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Categories: Bakeries, Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Elmwood, ClaremontMon. 7:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Tue-Fri. 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sun. 7:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
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Five stars alone for the vegan snickerdoodle. It's the size of your head and somehow magically crisp on the outside, but soft -- with that almost raw dough gooeyness -- in the middle. Perfection!
The vegan sticky bun is dry and dull, and decidedly unsticky, but don't let that stop you from eating your weight in snickerdoodles.
Hey, I get it. I graduated from UC Berkeley many years ago, and I understand the meaning of the phrase "A typical Berkeley place." I think it means "weird for the sake of weird," but with a few vegan options. It also helps if at least one employee has an excessive amount of tattoos and piercings in inopportune places, making one question his or her hygiene. Am I close?
If that's the case, Nabolom is indeed the hippiest place on earth.
I came here on a Saturday afternoon, which, of course, is not "prime time" for drinking coffee. The place was nearly empty, save for a woman reading quietly by the window and a guy sitting at the piano, typing away on his notebook. Yep, just your basic Saturday, ahem, crowd.
My friend and I had just had lunch elsewhere, and we just wanted some place to hang out for 30 minutes or so. I wasn't hungry, but G-d knows I never turn down a pastry (or two) with my name on it. Here at Nabolom, the pastry case in front of us was empty. Yep, a large display, and nary a pastry in sight. Eerie. The display to the right looked like the Ghost of Pastries Past, with a few stray pastries reminding you of the Era of Abundant Pastries.
Needless to say, I wasn't tempted. I had a cup of coffee, which was cold and flavorless. The gentleman at the counter give me "the look" when I didn't tip him for a glass of iced tea for my friend and a cup of self-serve coffee (no refills) for me. What exactly would I tip him for? What service was performed for my $3.25? I am usually a generous tipper, but in this case . . . I don't get it.
I hear this place has live music most of the time, and maybe that's why this place is so popular. However, if you're looking for a place to have a coffee and a pastry, I'd keep looking.
My "very sticky" bun ($3.25) was a dry grenade-sized object that was probably made with day-old 85% post-consumer recycled whole wheat paper mache. If you follow my reviews, you know that I like to eat. I'm a charter member of the Clean Plate Club. Sadly, however, I wasn't able to finish my bun. It's going back to the earth, in the paper bag that enclosed it -- it's compostable waste at this point.
On the bright side, the macchiato that I ordered ($1.75) was a relatively pleasant experience. It was made from a large quantity of espresso (that tasted like Cole Coffee's stuff) and an even larger quantity of steamed milk. (Basically it was a large cappucino.) This mixture filled up what looked like an 8-oz cup. That cup had a large crack on the inside, and I hope that it soon returns to the earth as well.
You can read the Bay Times @nabalom. I learned that the gay community gives very low marks to Mr. Obama. I would have guessed that he'd be viewed as a B+, but he seems to be getting a C+ at this point.
Wouldn't it be great if Ritual opened up at this location?! I mean, I know that these people have been here forever and that they're a beloved neighborhood institution, but I think that it might be time to move on and let go.
Pretty much the day after I wrote my last review I started coming here for my on-the-go coffee and pastry breakfast. And I have to say, my last review was pretty unfair.
Their coffee is not the best (cheeseboard wins in this category), but their muffins are quite awesome, the people are friendly, and the atmosphere is really relaxing. The only thing I've had here recently that I didn't like was the cherry bran muffin, which had a sponge-like consistency and was way too chewy.
On a positive note, I'd strongly recommend the blueberry or apricot cobbler muffins, but only if you have a sweet tooth. Otherwise, go for the cranberry-walnut muffins. The top is nice and crispy, and the inside is perfectly moist.
I really want to like this place - some of the people are really friendly, and some of the pastries… Read more »
My favorite is the bran muffin with cherries. It is robust with colossal cherries and not dry. Also, the bakery smells as fresh as a country day, inside.
If you're looking for a superb bakery with good prices and a cool atmosphere, go to Nabolom Bakery! Without hesitation, I can honestly say that the chocolate croissants are the best I have ever had (and I have had lots of chocolate croissants). The rest of their pastries are quite delicious as well. I've also sampled some of their vegetarian sandwiches, and they are quite tasty as well. The atmosphere is nice and laid-back, with couches and a feeling in the air of relaxation (except for when it's really crowded!).
