Spike’s Coffees & Teas

Really like this place and forget to go by more often. I like to try new places but usually leave disappointed so why bother. Spikes has GREAT service, great coffee and many delicious goodies should you need them. Parking is never a problem and usually in/​out quick which is perfect since I’m usually running late between jobs.

Still my favorite place for coffee in the Castro. They make a lovely hand-​crafted mocha. Really nice scones too. The mellow «old San Francisco neighborhood» feel of this place is a great location to read and/​or to meet friends.

2 shots of espresso and brewed coffee is a recipe for success! best coffee in San Francisco, if you are in SF you must check Spike’s Coffees & Teas out.

Coffee is good. I wish they had better selection of pastries though. It also didn’t seem very clean when I came in. There was a lot of dirt on the floor. And the barista was not very nice.

A real coffee place without pretentions, no $ 5 pour over, no 20 minute wait, no snotty servers. Just real people who care about service, about you. This is the place to go if you want to relax, meet a friend, have a well-​made espresso or latte, and remember when coffee places had soul. Really good coffees, real people, and fits like a comfortable shoe.

This is my am I ran outta coffee so I have to go get some or I wont be able to face the day place
The coffee is good, and there are typical pastries, etc. and some small tables if you want to stay (I dont.)
Most of the people who work there are friendly, but there are a couple not so great employees (they eye-​roll when you tell them the strong caffeinated stuff you want needs to be refilled, ya know the type, but hey maybe they didnt have their coffee yet) and one weekday morning guy is a serious doosh, but??? I need my coffee, so can put up with a lot.
Often there’s a line with a bunch of indecisive people who should know better than to get to the front of the line and still not have ANY idea what they want, but probably they are not running late like me… If you just want coffee and have exact change you can bypass the line by helping yourself and slipping the cash up on the counter…

It’s a hidden little gem! I don’t know how they do it, being a small independent café that gets squeezed between mega franchise and local celebrities… The staff are always friendly and helpful. Both the coffee and tea are high quality at a super reasonable price (when you buy them by weight). Their House Blend Fancy with syrup is so smooth, the only one in my memory that matches this level of smoothness and gentleness is the one they serve at Bouchon Café in Yountville.
Great little neighborhood café.

Absolutely a major part of the Castro «village». Has been here forever and been my coffee spot for over a decade, well before all the other coffee shops showed up. Friendly staff really makes this a favorite for regulars & first time visitors. If you haven’t been, try it.

I don’t even live in the Castro but Spikes is my daily ritual coffee shop. It captures the delightful charm of this neighborhood with friendly staff and organic, fair trade goods. To me, Spikes is a home away from home, topped off with that darling logo of a bulldog, what’s not to love?!

There’s so much going on at Spike’s. Whether you are people-​watching from the outdoor patio seating or checking out the shelves of Spike’s merchandise indoors, make sure you have a cup of fresh coffee in-​hand. You can even purchase a pound or two of coffee beans to take home. (Trust me, this is a good idea.)
There is not much seating, so coming here with large groups or to get work done is not ideal. However, Spike’s is a great place for catching up with a friend or picking up coffee with a to-​go cup that has the Spike’s dog on it. I never really came to this café before, because I was too lazy to walk a little further from my usual cafes, but I’ll definitely be back for the friendly service and relaxed vibe. Plus, Spike’s is in a quieter and calmer part of the Castro neighborhood, so come check it out!

**Charming coffee shop in the Castro.**
I was waiting to meet some friends for dinner and searched for a coffee shop in the Castro. It’s a little off of the «beaten path» of Castro Street on 19^th, but thanks to a Unilocal search I was able to find it. I used their facilities and you actually have to go back behind the bar to a shared restroom in this back alley area. It was cool.
AMBIANCE
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It was small, quaint, intimate, charming, authentic and rustic. Surrounded by wood and little blue cans that hold the multiple different types of coffee.
It’s also in a super cool neighborhood, only a few blocks away from Mission Delores Park.
BEVERAGE
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ALMOND MILK LATTE
Very yummy.
Do not have coconut milk. Bummer.
RATING: ⁵⁄₅
PRICE /​VALUE
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It was 4 bucks, no big deal.
SERVICE
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Great service. Very friendly. Very friendly patrons too!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

I have a deep love for this place, with its sweet store throwback décor and the even sweeter coffee wizards. After just one visit I already want to buy the tee shirt and come all the way across town to make it my regular coffee spot. With a great selection of coffees and treats, there is something to please anyone. The chilled atmosphere is just what I’ve been looking for, honestly I cannot say a bad word, I just hope it never changes!

Darjeling iced tea is perfect on a sunny day. Herbal teas are also amazing, hot or iced. People are friendly. Small shop with 3 tables outside shaded.
5 stars if they had a restroom.

