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Barnes & Noble
Category: Shopping Books, Mags, Music and Video Bookstores Bookstores [Edit]
5604 Bay St(at Shellmound St)
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 547-0905
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 9 am - 11 pm
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Validated
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
91 reviews for Barnes & Noble
Review Highlights
"and they validate parking for the garage right next door."
(in 8 reviews)
"Fashion Magazines / Books + Coffee = Awesome."
(in 13 reviews)
"...it's a great way to kill some time before or after a movie..."
(in 3 reviews)
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91 reviews in English
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Review from Petra S.
1/4/2012 3 Check-ins Here
With the passing of Borders, you are now all I have.
Given that the location is so close and convenient for me, you'll often find me in the cafe area catching up on magazines/tabloids, a good book or just trying to kill time. I still miss Borders from time to time but I'm just thankful that I have Barnes and Noble and a decent alternative. Most of the staff is friendly and helpful and it gives me some place to go to escape the stressful world around me. I only wish they had the comfy sofa type chair seating that they have at other locations. Only wish they had a larger anime selection and they could seriously use a larger section for greetings cards for those of us needing one for an "Anniversary." Birthdays are NOT the only thing people buy cards for and therefore, it's quite rude to not give the rest of a bigger selection of cards that REALLY matter and will express our sentiments and feelings.
On another note, they do offer parking validations with any purchase for those of you driving. -
Review from Adam V.
Oakland, CA
12/27/2011
They don't carry Berserk, which is my favorite graphic novel. So they'll never be five stars.
But they do have CHAIRS! And windows! So I can take a few books, sit by the window, and flip through them for awhile while I decide what to purchase. Trying to make that decision standing in an aisle, leaning on a shelf or something, with my neck at a painful uncomfortable angle is misery. Being able to avoid that is wonderful. I'll forgive a lot in a bookstore if I can browse in comfort.
It'd be nice if their selection of books on art and art technique was a bit more robust. Oh well.
Convenient location next to restaurants and theater, and like a lot of folks have said, they validate, which is super handy. -
Review from David N.
12/16/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Bay St. parking just went up to $3 for 2 hours! The restaurants don't even provide validated parking, but Barnes & Noble does. Go the the Starbucks on the 2nd floor, buy a water or a cookie for less that the $3 and get free parking.
Oh, you can buy books there too. -
Review from Jenn C.
1/23/2012
This is one of the messiest and most poorly stocked - and yet GINORMOUS - bookstores I have ever visited. I swear - every time I visit here looking for something in particular - say, books about cribbage - I leave empty handed. It's a zoo. It's not a fun place to shop - they have their discount and gift books piled up by the door - and that's what they want to sell you. I'll save my book browsing time and cash for local indie bookstores!
-
Review from Sean B.
10/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
Respectable. Definitely respectable. I'm not certain that they do anything that much better than any other B&N I've gone to, but I'm spoiled in LA anyway. And it's comparable.
So yeah... good stuff. -
Review from Grace C.
10/15/2011
With any purchase (even just a coffee or a scone), Barnes & Noble validates parking for up to 3 hours in any of the garages (A thru D) at the Bay Street shopping center.
Other than B&N, AMC Theatres is the only other place where you can get parking validation here.
The cafe is upstairs and has several tables, but everyone's in close range, so it's not necessarily a very quiet place to study. -
Review from Nick S.
9/19/2011 3 Check-ins Here
Had a great experience in the DVD dept. earlier today. The one guy working there was super-friendly and helpful. Even though they usually charge full MSRP, with sales and a B&N membership you can actually walk out with some pretty good deals.
I picked up Scrubs Season 5 for about $19.50 w/ tax, which is a shade cheaper than Amazon with standard shipping and a whole lot better than buying it on iTunes!
Also, the BBC section is unparalleled. -
Review from Hally J.
San Jose, CA
8/20/2011 1 photo
I don't get all the fuss. This place has amazing atmosphere and great books. I think I am in love w/ this place. Having moved, this is the only place I know that I go to, besides the place down the street. The way they organized the cafe near it was just too cute! The drinks are delish!!!
I recently bought "Safe Haven" (SEE PICTURE) and now's it not perfect but the price was ok. -
Review from Courtney R.
Oakland, CA
12/9/2011 7 Check-ins Here
It's a chain but with the economy plummeting they are few and far in between. They have a Starbucks inside and are located next to the movie theater and tons of other shops so that is very convenient but they need to add more seats inside of the store!
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Review from Jazlyn T.
