Uniting Laptop Campers

I love the name of this café but I don’t see any reference to Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella, Russia, or writers inside. The café is ground level, not underground. It’s a grungy independent coffeehouse where people don’t linger long but many seem to know each other.

Score: 25/50

• Food: 3/5 – Salads, sandwiches, wraps, omelettes, bagels, some pastries that don’t look too appealing. Bagel was good but expensive ($4.95 for avocado, tomato, cucumber, cream cheese)
• Coffee: 2/5 – Pretty bitter and overroasted, milk doesn’t mellow it out much, latte ($3.50) didn’t have foam art
• Wi-fi: 5/5 – Free, fast, ask for the password
• Ambiance: 2/5 – Small, grungy, windows aren’t shaded, small tables, kinda old dirty feel, people who go here seem to know each other and enjoy chatting…very independent coffeehouse feel
• Noise: 3/5 – When the door is open the traffic on Van Ness (one of the busiest streets in town) is loud, elevator like music in background, fridge is loud
• Plugs:  2/5 – Outlets along the wall but not enough of them
• Parking: 2/5 – Not easy, you’re probably going to find a free 2 hour space if you want to avoid the meters
• Comfort: 3/5 – Wood chairs unpadded, small tables, wood bench is hard too
• Bathroom: 0/5 – None available
• Art: 3/5 – Photos of flowers for sale starting at $10 each, generic but not awful, pictures on wall are crooked

Tips:  They have two computers with internet access, 15 cents a minute, $1 minimum cash only. ATM on site. They have plenty of bottled drinks.

“Laptop Campers Unite!”

- Laptop Camper

Score: 31/50

Java on Ocean has the same look and feel as several other coffeehouses in SF: grungy, chalkboard menu, and hints of the Middle East. The food and drink are about the same level of the other coffeehouses (average). There’s a hookah pipe in the window, bird in a cage, and laid back vibe. Java on Ocean has two things going for it: size and location (relatively easy parking).

• Food: 3/5 – Plenty to choose from – wraps, sandwiches, bagels, smoothies, piroshky, cake, cookies, pastries, salad, soup. My egg and cheese bagel was lightly toasted and decent (good amount of scrambled eggs). The bagel quality was average.
• Coffee: 3/5 – No foam art, passable latte but not rich, not too bitter though
• Wi-fi: 4/5 – Free, no password required, average speed
• Ambiance: 3/5 – Older looking, worn in, grungy, pretty spacious, warm, like the high ceilings 
• Noise: 3/5 – Bird and fridge are noisy but I like the Middle Eastern music. The bird sings almost constantly.
• Plugs:  1/5 – Very few
• Parking:  4/5 – Not bad, easier than most places in SF
• Comfort: 4/5 – Wood chairs aren’t padded, wood banquette isn’t padded, lots of small round tables and a couple of couches
• Bathroom: 3/5 – Single, unisex restroom, it’s  busy
• Art: 3/5 – Nothing for sale, couple of framed leaf prints, Frida Kahlo picture, Islamic looking signs

Tips: Spot is popular as a hangout for students. Some board games available. They have a lot more types of bottled hot sauce available than usual. The owner(?) is friendly.

“Laptop Campers Unite!”

- Laptop Camper

Yes it’s a chain but Panera Bread offers a spacious, comfortable spot with free wi-fi across from AT&T Park. It’s a great place to linger. Note, wi-fi access may be limited during peak lunch hours.

Score: 40/50

• Food: 4/5 – Lots to choose from including bagels, pasta, salads, soups, pastries and kids menu. The bread is of course freshly baked. Sandwiches are pretty solid.
• Coffee: 3/5 – Serve yourself, haven’t tried it yet, they have espresso drinks as well
• Wi-fi: 3/5 – Free, no password required, unlimited, good speed but limited access during lunch hours
• Ambiance: 4/5 – Comfy, warm, contemporary like a coffeehouse, new looking, clean too
• Noise: 5/5 – Pretty good, soothing music isn’t too loud
• Plugs:  5/5 – They’re all over the place
• Parking: 1/5 – Really bad but close to public transportation, don’t even try to find parking or try validated parking at the Safeway across the street
• Comfort: 5/5 – Padded seating, small tables, large tables, very comfy indeed
• Bathroom: 5/5 – Clean, separate for men and women
• Art: 5/5 – Cute, bread themed art on walls, not for sale

Tips:  Watch out for 11 – 2PM when your wi-fi access may be limited to 30 minutes. This applies on weekends too.

