Peet's Coffee - Hillcrest

I became a fan of Peet's when I was living in Oakland/Berkeley back in 90's. The Hillcrest location was my local Peet's for a number of years. Real coffee done right, and w/ Hillcrest as the back drop, a great place to have some good brew and watch the world go on. If you are looking for people watching at it's best, go here. Only reason for the less than 5 star rating is parking can be challenging.

We got 2 drinks. One was a hot Havana cappuccino and that was decent. But I got an iced caramel apple latte and I watched them put steamed milk in the drink. I’ve worked enough barista jobs and food service management certification classes to know that it’s 1) not going to taste good, which it didn’t and 2) to serve warm milk over ice can be a dangerous game. Milk needs to be served at specific temperatures to be safe-either cold or hot. Not room temperature. I wish I had something positive to say about the taste of my latte but it was not good and after tasting one sip I knew that if I drank it I would have an upset stomach later, so I threw it away. Disappointing, but I wanted to write this review so that hopefully it’s a learning opportunity for them. You can’t steam milk and pour it over ice, it’s going to taste bitter and is not up to food safety standard temperatures. On a bright side, the baristas were nice. I would rate this place to the same quality of Starbucks.

I picked up an order of baked yummies at Peet's in Hillcrest on Sunday. I have never been to Peet's so I was not exactly sure what to expect flavor-wise. These yummies blew me away! I got a thick, super moist slice of lemon poppyseed bread (sooooo delicious and lemony!), a lemon scone (i love scones!), a large, soft plain croissant (perfect for a sandwich), and a delicious almond cranberry muffin (not too sweet, which is delightfully refreshing). The food is superb! I will definitely be back for more yummies! Go there... fast! ♡

Andrew is amazing! I am annoying and ordered 8 drinks 2 separate times ON A MONDAY. I left with my first 6 drinks and forgot the other 2. Even though it was 4 days later, he honored MY mistake. I am forever grateful. Thank you Andrew and the entire Hillcrest Peet’s for putting up with my forgetfulness and keeping me loyal to Peet’s!