Oakland, CA
9/14/2011
I am here a lot. Been going to this bookstore since we moved 3 years ago. I kid you not, the staff is upbeat and friendly every time. Just the other day, the kind man working at the Nook station saw me pushing a stroller and went out of his way to open the door. HOW NICE! (some store nearby can learn something from this...see my last post).
I'm usually at the cafe upstairs for a couple of hours with my baby. The barristas are nice and chipper (again, some store nearby can learn something from this). Only once did they get my order wrong, but were so over apologetic that I was saying sorry for her saying sorry.
One thing though...I wish they kept their bathrooms cleaner and the elevator didn't have an odd stench. Oh well! When it comes down to it...great people, excellent selection of books, mags, gifts, and more. Bravo B&N's! -
Review from Ray C.
9/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Good, 2-story B&N. Excellent location, for people who want to walk around away from the cold to burn off a few calories after dinner, or to wait for a movie to start next door.
They always do the hard-sell on the Nook right when you walk in the front doors, just like every other BN. But I suppose if it helps them survive. We need to keep around the bookstores. Support all the bookstores, esp independents. Remind yourself, paper still exists. -
Review from Celia B.
Portland, OR
7/21/2011
This review is based upon the excellent service that we received at this location yesterday.
I tried heading over to the Barnes and Nobles in Berkeley first, not realizing that it closed down and was replaced by staples. I try to avoid Bay Street at all costs because its overwhelming and I hate the parking structure. On the good side, if you do go to this Barnes and Nobles parking is free if you get your ticket validated, so don't forget!
I don't shop at Barnes and Nobles because I think that their items are expensive and I am more of a second hand girl (amazon or http://half.com). However, we decided to get Dr. Andrew's Mom a Nook for her 50th birthday.
Eleanor is great! When we walked over to the Nook section we browsed for a couple of seconds before Eleanor noticed us from the other side of the room and walked over to great us promptly, but not in an overwhelming way where you know that they are trying to get commision. She genuinely wanted to help. The color nook is the most expensive, but she encouraged us to get the Simple Touch Ereader, which we were strongly leaning towards, as this is more along the lines of what Dr. Andrew's Mom would use it for. She answered all of our questions and litterally went over our options with us for 5 - 10 minutes. She def. knew what she was talking about, she was great! It is really hard to find employees that you can relate to that you don't feel like they are just trying to sucker you for money, but are really actually trying to help!
She directed us to where the cases and accessories are, not because she wanted us to buy more but because we asked. Then what appeared to be the manager came over and said "Are you going to buy a nook today?" "Which one are you getting" "Have you used one before". She came off as pushy! Immedietly after she asked her first question I told her "Yes and someone was already helping us". She kept going though, I don't think she even heard me. Props to her for greeting us though, most places don't do that, but I am glad that we got Eleanor to help us! -
Review from Ingrid J.
San Francisco, CA
10/12/2011
I know that people are more inclined to post negative reviews than positive reviews. And there are some wonderful people at this store. For what they're getting paid by B&N, there are several different people who work here who are worth WAAAAY more than the wages they earn. There are some very helpful, very intelligent people working the book side of things. The one guy in the DVD department actually knows movies, but not in an arrogant cinema snob way, more like a "so you enjoyed X, have you seen Y yet? what did you think?" sorta' way. A couple of people in the cafe actually remembered me, and were telling me stories about the night the last Harry Potter opened and how fun the crowd was. This person did not complain about being kept there way after closing time - he was thoroughly charmed by the non-muggly people getting coffee.
I have spent a lot of time (two to three times a week) and money here in the last year and a half. Including the purchase of my Nook and all the accessories, a review of debit and credit transactions indicates purchases in the neighborhood of $1200. This is during a recession. This is when we should ALL be spending money at indie bookstores instead. This is when Amazon is easy, convenient, and using an Amazon VISA (which I have) at Amazon gets you even more swag from Amazon.
I adore my Nook. But my Nook went outer limits and malfunctioned in unexpected ways. So I took it to the store, and purchased a new charger for it. My thinking was, if I tried to charge it with a new charger, and it didn't work, then I should request that the nice people at B&N send my Nook in for service. Here's the problem: B&Ns don't have electrical outlets. It may be a cost-cutting measure, keeping those laggard browsing people from hanging around all day reading books and magazines for free, and then sucking up all this free juice with their laptops and smartphones. Whatever. But I needed to test my Nook. So I could see whether it needed to be sent in for servicing. Okay?
