Purple Onion Cafe

Absolutely LOVED my gluten free breakfast sandwich on a gf baguette. The overnight oats were also excellent (and gluten free). Really great.

One of my favorite places for breakfast/lunch/coffee! Menu is on the smaller side and hasn't ever let me down. The Chorizo Burrito and Chicken Mozz sandwich are a couple of my favorites. The staff here are wonderful and have bent over backwards (in cases where I was at fault) to provide great service. As other reviews have stated, it can definitely get chaotic during lunch hour.

Great downtown go to place, consistently good food and great coffee! They serve Illy coffee. The quiche and pastries are filling and good coffee companions. There is outdoor and indoor seating. Since it is a popular stop, you may have to hunt for a spot on the weekends. But they move people pretty quickly.

I really enjoy this place. Everything I've had there tastes great. I especially like the croissant egg sandwich with sausage. They have a sauce they add that makes it taste great (the croissant is already good.) I don't think you can go wrong here.

This is my favorite spot for a sandwich and some coffee especially after a morning hike. My go-to recommendation is the Breakfast BLT. The bacon on it is mouthwatering delicious!! I’ve taken multiple friends and family here and they’ve all become fans too. If you’re already exploring Los Gatos, Purple Onion Café is absolutely worth the pit-stop.

Great little cafe with healthy and delicious breakfast and lunch options. So far I've loved everything I've tried, highlights are the detox soup, chai latte (with alternative milk options- oat and almond), lemonade, and the gluten free desserts (blondie, brownie, and cream-filled chocolate cupcake)!

Always tasty, clean and fresh choices. Gluten free friendly as they use Mariposa bakery baguette. Oat milk available as well.

Stefanie Chiguluri

This is my favorite spot for a sandwich and some coffee especially after a morning hike. My go-to recommendation is the Breakfast BLT. The bacon on it is mouthwatering delicious!! I’ve taken multiple friends and family here and they’ve all become fans too. If you’re already exploring Los Gatos, Purple Onion Café is absolutely worth the pit-stop.

Shannon Jones

Great little cafe with healthy and delicious breakfast and lunch options. So far I've loved everything I've tried, highlights are the detox soup, chai latte (with alternative milk options- oat and almond), lemonade, and the gluten free desserts (blondie, brownie, and cream-filled chocolate cupcake)!

Crystel Squier

Always tasty, clean and fresh choices. Gluten free friendly as they use Mariposa bakery baguette. Oat milk available as well.

Really nice place to grab a delicious breakfast sandwich. I had a sandwich with scrambled eggs, avocado,and bacon. Sounds pretty simple but it was delicious. I had a nice long conversation with a friend while enjoying our breakfast and coffee. Clean bathrooms, friendly efficient staff, good food and coffee drinks.

A great coffee spot next to a hiking trail! Super friendly staff...love their breakfast menu!

Delicious food, good speciality coffee with a historical vibe.

Purple Onion Cafe is a great spot to fuel up before a hike! I had the bacon and egg breakfast sandwich, a solid protein-packed choice, and a triple cappuccino that was smooth and energizing. The staff was friendly and welcoming, making the experience even better. The only drawback? Parking. There are free 90-minute spots, but they fill up fast, and Los Gatos PD keeps a close eye on the area—so watch the time! Great food, great coffee, just plan ahead for parking.

My son loves their BBB Pork sandwich and Tomato soup combo and we get it for him at least once a week now. I usually get their vegetarian sandwich and they are delicious. Also the croissant is enormous. I did try their cappuccino and it was not great but it wasn’t terrible. But as ya’all know the cappuccino can taste vastly different based on who makes it so I think it’s okay for me. I have dined in, did multiple take outs, and usually get them delivered.

I have had breakfast here multiple times now. The coffee is DELICIOUS and served in a ceramic mug if you do dine in. There's vegetarian options, I had the egg breakfast croissant with veggies which is very filling. Comfortable outdoor seating in the shade. Food came out quickly and the service was great! Good spot to come for a casual breakfast.

Shelley McGee

Purple Onion Cafe is a great spot to fuel up before a hike! I had the bacon and egg breakfast sandwich, a solid protein-packed choice, and a triple cappuccino that was smooth and energizing. The staff was friendly and welcoming, making the experience even better. The only drawback? Parking. There are free 90-minute spots, but they fill up fast, and Los Gatos PD keeps a close eye on the area—so watch the time! Great food, great coffee, just plan ahead for parking.