Gayle and I stopped by Nabolom on the way back from the movie last week. I was looking for a breakfast pastry and I usually try to make a point of stopping here when I'm in the neighbourhood. Nabolom is around the corner and is sometimes hard to spot. The advertisement on the Kiosk at the corner helps.
Sometimes the worker co-ops do throw off an attitude (have it our way). But not this time. The guy at the counter was friendly and although a little dark, the space throws off a nice relaxing vibe. Their prices are reasonable and I do wish they had a little bit more of a selection (vegan or otherwise). However, my breakfast pastry was quite tasty and come to think of it, I have always enjoyed almost anything that I have ordered here. I will however, have to take Stephanie W.'s Morning Bun Challenge!
If you're ever been to a student co-op house in Berkeley, then you can imagine what this bakery looks like.
A plus for having compost and recycling. The place isn't too busy because most people come and go. There is a sofa, some small round tables, some bigger square tables, and a community use piano. There is outside seating too. Best of all, there is free wi-fi! I'd say this is a good place to study on a Sunday afternoon if you have nothing better to do.
They have one brand of bottled smoothie. There's a couple types of cake. $2 per slice for cheesecake and $3 per slice for chocolate mousse. It did not look like mousse though, more like ganache. They have lots of cookies. $2.25 for a humongous, but thin and crispy piece of snickerdoodle. They have toll house cookies too. They even have pizza.
Guess it's a good thing that Nabloom is not around the corner from me since I would be buying their pastries all the time. I love their chala, especially the sesame seed one. And their apricot danish is amazing; it actually had fresh fruit and is delicious.
The service is ok but some times there is attitude. I have never sat here. Just picked up some wonderful baked goods.
I'd been here before to try the challah, since it was one of the many things that everyone was RAVING about - -but, I think I'm use to Challah being a bit "eggier" and sweeter like a brioche, so Nabolom's challah wasn't quite my thing...
However, things should always be given second chances.
After being a SLAVE to school and just not feeling like studying for my final that was in... what? 2 hours? ha! I woke up on this fine Saturday morning to grab a bite. The guy working there was really nice - I was having a REALLY hard time deciding between all the delicious pastries, and finally settled on a cheese croissant ($2.75) and a pecan/blueberry muffin ($2.50? that was apparently sweetened with apple sauce, so it wasn't TOO sweet, just my thang~. is it vegan?? :D ).
Both were SOO scrumptious, but if I were to pick the winner, it was definitley the cheese croissant - tasted more like a slightly sweet dinner rolle with nice white cheese and some sort of sprinkled herb... YUMMERS. Plus, it was nice that they had a nice bench/seats outside.. some newspapers.. so I could actually enjoy a nice, relaxing, Saturday morning.
Sweet moments that I unfortunately haven't been able to have during the regular school year, but perhaps that shall change. :)
My favorite bakery in town! Awesome breads and pastries (decently priced), great coffee, located in the Elmwood district.. who doesn't love this place?!
Nabolom is a bakery, and therefore easy to please. That said, I haven't ever had anything there that really created its own craving category, and I find the consistency of the croissants (too chewy) and cookies (too crumbly) to pale in comparison to cheeseboard or even Artisan Bakery.
Ten o'clock in the morning and half the baked goods are sold out. I found this as both utterly unacceptable as well as extremely promising. Although I really reeeeally wanted to try their pumpkin muffin (sold out), I decided on their Blackberry Pecan BOB (Banana Oat Bran) muffin. It was divine...and totally guilt-free. Huge, juicy blackberries and chunks of pecan were found all throughout the very healthy banana oat bran. Lightly sweetened and, um, gone in minutes. My friend bought two of their chocolate oatmeal cookies and said they're the best she's ever tasted! Can't wait to come back.
Don't tell anyone else but...
I like the Morning Buns at Nabolom better than the ones at Cheeseboard
*gasp* I can't believe I just uttered such sacrilege. I can't believe I would pit one co-operative bakery against another. I can believe I would prefer someplace that's not within a mile of my house.
But it's true. Both places have their merrits, but the Morning Buns at Nabolom are much better. Cheeseboard has my loyalty for certain things (their pizza, cheese rolls, pecan rolls, various scones, berkeley buns, etc) but Nabolom is amazing for their danishes, their morning buns/cinnamon twists and their cookies.
I didn't get what a bunch of people have said about the cleanliness of the establishment. I didn't notice anything of questionable hygiene. The workers are nice, the portions are huge, and everything is butter and sugar soaked goodness (except their large selection of vegan pastries). The Morning bun is rich and about twice the size of one at cheeseboard for the same price. It's a great deal.
