Hook Me Up: Cafe Dejena

I've always seen this cafe on 40th Street while I'm on the bus going to and from the Bay Street Malls in Emeryville. Cafe Dejena is like the only thing around this area, which is right across the street from the MacArthur BART station.

So it's Saturday afternoon and I just finished watching a movie at the Bay Street Mall (it was 27 Dresses for those who wants to know) so this time I got off the bus and decided to check this place out. It was kind of poor planning on my part because I got up late, caught a late movie, and now it's near the end of the day and I just realize the cafe closes at 5 p.m., so now I just have 20 minutes before I have to leave.

Like I said, Cafe Dejena looks like it's the only thing around in this neighborhood. I guess some consider this still the Temescal neighborhood in Oakland. The cafe's structure looks like something you'd see in Southern California with its make-believe Italian villa decor.

The cafe actually sells a lot of different things to eat, from Italian dishes to pastries and a variety of salads. It publicizes Eritrean specialties, which I just asked the people here and they say it's similar to Ethiopian food but don't call it that because the Eritreans and Ethiopians hate each other. Oh my. Anyway, they have a whole lot of food that I need to explore next time when I'm not rushing out.

I ended up just getting this really big blueberry scone and a glass of Tao Lotus green tea, which was nice and refreshing on this kind of warm winter day here in Oakland.

Cafe Dejena looks like it'd be a fun place to hangout on a really sunny day because of all the windows that really let a lot of light in. But the neighborhood, I guess being across from BART, can seem a bit sketchy. Still, it has free wi-fi and that's basically all one looks for when you have a MacBook and digital camera. ;-)

Cafe Dejena
Location: 3939 Martin Luther King Jr. Way (at 40th), Oakland
PH: 510.655.9328
Food: Eritrean, American and Italian delicacies, pastries, salads
Coffee: A variety of Italian specialty coffees, incuding espresso, macchiato, cappucino, latte
Tea: Tao brand
Wi-Fi: Yes, free (no password needed)
Outlets: Yes, pretty much throughout the place.
Restrooms: Yes
Seating: About 12 round tables throughout a wide open area.
Cleanliness: Pretty well-kept