I found an outlet upstairs by the bathroom. I hovered for a few minutes, watching my Nook charge, browsing the books, and contemplating the purchase of an art book near this area that was $75. I was getting ready to buy it. That's $75, when I could either get that same book at an indie bookstore, or buy it for MUCH CHEAPER on Amazon, even with the B&N Member Discount.
Cue the employees having a panic attack. You would have thought I had left a bomb with a timer ticking down to zero in the hallway by the bathrooms. They were making a federal case out of it. THEY WERE CALLING THE COPS. I tried to explain - "Innocent customer! Nook owner! Likes to spend money here! Please!" and was met with HOSTILITY. No. Apparently, my approximately ten minutes of stealing their watts or volts was enough to warrant a felony response.
I thought about this. It was more than hurt feelings. It was a completely inappropriate response on their part. So I decided to go see if I could talk to a manager. There were two on duty that night: The first one was the one who was hostile to me, the second was upstairs on the phone with the first manager while I was downstairs asking for a manager, and she was REALLY freaking out about my electricity use. The flustered employee (one of the GOOD ones, btw) was trying to get the second manager to come downstairs to talk to me, without tipping off the irate second manager standing just behind him.
Double-you-tee-eff?
Yeah.
I ended up contacting corporate, and was startled at how they reacted. For the good of the people at this store, the innocent ones who work really hard and do the right thing, I didn't press it. I just don't intend to come here ever again. Clearly, they don't want my business.
Walnut Creek, El Cerrito and Corte Madera all have super-nice B&N stores. The Nook guy at Walnut Creek is the one taking care of servicing my tweaky Nook. I am still a Nook person, even though that new color Kindle looks mighty tasty.
Wow. -
Review from Jerico P.
Hungry for something a little different? Try feeding your mind at Barnes & Nobles :P
before there were movies there were books... i haven't really heard anyone say i liked the movie better, it is more often that people say, i liked the book better.
until next time
cheers! -
Review from Irene L.
San Leandro, CA
8/18/2011
This location is pretty nice since it's close to everything from med to upscale dining to movie theatre. The selections are pretty well-stocked.
It's very easy to find diff catagories since all the signs and labels.
It's really hard to find a good bookstore now with all the tech devices out there for e-book machines. It has a music and dvd sections also but I would not buy any in B&N since they are all over-priced you would get way better bargains at wal-mart or target.
They recently restocked and reorganized the games sections. I would say the most popular section that attract customers are the all assorted magazines. But then you would see piles and piles magazines everywhere (the shelves, floor or chairs...) where ppl just left them after read them.
If you want to relax and kill some times (wait for movie times to start or wait for a friends from shopping or simply wait for your appt for the nails salon) this is" the bomb".
The main problem that I see is they definitely more seating needed around the magazine area on the first level.
And last of course if you like a cup of coffee with your favorite book there's Starbucks on upper level.
The restroom isn't so great though most of the times I been there there toilet papers everywhere, toilets are always clean yikes! and paper towels for drying hands mostly out so you will end up shaking your hands off or walk out with wet hands to touch the books.
And if you try to save $$ this might not be a place to go since each book min. is around $15 versus you can also order online on http://Amazon.com.
At last on weekend you will see two security guards on each floor but honestly in my opinion they just there for the look. ; / -
Review from Ashley S.
Berkeley, CA
12/22/2011
Customer service was AWFUL! I spoke with three different people working, and all three were rude and made me feel like I was inconveniencing them for asking for someone to look up and see if they had a book. The one at the customer service desk said, "Um, I'm helping a different customer", when I apologized for interrupting, she replied "yeah." Second guy told me that wasn't part of his job, finally the third guy looked up the book, but reluctantly and seemed annoyed I'd ask. I will never bring my business here again.
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Review from Majileen C.
Daly City, CA
4/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
Clean, organized and quiet. Just how I like book stores.
Stopped by the Childrens Section which seemed to have endless amounts of colorful and interesting books that brought me back to my childhood.
The Childrens Section had a Growing Up section which had some odd books such as "When Someone You Love Has Cancer" or "What's Happening to Grandpa?" My friend and I thought, "Why the heck is this in the childrens section?"
Anyway, there were stuffed animals, let's sit in a circle and read area, and a train table! Awesome for children.
As my friend and I were playing around in the childrens section we realized that that area of the book store does not have cameras! What do these employees think? That nothing could possibly happen there?! C'mon!
