Prolific Oven

Delicious chocolate cake. All their pastries look amazing. Quiet location, able to sit and enjoy great food and study if you want to.

I suggest the lemon tart, not the cappuccino but black coffe

Excellent sandwiches and bonus cake! Highly recommended

Nice quiet cafe on waverly street, a block away from the busy university ave street. Good cakes and collection of teas and coffee.

The Prolific Oven is my go-to bakery in Palo Alto. They do nice cakes for occasions (anything chocolate is particularly good, I think). It's also nice to sit down for something sweet and a cup of coffee -- I think they have free WiFi. Prices are a little high but not too bad.

I live in Palo Alto and it's one of my favorite cafes around University Ave. They have the best German chocolate cake ever! Love it! It's a nice cafe with lot's of students (with their laptops). The coffee is not the best but it's good! The sandwiches are good to and many of the other pastries.

Great place! They have pastries! Homey, cozy environment. And a bathroom in the back.

Coffee is good, tiramisu was ok.
As someone who only rarely comes to Palo Alto I don t think this is a place I d go out of my way to come back to. If you want a quiet place to work, this is the place for you. But if you are like me and love cafes with a friendly upbeat vibe, its not. This place is closer to a library than the cafes I frequent. As I told my mom after we left, Its a fun place to go once, and then never come back,
But I m not calling it bad, its a good place. Just not for me.

Where else do they give you free cake with your sandwich???

Lovely little bakery hidden away on a quiet side street. After an afternoon of strolling along university, or perhaps you had to go to the apple store for a purchase or repair, and now you are tired,hungry, or thirsty...then definitely stop by here and get refueled!

I had mesmerizing experience at this bakery and coffee house with mind blowing German cake and amazing real hot chocolate

Eh, not impressed. Quiet, decent bitter cappacino and dry tiramisu.

Small and quiet coffee place just around the corner of Palo Alto's main street.
I had a delicious chocolate cake with orange and almonds. Recommended!

this is a great place to get a good coffee and get a bit of work done. It's a nice quiet spot. The food and coffee are good. Lunch even comes with a surprise piece of cake.

Espresso is so so. Didn't like the croissant either, tasted like left over from yesterday. Won't go back.

Good for a quick coffee and pastries. They only have pastries on Sunday day morning they don't serve breakfast.

Been coming here forever. The Macaroons are on another level

Tiramisu was a huge disappointment, the cake layers were like rock :(

Can't get enough of those eclairs! ! Will miss them the most when I go back home.

Well established, Palo Alto institution, great staff, great coffee served in warm mugs, delicious pastries, excellent lunches.

The sandwich I got here was underwhelming but it's pretty cool that they give you a free slice of cake.

A classic cafe, in a great location. Nothing fancy, but excellent execution on what matters.

The chocolate rum cake is amazing. What else do I have to say.

Great pastries and nice coffee, perfect for mornings!

I've been enjoying their cakes since I was a child. Simply the best. Now I come here for lunch all the time their sandwiches benefit from having the best bread I've had at a restaurant! Don't be put off by the steepish prices on lunch: it includes a small piece of cake!

Recommended sandwiches: The Prolific Garden, The Alpine, The Californian.

Recommended sweets: Eclairs, whatever cakes they have (all are GREAT!)

Good cakes, sandwiches and salads. Great prices. Not a fancy place, best for a quiet lunch if you're by yourself and want to read. Not great to meet friends as it lacks a bit of ambiance. Most sandwiches and soups come with a piece of delicious chocolate cake. I'd definitely recommend you check it out.

Very good place to be quietly having coffee, and very tasty coffee

You get a little slice of cake with every order. That is all the convincing I needed to try this place. I'm glad that I did.

The cake here is amazing! Love it it's a nice place to hang out with your friends, or to do a bit of work since it's not so crowded and they have an amazing working hours.

Came by on a Sunday afternoon. Ordered carrot cake slice, brew coffee and ice blended coffee- they ran out of the latter. Was hot and stuffy in the cafe do we sat outside which was significantly cooler. Cake was okay.

Wonderful baked goods. The cakes are a family tradition for celebrations at my house.

Decent sandwiches, fast service, and a few outside tables. The included slice of cake was a nice treat.

Quiet, cute. Would be a great place to get work done. Soup and salad combo was fantastic, and proportions are very generous. Even came with desert!

Clean place and organized loved the ambiance of the place. Staffs were very accommodating and super friendly. Good food. A perfect place to cope up with friends.

I really enjoyed the coffee shop, really great place to get work done. The Internet was fast and reliable. I really loved their pastries, they are all really fresh. I highly recommend the puff pastries and carrot cake.

Been there for the sandwiches and the bread fantastic of course. Oh and the cake is great.

Mouth-watering array of desserts and pastries. The almond cake was to die for!

Palo Alto-ians frequent this place with their books, newspapers, friends. Rather calm and dimly lit atmosphere. Cozy, like the feeling of entering a rustic house. Baked items sell quickly. Cakes, cookies, pastries for the those who like the feeling of getting their hands stuck in the cookie jar, their noses in their books, with fingers wrapped around a warm cup of tea or coffee, mouths discussing everything but politics.

The chocolate cake here is to die for! We order it every year for birthdays.

Historic local bakery with the best cakes in the area for decades, hands-down. This has been a mainstay of my life since the early '80s, and despite living further and further from it I still always come back. Luscious, heavy, moist cakes to die for...

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Good pastries and friendly staff. Sometimes it I pretty drafty so don't sit near the door.

This was a nice place to sit at a table and work for a bit. Their pastries and lattes are delicious.

It was quiet, despite a steady stream of people on a Saturday morning. I'd work here again, but the limited space means I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable staying for more than a couple hours, unless I brought a friend and purchased additional food (and tip!).

Four plus calls made over a two week period at different times and days to place an order and always placed on hold for 5-10 minutes at which point I hang up. Perhaps the ability to order online should be considered.

I had the tuna salad. The portion was huge and it came with a nice suprise piece of free chocolate cake, which is without a date the best chocolate cake i have ever eaten.

Usually not a fan of butter cream cake but really enjoyed their cake

I had the prolific garden sandwich and got dessert with it.Great sandwich and desert combo.

Best. Carrot cake. Ever. Seriously, this is the best cake you'll find anywhere. Ask them to make the crossing without the rum, and you get a lecture about how there is no way to make good cream cheese frosting without any rum... Purists, perhaps, great cake, definitely.

Fun, low key place for dessert. Amazing chocolate and almond croissants. Cheap and delicious = win.

Great cakes and pastries but they should clean up a bit

One of my favorite places to hang out. The staff is friendly and the pastries are always fresh and tasty. Get there early if you want one of their awesome croissants.

Pastries and coffees, just ok. People and location above average. Its a place out of the way of the Une Ave hustle and bustle, and that's a huge plus.