Sanaa Cafe

Brand new, beautifully adorned cafe on the corner of 8th and Broadway, with an extensive variety of authentic Yemeni pastries, coffee, and tea, among other drinks. The cafe employee is very helpful in recommending drink and pastry pairings; I ended up ordering a small hot Mofawar Coffee with a pistachio milk cake as recommended by the employee.Mofawar coffee: made fresh and is served VERY hot! I had to uncap my lid for it to cool down because it was still piping hot after 10 minutes of waiting. The cardamom complements the coffee well, and the cream and (optional) sugar help to balance out the strong coffee.Pistachio milk cake: very mild, soft, nutty, and milky! the cake sits in a puddle of pistachio infused milk. With the strong cardamom-spiced coffee, the milk cake does really well to create even more balance between cool and hot, bitter and sweet, fluffy and fluid, nutty and citrusy.There is also ample seating and outlets throughout the restaurant + Free Wi-Fi--great for those who need to study or work remote! For a casual meeting or chat, there are also cushioned group seating in the back of the store near the restrooms.Excited to have a new cozy study/work cafe in DT Oakland and to try all their goodies! 5/5 stars!

Ambiance- I remember when this location was a Starbucks so when I saw that Sanaa was coming to Oakland I couldn't wait to try because I had seen other locations around. While I've never been to Yemen, it's very beautiful and you're transported to another place once inside. There's traditional music playing over the sound system, beautiful decor throughout and tons of comfortable seating. ServiceThe service was great despite the line building due to only one person working this morning. She was holding it down though- taking orders, making drinks, preparing food and doing it gracefully with a smile on her face. I got my drinks and food within mins of ordering. Food While I can't say much about the other treats, the baklava was good. It was a little sweeter than I normally like and the phyllo dough wasn't as flaky as other baklavas I've had before but still pretty good. My matcha layer with almond milk, sweetened with honey was perfect. Not too bitter and not too sweet and piping hot. Overall I'm excited to try Sanaa when in the area again.

A must try! The honey comb bread is sooo good, we also tried the baklava and the almond croissant. The rose latte + mocha were all so yummy. We will be back. 10/10 - Service was good , fast and so pretty in here such chill vibes.

So first off I want to start off by saying I love this place. I come here fairly often and I love the smell inside as soon as you walk in you get this whiff of amazing! The staff is hecka friendly and the vibe in here is mad chill. I love that their coffee is premium. Not gonna lie it's a low key premium price too but sometimes Im like it's nice to treat ya self not cheat ya self!

I wanted to try the Dubai chocolate, but it was sold out... so instead I tried this pistachio cheese cake and rose cake and it was super duper delicious!!

This place is so good! My favorite coffee place ever. I feel so blessed that they chose Oakland. I love the spinach and feta fatayer. The desserts are really yummy as well. The pistachio lattes are my favorite,, hot or iced! Way better than a Starbucks! The ambience is calm and relaxing. The staff is really nice and helpful as well. I can't wait to come back.

Best pistachio latte I've ever had And the pastries looked delicious, will definitely be back

Stopped by during the soft opening and we tried an assortment of goodies. The staff were super friendly and the coffee was delicious! I could definitely see myself coming in again and again. They have a great variety of food and snacks, including an assortment of flavors of milk cakes, which I was excited about because they're some of my favorite treats. The honeycomb cake was also incredible. The pockets were packed with filling with a generous helping of honey. I'm looking forward to repeat trips to this comfy neighborhood cafe.

I was looking for an afternoon dessert pick me up. Not coffee because this Yemeni coffee is very strong and I'd be up past midnight.They have a selection of freshly baked cake, still in the faberware pans and some Turkish delight..I selected a rose petal topped/rose pink color cake which reminded me of a tree Leche cake. And nougat rolled in crushed pistachio.I was throughly disappointed in the Turkish delight. It seemed stale. The rose cake was soaked rose flavored milk and I highly suspect this was a boxed mix strawberry cake. Sorry will pass on this.

I recently visited Sanaa Cafe in Oakland after winning a gift card during Christmas, which I was able to pick up yesterday. I tried their lattes, pistachio and caramel cake, almond croissant, and bubble bread. Everything was amazing and fresh, especially the caramel, which was . I'll definitely be getting that again. The staff was great, and the place stays busy. If you're in Oakland, be sure to stop in and support them.