“Laptop Campers Unite!”

- Laptop Camper

It has a convenience store feel though they’ve added leather couches, small tables and chairs. The décor is random but they’ve made an attempt to make it cozy.

Score: 26/50

• Food: 3/5 – Deli sandwiches and Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi) are made to order ($3.25 and up). The Vietnamese sandwiches are bigger than usual. They only have three kinds of banh mi. I tried the BBQ pork banh mi which didn’t use the traditional roll, didn’t have enough pickled veggies and had too much mayo.
• Coffee: 3/5 – Vietnamese coffee and regular coffee are served hot or iced. The Vietnamese coffee was nice and creamy though not as strong as usual.
• Wi-fi: 1/5 – Free, ask for password at the counter, strong signal, extra fast but could not get online, got this message: “The Motorola NVG510 device has detected potential problems with your DSL connection which may impact your service. This problem is often caused by a phone or other device which is connected to your phone line (such as a fax machine, satellite receiver, alarm system or medical monitor) that does not have a DSL filter.”
• Ambiance: 3/5 – Looks like a convenience store with seating but an attempt to make it homey
• Noise: 3/5 – Noisy traffic and really noisy refrigerator but quiet inside no music
• Plugs:  1/5 – Just one left of the couch is accessible, the one by the door could be a tripping hazard if you used it
• Parking: 4/5 – Pretty easy, street cleaning Wednesdays and Fridays, park off of Balboa in the residential area, metered parking on Balboa
• Comfort: 3/5 – Comfy seating, small area, small tables
• Bathroom: 2/5 – Available, unisex, kinda grungy
• Art: 3/5 – Walls are painted with various odd things

Tips:  They have lots of packaged snacks, bottled drinks and made to order milk tea, slush, yogurt, smoothie drinks. It definitely has an Asian owned feel.

“Laptop Campers Unite!”

- Laptop Camper

Located on the edge of the Tenderloin, the new Spiro Coffee is a calm oasis in a somewhat gritty part of town. The coffeehouse is modern and bright with a charming chalkboard menu, Sightglass Coffee, Wholesome Bakery vegan goods and their own in-house pastry chef.

Score: 38/50

• Food: 4/5 – I haven’t tried the lunch menu yet but the sandwiches and salads sound tempting. For breakfast they have their own pastries (croissants, muffins, danish, bread pudding, cookies, biscuits), Wholesome Bakery vegan items, and waffles. I enjoyed the warm chive-parmesan biscuit with its crisp thin exterior and soft interior.
• Coffee: 5/5 – They use Sightglass beans for espresso drinks, brewed coffee and single cup pour overs. My latte was well made with nice foam art and no bitterness. Unlike Sightglass, they offer non-fat milk (yay).
• Wi-fi: 5/5 – Free, the password is at the counter, extra fast
• Ambiance: 4/5 – Modern, dark brown colors, lots of wood, clean, lots of lights, nice but not a lot of personality, did smell like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies though
• Noise: 3/5 – When the door is open the traffic on Van Ness (one of the busiest streets in town) is extremely loud, the place is quiet though, while I like the somber classical music, it’s a strange choice…later they switched to the Killers which was a better choice for them
• Plugs:  3/5 – Outlets along the wall but not enough of them
• Parking: 2/5 – Not easy, you’re probably going to find a free 2 hour space if you want to avoid the meters
• Comfort: 5/5 – New stools and wood chairs are all padded, plenty of small tables, not too cramped
• Bathroom: 4/5 – Available, unisex, looks clean
• Art: 3/5 – Nothing on the walls besides the chalkboard menu

Tips:  Lunch service begins at 10:30 AM and ends at 3 PM. The refrigerated case has drinks (juices, water, natural sodas, kombucha) and Chobani yogurt. They’re happy to warm up your pastries.

“Laptop Campers Unite!”

- Laptop Camper