The outdoor seating is great in a quite neighborhood and the inside offers a great place to read the paper and listen to music while having breakfast. Even this morning, they had a band playing some smooth music for a Saturday morning (late breakfast mind you... at like 11:30 or so).
I come here only occasionally, but it's well worth it every time... just don't tell Cheeseboard I occasionally divide my loyalties.
i think it was a combination of shorts that were too tight and a bad mix of food from cafe durant that made my stomach incredibly upset. i didn't realize it until my and my friend were catching up while walking to a "bakery on college that a friend recommended."
it was until after couple of minutes that I realized two thing:
1. This bakery was way, way further than I had thought
2. I needed a bathroom, bad.
We arrived. There wasn't much left. I bought a loaf of the nautilus shaped cheese bread (I loved 20,000 Leagues under the sea as I kid and couldn't resist.)
So we walked back to my apartment ... all the way near bancroft and shattuck. Well we started to, until he wanted to drop off his bread.
It was perhaps one of the worst walks ever: a combination of trying to appear fine while squirming in the inside with sharp pains every now and then.
Why does this all matter? Well, I think in light of my stomach pains & bathroom urges, I completely forgot about the loaf of bread. I didn't "remember" until several hours ago (two days later) when I had a random desire to clean at night and saw this big white paper bag.
It was the bread!
I grabbed some and microwaved it. I was surprised. When they say cheese bread, they really meant cheese. I'm used to "cheese bread" basically being a thin layer or somehow worked into the flour.
It was gooey. The first piece I overmicrowaved -- it looked like the top layer of a french onion soup and overflowed. Which is never a bad thing.
OK. Before this gets so long that no one wants to read it.
The bread is amazing. Or at least the one I have. AND, the fact that even if the same situation happened to me again, I just might be willing to risk it to get me some of the cheese bread.
Oh. To score some extra "useful" points, the nice lady working there said these were her top three items (if you're in the mood for sweets):
1. Blueberry Danish
2. Tollhouse cookie
3. Chocolate eclair (she kept emphasizing that the product was the same, just that there was a large and a small size).
As Berkeley as it gets, the good and the ugly (but never bad). Start with a five for the fine baked goods at reasonable prices and the complete lack of pretension. Minus a point for the always burnt coffee, minus a point for the sometimes rough piercings and smells and add a point for the free wifi.
Always consistent is the morning bun.
Wonderful, delicious....I come here on the occasional Saturday morning just for their danishses; they're that good. The cherry and blueberry are my favorites. And they have a piano though live music was only playing during one of my many visits. Free wifi, decent coffee and most importantly super awesome bakery folk that will happily hand over fresh danishes. What more could you ask for?
I always feel real good here. The coffee is delicious! The baked goods are delicious and if you want something that's wheat free you'll find it. If you want something that's super gooey sweet you'll find it. And, if you want a treat that won't send your blood sugar off the charts you'll also find that. A cold pressed coffee seals the deal to greatness for me!
The people are great, the music is great, so what more can you want!
EAT UP
Great bakery which delicious danish and cookies. The workers there are very welcoming and nice. Nice relaxed environment with couches and a piano. The cinnamon twists and chala bread here tastes great as well!
I'm a lot like a cherry danish from the Nabolom Bakery.
I'm fresh and luscious on my own, but fill me with cheese and I become your best friend.
I love this bakery.
Reason one: Their baked goods are amazing. Have a dietary need? These people have already accommodated it. Vegan diets, wheat free goods, can I get a holla for Challah!? I get into a state of euphoria just thinking about their vegan cinnamon rolls.
Reason two: the staff is great. These are good people with great customer service skills.
Reason three: music accessibility is essential. Live music is regular and they even give access to bands for a practice space. Love it!
You know, this place wasn't at all as dirty as I expected it to be after reading the reviews. Most of the pastries look good, if a little undersized for their pricing. I thought about getting the blueberry coffeecake, but it looked too rich. I settled on a small blackberry danish, and as soon as the guy put it in a white bag for me to take to go, the oil spread through to my fingers.
So much grease, I immediately feared for my skin.
I skipped the coffee as other Yelpers suggested, and went across the street to 7-11. The iced coffee there was pretty horrible, but this isn't a review for 7-11.
