a regular customer permanently.

Their breakfast Ciabatta sandwiches are seriously one of the best things in life. The sausage, egg and cheddar is to die for. Two sausage patties, fluffy egg, cheddar cheese, pepper and garlic butter on a toasted Ciabatta bun side with the fact that they serve it all day, it’s the perfect storm. A full Peet’s coffee bar, bakery and a variety of deli sandwiches make this place all the better. Everything is reasonably priced, service is decent and the place is very spacious and clean. Even the bathrooms were exceptionally clean. I honestly don’t have one bad thing to say about this place. They’re gonna make a killing when the new Apple Campus 2 opens up next door.

A very spacious and cozy atmosphere with lots of large tables and outlets. This place would be a great place to study if you don’t mind the slow wifi.
Specialtys is located next to L&L Hawaiian Drive In and Subways. Really don’t think I’ll be going back to Subways because Specialtys sandwiches are way better. My favorite is the turkey cranberry. I also like the Waldorf chicken apple salad sandwich but I got irked on me time when there was just a round scoop of it in the center of the bread. I swear it’s usually spread out… They also have different soups on the daily and lots of different salads to choose from. They’ll ask you whether you want your dressing mixed in or on the side. I am in love with the bread that they give when you order a soup or salad. It’s kinda salty and greasy though! While waiting in line to order, you can drool over the delicious pastries in the window. My boyfriend loves to get the cranberry cream cheese croissant.
If you wanna avoid the line, you can order and pay for your food online and you can just stop in, grab your food and go. There’s a shelf on the side that will have your food bagged and ready to go. There is also a kiosk available where you can order your food. I find that it may take longer doing it this way versus waiting in the line.
Overall, I love coming to Specialtys for lunch. I just wish it wasn’t so darn pricey.

Wow, a really spacious yet cozy atmosphere! There are a lot of tables spread across the café/​bakery, making this Specialty’s a great place to hang out or study (there’s also outdoor seating).
The food is delicious as well (I got the turkey, bacon, pear-​something sandwich). The sandwich itself was $ 9 and a side of chips and soda made it come out to be around $ 13 (kinda pricy).
I really like the ambiance of this place (it had a slightly rustic-​wood cabin feel to it).
They even have a partnership with Peet’s coffee!

Michelle B was my server and she was awesome! I sincerely hope her managers appreciate her. She was multitasking and taking orders with a smile and professionalism. She even knew I needed a to-​go bag without me even having to ask. You don’t see customer service like her very often.
Food came out fast and warm. Love this place!

Mixed feelings about this place. For what I need — place to sit and laptop with food and pastries — they’re pretty good. Seating is top notch, outlets are plentiful. Poor wifi, but I can tether.
Service looked very confused — with two people in the front working hard, and 6 – 8 people hanging out in the kitchen not actually working. it took me a few minutes to get anyone’s attention so I could order at the cashier. As a result, I decided not to order a sandwich here. Now that I’ve read other reviews, this may have been a good choice on my part.
Cashier sent one of my pastries to the kitchen to get heated up, we never got it back and they couldn’t find it — she gave me another one after I got impatient waiting (~5 minutes, no line)
Pastries were good if a bit sugary, cold Peet’s coffee drinks are cold Peet’s coffee drinks.
4 stars for «sit and laptop», 1 star for everything else. I normally rate an establishment on its best attributes, but I can’t give this location a decent rating if I was hesitant to order a sandwich here. Aware it’s a new location, intend to re-​review in a couple months.

I like this location. It is huge with lots of tables and almost every table along the wall has its own outlet. Which is great for studying or working.
The food is decent and good for the price. The employees were all very nice. One less star because the service was slow for how not busy they were and their bathroom was not usable for lack of upkeep.

Great place to study, eat lunch, and have some coffee.
They have lots of outlets and a ton of seating — inside and out.
Their staff in incredibly nice, helpful, and fast.
Their food and pastries are very yummy and I love that they have a Peets coffee in here.
Very clean and spacious! Has a very homie feel but it does get pretty chilly so I recommend bringing a jacket.

