Caffé Central

I have been coming to this caffe central for years and always ordering the same drink: central latte with soy milk and less sweet. I’ve been using their 10^th cup free stamps system since day 1 and never had a problem getting my free drink until just recently. I don’t know what happened to their management. I’ve witnessed lots of people come and go and now, with this lady manager, she’s been here for a while. But recently, she’s giving me a hard time everytime I tried to get my 10^th cup free drink. One day she said its happy hour and I couldn’t get my 10^th cup free. I told her I had always got it free during happy hours and then she gave it to me. The other times she tried to talk me out of getting it by saying its happy hour time, the drinks were half-​priced and not worth to use a free drink for it. (??) And just days ago, her excuse was even worse. She told the cashier to charge me for the soy milk in the coffee I asked to substitute with, coz she said the free cup only covered a regular drink price. The cashier looked at me with a sorry face and I told him I had never been asked for this in the past three years, over my 250 cups of central latter with soy and less sweet. The other staff walked by and overheard what I told the cashier, she then told the cashier it’s ok, no need to charge for the soy. I don’t know what’s going on with the management there, but if you don’t want to give out free drinks to customers, just cancel your free drink system! Don’t offer free drinks and make your customer feel like they have to climb over a mountain for it. Two stars are for the barista and the central latte that I ordered.

We wanted a slice of chocolate cake. This looked like the only spot that had one so we got in line. The slice was the smallest i’ve ever seen. It was $ 6 so i was expecting something a lot bigger. Once we sat down to eat it, it was extremely bland and tasted kind of old. We also got a watery iced coffee. First and last time im going there.

This place is hit or miss. You can wait as long as 25 minutes for a crêpe that should take 5 minutes. I watched a guy try to learn how to do my crêpe for 20 minutes but the ones teaching him kept walking away. He tried so hard to get it right but when your supervisors are running around like chickens it’s hard. Love the bucket of tea, 32 oz !!!, that I get on boba Friday for 25% off. It may be too sweet for some but you can customize as there are many choices. The pastries are way over priced as are the crepes.

Didn’t like this place at all.
Sure the drink was 25% off but they steeped the tea way too long.
I ordered a mango tea and there was no hint of mango in the drink because the tea was so bitter.
The wait took forever and people that ordered way free me got there drink before me. Also, the cashier didn’t seem as if she was happy at all.
Overall not a good experience.

They have a $ 7 crêpe special on Tuesdays, so I decided to try it out. I picked the smoked salmon crêpe (normally $ 10.50), and it was pretty big with a side of healthy looking salad (kale?). The crêpe had smoked salmon, spinach, red onions, and cream cheese inside. Ended up opening the crêpe and just reading the salmon bits inside, and throwing the rest away cuz the crêpe was too thick. or maybe I don’t know anything about crepes. Meh. The salad was good though.
Maybe next Tuesday I’ll try a dessert crêpe. Maybe not.

If I can give a minus star I will. The lady that taking the order is so unhappy for working here. She has attitude and not attentive at all. It is such a shame a business hire this kinda people. Thus haven’t first and my last time to spend my money here. No wonder they only have 3 stars in Unilocal.Now it is explain it.
My suggestion: change your associates

I have ordered a milk tea without bobba, but she gives me one with bobba. Also, when i am ordering, the lady was yelling at me that she didnt know what i am saying. At first, i thought its because its too noisy, but it turned out that he cannot understand what i said. Please. I am trying to explain what i want and she just lost her patient. Wtf? So ignorant and inpatient

Like roaches, then youll love this place. Don’t believe me look at the picture i took, unfortunately after ordering…

Can you say desserts galore? We ordered like 5 desserts. They offer different coffees, sandwiches, drinks etc. it was busy, but we had fast service and good customer service.