The cheese on the danish was perfect and delightfully crumbly. The blackberry wasn't too sweet. The dough was pretty crunchy. Yep, my only problem was the huge amount of oil that made my newspaper translucent. Ease up, Nabolom, and maybe I'll be back.
Nabolom's coffee may not be the best, but, their baked goods are out of this world.
Kind of useless.
This is a very "insider," community spot, and if you aren't a regular you might get ignored. I've only had a chocolate chip cookie here (not good), and a decaf coffee (pretty bad). They don't have those cardboard things to put on your cup so that you don't burn your hand (what are those called?), & their cups are thin, so I had to awkwardly hold my cup from the bottom when I took it to-go. Also, stuff runs out--coffee, cream, etc.--and doesn't get refilled very quickly.
I'm not even sure why I'm giving it 2 stars. I think it's b/c they have live music a lot of the time, & it's probably a fun place if you're a regular. Also, some of the baked goods (other than the chocolate chip cookies) look pretty delish. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did.
The people are sweet and helpful. I have never had a rude worker here, unlike pretty much every other cafe I've been to. They're super environmentally friendly-- they serve their coffee in real mugs, give you a plate rather than a paper bag, and have recycling AND foodwaste. There are adorable old people playing bluegrass on the weekends. They have poetry readings. The place has a great vibe to it.
Plus, of course, their food (what I've had, at least) is amazing. I would kill puppies for the vegan sticky bun, especially when it's warm. Admittedly the coffee's not outstanding, but the food is so good and so natural it doesn't even matter. I would live here if they'd let me and I could afford a sticky bun every day.
It looks funky and honestly, it is. But does funkiness really need to detract from a bakery?
Five stars for the service, location, pastries (all good except the corn muffins), music. . .
One star for the coffee which sucks.
But -- a solution! 7-11 has delicious coffee and I have no qualms about bringing my own coffee from sevvies and sitting down with a blueberry danish. The staff must know their coffee is terrible, too, so I'm sure I'm understood.
We have become sort of regulars here, however the cappuccino is not consistently great. Depending on who prepares it, it may be very good or simply OK. The pastries are exquisite (though with diabetes, I have decided to not try them). The attention is good and the music rocks!
I came at the end of the day so it looked like the place had been pretty much raided and emptied. But I was seriously craving something sweet and my eyes settled on trays of pumpkin cookies and oatmeal house cookies. BOTH WERE DELICIOUS, ESPECIALLY THE PUMPKIN COOKIES BECAUSE IT HAD BITS OF APPLE...it was more like a cake. They're not overly sweet nor buttery...biscuits, almost, but moist moist moist. I'm going to try the braided egg bread next time and some of their pastries. Despite the uh...very Berkeley interior (trashy and dark) I think it might end up being one of my favorite bakeries.
Excellent challah, one of the best in the East Bay.
The fruitcake available at Christmas is delicous too. The fruit is soaked in rum and schnapps for three months. The sweet, sticky, dense dark fruitcake has lots of raisins and nuts.
I support this business because I believe in their business model. I like the fact that there is a successful worker owned and operated business right by where I'm staying in Berkeley.
I like their cheese croissants and regular croissants. They're some of the best I've had on this side of the Atlantic.
The staff is usually ok; not particularly friendly or not friendly.
Of course, you sense the 'but' coming: outside of their croissants, the pastries are really awful. The muffins are dry, the danishes are crisp, not fluffy, and the pizza is pretty gooey and awful.
The espresso drinks all taste like the beans were burnt in the roasting process. The coffee is so-so.
I'm not overly fond of the aging boomers who hang out there. It's a personal choice, but I go there in support of what I think is a good thing, and I don't have to go around congratulating myself on what a conscientious person I am. That's a fault of Berkeley in general, and, unfortunately, it seems to permeate this particular shop.
So, I would recommend going and getting a croissant and cup of coffee. I would not recommend hanging out for hours.
The vegan sticky buns are really good, and tea is real cheap here. Music is usually pretty good in the afternoon, but frequently neighborhood kids play the piano.
And let's be honest: the kids usually suck!
This is a tough place to objectively review, largely because it depends on what you go here for. That said, if you missed Berkeley in the 60s, this seems like the place to check out. It is small, dingy, with sticky tables and a sticky counter. They have the occasional amateur music ensemble playing, so space can be even more limited. This is a very local-centered cafe where people seem to know each other, and it is very community oriented. They say they have wireless, but on weekend mornings I don't know where someone would set a computer...you are lucky to find a seat. I took my laptop in its cute little scuba-suit protective casing and I still didn't want to set it down. Did I mention the whole place was dingy and sticky? I opted to set it on the floor as it seemed to be the least sticky surface in the place.
