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Category: Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Laurel District, Lower HillsMon-Fri. 6:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 6:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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I've lived here for almost 2 years and didn't discover this place until about 3 weeks ago (can't say I hang out on MacArthur very often). Love, love, love it. So nice to only have to walk down a mile to get a nice cup of joe. The days that I take my cup to go, I'm thrilled to be able to get in a 2 mile walk before my first sip of coffee. Otherwise, I head to the room in the back and if I'm lucky, the big black couch is available. Their breakfast burrito was good and amazingly cheap.
My only complaint: there's one girl there who charges me more for a large coffee. WTF? She must be the only one that charges tax or something. Too weird. She charges $2.10 and everyone else $1.90. $2.10 seems pretty steep for plain old regular coffee without cream, but on the other hand, I'm apt to tip more because I have more change. Maybe she's just crafty that way.
UPDATE: Have they read my review? Possibly...I'm not being charged more by this gal anymore AND she asked me if I wanted to join their frequent buyers club. Nice!
I hesitate to add this last part. Just discovered their back patio...heavenly except for the occasional KFC drive thru order.
Yikes!! The tuna mufaletta really needs some tinkering with. I ordered it today at lunch (to go) and felt like driving back to get my money back!! The flavor was awful. Did not eat it. Blah.
....although the earl grey tea held me up for a while before I broke down and purchased a second lunch.
:-(
...sometimes a therapist needs a good cup of coffee to help her get over a 7 am client.........
Boy,…
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So sad that it closes as early as it does :(
Everything here is great. The food, the people, the drinks, the atmosphere.
Parking kind of sucks, but worth it when you want to get away and hole up somewhere with a book, schoolwork, or someone's diary that you may or may not have just happened to stumble upon.
There's a large table for groups to use to meet around and it just feels so down-homey and community-based that it's a shame that it has to close as early as it does.
I'm so excited that summer is coming soon because their iced-tea is phenomenal.
This is a great neighborhood coffee shop. Nice people, good coffee and a great place to hang on a afternoon enjoying a latte and soaking up the free wifi.
I'm not in love with their food menu, but rarely come looking for a meal. Their coffee is good and the atmosphere is very welcoming. Lots of tables near outlets and lots of folks working, talking and enjoying the coffee.
They do close a little earlier than I would like.
I don't know why i've never made an attempt to come here before, considering the fact that I only live a couple blocks away! ughh!! It's another good local coffee shop. I've been there 3 times already, and it seems pretty low key, like a good place to study and get work done. Staff is friendly. Definitely coming back here more often.
Yes. This is my neighborhood Coffee Place. It's great. I love the big beefy mugs, tasty sweet brew and low-key atmosphere. I often meet clients here, because it's nice. Also, parking is very easy, WiFi is free, they have a big pot of brown sugar on the condiments bar, and the people are friendly and mellow.
I honestly don't come here too often, seeing how it is a bit out of my way, but when i am in the district i like to stop by and get a coffee.
This place has a wonderful cool and homie atmosphere and it quiet large! yes, the staff can be a bit slow and maybe even a little too chill. However, they are wonderfully sweet and thoughtful.
Try the carrot vegan bread!- yuuuuuuuum!
i remember when world ground just opened, i was soooo happy!
granted i was just a wee baby and shouldn't have been drinking coffee but at least i didn't have to go to piedmont to get a caffeine fix!
world ground is a great place to sit down and study, have a cup of joe while reading the newspaper/blogs (cuz you can go online!) or to meet a friend/group.
the one request i'd like to make is for the music to be less pop
Whoever owns and manages this place ought to get a clue. I've been here on four separate occasions at different times of the day and every single time, completing a transaction has been a chore. My last experience was waiting 25 min. to get a hot beverage! Flaky doesn't begin to describe the staff, indifferent might be better. I'm all for supporting locally owned businesses, but there has be a little responsibility taken by the management in that relationship....if you have somewhere else you need to be, allow alot of time if you are going here.
They have the best coffee in Oakland. The coffee keeps me coming back!
However, the service is hit or miss. I go there rather often and at times it is like I don't even exist. That is not always the case though! I wish they stayed open later.
You always want to go into your neighborhood "spot" and feel like Norm from Cheers. I often feel this way when entering World Grounds. I get no collective "Norm!!!" because it is a coffee shop and they fully realize that my being there in the morning means that I have not had coffee and am in no mood to be greeted by more than a slightly perceptible head nod. What I do get is someone who knows my coffee order (single red eye) so well that I don't have to say much, which is good because I am barely verbal that early in the morning. I've been going there for years, and my coffee is always good and always the same and always high octane.
