Local 123 - Berkeley Wifi Cafe

I finally stumbled on this cafe while walking up San Pablo to get my favorite, super decadent, Cinnamon, Current and Walnut bread from Acme Bakery (very worthy of another post).

Anyways, I walked by this cafe this morning and it only had a few people there at 8am. I walked by again at about 4pm and it's completely packed and no room for anyone. I like my little quiet cafe more but Local 123's just down the street from me so I'm sure I'll find some good use for it.

They're serving drip coffee. That's always very delicious and you know that means it's going to be a potent cup of coffee.

Check out more about Local 123 in West Berkeley

Cafe Cacao in Berkeley - No longer serving meals

Just when I wrote about Cafe Cacao they had to go and change it. They officially no longer serve food there. If you want a Scharffen Berger chocolate mocha you can still get that and you can still get pastry's and sweets.

Bye, bye to the good food there. I'll miss the delicious Portobello burger... mmmm

Missouri Lounge - Berkeley

For many years I called this the "misery lounge". It was the place that was open at 6am and closed by noon. It was frequented by the major alcoholics that were there at 6am so they wouldn't have to start withdrawing from the night before. I'd say "misery lounge" was a very fitting name, to say the least.

Then I left town for a couple years and came back. What do I find? It turns out that this has exceeded what I considered to be the better hang out spots around B-Town and turned itself in to what is likely the best bar in all of Berkeley.

They've got food in back, I never tried it. They let you smoke back there, which I assume is one of the larger appeals of the place. Many of the other places with outdoor patios won't let you smoke there. They have a pool table inside, they have $4 IPA's on tap, cans of PBR if you want the cheap stuff, shot and a can of beer specials, and lots of other things.

They have DJ's and open mikes, the weekends tend to be good fun there. Very nice mix of people usually.

You can read more about Missouri Lounge on Yelp. They have 130 reviews so far (a good sign in itself).

They also have a very basic website up with an up-to-date events page. Check out the Missouri Lounge website!

Cafe Cacao in Berkeley

If you want a wonderful Mocha there's nothing better then a Mocha made with Scharffen Berger chocolate. I just had one and they are amazing. They're very chocolaty, delicious, yummyness. I also had a Grilled Portobello burger and it was quite good as well. They do a great job cooking the Portobello and they put on a some other very nice tasting marinated vegetables.

On weekends they have a bottomless mimosa for 12 bucks, seems like a nice place to get your buzz on.

This is one of very wifi cafes in West Berkeley. It's very fast and great reception throughout the whole cafe. If you want to enjoy a nice day working from a cafe this is a very nice one with excellent food. They're right next door to the new Berkeley Bowl in West Berkeley (I'll be writing about them soon).

Check out more about Cafe Cacao in West Berkeley.

Fertile Grounds - Wifi Cafe

Fertile Grounds is a very nice wifi cafe.

The only negatives are that it's a little bit on the small side, room for maybe 20 people.

There are many pluses to the place. They have a very solid internet connection. I really like the music mix they play, a lot of world music, reggae, various random things. The food's great, ranging from sandwiches to middle eastern food. Given it's small it's a really quiet place to hang out most of the time, really good for getting a lot done.

Check them out sometime, they're located at:

1796 Shattuck Ave.
Berkely, CA

Read reviews of Fertile Grounds on Yelp.