Caffe Pergolesi

Looked up Santa Cruz’s best coffee shops on my way through town and was excited to try this place out based on the review’s I had skimmed through online. Once we arrived, I was even more intrigued by the endless greenery and spring blossoms surrounding the wrap around deck. With endless sunshine at 70 degrees and the farmers market 500 feet from our table, the location could not have been more ideal.
My friend ordered the special of the day, their house Lavender Latte. I was skeptical but after one sip, I was quickly proven wrong. I would highly recommend trying this if it’s as new to you as it was to me.
After ordering an iced Americano for myself, I noticed the barista add the flavor into a hot cup. Trying to help and let her know before she started making a hot drink, I mentioned again I would like it iced. She let out a loud sigh and told me they didn’t have iced cups in the size I ordered. To make her life a little easier, I told her it was fine to make it in the hot cup. It would still taste the same. This was also met with a quick roll of the eyes and snappy, «Are there any other details you would like to give me before making your coffee!?»
The atmosphere more than made up for the short tempered barista, but the interaction left my experience with more to be desired.

Lovely place — reminds me so much of Berlin, Germany!
The staff was nice and chatty and the coffee was good too. It right next to the antique market which is nice if you need a little coffee break from the treasure hunt.
I don’t have anything to criticize — next time in SC I’ll definitely stop by again for a little refreshment.

I used to love this place in high school. That was a while ago. It looked pretty much the same: beautiful Victorian converted into a coffee shop but in a way that retained several rooms and nooks. The furniture is eclectic but that completely goes with the feel of the place.
That part is still true. And the coffee and tea are good. Now, as every review mentions, there is free wifi. And that is nice and convenient, but while it was always a mostly student hangout, it’s become basically a computer hangout most of the time inside. I guess a lot of coffee shops have gone this way, but it’s rare to find anyone actually speaking to another person, just people on their computer. A lot who bought one cup of coffee and have been there 6 or 7 hours. And not so much papers or something they are writing, as video games (sound turned on half the time).
And then I’d say ¹⁄₁₀ times someone wanders in and loses it and the police come. It’s got a sleazier vibe than it used to. It’s better if you avoid sitting in the main room with the couches.

This place has a lot of ambiance. The food and drinks were fine. But honestly, both times I’ve been here the baristas (two different ones) have literally been the RUDEST staff that I’ve ever encountered. EVER. This place is cute so it’s definitely a shame. Won’t be back.

Got my free brewed coffee and it was delicious. Staff was super friendly! And I also love that it’s open late cause I need my coffee fix at all times of the day. Will definitely come back and tell my friends about this place. The vibe was nice and it’s definitely an authentic coffee house.

I personally don’t see the hype of Café Pergolesi although amongst my peers, it is a favorite. The café itself is dimly lit and has a cozy feel to it as it is literally an old house, but the constant bad smell of the place is a big turn off for me. I also feel like all the baristas I’ve interacted with are cold, making it a little uncomfortable when I have a question or want to make any kind of chit chat. After a couple attempts, I’ve decided that Café Perg. is not for me.

Amazing coffee made with love. The atmosphere was interesting and different. Me and my boyfriend split a warm cinnamon bun and it was so good. Would definitely stop back here if I’m ever in Santa Cruz again

The service here has always been good. The drinks the same. However, the fact that they let people smoke cigarettes on the deck outside is reason enough for me to always get my drinks to go.
I don’t smoke and I verge on hate of second hand. This place has vibe for days but there is no way to be there if you don’t tolerate cigarette smoke.
There tend to be all types hanging around this spot so it would be great for tourists and locals alike to come and mingle.
Likewise, there are often students holed up with books and computers populating the cobwebbed furniture.
I’ve tried to come sit here both to study and just kick back but without headphones and an oxygen mask there is just no way.
I will still get stuff here but it’s not a hang out for me. Not at all.

Decent coffee, usually a few things to nibble on. Stinky interior, opt for outdoor seating

Great to be back there. As always.

A real coffeehouse.
No, really.
It’s an actual house. That sells coffee.
This was a favorite stop when I was a student & my world was ruled by 2 things…
Books & Coffee.
Lots of students, lots of writers, lots of rooms.
There’s 4 or 5 rooms & they’re all decorated differently. My favorite was the room w the British telephone booth. My Anglophile tendencies…
They have all the beloved & necessary café components. And the coffee is organic. All your caffeine fueled concoctions & plenty of nibbles for your tummy & your tastebuds.
I think you can actually feel the creativity & thinking in the air when you walk in.
A real gem & a dying breed.
4 stars.

Came by on a Sunday morning, nice laid back atmosphere with cool easy going staff. Love the antique couches to lounge and enjoy your drinks. We got a mocha and a chai latte both of which were amazing.
Unilocal check in and you get a free brewed coffee which is definitely an added benefit.
The pastries were also delicious.
Ppl that hang out here are also cool easy going so typical of the Santa Cruz atmosphere which I love
Great place to just relax on the couch with some reading material.
Would definitely come back here to support the local cafés. Much better experience here than the typical larger coffee establishments. And it feels good to support locally run cafés.
Next time I’m in Santa Cruz will definitely come back to try this place and taste some of there other coffee varieties and pastries!