This is the best location I’ve been to. Hands down! The place is spacious with a feel of a cabin. The ceilings are pretty high which creates more breathing room.
For many years, this store used to be empty for a long time and would become a new store of some sort every other two years. Basically this place didn’t do too well with business. I used to say this was one of the locations that was cursed and that any business here would be doomed. Turns out by opening Specialty’s, this place is back in business! I’m thrilled to see so many people coming in for pastries, coffee, etc. It shows how well Sunnyvale/​Santa Clara is doing and how much things are changing.
I had their pecan sticky bun which was delicious. The pastry was soft and had the sweet honey-​textured chew to it which I love. When the fingers are sticky and smell of cinnamon sugar is on em’ then you know it’s a great sign of a good sticky bun lol
As I sat down and ate, I observed the place. People from work & families were coming in and having a great time sitting around eating and sipping. The noise level was pretty loud which is also a great sign. The middle of the store is my favorite because its a living room type lobby with a fireplace formation and couches around. Too bad these were taken; I would’ve sat here instead.
The employees do a great job going around making sure people are taken care of. They are pretty efficient with orders and their manager does a great job addressing people’s questions. I noticed the manager going around taking care of certain issues people had which weren’t dramatic; He just took care of the small stuff. Otherwise they do a wonderful job here!
I’ll be def coming back to relax and enjoy the atmosphere again. Nice to see this area booming up again! Great Job Specialty’s!

I started coming here to study with a good friend of mine since we were getting tired of always got no to a coffee shop. Since this was new we decided to check it out and it was the best decision we made! The wifi is super easy to connect to. Although, at time the connection can be slow and get weak when too many people are us using it but it usually lasts a few minutes. This location is large and they have plenty of seating and a variety of seats as well. There’s also so many outlets along the outer booths and some of the tables. In the morning this place can be crowded but usually people are taking their items to go so sitting in here is pretty quite as not too many people stay. But during lunch there s a huge crowd on weekdays from people taking food togo and even eating there. But they seem to get through the lines pretty fast.
Now the food/​drinks: they serve Peets coffee and tea. I always get an iced matcha green tea and it’s nice and smooth. The taste is amazing. For food I sometimes get the Chinese chicken salad and it come with focaccia bread which are both great tasting and fresh!!! They are my favorite from here. I also have tried their ham and cheese, and spinach and cheese croissant. They are both amazing, light, fresh and crispy/​flaky crust and not too oily. I have also tried the three cheese quiche. It takes amazing if you like cheese but towards the end it can be a bit too cheesy and slightly too salty since there is no crust to offset the strong flavor. Their cookies and brownies are decent sized and are soft and fresh as well! They are always making new batches of their baked items since they make them right in the back! This is definitely my new study place!

Oatmeal wheatgerm chocolate chip cookie, I have an unhealthy relationship with you!
I was excited to hear they were building a Specialty’s across the street from where I work. I was already in love with the brand, ever since they opened their location on Bowers, which is close to my house. Since they opened; I am here, at minimum, once a week for lunch. The ease of online ordering and pickup make this location a no brainer lunch choice when I find myself too lazy to grocery shop or pack a lunch. Couple this with the fact they have an in-​house Peet’s Coffee café? — SOLD.
I will admit, the prices are more expensive than your typical Subway or McDonald’s meal would be, but the portions are large and I feel the ingredients are of a higher caliber. I do appreciate they have a rewards program (if you sign up online via their website and either order online or via the iPad system).
I foresee my unhealthy relationship with those delightful cookies to continue :) you must try them– or… not– I rather they not run out! ;)

I guess this used to be an Indian restaurant? I leave town for a couple months and this pops up. After a meal with a friend we jumped in for some dessert and caffeine. Large black iced tea and a poppy seed bundt cake were my fixes. My friend however loaded up on like 8 cookies to go and a coffee. The girls working were really enthusiastic and cheerful. We kicked it there for an hour or so and made an afternoon of it.

I was really happy when I heard that this place was opening on the corner of Homestead and Lawrence. They had a Grand Opening earlier this week but I missed it.
I stopped in early this morning for some Peet’s coffee. They did a great job with the design. I was greeted immediately and offered a sample or a few different croissants. They were good, but I ordered a quiche and a coffee. J ordered a chocolate and almond croissant or roll, I am not sure which. Both were good.
They have a really cool set up and three way to order. You can place an order on their app (which is actually a pretty good one), order at the automated kiosk, order if you prefer the traditional way, you can place your order with a live person.
If you order «to go», there is a quick pick-​up, NO WAITING! YAY!
There was an employee at the kiosk to explain how it works to anyone who might need a little help.
Staff were all friendly and happy to help.
I feel they do a great job all around and we will stop in often.