As for the cafe, they had a good variety of goodies. The chocolate chunk cookie was soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside of the cookie. Yummy and sweet! It was a bit small. I wouldn't come to study here. There's not enough chairs/tables to sit. -
Review from Hasan S.
5/18/2011
Barnes & Noble is Barnes & Noble. This one is conveniently located right off the hwy, which is nice. It's got your typical, amazing Barnes & Noble collection. The service is top-notch, greeted when I walked in the door. Helped by a nice young lady who pointed me in the right direction. Didn't hafta pay for parking.
It's Barnes & Noble -
Review from Robert V.
San Leandro, CA
3/11/2011 3 Check-ins Here
Nice. Quiet. Friendly. What more do you need from a book store?
If you've got a Nook or Nook Color, bring it here to check out books and offers and things while connected to their network. -
Review from mila h.
Oakland, CA
12/11/2011
I love bookstores, and this is a fun place to go hang out to read books and magazines. It's good that people don't come up and bug you when you're hanging out, but unfortunately when you actually want to buy something, this often translates into not being able to find anyone to help you. Also, they often don't have books in stock that are more than a couple years old, so I would call ahead if you're looking for something specific. Several times they haven't had copies of fairly popular books that I was looking for. If you just want to hang out and read, it's only fair that you at least buy a pastry or cup of coffee from the cafe, cause I don't want to see this place close down. It's also nice that it's right there in the mall, so if you're not a big shopper but your friends/family are, you have a place to wait for them.
-
Review from Mariel F.
Alameda, CA
5/2/2011
Barnes & Noble is the only Book Store that I go to in Emeryville.
I enjoy their selection of Magazines and Books.
Everything is organized and easy to find.
I love that there is a Starbucks inside.
Fashion Magazines / Books + Coffee = Awesome -
Review from Alexander E.
San Pablo, CA
4/2/2011 2 Check-ins Here
The Bay Street Barnes & Noble is undoubtedly one of the best in the Bay Area. The book giant is one of the bigger tenants and is an oasis for book lovers, music and movie fans and boasts an impressive magazine selection. The book giant sprawls over two floors and has a Starbucks cafe as well.
The retailer does what it can to compete with Amazon and has competitive prices but is still pricier than the online retailer. Nevertheless, a walk around the endless isles and it'll be damn near impossible to not purchase new reading material.
My only complaint is their outrages markups on DVDs and Blu-ray's but I neglected to check their prices on my most recent visit. However, kudos for carrying my favorite magazine (Heavy Hitters) and the parking validation. -
Review from Tina C.
1/13/2011
I will fess up right now that I come here usually with 1 purpose in mind: to buy something as cheap as possible so I can validate my $2 for 3 hours of parking ticket at Bay Street Emeryville. I've always thought that I should make the most out of it and buy something to drink (they validate at the Barnes cafe upstairs) if I am going to have to pay for parking otherwise. I usually get the coffee and the total comes out to be under $2. Using my Barnes and Noble members card, I get an additional 10% or you can search the coupons that sometimes float around online for that 10%. Although the cafe sells Starbucks, they DO NOT take your Starbucks gift cards.
Okay, outside of my frugality, I honestly love this bookstore and its location. I love the Teabake Cupcake store across from it, but cupcake shop has nowhere to sit but outside. I always end up buying my parking validation coffee and eating a cupcake inside here.
I love the magazine section and the extensive array of books. I haven't gotten that into the e-book movement (I'm rather "old fashion" as my friend calls it) and prefer to flip through the pages and smell the scents of a new book. I sometimes browse through the Papyrus cards too and notebooks. Both are beautiful, but are rather expensive. There's usually a
small clearance section with toys and books upstairs.
Free wireless. The atmosphere and ambiance is good. However, it's not the best place to study. With all those parking ticket validations, there's nowhere to sit upstairs at the cafe. You are better off studying elsewhere or sitting at a corner somewhere downstairs.
Great space to kill some time before AMC theaters, dinner at a restaurant, or waiting for a friend to finish shopping. -
Review from Denise F.
12/25/2010
This is a really cool place to come if you want to relax & really "feel out" a book before you buy it! I spent quite a while thumbing through & reading all kinds of nutrition & health books here, they had a pretty good selection & although they didn't have the exact book I was looking for in stock, they had a lot of other alternative books with the info I was looking for.
The little coffee shop in here was PACKED, and insane! I noticed they have a little fireplace outside, which is really cool...because if you want to read somewhere warm & comfy, but NOT catch swine flu...that would be the best spot!