On Wednesday March 30, 2016 I saw there was a sign for 50% off coffee. I wanted green tea & I stood at the order area for 3 full minutes until I had to yell across to get the attention of 1 of the 4 people with their backs turned.
I asked the woman if tea was included in the 50% off because next to the register was a sign that said ~tea bread~ 50% off (I’ll put picture). She said «idk» & just stood there. I was like, «uh well could you find out for me so I can order?!» She walked away & some guy comes out & is like, «what would you like?» I was like I just told the woman right there I would like a green tea & asked if they were 50% off. He was like, «No, tea is NOT 50% off, ONLY drinks with caffeine in them are 50% off». … Think, think, think …
I’m like, «uhhh so all your tea does NOT have caffeine in it?» He was like, «oh actually our tea does have caffeine in it but it’s NOT 50% off.»
At this point I’m thinking that these people just should work in solidarity & never with people because this was just ridiculous.
I was like, «okay, coffee is 50% off, but what about the sign that says ‘~tea bread~ 50% off’? He told me that the «TeaBread» is 50% off.
I have NEVER heard of «TeaBread» before. Like really? And after all that he still wanted to charge me full price for the green tea I wanted.
NEVER coming back here. Worst customer service. Starbucks has the preorder app & CoffeeBean is a minute walk away. Yoji (sp) is great too & has boba that’s better and not grainy like café central.

I ordered the smoked salmon sandwich and it came with a salad. It tasted pretty standard, and customer service was an okay. Pricey for what it is, but I guess it’s expected for mall food.

I come to this place to get my mommys goodies like the fruit tarts which she says are the best. She loves their key lime tarts and other lil things. Theyre a lil pricey but worth the bite my mom says. She appreciates that its fresh and moist.

Stopped for a quick break and snack from shopping. I had their blood orange green tea with boba. I’ve never seen blood orange flavor (or regular orange, for that matter) at any tea place before. It was sweet and tangy but not tart. Boba was also decent. I liked it. My friend also got the a small caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil) and I tried some of that — pretty good. Service and the process could be improved. There’s a pickup area where they just drop off your food and drink. Someone tried to take my friend’s drink thinking it was theirs. Also we tried to ask the guy when he came back to the counter, what the drink was, he didn’t know. I felt like they just made it so shouldn’t they know what they made. Very odd.

I had ordered the oolong tea before with rainbow jelly, but it was too strong for my taste buds. This time I ordered the original milk tea and my cousin had ordered the caramel milk tea. The texture of the tapioca pearls was perfect. It was soft and chewy. I’ve experienced in the past when the pearls were over cooked.
Anyways, the deserts has always caught my attention but never bothered to buy any. Speaking of deserts and pastries, I once have seen several fruit flies flying around the desert area. This is probably one of the reasons why I refuse to try their food.
Service: Good
Beverage: Good
Location: Excellent

They charge for everything with no quality dessert.
I ordered a chocolate strawberry crêpe, I asked the barista to add more whipped cream on top and she told me it will cost extra, when I paid almost $ 14 for the crêpe & $ 3 for the tea.
Totally rip off & the crêpe didn’t taste that good neither, I threw away half portion. Do not like !!

They used to have Blue Bottle Coffee here. What happened? Well, I didn’t ask and I didn’t bother getting the coffee. I bought dessert instead (lemon bar) which is quite good. I just hope they reconsider serving BBC back.

Ordered the large (32 oz) watermelon green tea with boba and it was pretty yummy. Not quite sure how the prices compare to Youji (also provides boba right across from it), but this 32 oz was pretty large to share between two people! They were generous with the boba, but the ice on top of the boba made it difficult to sip it through the straw. Perhaps there was too much ice — next time I will try to ask for less ice.
They always have desserts (yummy looking ones) available and the barista told me that they are switching over to a different coffee from Blue Bottle, so be open to trying new roasts! They also offer fresh juice, which may be more fresh than Jamba Juice, not quite sure, but something to look into.
A nice break in the day!

