Bytes Cafe

Cheap coffee for your caffeine fix on campus! If you bring your own mug they'll fill it for just a dollar(!). Cant beat prices like that on campus. Their lunch hours are also extended from 11:30 to 3pm now.

Probably the best place to get lunch at Stanford. The best price for the biggest portion. $8-10.//FoodBytes has a daily special and daily soups that rotate. For entrees, I have seen butternut squash pasta, Chinese chicken, Spaghetti Bolognese, etc. For soups, I have seen roasted zucchini/watercress, black bean, tomato basil, cream of spinach, etc. There is a good variety of food: cold and hot sandwiches, soups, salads, pasta, pizza! There is also a good variety of coffee/tea and pastries along with yogurt, fruit, and nuts. Plus there's a deli fridge full of bottled drinks!I highly recommend the Cuban Roast Pork sandwich. It comes warm and it is the most meat for your buck! The Chicken Pesto sandwich is a little too dry for me. All sandwiches come with an orzo pasta salad but you can substitute for an extra $1.25 a regular mixed salad. The Harvest salad is definitely tasty and has a great textural component with the dried fruit and crunchy walnuts! The Greek salad is also yummy, too! (Just always make sure they gave you your protein, sometimes they forget when they get busy!) Also, the salads always come with a slice of crusty bread! Yum!Oh my goodness, they charge for hot water. So painful. It is only $0.50, but it still sucks! :( Here's a tip: Just bring your thermos and fill it up with the water dispenser in the back, it has both cold and hot water!//ServiceThis place gets BUSY. Especially around lunch time. The line can be as far out as the exit! Just always make sure they gave you your protein option on your salad or whatever, sometimes they forget when they get busy! But, they were super nice when I brought in my receipt and the salad that was missing chicken. At the register, they give you a number to take to your table and then they will bring you your food. And then they serve it in nice dishware with silverware. But, I definitely recommend taking the food to-go because it is so busy! And then you don't have to bus your own table/plates because you throw away the take-out box or keep the leftovers (which is what I usually do).//AmbianceThere are both indoor and outdoor tables, but good luck getting a table when it is sunny (which is like...all the time). Sometimes you can get lucky, but other times don't bother waiting just get it to-go! Give the staff a break!

Starving and needing a quick "byte," we stopped by here. It was relatively quiet on the day I was there. Its been a few years since I've had a meal on a campus. But, this cafe had a pretty good selection. Place your order at the counter and they bring it out to you. There are tables inside and outside, but there was too much sun outside, so we opted to sit inside.Ordered Soup & Sandwich. Soup-was much better than I expected. It was a curry broccoli? I think. It was tasty.Sandwich was bigger than expected. It came with couscous. I'd pass on the couscous. I had the Roasted Turkey. Kind of bland, but definitely hit the spot. Plus, after my meal was able to grab a cappuccino to stay awake for the afternoon activities. Bonus.

Unlike most dining at Stanford, Bytes is staffed with people who care about their work. They keep it clean in spite of huge crowds during lunch and even at the most crowded times, you'll have your food within 15 minutes, including the line to order.The food is consistent and high-quality with interesting specials that change daily. Lunch runs about $10 and a small coffee is exactly $1.

I've stopped by here a few times to pick up some coffee & brekkies in the late morning on the way to work. Their regular coffee is good, as is their iced coffee. I've had a breakfast burrito (GINORMOUS, full of eggs and potatoes with a yummy pico de gallo - had the rest of it for lunch), strawberry scone (ok) and banana bread (yummers).The staff is very super friendly and service is quick. It's conveniently located on campus. There's plenty of seating inside plus quite a few nice sunny tables outside.One thing I did notice is the majority of the people patronizing this place were male. Maybe a coincidence? I'll have to check it out at lunch to confirm.

My go-to place for a lunch on campus. On the first floor of the Packard building, Bytes has enough variety with frequent enough changes in its menu that you could go every day without getting bored. If you work or study on campus and eat out a lot, that kind of variety makes it a better bet than Coupa; it's slightly cheaper than Nexus ($7 vs $8); and is more flexible than a Dining Hall (can get takeout). Of the salads, the Harvest salad is the best (the combination of apricots, cranberries and walnuts is amazing), but I've also heard good things about the Thai and Caesar salads. I haven't heard too many good things about the pizzas, but the shrimp one is unique - just prepared to wait a bit longer for your order! The specials can be hit or mess: anything Asian-sounding is usually pretty pitiful, while the pastas and Mexican-sounding ones (e.g., quesadillas) tend to be better. In the end, the sandwiches are my favorite. The cuban roast pork is a Bytes specialty, especially if you like pickled cabbage. For my money, the chicken sandwich is the best though. Especially when they make it with the roasted chillies...que rico! The house pasta salad that it comes with has elicited mixed reactions from my friends: some hate the raw onion and capers, while others find it a nice compliment to the sandwich (I like it!).Lines can be long during lunch, so try to go before (11:30am) or after (1:30pm). If you must go during lunch, there's a small lull around 12:30pm, so try to hit that spot! I find 1pm is the worst since there's a slight backlog in all the orders. Enjoy your lunch!

Delicious pizzas! The apple, brie, and bacon one sounded weird, but it was oddly good! The sandwiches are awesome as well. The line isn't too bad around lunch time and they promptly bring out your food! I enjoy having lunch here. Next time I want to try some of the pastries and coffee.

Awesome place! I've walked by here many times and the line is always long which I think is a good sign. We had lunch here on a Friday, but arrived around 11:45 to beat the line. I tried the Latin salad and it definitely did not disappoint! Very flavorful and great portion for the price. I added shrimp to mine. There is plenty of indoor/outdoor seating but you can also take to go and find seating in the SEQ if needed. Highly recommend if you're bored of Coupa or Forbes. Much better quality!

Bytes is located in the Packard Electrical Engineering at Stanford University on the west side of campus. It's a small little cafe that serves breakfast and lunch. Their breakfast burritos are amazing - I guarantee you will be full if you can finish it! It is full of delicious cheese, egg, salsa, and I recommend getting it with bacon or chorizo. Their lunch menu is pretty much the same every time, with a few specials here and there. There is an assortment of pizza, sandwiches, soups, and salads. In my opinion, for how long the line gets during lunch (upwards of 25+ people...goes out the door) i recommend just going to nexus cafe across the street by the med school, or to the thai food place in the quad, or ikes. Those places are at most equally as long, but I think the food is a little better.

Never order the pizza. It wasn't even edible and I'm surprised they have it on the menu for how little effort goes into it. The crust was nonexistent and had mountains of mozzarella. The ingredients were as cheap as they come and didn't taste fully cooked.