They have a serious selection of magazines here, there's seriously a magazine for every hobby, interesting or activity anyone could ever want to read about!! I feel a little guilty for reading all of the running & health magazines without buying them, but hey..I'm a really fast reader...what can I say?! I buy books here, instead of online..so maybe I'm helping to support the store still & the magazine freeloading is kind-of okay =)
Anyways, great book store! The lady that looks up books for you was really helpful too! -
Review from Yumi H.
Fremont, CA
9/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
I love bookstores! This Barnes & Noble is 2-story with a Starbuck's upstairs. I love how they're open so late! It's located on Bay Street and is conveniently close to the eateries and garage too. I love the feeling of being in a bookstore and I'm really bummed about how they're disappearing in the bay area. Keep it up!
-
Review from Grace L.
Glenview, IL
9/3/2010
For all people that have been to Barnes and Nobles, I can't really tell if one of them is better than the other...unless the staff is scary mean or the coffee is horrible. The review here that I couldn't resist from typing is for the bathroom...yes, the bathroom at a bookstore. It was that bad.
It is the dirtiest bookstore bathroom I have ever encountered...tp on the floor, floor is all wet, towels in the stall, sink, floor, it seemed all the paper materials were everywhere but the garbage can? This was not the one time mastermind of a bad customer, this stuff was around for awhile.
Just reckless and very little care! -
Review from Rebecca H.
Dublin, CA
9/18/2010 1 Check-in Here
Excellent magazine selection, perfect for hanging out before movies, although it's hard to find a chair close by to peruse in peace. The place always seems a bit messy. I don't buy books here, even though I'm a voracious reader, it seems the books on the displays are always older, very few new, interesting reads are displayed.
Be aware the "Starbucks" shop inside isn't a Starbucks, they just sell the Starbucks coffee brand, so they don't take Starbucks gift cards. -
Review from Lauren A.
Oakland, CA
6/28/2011
I have attempted to buy books and magazines from this store 4 times, and 3 of those times they were out of stock of multiple items I was looking for. I've been sent around to different spots, like a treasure hunter, with different staff telling me things are in different places. Today, after trying to buy THREE different books they were out of stock of and they refused to validate my parking, I'm done with this store and Barnes and Noble. It also took them 15 minutes to look up everything after I spelled it all out 2 times, and I had to pay $2 in parking to waste 15 minutes of my time. I try to not order online and increase my shipping footprint, but I'm done wasting gas and time and money going here. Amazon has NEVER failed me!
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Review from Esther Y.
1/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
So sad that Starbucks at B&N's don't take Starbucks cards...
But they WILL validate your parking! 3 hours free parking with validation! -
Review from Janice C.
5/14/2010
Thank you for not kicking me out when I spend 2 hours here reading trashy gossip magazines. (Heidi Montag called cops on mom...whaaat??)
Thank you for validating my parking ticket giving me 3 hours FREE!
Thank you for the fast service at Starbucks cafe, I really needed my peppermint tea to soothe my soul.
Thank you for asking me if I need assistance, when really, I don't plan on spending any money on your books, I just want to take up space in your cafe.
Thank you for having restrooms conveniently located next to the cafe, I have to go really bad after drinking the above mentioned tea.
Minus one star because your restroom was dirty. -
Review from Laurie H.
4/20/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I love that you can spend hours here and not spend a dime. Not what they want to here, I'm sure, but I have spent enough $$ here that I don't feel badly. Especially like the magazine section. Do you know how many skateboarding mags there are? It's crazy.
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Review from Lainie L.
Oakland, CA
4/3/2007
This is for the cookbook section . . the magazine rack is PIMP!!!
I have to give this place a big WTF?!
I needed two cookbooks. One by Julia Child and one by Carol Field. Both master cooks and cookbook writers. This B&N is huge and when it first opened had one of the largest cookbook selections in the East Bay. They also had a nice, cozy little circle of cushy chairs where one could curl up and peruse all the latest cookbooks. First, they got rid of my reading nook. Then they reduced the cookbook selection by two sets of shelves in order to expand their books on tape selection. :-(
I guess I am fairly naive. I actually thought it'd be easy to find these two cookbooks. Perhaps if I had known that B&N has a deal with the devil. . .i.e. The Food Network, I would not have been so disappointed. Out of every nook, cranny and crevasse peered the Joker face of Rachael Ray and a woman I would like to beat with a "spatuler", Paula Deen. Look, I know that Rachael Ray serves a purpose and Paula Deen is a hoot but how many different recipes for sloppy Joe's and five cheese chili dip do we need in this world? Why does Sandra Lee have 8 cookbooks? She couldn't cook her way out of a crock pot!!! Then there are the umpteen Bobby Flay cookbooks. . .anyone who thinks kitchens are homophobic should take note that one of the biggest queens is a nationally noted "chef".
