{"id":80402,"date":"2025-12-03T22:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T22:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/80402\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T22:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T22:00:08","slug":"in-coffee-crazed-east-bay-one-cafe-and-roaster-comes-out-on-top-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/80402\/","title":{"rendered":"In coffee-crazed East Bay, one cafe and roaster comes out on top"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coffee competition is fierce in the East Bay, with numerous nationally recognized roasters and a plethora of cafes. Berkeley routinely ranks among the U.S. cities with the most coffee shops per capita, and other Bay Area cities aren\u2019t far behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nosh readers cast their votes prior to Thanksgiving, and the results of the\u00a02025 Nosh Awards\u00a0are in. Visit Nosh every day from now until Dec. 12 to see a new award announced each day. Congratulations to all the winners!<\/p>\n

Among this crowded field, Nosh voters chose Mother Tongue Cafe & Bar in Oakland\u2019s Jewel Box neighborhood as the best coffee shop in the East Bay.<\/p>\n

Predictably, it starts with the coffee. Owner and founder Jen Apodaca has been roasting beans since 2005 and launched the Mother Tongue brand in 2019. Apodaca is a certified Q-Grader, which requires passing a rigorous exam testing one\u2019s coffee tasting abilities, and is the former chair of the Coffee Roasters Guild of America. Apodaca also was the 2019 US Cup Tasters Champion, and won second place in the 2022 Roasters Championship. Mother Tongue also has made a commitment to pay higher than standard prices to the coffee growers it partners with, and Apodaca launched the #shestheroaster campaign to support women in the coffee industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The coffee roasting experience and mission-driven ethos are all infused in Mother Tongue\u2019s flagship, and lone, cafe that opened in April 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Voters applauded the core product: \u201cGreat coffee!\u201d; \u201cThe best coffee!\u201d; \u201cThe cold brew!\u201d <\/p>\n

The cafe\u2019s welcoming atmosphere and space also were called out. The cafe has a spacious outdoor patio, and both bar and table seating inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Mother Tongue Cafe & Bar offers a full drink menu, including Bloody Marys and espresso martinis, and serves Colonial Donuts and pastries from The French Spot. Credit: Tovin Lapan\/East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n

\u201cMother Tongue is a great establishment. The drinks (and after dark beverages) are consistently delicious, the staff is always friendly and accommodating and the ambiance is unmatched,\u201d\u00a0 commented Lyndsie of Oakland.<\/p>\n

To go with the cold brews, lattes and pour overs, Mother Tongues sells Colonial Donuts and pastries from The French Spot in addition to a menu of small plates like cheese plates and toasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone who works at Mother Tongue seems extremely kind. They have an adorable patio, and a yummy toast,\u201d commented Jenee of Oakland.<\/p>\n

308 41st St. (between Broadway and Emerald Street), Oakland; mothertongue.coffee<\/a><\/p>\n

Open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cafe also has a full bar, and some Nosh Award voters applauded the alcoholic drinks, including the Blood Mary and espresso martini as equally worthy of praise.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best decks for a coffee or cocktail in North Oakland, and one of my favorite local roasters for a bag to take home,\u201d wrote Jack of Oakland.<\/p>\n

The Caffe by Mr. Espresso, Cole Coffee, CoRo Coffee, Jaffa Coffee Roasters, and Roaming Bean Coffee were also finalists for Best Coffee Shop in the 2025 Nosh Awards.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mother Tongue Cafe & Bar is in the Jewel Box neighborhood of Oakland. Credit: Tovin Lapan\/East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n

“*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coffee competition is fierce in the East Bay, with numerous nationally recognized roasters and a plethora of cafes.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[44561,143,145,144,2593],"class_list":["post-80402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-2025-nosh-awards","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-restaurants-and-bars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}