The pastries were really good. They serve Fair Trade coffee. They are a green establishment. I would definitely recommend picking up pastries to go, but I would not hang out here. It is just too small, sticky, and noisy.
But, oh, those eclairs!!!!!!
Why do Americans have such trouble with choux pastry? (The light, crispy dough that you make croissants out of.) I was just in Europe and both the French and the Germans have it down. Why not us in more places? (I know, La Farine is getting close.)
Case in point: the Nobolom danish. It's big, pale, buttery, and not very crisp where it should be. The weird part is that, just to make the dough, the bakers had to go through nearly all the same steps that any French baker must. Yet... the result is just not up to snuff. On the other hand, the real fruit is tasty and the total result is better than most danishes I've had.
Maybe someday we'll get it right. *sigh*
There is a reason why they are listed in the Berkeley Planet as possibly going under. I called to place a special order, and never heard back from them! When I talked with the fellow that was supposed to call me back, he really didn't give a fig!
Oh well...back to Cafe Gratitude!
I work 12 hour night shift every weekend at Alta Bates and by the time the 11th hour hits I start dreamin and salivating for a Nabolom chocolate crackssant, I mean croissant. I have had many chocolate croissants and Nabolom's is by far the bestest, most tastiest and addicting ever.
I go here every so often when in the Elmwood area. If you hit them up at the right time, you'll get warm cinnamon twists out of the oven. They aren't as sticky as a cinnamon roll or bun, but the buttery and crusty cinammon mixture that is used in the twist melts in your mouth.
I don't go here for coffee so I'm indifferent about their latte skills. They do what they do right, and that's top quality baked goods. This morning tried a sample of their vegan brownie which was so good I had to buy a whole brownie. It's like a nice big hunk of rich cocoa cake. Not a chewy brownie, but for one without eggs it surely holds it's own against the richest egg-batter resulting in a very moist and dense treat.
Man, I wish this place were closer. Their cookies are soooo good. Would that more places used sunflower seeds in sweets! The prices are excellent and the place has a very Berkeley atmosphere to it. An excellent place to grab a snack or hanker down for an afternoon.
Wonderful, neighborhood bakery that has been around for ages.
Collectively owned?? It's funkiness is endearing to most but might "put off" folks who prefer a glossier look.
Wildly popular but not crowded. Most of their favorite items sell out fast.......I've always gone there in the late morning so I have probably missed their best sellers.
We are fond of their croissants, breads, cookies and their many Vegan items. Their staff and the atmosphere are Sp friendly and welcoming
AND their baked goods so appealing, you really do want to order more than you could possibly eat!
Oh my god, WHAT A BAKERY. You can't go wrong with Nabolom - everything is delicious, and freshly made, and just calling to you from the bins. If you're a cinnamon roll fan, make sure to try their version, covered in lemon icing.
So.Good.
I like this cafe/bakery. It has a Berkeley feel to it. Employees with dredlocks, piercings, dyed hair. Grungy surroundings, mismatched eclectic mugs and plates to drink coffee and eat pastries and listen to live music. A more hippy Cheeseboard.
I don't think it is biologically unclean just cluttered. Also, I figure pastries are baked at 350-425 degrees so the internal temperature should be above 160 and coffee is in the 195-205 range when first made. Also, young kids and older people come too and nobody looked sick and seemed to be enjoying there pastries.
But maybe my standards of clean are slightly lower. Came here with my wife who while not disliking it would probably not come back since it was too "grunge" for her.
I think the pastries are tasty, not fancy or delicate and I think the coffee is good though a little overroasted/overcooked. It usually is the dark roast type of coffee the kind that is made and it is strong dark black coffee. The pastries are good as well. While they may not be as refined as La Farine down the street, it seems like they do use good ingredients and the prices are good.
Also, free wi-fi to surf, off a busy street, fairly easy parking. Also, I was wearing khakis and a dress shirt and they were pretty nice to me.
Neighborhood: Claremont
Category: Bakeries
Neighborhood: Elmwood
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: North Berkeley
Category: Bakeries
Neighborhood: Claremont
Category: Bakeries
Oakland, CA
Category: Venues & Event Spaces
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