Courtesy of Sue’s Gallery Cafe

The sign and outside seating area are the first things you see when you walk up to the cafe.

Located on Big Basin Way in the heart of downtown Saratoga is hybrid cafe and art gallery called Sue’s Gallery Cafe. 

The mom-and-pop business features a standard cafe paired with a pottery display. It was started in 2016 by co-owners JJ Kang and Sue Kang, who are husband and wife. 

“What’s really cool about the cafe is that it has a separate space that combines both the owners’ passions. [The ceramic gallery is made by Sue] and the cafe comes from JJ, whose passion is the coffee, so it works well together,” said James, a supervisor and barista who declined to give his last name. 

Opened in 2016, the building is split into two parts: the cafe, where customers can place and pick up their orders, and the gallery, with lots of comfortable seating and a display of Sue’s pottery pieces — creating a cozy atmosphere for customers to enjoy their drinks and pastries. 

Sue’s Cafe offers many unusual drinks such as their Charcoal Latte, with charcoal from coconut shells, which is priced at $6.20 for a hot latte and $6.70 for iced. Other drinks and pastries are priced between $7 to $10. 

I tried the Charcoal Latte and found that it has a subtle, earthy and burnt taste that pairs well with the taste of the coffee. The Charcoal Latte is one of the cafe’s most popular items, along with the Matcha Ube Latte, which is also $6.20 for a hot latte and $6.70 for iced. 

Most of the cafe’s many pastries are bought from local bakeries or suppliers as the store doesn’t have any in-house baking facilities. However, the employees batch and make certain syrups in-house. When they have leftovers, they usually distribute it to the employees.

“I’ll usually text all my friends and ask them what pastries they want, and then I’ll end up running around like a Doordash driver,” one barista said.

The cafe is a popular spot for many Saratogans. Many retirees come to pick up a coffee in the mornings and people who work from home come to the cafe to get their work done. 

“We get a lot of middle-aged customers, so like 20 to 30 years old, but it’s really all around” James said. “Students will come here to study, and older people will come here to relax and get a coffee while they walk around.”

The cafe is a nice place to work at for employees, according to James. It’s a fun environment and he enjoys working there because of the community it brings. 

The store has little trinkets like keychains and figurines that the staff has placed over the years. There are also portraits of the employees on the shelves, which were drawn by one of the employees. The staff has a little game of guessing which drawing is which employee and they invite customers to play the game as well.

“We’ve built a good relationship with the locals, and many of our regulars will just pop in to chat while they get their morning coffee,” James said.

With its unique blend of art, coffee and community, Sue’s Gallery Cafe continues to be a long standing cozy corner of Saratoga to the local community.

“Just stop by and chill out, it’s a great spot to get coffee or do whatever you need to do,” James said.