SIGNAL Coffee (Sunday Pop Up)

About SIGNAL Coffee in Palo Alto

SIGNAL Coffee Roasters is an independent roaster from Alameda in the East Bay. It has no storefront in Palo Alto. Instead, it brings a coffee stand to the California Avenue Palo Alto Farmers Market every Sunday. Its own website lists the Cal Ave market alongside its cafés and two other farmers markets as places to "get the SIGNAL." This listing covers that Sunday stand, which OpenStreetMap places in the 400 block of South California Avenue. Look for it among the market stalls rather than in a storefront.

The company describes itself as a partnership between two creatives, Rebecca and Brendan, who turned a long obsession with coffee into a roasting business. Rebecca brings an eye for design and Brendan a creative edge, according to the SIGNAL story on its site. The brand's stated aim is coffee that is delicious and easy to love without cutting corners. Press links on the company's site trace its first Alameda café to late 2021, followed by cafés in Berkeley and, in 2026, a San Francisco café near Fisherman's Wharf.

The coffee

SIGNAL roasts its beans every week in the Bay Area. It says it roasts single-origin coffees and curated blends from ethical sources and ships within days of roasting. The core lineup carries radio-themed names. Transmission, Ohm and Wavelength are medium roasts. Analog is the dark roast. The company says it now has seven varietal offerings, plus a rotating series of small specialty lots it calls CURRENT.

At its cafés, SIGNAL serves small batch coffee, custom blended specialty drinks and pastries baked in house. The farmers market stand is a smaller operation, so expect a shorter menu than at a full café. Bags of whole bean coffee are the main thing to take home if you like what you taste. Because the drink list is not posted for the market stand, ask at the counter what is brewing that morning.

The Sunday market setting

The stand is part of the California Avenue Farmers Market, which sets up on California Avenue at El Camino Real. The market's organizer lists it as open Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., every week of the year, rain or shine. A coffee from the stand makes an easy start to a morning of shopping at the farm stalls.

SIGNAL also appears at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market at the San Francisco Ferry Building on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and at the Sunnyvale Farmers Market on Saturdays. Palo Alto is the only Sunday market stop listed on its site.

Buying SIGNAL beyond the market

If you miss a Sunday, you can still buy the coffee. SIGNAL sells beans, brewing equipment and merchandise online and ships worldwide. Orders over $40 ship free, according to the site. A recurring subscription lets regulars get beans on a schedule. The roaster also supplies a short list of wholesale partners, including cafés, restaurants and markets in Alameda, Albany, Danville and San Francisco. Businesses can apply to carry it.

The company's five cafés are at 2701 Leavenworth Street in San Francisco, 2130 Center Street and 1707 Solano Avenue in Berkeley and 1536 Webster Street and 2318A Central Avenue in Alameda. The Webster Street café, its first, sits in a building from 1916 with a patio in back. Online ordering for pickup is available at the cafés.

Tips for visiting

Come early if you want a coffee before the market gets crowded. The market opens at 9 a.m. and wraps up at 1 p.m., so there is no afternoon option. Businesses on California Avenue point visitors to two hours of free street and garage parking in the district. The City of Palo Alto posts the current rules on its parking pages. Read the signs before you leave the car.

Plan the rest of the morning with our guide to Palo Alto's farmers markets. Our California Avenue neighborhood guide covers brunch spots and shops on the same street. For cafés that are open all week, see our Palo Alto coffee guide.

Location and getting there

SIGNAL Coffee (Sunday Pop Up) is at 400 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306, in the California Avenue area of Palo Alto. Our California Avenue guide covers what else is around.

The nearest train stop is the California Avenue Caltrain station, about 0.3 miles away. That is roughly a 8 minute walk.

Parking: street spaces and city garages with posted limits (see parking in Palo Alto).

Hours

Hours from OpenStreetMap contributors, checked October 29, 2026.

What is nearby

• Technology Credit Union, service business, under 0.1 mi
• Club Pilates, studio or gym, under 0.1 mi
• Best in Class Education Center, school or studio, under 0.1 mi
• Citibank El Camino Real, service business, under 0.1 mi
• Izzy's Brooklyn Bagels, restaurant, under 0.1 mi
• College Terrace Library, 0.2 mi
• Bowden Park, 0.4 mi
• Peers Park, 0.4 mi

Other cafes and coffee shops nearby: Backyard Brew (under 0.1 mi); UMe Tea (under 0.1 mi); Fambrini's Cafe (under 0.1 mi); ZombieRunner Coffee (0.1 mi). Browse the full cafes and coffee shops list.

Before you go

• Weekday mornings bring a rush of commuters and students, so expect a line between about 8 and 9:30 a.m.
• Some cafes limit laptop use at busy times or have few outlets. Ask before settling in for a long work session.
• Hours often change with the school calendar and holidays. Check the cafe's site or map listing before a special trip.

About this listing

Checked October 29, 2026 against SIGNAL Coffee Roasters official website; Where to find SIGNAL; SIGNAL cafés; The SIGNAL story; California Avenue Farmers Market (Urban Village). How our listings work. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Frequently asked questions