Another plus is what I like to call the 'Knights of the Round Table', but in this case more like "Lovely and Opinionated Oakland Residents at the Square Table'. The prime seating at the large square table is occupied daily by various local and perhaps otherwise patrons that discuss the news of the day. I always hear a refreshing take on the goings on of Oakland and beyond. I never fail to say to myself "now that's the way to start a day."
In addition, it is an area of Oakland where fast food, Chinese take out, and Mexican, lunch options abound. They, in contrast, offer some decent and healthy lunch choices. I am personally a fan of the prosciutto sandwich.
Added bonus - free wifi. Need I say more?
I want to love this place but I can't...yet. Inconsistency is their downfall. I have had 1 great latte, 1 OK latte, and 1 bad latte. My housemate and I have tried a few food items and they were, eh, ok but that's it. I would like to try coming here for a day to try out the wi-fi(I work from home), but its kind of dark and dirty.
Give this place a good cleaning, hire employees who wait on customers and then go back to their convos, get consistent baristas, and its got 5 star potential.
Free wifi (yay!), really good salads (yay again!), pleasant staff (though I have to agree they're a bit slow) and, oh yeah, good coffee. They also have this really good fruity iced tea. And their bathroom isn't gross.
A sweet girl that works there let me in on the secret that parking across the street does not require a permit. Double yay! If I want parking police sitting next to my car, waiting to give me a ticket, I'll go to Berkeley ...
Good tea? Check.
Nice atmosphere? Check.
Wireless? Check.
Cushy couches that keep the girlfriend happy? Check.
You win.
I would give this place a better rating if the coffee was more consistent. Sometimes it was perfect and, other times, it has tasted weak and watered down.
The great thing here is the atmosphere, however. This is definitely the kind of place to get cozy and have a nice discussion with someone or read a book. For more privacy or for a quieter area, there is seating in the back.
The World Ground Cafe is simply the most amazing experience. an orgasm of flavors and rich environment. and its true that the women are quite lovely.
I'm surprised I haven't previously reviewed this pretty little cafe, which I'd frequent more often if I lived closer. Their bagels and paninis are yum, and I love their coffee, served in thick wonderful mugs. You have your choice of comfy seating, though I notice they've made the benches along the side slightly less comfortable-looking, with fewer pillows. My only two nits: the bathroom now requires a key (lazy me; I don't like that) and the neighborhood is definitely iffy after dark.
This is a great place to hang out and work. The free Wi-Fi is a definite bonus, though a temptation for the procrastination-prone.
There are bright, sunny areas to sit and also corners that feel more out-of-the-way and reflective.
One thing to watch out for: if you're going to come to study, make sure that you either feed the meter regularly or park on a side street because the parking police come by often. Better to walk a block and save yourself the $40 ticket.
This is my favorite local goto coffee spot. I am not a morning person, but Man, I had their mocha the other day before work and I was on a roll! I finished my laborious house work (for a disabled lady) by 3pm, skipped lunch, then came home and tackled the 7 foot tall bushes in the backyard. "weeee!", (hedge trimmers!). I really felt dandy and accomplished so much, thanks guys!
...also I am excited about their happy hour, Fat tire is delicious, but have yet to check it out.
Just moved to the area from San Diego and am pretty impressed with this place. I've been a couple of times and, yeah they're busy and may take awhile, but it's good food/drink.
They make a great egg, cheese and avocado on a croissant. YUM-O! And their white mocha isn't bad either.
I love me some World Ground! (Laurel district). The atmosphere is cute, the coffee is yummy, and the employees are friendly. I tend to run into people I know here in the community on a regular basis. It's a great place to hang out and have great conversations with friends while you get fully loaded on caffeine. I even own a World Ground T shirt and sport it around town. Three cheers, two thumbs up, five stars and a happy face for World Ground coffee.
World Ground, oh World Ground, what happened to you? This used to be my any time of day, quick stop, go-to, absolute favorite coffee place on this side of Oakland. Their food is delicious, coffee is buzzy and atmosphere is chill.
Wait, maybe too chill. Every time I've gone there in the last 6 months the service is slower and slower and slooowwweeer. Last time I waited 20 minutes for a salad that was being prepared by a guy who was more concerned with grooving to the music on the stereo than filling people's orders. (Literally - I saw him dancing around behind the counter!).
EDIT: So I actually had the opportunity to speak with the cafe manager the other day, and I feel a whooooole lot better about World Ground now (again). I will reserve my visits for those rare moments when I truly want to treat myself to a leisurely lunch and coffee.
Edit 2/4/08: please see my East Oakland caffeine list for contradictions to the statements I made in this review!
