Big Basin Cafe

Great cafe in downtown Saratoga. We love the coffee here - strong and fresh!
They've a lot of variety breakfast options and great seating place. We have been coming here regularly for over a year now.

Went to this little, cute cafe on the Saratoga for coffee and breakfast. Ordered a whole lot from the menu. Waiters are nice and patient. Lattes are subtle and refreshing, but are definitely on the expensive side costing 6-7$ for each latte. Scones are good. But the classic brownie and food are a let down. Definitely a place to go sip your coffee and hangout but not a great option for food.

Cute cafe, with great coffee, but food service left something to be desired, if anyone has dietary restrictions.

I ordered a breakfast burrito without bacon, since I'm a vegetarian. The menu said no substitutions, so I clarified 3 times during ordering if it was okay to get the burrito without meat. I hate imposing requests, and would have ordered something else if it was a problem, but I was told it would be totally fine. When my food came... it was full of bacon. I apologized and politely asked for the burrito to be bacon free, and they said of course... but the next burrito that came back a minute later was the same one, which had been unwrapped, had some (but not all) of the bacon removed, and rewrapped. I realized after a couple bites that it tasted wrong, unwrapped it and looked again - voila. Slabs of bacon still. At that point I gave up, finished my delicious coffee, and left the meal uneaten. I could have asked for something else, but at that point I had lost my appetite, and just hit the road.
Come for the coffee, and if you eat everything - it's probably great for you. If you have special requests, however, I would steer clear.

Very beautiful and cozy cafe amidst the historical city of Saratoga. They have a very friendly vibe and the ambience is just beautiful. The staff is friendly and very helpful. The portion size is quite generous. The road side sitting arrangement just adds to the feel of the place.
More than anything they have a range of vegetarian options, may it be lasagna or quiches. The Gelato is the best I have ever tasted. Variety of coffee from light to dark Ethiopian. They have an assortment of cakes including carrot cakes. The cafe is open from 7am to 7pm seven days of the week.
With the beautiful sitting arrangement to the vegetarian friendly menu and friendly staff a visit to this cafe definitely adds to the Saratoga experience.

I’m a big fan of independent coffee houses and this place is high on my list of favorites. They only buy organic beans which they roast in-house in small batches. There are always three choices available by the cup including a Dark Roast and a Swiss Water Process Decaf. There’s also a large selection of the usual coffee drinks, both hot and iced, including Espresso, Cappuccino, Cafe Latte, and Mocha for chocolate lovers.

But this is so much more than a coffee house. The cafe has an all-day breakfast menu, as well as sandwiches and salads. They also offer a selection of freshly made artisan quiches by the slice. Those with a sweet tooth have plenty of choices including locally made pies, cookies, cakes, gelato, and sinfully delicate pastries. Vegetarians have lots of options too.

The Big Basin Cafe is located in the heart of historic downtown Saratoga and they’re open seven days a week. It’s a popular hangout for locals and can get quite crowded at lunchtime. The interior has a classic old school coffeehouse vibe. Grab a table on the patio and maybe you’ll be greeted by their very shy and adorable housecat.

Ordered avocado toast and vegetarian lasagna, both were really tasty 😋 I like how they have the Louisiana hot sauce packets. It went well with the food we got.

Maybe the coffee is really good and that’s why folks love it here—I’m not sure. But the food is truly underwhelming, and expensive to boot. We ordered the “open breakfast” without cheese or toast to make it gluten free (they don’t offer GF bread). The total for two people was close to $40. The results were plastic plates, eggs that I’m fairly certain came from a carton, cold Avacado, cold tomatoes (that honestly had a fish flavor some how 🤢), cold cucumber, cold paper-thin “bacon”, and zero flavor. If you’re desperately hungry and hate money, this place is perfect! The staff are friendly and busy, so I don’t want this review to reflect poorly on them (thus 2-stars). It’s just hard to sincerely say the food was good. In truth, this is likely one of the worst meals at a restaurant we’ve had.

The bagel with ham and cheese was quite ok. I like the taste of Latte with white rose & honey. I had trouble finding the prices and it was not clear where to get what.

Nice place, great music, more room outside than inside. Coffee is great as well. I had the honey vanilla latte, it wasn't too sweet but just sweet enough.

We stopped in for a gelato on Sunday afternoon. The gelato was good and I also spent some time looking at coffee bean varieties. I was impressed by the categorizing of them and wide selection. In the end I purchased a bag of the house blend, which is really good.

Looking forward to returning and working my way through the other varieties. 🍧☕