Laura Hamilton

Great fresh food, helpful staff. The only downsides are that it can get really busy at lunchtime because of students from the high school, and if you sit outside, be aware that it's a busy corner and can get quite noisy from the traffic. Otherwise it's excellent. I love the Ahi Superfood Salad, ate every bite!

Ann Gratzek Njaka

This is a stand in line cafe. There is no table service. The staff is friendly enough. I wished they cleaned the tables more often. The food however is consistently fresh tasty and well made. The cookies are delicious.

Judy L

My son loves their BBB Pork sandwich and Tomato soup combo and we get it for him at least once a week now. I usually get their vegetarian sandwich and they are delicious. Also the croissant is enormous. I did try their cappuccino and it was not great but it wasn’t terrible. But as ya’all know the cappuccino can taste vastly different based on who makes it so I think it’s okay for me. I have dined in, did multiple take outs, and usually get them delivered.

Tatjana Beck

I have had breakfast here multiple times now. The coffee is DELICIOUS and served in a ceramic mug if you do dine in. There's vegetarian options, I had the egg breakfast croissant with veggies which is very filling. Comfortable outdoor seating in the shade. Food came out quickly and the service was great! Good spot to come for a casual breakfast.

This was a good sandwich and salad. But the wait was long and the place was crowded.

I had the grilled three cheese tomato sandwich and it was excellent. The restaurant is very informal and parking in downtown Los Gatos was a bit challenging, but I'd certainly recommend it for a quick bite when visiting the winery.

Went for a Sunday breakfast. It was about 9am, not crowded, takes about 10min to get our plates. We had to bring our dirty plate back to the main counter. Not a big deal. Cost about 12$ per person.

Purple Onion is in a very nice location on Main Street in Downtown Los Gatos, perfect for sitting & watching the world go by while you eat. The food is very fresh. The California taco salad, egg & bacon breakfast sandwich and turkey cranberry sandwich are excellent. The grilled veggie focaccia was very fresh, but could have used some seasoning. Easily solved with a bit of salt & pepper, though. Overall, strong recommend for this lovely little lunch spot.

Great cozy spot with good drinks and food options. Food has a choice of healthy as well binge products. Tried the French toast muffin and it was delicious as was the pasta salad. Plenty of seating indoors and outdoors. It's off the main Street so parking is also easier.

This is a nice place to sit outside in the shade and enjoy lunch. I had a barbecue sandwich which was tasty and just the right size (that is, not as big as a Shaquille O’Neal shoe!). I’ve been here a couple of times and would very go again.

A great place for a quick bite and/or coffee. The menu is varied. A plus is a fair amount of inside seating and plenty of natural light. 🅿️ can be tight during peak hours.

This place is very convenient if you do cycling, running or walking with dog in Los Gatos Creek Trail. The food is excellent, specially for health-conscious people. Fruit salad, chicken salad, breakfast croissant are my fave. They even not mind to tweak the menu to adjust your preferences. I did with salmon croissant, which is somehow not in the list (chicken, turkey, ham or just eggs). Pink lemonade is great for gulping after run.

PO is pretty consistently good. They have lots of meat on the menu but also vegan and vegetarian options (hey, overnight oats and breakfast/egg croissant). They also provide reusable silverware: while I bring my own, it's nice to have the option. Outdoor vs indoor seating available. Sometimes I wish the staff were a little friendlier, but it works.

Great place to get lunch or a coffee. They have a wide variety of different food and drink items. Turkey cranberry sandwich was delicious!

Cute little cafe - have to disagree with the comment below on horrible customer service. I always feel like everyone there is extremely friendly. It is a bit on the pricier side though. They offer a good amount of gluten free options as well as dairy milk alternatives. Loved their lattes/matcha lattee and pastries!

Probably in the top 30% in the coffee quality category for me. Food selection is limited but there are a few decent options for a brunch/ quick bite. I like the tiny but cosy outdoor area with the small tables.

Very high quality ingredients, always busy modern cafe near downtown Los gatos. The food is good, service has slipped a bit in recent years. Healthy lunch favorite for los gatos women.