I can count the number of cafes in East Oakland on one finger, maybe two. To my knowledge, there's this, Grounded Coffee on Bancroft, and now there's a "coffeehouse opening soon" sign on 98th across from Bishop O'Dowd, which my housemates and I are eagerly anticipating.
So, World Ground doesn't have any competition within a several mile radius. If you're in East Oakland and you want to hang out in a cafe, this is where you go. Thank god I love it here.
I love to sit here for hours with a friend plotting the revolution over caffeinated beverages. The breakfast panini with sausage makes a tasty breakfast. The pastries are great. The coffee is good. The patrons are my favorite breadth of Oakland diversity. There's a bunch of little tables and a community table with newspapers and such strewn about. It's homey here.
The seating is comfy enough for all sizes of folks, and the bathroom is big and accessible. Highly recommended.
They are not open at night, which makes me sad, but if I were a business owner here I probably wouldn't stay open at night, either.
Lately, Arizmendi's coffee has been inconsistent so we've been hitting up World Ground for our morning Joe fix. Their coffee is plenty smooth and they have nice areas to lounge or get some work done.
I also noticed they do a $2.50 happy hour pint. Nice.
Lattes are great and the service is friendly. Don't know where they get their bagels, but they are perfectly fresh and chewy.Vibe inside is positive with strangers chatting, people on laptops, and families.
AND they serve beer which is always a good thing. Support this place.
UPDATE 1/13/07-Not loving this place as much recently. The last THREE TIMES I have gone there they have fucked up my order. And today, no bagels or anything else available to eat. I hope they pick it back up again or I'll just go to the new Peets on Fruitvale. C'mon guys!
World Ground wins points because I can walk there when it is sunny and because there are ample outlets for my laptop charger. The coffee is great, as are the food options. I'm not a pastry eater, but I eat the Baby Green salad at least once a week, on average. Cranberries, blue cheese, vinaigrette, no almonds (I'm allergic) seems basic, but something about their ratio of blue cheese to cranberries really makes this a winner. And there is toasty cheese bread too.
Staff isn't particularly cheerful or quick, though the weekend morning crowd seems to be a little quicker to smile...
How psyched am I that this is in my new neighborhood. I stopped once, soon after I moved on my way to the city and got a...
Pineapple green tea chai smoothie.
Don't make that face. Seriously. Really, it's good. It isssss. Well, your loss.
The best way to describe it is like whipped up pineapple sherbet and gingersnaps. Which is only one of my favorite combinations (just after mango sorbet and gingersnaps). So tasty.
Then I went back with Mom and my cousin for breakfast before church on Easter. I got a breakfast panini. yummmm. and a cafe au lait (meh - I've had better...but how do you screw up an au lait?) They both got pastries - which must have been good cause they did not share. Mom said her hotchocolate was divine. Which means it was pretty good.
A couple days later, we came back on their way out of town (not a lot of options up here), I got my fave smoothie. Mom and cousin both got the tuna muffaletta. Apparently it's very tasty. Mom had a woman looking at her enviously in the air port.
So that's that - I'm so psyched that this is here. It reminds me of the Dav at American U. So studiously hip, but very comfy.
Note: their morning buns are NOT semifreddi's therefore they're dry and not as good - but the croissants...very good
It's local dive of a coffee shop, but they often have local musicians and artwork that make it worth supporting. I go after a semi-long walk with the kids, I have a beer (yes, I go in the afternoon, usually on Fridays), then I rest and head back home. On a healthy day, I will buy a fruit shake from the fridge or an Italian soda which is very refreshing. I can usually get a cookie for my son, but the baked goods supply is not consistent. I don't expect much and I am not disappointed. The crowd is friendly, mostly students.
Honestly, the service is pretty poor. I think there is a high turn-over in staff, since each of them seems to be pouring a beer for the first time or making their inaugural Italian soda.
So, if you live in the Laurel area, drop in for a charity visit and see if it suits you. I like it for what it is, and I believe that we will only get more vibrant and consistent local businesses, if we support the ones who have demonstrated pride and perserverence first.
Oh, by the way, the cash only thing is a drag, but they have gift cards, which my husband scored for me, and I use them since I rarely have a fat wad of cash on hand.
Went back here in the past six weeks and ordered their soup. Just wanted to add that it, too, is delicious! Great for chilly winter days like today :)
I go here for lunch sometimes and really like their mixed green salad with the bleu cheese and dried… Read more »
I love this place. The coffee is quality (not bitter or skimpily-brewed), the sandwiches and salads made fresh onsite (try the prosciutto), the pastries beautiful (my favorite scone ever!). What's more is that it's a neighborhood joint, a great place to hang out or read the morning paper. It gets busy in the morning during the work week, and there's a definite after-church crowd on Sundays, but that speaks to WG's popularity. Also nice for a light dinner; they serve a fab Fat Tire amber ale, and a pear cider that's delish. Spoken word and live music in the evenings are a regular feature.