Love love love Spikes. Its obvious the patrons here are mostly locals who know each other, and know the staff working behind the counter. It’s a lovely neighborhood coffee shop with a great vibe and a very appreciated lack of pretentiousness. Feels like the old Castro in here. (Or what I would imagine it to be)
Also, my favorite dirty chai in town! (And I’ve tried A LOT)

Over hyped. Reading the Unilocal reviews and articles online boosting this coffee shop up, I’m utterly disappointed.
Besides my bland cappuccino, mocha and donut, they do have a interesting selection of beans and outside patio.
I like my coffee hot and bold. I also like my donuts to taste like something other than a stale Pillsbury biscuit with chocolate.

Super friendly staff. Coffee is great with lots of Beans available to take home. Good nibbles too.

The Coffee at Spike’s is great, but the clientele is changing just like the rest of the Castro area. Spike’s has been my «go to» coffee place in San Francisco for many, many years. I have enjoyed many almond milk lattes on quiet weekend mornings there sitting at one of the inside tables, reading the newspaper or a magazine, or working on some of my writing projects. And I LOVE this place, I really do, and so I write this all with LOVE.
But over this past year, there are more and more really young kids in this place every time that I come, including this morning. Now, I know that kids can’t be outlawed. And I really do like young children, and their high-​pitched screaming voices, and their running back and forth and back and forth and bumping into all the tables and chairs and everyone all while coughing and sniffling and sneezing who knows what enterovirus germs all over Spike’s and on its patrons, and I do like to watch the parents of these young kids sipping their coffees and sitting there so proud of their little Suzy or Timmy while he or she runs amok, free of parental supervision or guidance.
BUT NOT AT 7AM ON A WEEKEND MORNING! LOL. OMG, do I sound like Mr. Wilson from Dennis the Menace or what? All these kids hurt my eardrums!
And, this morning in particular, I really enjoyed the 10 minute conversation shouted clear across the coffee shop between Mom and Sally about the muffin:
SALLY: «I want a muffin.»
MOM: «Sally, you don’t need your own muffin, you can have some of this one.»
SALLY: «I want my own muffin.»
MOM: «Sally, just come here, I will give you some of my muffin.»
SALLY: «No, I want to get my own muffin.»
MOM: «See how delicious this muffin is, Sally? Watch Mommy eat some of it.»
SALLY: «No.»
MOM: «Sally, you really don’t need to have your own muffin.»
SALLY: «I want to have my own muffin.»
MOM: «Sally, just come here, I will give you some of my muffin.»
SALLY: «No, I want to get my own muffin.»
(To get the full effect, imagine this circular dialogue between Mom and Sally for ten full minutes. I was THIS CLOSE to buying Sally her own damn muffin just so that the two of them would shut the hell up.)
So, while I LOVE the coffee at Spike’s, this place is no longer a quiet, relaxing coffee shop in the morning. I’m fine stopping in to buy my coffee, and then to take it home or go somewhere else to enjoy it with some peace and quiet.
5 star coffee with minus 1 star for the noisy environment.
Sincerely, Mr. Wilson. LOL.

I popped in this afternoon after walking by the shop a few times & was in desperate need of Afternoon Tea. The outside seating was quite lovely & I am immediately Drawn to shops that specialize in Teas & after seeing a few people having a pot of tea outside I decided to give this place a go.
When I went in requesting a Pot of Tea with a tea cup, Saucer & Spoon, & Ladle the boys were a bit caught off gaurd with eyes wide open, but I finally got what I wanted.
For such a fabulous selection of Teas they ought to know how to serve it properly, especially if they’ve got pots of tea on the Menu. There are loads of coffee’s to be had but why have coffee when you can have TEA! (well, for me)
Anyway I liked it here & stayed for an hour! I shall be returning for morning tea or afternoon Tea. or perhaps even in-​between tea!

Dirty Chai ($ 5) — 3.5 STARS:
Spicy and sweet chai mix with espresso and choice of milk. Interesting and refreshing but definitely not worth $ 5. While it was decently good, I regret not sticking to my large iced mint mojito!
They have a variety of pastries and standard coffee-​espresso drinks and several small tables for laptop campers.

