Steep (formerly KBT Café)

I love that this exists in Science Hill. It can get very busy but the staff are organized and there is rarely a mix up. The items are decent, lots of sugar free options for snacks. Overall a good place to grab coffee/tea and a quick bite!

Nice little coffee shop and café - one of the only ones on Yale’s Science Hill. Has a limited selection of sandwiches, soups, salads, & snacks, as well as barista-made and bottled beverages. Food can sometimes run out so it’s best to get there earlier rather than later. This café has a bright sunny ambience with comfy seating and nice views of the campus. Its main downside is its limited operating hours, and the long lines during class breaks.

I like Dante's Inferno and the Columbian dark roast. The cafe boasts lovely natural lighting and essentially, the cafe is a large solarium. The cafe plays classic soul music most of the time. It's good for a quick bite. The KBT dining staff are always lovely and they roast their own beans.

Within the renovated Kline Tower at Yale University sits Steep, a café that telegraphs academic ambition through its architecture as clearly as through its menu. The space announces itself with a bright orange counter that punctuates the otherwise restrained palette of woods, glass, and concrete – a visual exclamation mark amid scholarly reserve. On a recent spring morning, sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting geometric shadows from the distinctive wooden lattice ceiling onto the terrazzo floors below. Students hunched over laptops, their concentration occasionally broken by the hiss of the espresso machine behind the glass-fronted counter where pastries are displayed with gallery-like precision. The renovation that transformed the former KBT Café into this airy sanctum exemplifies Yale's broader reimagining of Science Hill. Architecture firm Stantec has preserved Philip Johnson's 1966 tower while creating interior spaces that speak to contemporary sensibilities – open concept layouts, sustainable materials, and a seamless flow between indoor and outdoor areas. The outdoor terrace offers an unexpected respite from academic intensity. Metal tables are arranged across a patterned stone patio beneath a slatted canopy, creating a space where conversations drift between discussions of molecular biology and weekend plans. Glimpses of brick buildings and green canopy beyond root the space firmly within Yale's distinctive landscape. Inside, cerulean blue chairs and salmon-pink loungers create pops of color against wooden walls and the warm honey tones of the dramatic coffered ceiling. The furniture arrangement – individual tables, communal high tops, and comfortable seating areas – accommodates various social configurations from solitary study to impromptu seminars. The menu mirrors this architectural thoughtfulness, balancing academic functionality with culinary aspiration. Single-origin coffee from Café Femenino, a women's collective in Peru, speaks to Yale's institutional values while delivering the caffeine necessary for sustained intellectual engagement. A morning cappuccino arrived with perfect microfoam, neither ostentatiously crafted nor carelessly prepared. Steep's culinary program emphasizes "clean eating" with locally sourced ingredients. A spinach and goat cheese quiche demonstrated technical competence – flaky crust, silky custard – while sandwiches displayed careful construction. The food prioritizes nourishment over novelty, though occasional flourishes appear in seasonal offerings and vegan pastries that don't apologize for their lack of butter. Like any institution navigating change, Steep faces operational challenges. During peak hours, lines stretch chaotically, testing the patience of hungry scholars. The price point – approximately $6 for cold-pressed juice – strains student budgets, particularly when meal swipes offer just $9 of purchasing power. The café's name operates on multiple levels – a reference to both tea preparation and the uphill location on Science Hill. This layered meaning reflects Steep's fundamental character: a thoughtfully designed space where form and function, academics and nourishment, tradition and innovation steep together to create something essential to campus life. In a university where buildings embody institutional values, Steep offers more than sustenance. It provides a physical manifestation of Yale's current moment – environmentally conscious, design-forward, and cognizant of community needs, yet still bound by certain institutional constraints. For visitors to campus, it offers a glimpse into the evolving culture of one of America's oldest universities; for regulars, it provides daily caffeine and calories enhanced by architectural significance.