World Ground is the gem of the Laurel District, and has helped transform the Laurel since it opened seven years ago (they've since expanded with a second store on Jackson and 3rd near Jack London Square). If you want a reprieve from the frantic-conveyor-belt-madness of Starbuck's, go here. Compared to the Big Green Empire, the espresso and food are scores better and the barristas much happier.
Terrific, little neighborhood place. Very comfy and welcoming. You can order a fantastic cup of coffee, tea or a sinfully delicious smoothie and spend the entire afternoon!
They also have a terrific lunch menu, although I am addicted to their Tuna Sandwich which is long fin tuna, some sort of terrific vinaigrette and sprouts...no onion, celery, or mayo in sight! Absolutely divine...wonderful, fresh, home made bread and a lovely baby greens salad...
This is a good place to go if you want a quite cozy coffee house to meet up with a friend or to study. They have a nice selection of pastries but I have be honest, I don't go out of my way for the food there. I'm so glad the neigborhood has a nice place to get coffee.
They make a good mocha and a really yummy (huge) salad. They also have a nice selection of food items and comfortable seating.
A great option for a reasonably healthy lunch and a good stop for a quick morning pick-me-up.
This place is great for a light breakfast. Their breakfast panini is excellent, the coffee and the pastries are so-so . The bagels from Boogie Woogie Bagel Boy are my favorite bagel in the bay area (especially the jalapeno cheese), but you better show up before 11am on the weekends if you want to be sure to get one.
C'mon World Ground, you must order more bagels on the weekends!
Dayyyummm, this place is sweet. No, really. The food and drink is wonderful--especially their pastries. And I've had a few good sandwiches from them too. It's a little expensive, but worth it for the occasional guilt-free (okay...somewhat guilt-free) brownie or lemon tart. Very inviting.
Good coffee drinks and tea. Pretty friendly, if sometimes slow, service. Their breakfast paninis are great if they don't run out before you get there (the Jack London branch almost always has them if you are craving.) The veggie sandwich is a good option for lunch. I actually add Turkey to it because I am not a veggie but I am sure it is good.
Coffee and Tea are both tasty, but service is bad, atmosphere is dark, and the place seems to give me that constant sticky-table phobia. In addition, it's quite overpriced (topping in far more than starbucks or quizno's for a caesar salad), and they don't take credit cards--however, they'll take a debit card, but only if you use them as an ATM and give them 1.50 transaction fee. Ok, so they're cash only--but why don't they just say that up front? I didn't like being tricked, there is no need to sneak around on me!
I like what this cafe (a small east-bay chain) is trying to accomplish, but I feel that their business plan might need some reconsideration.
I love world grounds. I love that it is not a super chain, but rather a home grown business involved in the community. The owners often stop by with their daughter (who, at age 10?, does a great job at the cash register), and say hi. They ran out of my favorite tea, but the barista ordered a new variety for me to try that matched up with my old favorite. They have a good assortment of morning bagels and I love their lunches. The sandwiches are tasty and the salads are HUGE and original. Lastly, I enjoy the free WiFi which comes in handy when I need to study. What I have yet to try: an afternoon beer. They have beer on tap and smoothies as well.
It's true, there's a quality control problem. I've had serious problems with those World Grounds getting into my espresso beverage and making it a little crunchy.
That said, the atmosphere is wonderful. This is more than a coffee shop - it's a community center, the local hang out for moms and meeting groups, college students and neighbors.
And the pastries are always good, so if your coffee's burnt, get a freaking cookie to sweeten it up and stop complaining.
This is my new favorite cafe hangout in the East Bay. I live near Lake Merritt, and am perfectly happy to drive a couple miles out of my way for the sake of being virtually guaranteed easy parking and a table to myself in a clean, spacious, and comfortable environment with fast free WiFi and decent (though not quite great) coffee. I've yet to eat here, since I can't resist the temptation to walk a block to Phnom Penh House, but the salads and sandwiches look good.
The reason I'm not giving it five stars is that it isn't open late, it can get a little warm on a hot day, and it's espresso (especially the decaf) isn't as smooth as I like it.
Oakland, CA
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Laurel District
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Lower Hills
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Laurel District
Category: Breakfast & Brunch
Neighborhood: Laurel District
Category: Restaurants
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