Berkeley is home to a multitude of local and chain cafes frequented by students who fit every personality. I wanted to show how each brings its own unique style to the cafe culture. So, let’s imagine all these Berkeley cafes had majors. What would they study?
Philz Coffee: Business Administration
The innovators of the coffee club, Philz Coffee will wow you with its creative filtering style. You’ll walk out the door with five mint mojitos and three bags of Philtered Soul beans because those business-savy baristas really know how to sell you on “sweet and creamy.”
Strada: Psychology
As one of the most populated cafes, Strada gets one of the most popular majors. Strada is also a Psychology major because it’s the place where Berkeley students and locals alike flock to figure out what’s in one another’s heads, psychoanalyze overheard conversations amidst the crowded tables, or “people-watch.”
Free Speech Movement: History
FSM will make sure you know the history of your university, the city of Berkeley, and free speech. You’ll walk out with its famous dirty chai latte, maybe a pocket constitution, and a reaffirmation to protect the free speech that made this school so famous.
Yali’s: Engineering
Stanley Hall’s Yali’s will make you feel like you’re behind on looking for a summer internship. Everyone around you in the cafe is either on laptops or interviewing with professors. Located right in Stanley Hall (the STEM connections building), Yali’s is totally an engineer.
The Coffee Lab: Chemistry
The Coffee Lab is one of the less popular campus cafes, and this tiny window of a cafe ensconced in the chemistry complex looks like a basement laboratory. It might also might be a weeder cafe for those who are too lazy to bring cash. However, the cafe’s perfectly proportioned servings and neat little lab are here for those willing to put in the work.
1951 Cafe: Peace and Conflict Studies
1951’s mission is providing employment and job training for refugees, integrating refugees into the community, and raising awareness about the global refugee crisis. This cafe basically has a PACS honor’s thesis written on its walls.
Romeo’s: Undeclared
Romeo’s doesn’t exactly know what its about. It’ll either give you drinks with so much sugar it puts the Unicorn Frappuccino to shame, or black coffee so strong you’ll be feeling shaky for hours. Its aesthetic is edgy and innovative, but it is, at the same time, classic. However, the undeclared vibe works for the new cafe. Let’s just hope it graduates on time.
Starbucks: Economics
Ever heard “Well, we could always go to Starbucks?” Ever heard “Well, I guess I’ll major in Econ now?” Second choices all around.
Blue Bottle: Architecture
Blue Bottle on University Ave. focuses on aesthetics more than anything. The cafe is pristinely white with bleach white tables, but fine wooden chairs. Essentially, Blue Bottle might as well be located in Wurster, because it’s definitely an aspiring architecture major.
SoDoI: Sociology
“You like to make change? SoDoI!” SoDoI just screams Sociology, with a mission to facilitate conversations that might enact social change between baristas and the community and between individual customers.
Peet’s: EECS
They’re everywhere, always on campus, and not the most popular amongst students, but people visit them anyways because, as a meal point destination, it can be a better decision—financially. Need I say more?
Every Berkeley cafe has something different to offer. These comparisons aren’t perfect, but they help explain the diversity of personalities and “essences,” of these cafes through something we all understand: the vast diversity of college majors.