CAFFE MEDITERRANEUM
2475 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley • 549-1128
SERVING:
- coffee
- tea
- pastries
OPEN UNTIL: 12AM
PARKING: street
THE EBI REVIEW: Once upon a time, the East Bay’s oldest cafe was ‘bohemian’ and radical. Now it’s not. According to rumours, Ginsberg wrote part of “Howl” here. Testimony and history would indicate that Caffe Med was a pretty happening place. Robert Anton Wilson name-dropped it in Schrodinger’s Cat:
Two Berkeley acid-heads, known on Telegraph Avenue as The Cat and The Dog, dreamed up a more intense disinformation matrix in 1980. “What would happen, ” The Cat asked one day in the Cafe Mediterraneum, “if we bought a truck and painted on the side of it INTERNATIONAL COCAINE IMPORTERS INC., and drove it around the streets?” “In Berkeley,” The Dog said, “the cops would just laugh. They’d be sure it was another put-on by the Hog Farm or the Merry Pranksters or somebody. But in San Francisco they wouldn’t take a chance. The first cop would stop the truck and search it.” “Nah,” said an unsuccessful poet named Robert W. Anton. “They’re more hip than that in San Francisco. But in L.A…” The debate spread from the Med to Moe’s, from Moe’s to Sather Gate, leapt the Bay…” (–Robert Anton Wilson aka Robert W. Anton, 1979)
Caffe Mediterraneum has been somewhat empty (physically and figuratively) the times when I’ve been in there. In fact, on the night we took that exterior photo, the only thing happening was a couple of hobos yelling at us about the “impoliteness of flash photography.”
The first Yelp reviewer said it pretty well: “Unfortunately Berkeley has long stopped being the cradle of rebellion, so mostly all these guys accomplish is scaring off freshmen UCB students to the other side of the street.” Sadder still, while you might be inclined to chat up the clientele, you’ll be disappointed. If you can get past the unshowered aroma, you’ll find damaged hippies and aging boomers without much to say–which makes it similar to a student-populated cafe, though decidedly more mellow. Sometimes I wish I’d been born earlier.
REVIEWS:
Entries (RSS)
April 12th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Thank you! That was really helpful, I just Dugg your website url.
October 15th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
a “..nick name..”
that surfaced in the ’80s
via fleetwood mac’s
first road manager
kevin lynam
is “..the berkeley wax museum..”
but the new owner
craig becker
has done a lot
to bring the place back
and many are grateful
for that
October 24th, 2010 at 3:51 am
Thank You for the greet page – I loved reading it!
November 22nd, 2010 at 1:08 pm
according to charles scamahorn
scholar and lecturer
on conan doyle
patty hearst
used to like to sit
in front of the large blue rectangle
on the lower portion
of the southwest wall
of the caffe “..med..”
at a large square table
when she was a student
at cal berkeley
November 24th, 2010 at 3:35 am
according to
carroll peery
astrologer / blues afficianado
“squeaky” fromme
[charles manson follower
and attempted presidential assassin (gerald ford)]
once tried
to smash out a front window
of caffe “med”
after arguing with the staff
but was stopped
so perhaps the “med” has improved
December 20th, 2010 at 12:34 am
[…] Caffe Mediterraneum, Berkeley | EAST BAY INSOMNIAC 20 Nov 2007. Robert Anton Wilson name-dropped it in Schrodinger’s Cat: Two Berkeley acid- heads, known on Telegraph Avenue as The Cat and The Dog, dreamed up a more. you’ll find damaged hippies and aging boomers without much to say–which makes it. Beverly Pim says: April 12th, 2010 at 1:05 pm. Thank you! Caffe Mediterraneum, Berkeley | EAST BAY INSOMNIAC […]
January 25th, 2011 at 6:12 am
Amaze You did a actually beneficial work on this item.
January 26th, 2011 at 2:53 am
i ‘ve quit going to the med.
too many crazy, disturbed people
on the sidewalk late at night.
and i do n’t like the “..med..”
duct taping assault suspects.
that ’s caffe “..guantanamo..” …
May 12th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
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June 8th, 2011 at 4:31 am
Maybe you’re right, but I still have my own opinion about this.
August 16th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
will someone please remove
the above preceding
micro “info”mercials? ..
they have nothing to do
with caffe “med” ..
September 8th, 2011 at 3:58 am
But keep plowing half your portfolio into gold – just like everyone and their kid brother is advising people to do…
September 8th, 2011 at 8:03 am
this caffe med forum
is turning into an infomercial site ..
craig .. what the hell ’s goin’ on? ..
hello .. craig? .. where the hell are ya? ..
November 1st, 2011 at 11:59 am
I’ve said that least 3309195 times. The problem this like that is they are just too compilcated for the average bird, if you know what I mean
November 4th, 2011 at 9:21 am
What Firefox Extension can I get to download streaming videos from sites?
November 6th, 2011 at 12:39 am
it looks like
some corporate style republicans
are trying to take over
the caffe mediterraneum page
at east bay insomniac
with a lot of boring biz talk ..
December 23rd, 2011 at 1:55 am
have revisited “the med”
since the sequoia apartments
across the street
burned up ..
quite a view
from the med’s “window table” ..
a gargantuan pile of rubble ..
like the corpse of a gigantic whale ..
and the med is still there ..
and its’ customers ..
December 31st, 2011 at 11:44 pm
i still avoid the med
on thursday nights ..
the so called “open mike” ..
monopolized by strumming noodlers ..
and their friends ..
January 5th, 2012 at 12:08 am
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January 6th, 2012 at 9:21 pm
uh oh ..
the boring republican business types
are returning ..
where there once were guitars and songs
in coffee houses
there are now laptops ..
coffee houses are looking more like
study halls and business offices ..