A pleasant spot that's dog-friendly. The menu is straightforward and reasonably priced. The service is good.

Ellen Moore

PO is pretty consistently good. They have lots of meat on the menu but also vegan and vegetarian options (hey, overnight oats and breakfast/egg croissant). They also provide reusable silverware: while I bring my own, it's nice to have the option. Outdoor vs indoor seating available. Sometimes I wish the staff were a little friendlier, but it works.

H Reilly

Great place to get lunch or a coffee. They have a wide variety of different food and drink items. Turkey cranberry sandwich was delicious!

Nicole Spoljar

Cute little cafe - have to disagree with the comment below on horrible customer service. I always feel like everyone there is extremely friendly. It is a bit on the pricier side though. They offer a good amount of gluten free options as well as dairy milk alternatives. Loved their lattes/matcha lattee and pastries!

Dmitry Kulshitsky

Probably in the top 30% in the coffee quality category for me. Food selection is limited but there are a few decent options for a brunch/ quick bite. I like the tiny but cosy outdoor area with the small tables.

Ksenia Postolnik

A pleasant spot that's dog-friendly. The menu is straightforward and reasonably priced. The service is good.

Kartal Tibet

Very high quality ingredients, always busy modern cafe near downtown Los gatos. The food is good, service has slipped a bit in recent years. Healthy lunch favorite for los gatos women.

A very nice place to meet in Los Gatos. Basic coffee shop food but good service friendly and quick. Excellent for what it is.

Tom O'Leary

A very nice place to meet in Los Gatos. Basic coffee shop food but good service friendly and quick. Excellent for what it is.

Great food!!, chairs uncomfortable, parking challenging. The food was excellent. I had the flank steak with blue cheese sandwich, came with a nice salad of greens, lovely flavor and easy to eat, good crispy on outside bread( I find some steak sandwiches tough). We ended up on the stools at front, arrived about 11:40am, on a Thursday. Better than most of that type, but still has us squirming. Parking, no directions to any lots at all. Street parking was virtually full. Try for off peak hours times.

Nice little place! The food is very good! The chorizo burrito was delicious! The gentleman who took our order in Friday morning (short dark hair) was not very friendly though, at all.

Love POC, but what happened to the amazing blueberry scones?! Apple and raisin scones? Yuck. Bring back the blueberry scones please!!

The have really good coffee. The only problem is the chaotic situation when you order. I ordered a cappuccino and a croissant and ask for warming it up. They forgot about the crossaint so I asked twice to get it. The waitress was not friendly at all.

This review is for the downtown Los Gatos Purple Onion Cafe on East Main Street. They have a second location on Winchester Blvd. The Purple Onion. is a popular local hangout for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack. The extensive menu features a wide variety of sandwiches, soups, salads and outrageously tempting pastries. On my last lunch visit, I had a classic turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato on a fresh ciabatta roll. The turkey was good, but unfortunately the kitchen put way too much extra-hot Dijon mustard on the bread. After just one bite (yikes!) I had to scrape off the rest with a knife. The service at this place has been erratic lately. There seems to have been quite a bit of turnover (including the former long-time manager) and the amount of training and supervision the staff now receives is minimal at best. And despite what the owner claims on their website, this place definitely doesn't offer "white tablecloth standard" service. You'll need to bring your patience. Don’t bring cash since they only take credit cards and electronic payment. Also, if you’re with other people, be sure to grab an outside table. The restaurant is extremely loud when it’s busy and it’s almost impossible to hold a conversation. I’ll go back after a morning hike just for coffee, but I’ll go elsewhere in town for lunch. My three star rating is generous.