Super cool! Location is in an actual Victorian style house. There’s several different rooms you can sit in with couches, chairs, or tables. Pretty good music
Service: Pretty fast and nice staff
Coffee: AMAZING. Definitely recommend that Café Mocha, and you can add syrup to it too! Their peppermint syrup is good! Also, the WHIP CREAM is homemade, they’ll scoop it out of a bowl and put it in your coffee if you want. It’s sweet and heavy and so good, even by itself.
Pretty good price too

Man, Perglolesi.
Where to start?
Here’s the rundown: This coffee house is quite literally a house. A Victorian style house. Through the yard, up the steps and where the living room was is now the counter. The sitting room has some grungy couches and chairs and being right by the entrance is a good spot to see or be seen. The rest of the first floor rooms are partitioned out. Those spots fill up quick with people who are serious about settling in and studying/​working. The yard front and side is now fully occupied with seating. Tables, benches etc. Which is where people go to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine or to smoke or both. the porch has some tables and what appears to be an old church pew for seating.
The coffee is easily amongst the best available. They have a lot of high quality touches such as using ghirardelli chocolate for the mocha. The beers are all local brews, and powerful great beers they be. They have a mean scotch ale. The food is typical coffee house items-​scones, cookies, pastries and light sandwiches burritos pasta etc. They are particular to offer vegan/​organic/​fair trade/​gluten free and dairy free options. So they can meet whatever dietary needs you may have.
The baristas are some really awesome people, they know the product very well, and take pride in what they do.
At least one book has been written featuring Pergolesi.
The crowd that comes in is what you’d call Santa Cruz Eclectic. There is no real way to describe the overall effect. Lots of free spirits, college students, hipsters, professors, surfers, skaters, metalheads, beer nerds, all other kinds of nerds, folk artists, all other kinds of artists, tech start up types, and folks who appreciate diversity in all its forms. It’s an interesting mix and you can learn a lot here just by talking to people.
There are a few small drawbacks. There will be smoking outside. Not necessarily of tobacco. There seem to always be a few weedy dudes hanging just outside with backpacks. They never go inside, and fade away when the cops roll by. Make of that what you will, but inside the coffee house it’s drama free.
This place can have a line for the coffee as due to the overall awesomeness of the place makes it quite busy and popular.
One of the classic greats of Santa Cruz for sure.

I LOVE the Perg! The ambiance, the location, lasagna, and WiFi connection are perfect! I wish that I had more time here because I would take turns working in every room. The décor, the artwork, and the architecture alone are worth the visit. It feels like you’re stepping into another time and place. I came here to lesson plan and felt like I was on a retreat. I will do all my work here from now on! Maybe I will even start working that novel that I have been trying to write for ten years now…

5 stars due to friendly staff, fairly decent amount of seating allowing for leisure or work, and good drinks and food.
Basically if you don’t like this place you don’t have a soul.

The coffee is always good, and the service is always super fast. Which is appreciated, because I used to go to Pergolesi almost everyday before work.
I’ve also gotten their burritos. They’re a little pricey, but they’ll heat it up for you and give you salsa on the side. Decent coffeehouse food, but nothing too special.
Nice place to sit and study if you can find your own table!

I find it funny when I read negative Unilocal reviews and people accompany with them a photograph the food to prove how horrible it was, like slightly burnt breakfast potatoes or a sloppy quiche, but the pictures of the ‘bad’ food still look really yummy.
Wellp…
Reading someone’s negative review of the interior of Caffe Pergolesi and a bad quiche reminded me that I have never actually written a review of this place. I have only been fondly acquainted with this place for about a decade. My sister went to UC Santa Cruz, my friends went to UC Santa Cruz, then I went to UC Santa Cruz… ‘The Perg’ was hanging out here when UC Santa Cruz was an empty sequoia tree-​filled mountain with a lonely observatory.
The chai is incredible. It is spicy, not sweet and inexpensive. I still crave the chai, even more than this rustic atmosphere. The atmosphere, is, hands down, incredible. It is huge. The interior of Caffe Pergolesi was/​is/​has always been pretty rustic. It’s got chairs and tables from all different races, nationalities and backgrounds. When Dr. Pergolesi was performing root canals in this building a century ago, it was still pretty rustic I hear. An old person once told me that all the teeth that had fallen from peoples’ mouths could still be found between the cracks here. Santa Cruz was still the wild west with a bunch of Victorian buildings.
They not only play the type of hipster café music that nobody really dislikes, like Bob Dylan, The Smiths, The Clash etc. but I appreciate that you get hardcore/​metal music sometimes and the weird music that not everyone will like. And Jawbreaker, in the 2010s.

The building is beautiful. Unfortunately, that beauty is tarnished by an interior that reeks of cigarettes and alcohol. And the food looks awful.
This would be a great place to work or study if it didn’t smell so bad, if they didn’t occasionally switch from indie music to raucus punk/​metal, and if there weren’t a bunch of loud and often stoned/​drunk college students.
It’s a shame because it’s such a nice building.

Pergolesi is the jam. I remember riding past the gorgeous old Victorian before I lived in Santa Cruz and thinking to myself, hm, I bet that’s a really cool place to be.
I’ve stopped in many times, on Saturday I was browsing vinyl at Street light Records around the corner and was jonesing for a coffee. Check in with your Unilocal app to get one coffee free when you buy one.
They also have some beers on tap and good looking food, though I’m partial to the Bagelry down the street. Lots of seating inside and outside, really has a cool Santa Cruz vibe to it, a definite go-​to if you’re in the area and want a snack, coffee, or a brew.