Cafe Phoenix - Arcata, California

Rachel J.

This was a cute little cafe! The food was pretty tasty. It could use a little more seasoning, but I appreciated the very friendly service and lots of vegan options. I ordered the ALT wrap. It was very lettuce heavy, but the veggies were fresh and crisp.

Kurt W.

These guys are awesome!!! Great food, great service, and a nice outdoor seating area. If you can see the teeth marks in it, then it's cooked right. Gluten free and vegan options are a plus. Legit bbq joint.

Steve V.

Pros: cute atmosphere, inside and outside seating, flowers, picnic tables in back for groups, great coffee.

Cons: relatively expensive, horrible food, poorly trained college staff, no table service.

Specifics: I ordered the gluten free breakfast burrito. It was $17. Although it was visually beautiful, the tastes were completely out of balance. Extremely salty to the point of being almost inedible with a strong burnt taste and an occasional blast of excessive garlic. The burrito was also far too large for one person and I'm not a dainty eater. My wife's dish was also so salty she couldn't finish it.

So overall, we would not go back, which is too bad because they must have some good dishes based on the other reviews we read. I felt like we just threw $45 out the window.

Kiana E.

One of the best restaurants in Humboldt! Yes, the Phoenix Potatoes are EVERYTHING you could ask for. And yes, you should get a hot drink! And yes, of course they have good salsa for the spice fans.

C C.

2/14/25
Came back for more and it was amazing! We tried the tri tip plate which came with fresh green salad, pesto pasta, and cornbread, as well as the loaded baked potato. It was amazing! All of it was cooked to perfection with flavorful sauce and dressing. We will be back, Cafe Phoenix & Smoked Backyard BBQ! 🙂

1/2015
We have eaten at Cafe Phx many many times and looove their food. Always delicious, fresh, and healthy. This was our first time try Smoked and the riblets were amazing!!! So good that we wanted to order them again tonight but they are closed til the weekend so we will have to wait. They have amazing outdoor patio seating and said they will be getting heaters soon so let the outdoor dinner parties commence! This is something you don’t want to miss!

Mayuri B.

Such tasty food, fresh! and vegan/vegetarian friendly- in preparation too! They make their own vegan milks and their treats and warm drinks are divine.

Thanks to Izzy and the other employees at the desk- they made us feel very comfortable to order the food- they are careful about cross contamination if you let them know. Their bowl was very tasty and the cookies too!

Special shoutout to your young workers at the front! It made us want to eat there despite being worried about the options. 🙂

Ivory M.

Update: had break here recently and it was absolutely delicious. I’m all about how the dish is plated and they killed! Who ever the chef is they have quite the eye for food art!

My mom had the omelet special and I have the glorified grilled cheese. The potatoes with the omelet were soooo good! However I think the grilled cheese would have been so much better if the geese was actually melted but it was still good more like a cheese sandwich. I’ll be returning to try the grilled cheese again but I will be asking for them to fully melt the cheese, I’m looking forward to it.

sam H.

Cafe Phoenix offers high quality food, wonderful ambiance and very friendly service. My partner and I had an absolutely amazing meal here and we want to give a HUGE shoutout to chef Michael. He was extremely welcoming and the food was top notch. The garden back patio was so pleasant and this is hands down our new favorite restaurant in Arcata. Looking forward to eating here again soon.