illy Caffè

Beautiful coffee shop addition to the Castro. Uber trendy and a great place to be seen, and grab a great cup of coffee. They serve the usual list of espresso drinks, with the addition of a few Italian specialities. To my surprise they also offer brewed coffee and cold brew. The pastries are always changing, and they have some savory items. I like the patio in the back on a nice day. Service is usually ok to great. They also have free wifi up to 2 hours.

A pretty decent place to work on your laptop during the week. Very friendly staff and consistent coffee! Plenty of chairs, tables, and electrical outlets. The WiFi can be challenging to connect to, I got disconnected multiple times and it requires an email activation (grr). So be aware of that if you’re coming to work.

Well, I may be a bit biased because of my origins, but if I really long for an espresso that is worth its name, the only place within walking distance from home is this one (and there are plenty of coffee shops now in the neighborhood). But that's just my taste. Be prepared to fork out a little more than average, the "medium" is at $3.66 taxes included. One only small observation: espresso should always and only be served in the appropriate ceramics little mug, the famous "tazzina"---the barista shouldn't even ask. Please take note...

This place used to be good and was very popular. Like most things Castro, the management has become complacent. Staff are downright surly now. Stale pastries (many of them wrapped in plastic, like it's a bake sale). Oddly, there is often a staff to customer ratio of about 1:1, which means that staff hang around and b.s. -- and loud! Whether you're there to relax and enjoy a coffee or get a little work done, the cackling employees make it impossible. Fortunately, it's the Castro, I have about a dozen other coffee choices.

Great friendly staff. WIFI is good enough for doing work.

I love coming here to work, they play great music and its never too crowded. There is a small patio out back to sit and enjoy coffee and a snack which is great. The staff here are very friendly and keep the place spotless.

The Castro has lots of coffee options, from tried and true old standbys like Spike's and Philz, to newer breeds like Reveille. Illy falls under the latter category, and brings an upscale European feel that differentiates it from the competition when you want to sip your espresso while pretending to be in Milan. The prices are similar to other neighborhood coffee bars, and the baristas are friendly enough. There is also a restroom onsite, as well as a limited selection of pastries.

The competitors shows prices with VAT included and Illy doesn’t. In the screen the price shown was $2.80 but finally 8 paid $3.20. The size is much smaller than their competitors and yes, the coffee is Italian...but I didn’t find any difference in between this coffee and the one served at Peet’s. So...don’t think for me it worth to come back anymore. Staff: after kinda arguing (I just requested to be charged for what the screen shows, didn’t want any refund either but also it wasn’t offered) with the staff...they understood my point of view...Sorry for this lower rate. I just want to help you out to make it better and understandable.