As I’ve mentioned time and again, I am not much of a coffee drinker. I’ll have some to be social (at times) or after a satisfying meal or if I’m about to pass out. But I don’t crave the bean. I can take it or leave it. So, in order to have an opinion on a coffee shop, (for me) there needs to be more going on than just a so-​and-​so drip. Luckily (for me), Spike’s has plenty of good stuff to go around.
First and foremost, the energy here is really positive. I don’t know if tptb burn sage, pet puppies, kiss babies, or ban all mentions of the Bieb, but from the second you walk in, you feel comfortable. It doesn’t hurt that the employees are courteous. I might be overly sensitive to this last point. I live in a city that prides itself on bad service. I still am nicely surprised to be greeted with a smile. Combine all this with good smells and the endorphins are pumping. Time for coffee.
I ordered a mocha. Again, I am not much of a coffee bean lover but I am mad for the cocoa bean. My mocha was smooth, a bit smoky and very very strong. Usually, I can toss these things back like shots but I needed to sip this. Not only was I able to taste and appreciate the beverage, I was able to quell the shakes from the direct injection of caffeine. So *this* is why people like coffee so much! Lastly, in a city which prides itself on supporting local business, it was nice to spend a little time at Spike’s. I don’t know much about the Castro (other than documentaries on PBS) but it seemed like this was an intensely local shop, catering to a local crowd and adored by its regulars. Maybe that’s where all that good juju came from.

Spike’s Coffee ist eine feste Institution im Castro. Ich komme hier fast tagtäglich vorbei, um einen Kaffee zum Mitnehmen zu kaufen, wenn ich mit meinem Hund auf dem Weg zum nahegelegenen Hundepark bin. Spike’s ist einfach urig: man kann hier nicht nur jegliche Art von Kaffee– und Teegetränken bekommen, sondern auch eine große Auswahl and Kaffeebohnen und losen Tees. Obendrein gibt’s noch die üblichen Frühstücksklassiker wie Croissants oder Bagels.
Es gibt viele Dinge, die ich hier einfach toll finde:
— Stammgäste haben hier ihre eigene Karteikarte mit Guthaben drauf. Das ganze funktioniert so: man zahlt einen Betrag im Voraus — zum Beispiel 30 Dollar — und jedes Mal wenn man dann vorbeikommt, kann man seinen Kaffee oder Tee auf dieser Karteikarte anschreiben lassen. Das hat zum Vorteil, dass man nicht unbedingt mit Bargeld aus dem Haus gehen muss, wenn man nur einen Kaffee braucht. Außerdem kennen die Baristas dann auch ziemlich schnell deinen Namen und heißen dich jedes Mal gleich herzlich willkommen, wenn du zur Tür hereinkommst.
— Es gibt hier viele Stammgäste und vor allem an sonnigen Samstagmorgenden tummeln sich immer die gleichen Menschen hier herum. Man lernt sich so über die Wochen & Monate kennen und fühlt sich schnell als Teil der Spike’s Community. (Vor allem wenn man einen Hund hat, wie ich, geht das ganze ratz-​fatz, da hier jeder ein wenig hundevernarrt ist.) Und obwohl es zwar Tische und Bänke drinnen gibt, sind die begehrtesten Plätze draußen. Vor allem jene Gäste mit Hunden treffen sich hier regelmäßig und tauschen sich aus.
— Der Coffeeshop bietet jungen Künstlern die Möglichkeit ihre Bilder und Kunstwerke der Öffentlichkeit vorzustellen. Ich habe hier schon die Werke von einigen sehr talentierten Künstlern bestaunt…
Nun muss ich aber nun noch eine kleine Anekdote erzählen: ich bin vor kurzem wieder hier in diese Gegend zurückgezogen (nachdem ich ca 5 Jahre in London gewohnt hatte) und als ich an meinem ersten Wochenende wieder mal bei Spike’s vorbeikam, um wie gewohnt einen Becher Kaffee zu kaufen, hat mich ein der «alten» Stammgäste gleich wieder erkannt und auch gleich angesprochen. Nun ja, ich muss zugeben, dass sie wohl eher meine Hündin wiedererkannt hat, denn sie wußte noch ihren Namen. Das fand ich einfach toll und ich hab’ mich gleich wieder wie daheim gefühlt.

On a fait un arrêt ici vite fait par ce qu’on cherchais un endroit où se poser avec du WI-​FI, finalement on a mal été renseigné, car il n’y avais pas de WI-​FI… Bön… Du coup on s’est contenté d’un jus d’orange avant de repartir vers d’autres horizons! Pour trouver un autre WI-​FI quoi… Comment ça je suis accro? :-p
En tout cas, nous n’avons pas été déçu car le lieu est sympathique et accueillant. Un petit coté roots aussi. Il y a une petite terasse et ici les chiens sont plus que bienvenue semble t-​il ! (Pour preuve un bocal plein de friandises, placé juste dans l’entrée à leur attention, avec la mention: servez-​vous!)
Le staff, deux charmant jeune hommes, est hyper sympa et souriant. On a discuté un bon quart d’heure avec eux sur notre voyage et les choses à faire à SF.
Concernant la carte, même si on n’a pas testé, je signale quand même qu’il y a un large choix de café et de thé, ainsi que des snacks en tout genre (sucré et salé).
On y retournera sans doute pour goûter aux fameux café! Ca sera l’occasion d’un nouvel avis ;-)