Red Bay Coffee Headquarters & Cafe

A December 2025 sign on the door at Red Bay Coffee Headquarters announced the International Boulevard cafe is closed. Coffee is still served at the original roaster on East 10th a few blocks away. That's the most important thing to know before you drive to Oakland for it.

What the HQ cafe was, before it closed, is worth understanding because the operation continues. Red Bay is a Black-owned Oakland roaster founded by Keba Konte, community-anchored, with an upstairs coworking space that drew remote workers all day. Plush indoor seating, high ceilings, plenty of outlets, a warm calm vibe. The HQ closure is real, and so is the loss to that block.

The coffee program is the reason to follow Red Bay to the original location. The Saigon (Vietnamese) latte with condensed milk is the move. Vietnamese cold brew if it's hot out. The candied yam latte sounds invented and is not. Red Bay Fog is the tea-latte version of the same instinct. The charcoal latte is on the menu for the people who want it. For beans, Coltrane and Brazilian Cake Lady are the classic roasts, and the People Get Ready series is the newer line worth trying.

The mission anchors the whole thing. Keba Konte built Red Bay as a Black-owned Oakland operation with community-first programming threaded through the roasting, the hiring, and the room itself. The HQ cafe was the most visible expression of that, and its closure means the work shifts back toward the original site and the wholesale program.

Parking is mostly difficult paid street parking, which adds friction to the trip. Service has been hit-or-miss for regulars over the past year, with the closure presumably part of a larger shift. If you're committed to the mission and the coffee, you adjust. The Saigon latte and the Coltrane bag are still reasons enough to.