I’m not quite sure why this place has such low ratings as I have never had a bad experience from Caffé Central out of the 4 – 5 times I’ve been here.
When Valley Fair completed their food court renovation, I just had to check out the new digs; as I was browsing through the new food venues, I eventually came across Caffé Central. This divey lunch/​dessert venue gives out a modernized café look; hanging fixtures, granite countertops, wooden finishes, mini side bar near the pick-​up section, much similar to Starbucks.
What had really grasped my attention to this place, though, was as I was browsing through their delectable desserts, I noticed that they offer Crème Brûlée in THREE, (yes THREE) different options!!! (#CrèmeBrûléeLoverForLife) And of course, my Crème brûlée-​holic self couldn’t pass this opportunity by:
1. Crème brûlée classic with the burnt top in a mini tin container
2. Crème brûlée cheesecake (if you’re a fan of cheesecake)
3. Crème brûlée bar (more on the firmer side, like a brownie bar)
I SIMPLY CANNOT RESIST! These Crème brûlée dessert options are about $ 5.95, which are a bit on the pricier side, but then again, all of the new vendors at the renovated Valley Fair food court are an average of $ 10 – 15 for a full meal.
Please note that the Crème brûlée cheesecake is a huge hit so this sensational delicatessen tends to sell out before the evening hits. Try to come early if you want to try the Crème brûlée cheesecake, my dear sweet lovahs!
If you’re a boba lover, they DO have Bubble Tea options just for you! I typically order the Passion Fruit Green Tea/​No Milk/​Unsweetened/​With pearl. Side note #2: Not all of their drinks are freshly made (like Tapioca Express), so you can’t customize the sweetness for it. (boo) Due to this incapability, my teeth tend to get sensitive from the amounts of sugar they add into their green tea drinks. I just tell them to «water it down» to lessen the sweetness. On the upside, they sell a 32 ounce of green tea for about $ 3.95 (kinda like a Tpumps deal), so if you’re just having a major boba craving while walking around the mall and aren’t down to spend $ 5+ at Barcode, just purchase your drink at Caffe Central instead.
I highly recommend trying this place (more than once) for their desserts. I don’t have a say in any of their croissant’s or sandwiches, as I have not tried any of them. So if you’re trying to attain instant gratification through sweets after a long day of shopping, I recommend this place for you!
Additional Info:
Typical hours of operation: 8:00 AM — 9:30 PM
Mall level: 2 (at renovated Food Court)
Contact them directly at: (408) 241‑3088

The dessert display looked mmm good that I had to succumb to the cravings of something sweet. Can’t believe how there’s always a line here.
I think people just time it so they can form a line in front of me, take forever to order and make me wait longer.
Conspiracy jokes aside, I’ve tasted the following (not in one sitting)
1) Lemon Bar
2) Fruit Tart
3) Crème Brulee
4) Strawberry & Vanilla «something something» … I’ll accompany this review with a pic of it.
I must say they all tasted good. Probably if I had to rank them
#1 Fruit Tart– Sweet & tasty
#2 Lemon Bar– Sweet, not as tart as I would have liked
#3 Crème Brulee– It’s crème brûlée, tasted just like any other
#4 Strawvanilla… There was a vanilla fluff in the center between 2 pillowy pastry tops but I couldn’t taste vanilla with it.
Can you guess how much these 4 single-​serving items cost?
Try north of $ 25. Ridiculous. Could have bought a couple of pies and quarts of premium ice cream for the same price. The quality was not worthy of the price. Next time I walk by Caffe Central, I will turn my head and give it «the hand»

Really wanted to like this place as everything looked really good on the display. Sadly, this place ended up being a mishap on my part.
My girlfriend order the Good Morning Greens drink and apparently got the drink that is called Good Morning which is not green. I was right next to her, so I heard the word «GREENS» very clearly, but the cash register lady did not. Why in the world would you name two drinks so closely is behind me. She ended up keeping the drink she got, but overall, it was a major mistake.
My pastry was very plain. It looked good, but it really didn’t have much taste. It was bland.
Overall, overpriced with inept workers and also horribly naming structure. Sad face.: (