And it's not just the over population of Food Network books. . just bad cookbooks in general abound. One of my "favorites" was One Man, One Can and a Plan. It looked like on of those Color-forms children's books. It's a cookbook made for the man who is so completely clueless that I fear he'd be unable to wipe his own ass.
They had ONE copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. NO cookbooks by Carol Field and not ONE cookbook by Paula Wolfert who is the doyenne of Mediterranean food.
You'll be happy to know that they had four thousand copies of Giada de Laurentis' books. .. if all it takes is a lollipop head, big boobs and the ability to say spAghettteeee, then I've got two out of three. .. where's my book deal???
If you noticed a woman at B&N, laying on the floor, prostrate with grief in front of the cookbook section. . .that was me, please just step around. . .nothing to see here, except the destruction of the American palate.
Epilogue:
I just found the cookbook I was going to buy IN MY OWN COLLECTION!!!!!!!!
What does this mean?
That I have too many cookbooks?
NEVER!
Only that I have better stock on my shelves than a book store! -
Review from jay h.
2/27/2008
They have a fireplace! It's cozy!
Actually, it's typically loud as hell. Especially since the movie theater is right outside. You'd think it would encourage reading....not so much.
Girl 1: "Hey...they made a book out of the Bridge to Terabithia movie!"
Girl 2: "What? You know they did the same thing with the Nancy Drew movie!
What are they teaching kids these days. Dammit people....READ!!!!Listed in: Butterfly in the sky, I can go…
-
Review from K P.
Walnut Creek, CA
11/17/2010 26 Check-ins Here
I always get fast and friendly service here which makes life a lot easier. I think their selection is pretty good, there have been times when they've had to order something in for me, but it doesn't happen ofter.
I also like their magazine collection. I travel a lot to visit family in different places and they always want different magazines (i.e - sisters like comics, dad likes cars etc etc) so it's always nice to pick them up some "American" magazines and this place always has everything I'm looking for.
The starbucks line can get long, but oh well. -
Review from Tito Y.
Emeryville, CA
10/16/2008 4 Check-ins Here
Barnes & Noble is so very nice.. they have
Books
Music
Cards
Magazines
Gifts
Coffee / Baked Items
A mecca for readers where pages come alive and consume the mind. Go ahead, judge the book by its cover and you'll find what is inside is suitable fo have you imagination grow.
They coincide very well with their web page. -
Review from Jon P.
Berkeley, CA
7/3/2011
Clean, parking is okay and the selection is good but it's gone slightly downhill in the last few years, still worth going to if you're close by.
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Review from Tanya P.
12/15/2006
The lighter topics and kids area are chocked full of books...Much of this location is dedicated to the upstairs cafe and downstairs gift area. Seems to be set up for mall browser types rather than professionals that may need industry resources. But very pleasant atmosphere and friendly albeit minimal staff.
On several visits, books and professional magazines I had spotted at other locations are not here, while a number of specialized kids books are plentiful. -
Review from Emahlee H.
Oakland, CA
8/19/2006
I can't even begin to count the hours I've spent here doing my homework, cramming for finals, and studying for god awful tests. So why do I drive from my cozy little house in Oakland to Emeryville for Barnes and Noble night after night?
1) There's always parking (it costs a dollar but hey, better than circling for hours on piedmont ave hoping gaylord's still has a table open.)
2) Almost always atleast one table open.
The only down side is that this particular barnes and noble is a bit loud. ALOT come in only to noisily pass the time until their movie starts. -
Review from sandy t.
Monrovia, CA
5/10/2009
A good place to kill time if you're waiting for a movie to start up at the AMC...other than that, you can find waaaaay better prices at http://Amazon.com. Barnes is strictly a 'browse-only' store for me.
The bargain book section is really small compared to Borders....and the local history section is kinda neat if you live in/near the area. -
Review from Judie H.
This used be a good study spot but they saw too many people crowding and took all the big tables away and replaced them with love seats and short coffee-ish tables...grrrrr.
The workers really let you know you're unwelcome. So I really gave up studying here. Before I'd studying for a couple hours, took a break to shop, eat and then study more.