Quality has gone down over the past 6 months. Americano is dilute and watery, regular coffee has no body or taste. Food service is really slow. Disappointed 😞 ☕️

Alan Feinberg

This review is for the downtown Los Gatos Purple Onion Cafe on East Main Street. They have a second location on Winchester Blvd. The Purple Onion. is a popular local hangout for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack. The extensive menu features a wide variety of sandwiches, soups, salads and outrageously tempting pastries. On my last lunch visit, I had a classic turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato on a fresh ciabatta roll. The turkey was good, but unfortunately the kitchen put way too much extra-hot Dijon mustard on the bread. After just one bite (yikes!) I had to scrape off the rest with a knife. The service at this place has been erratic lately. There seems to have been quite a bit of turnover (including the former long-time manager) and the amount of training and supervision the staff now receives is minimal at best. And despite what the owner claims on their website, this place definitely doesn't offer "white tablecloth standard" service. You'll need to bring your patience. Don’t bring cash since they only take credit cards and electronic payment. Also, if you’re with other people, be sure to grab an outside table. The restaurant is extremely loud when it’s busy and it’s almost impossible to hold a conversation. I’ll go back after a morning hike just for coffee, but I’ll go elsewhere in town for lunch. My three star rating is generous.

Piyush Tandon

Quality has gone down over the past 6 months. Americano is dilute and watery, regular coffee has no body or taste. Food service is really slow. Disappointed 😞 ☕️

Coffee was terrible unfortunately. The lady who made my coffee didn’t even bother to say which one is macchiato and which one is cappuccino. Service is lazy. Also Surprised it’s illy since it tasted so bad. The guy who took our order was nice though!

Véronique

Coffee was terrible unfortunately. The lady who made my coffee didn’t even bother to say which one is macchiato and which one is cappuccino. Service is lazy. Also Surprised it’s illy since it tasted so bad. The guy who took our order was nice though!

Extremely rude staff person working there. I don’t know if she’s an employee or owner, but as an area with many travelers passing through, places should be mindful how to treat travelers and of the impression they leave. I had spilt coffee on me and simply needed a napkin; that was IT. She rudely stopped me and told me to get back with aggressive body language, using her arms to motion me to where she wanted me to stand....even after I had just told her that I just needed a napkin! I understand the precautions businesses have to take with COVID, but her candor was abrasive and uncalled for....pick your battles! It was just a napkin. I could tell she judged that I wasn’t from the area and treated me like she didn’t really need the business. No problem; I’ll never be back again.

Sad to see that what was once a very cool place has gone downhill tremendously and quality and prestige. Sure the location is gray and has acute outside, but if that’s about it, the coffee is mediocre, and the food is overpriced. If that wasn’t enough, they try to charge me $1.50 for half and half into my coffee. What a joke!

Clown 🤡 show - after 20 min for two salads and a grilled cheese, our buzzer never went off, and apparently they gave our food to someone else....Went across the street for a delicious salad and grilled cheese! 🙄

I rarely give one star ratings but this place deserves it. We got the lox box, the veggie sandwich, a latte and 3 pastries. The lox box was really 2 boxes - one with all ingredients, one with the greens and the bread came separately. Basically I made my own sandwich but paid a steep price for it. The veggie sandwich was also disappointing - thinly sliced veggies on a piece of bread. All pastries tasted like they were store-bought. They were all cold and kinda stale. The latte was okay, nothing special. They charged an extra $1 for a milk alternative. The total amount we paid was ~$55, so pretty expensive for what we got. I’m not sure why we were asked if we were dining in or taking it to-go because everything came in boxes anyways.

I had waited patiently for 20min for a mocha before asking where it was. Upon realizing they lost the ticket or didn't print it, they said they'd make it right away. I repeated that it was with oatmilk, but they made it with whole milk. Then I said I'd just take a cup for drip coffee. The manager didn't acknowledge me and just handed me a paper cup. The coffee dispenser was empty, so I waited for them to bring out another one. I explained the situation to the other manager, she insisted on refunding me, so I waited but she never did refund me, so I left.

Jeff M

I had waited patiently for 20min for a mocha before asking where it was. Upon realizing they lost the ticket or didn't print it, they said they'd make it right away. I repeated that it was with oatmilk, but they made it with whole milk. Then I said I'd just take a cup for drip coffee. The manager didn't acknowledge me and just handed me a paper cup. The coffee dispenser was empty, so I waited for them to bring out another one. I explained the situation to the other manager, she insisted on refunding me, so I waited but she never did refund me, so I left.

Nicholas Shackelford

Clown 🤡 show - after 20 min for two salads and a grilled cheese, our buzzer never went off, and apparently they gave our food to someone else....Went across the street for a delicious salad and grilled cheese! 🙄