Part cafe, part art gallery, part event center, the Tamper Room Cafe & Gallery is a community gathering place in the Pacific Commons area in Fremont. It’s known for creative drinks, croffles, a friendly atmosphere, events and rotating displays of work by Bay Area artists.
The name “Tamper Room” echoes coffee culture terminology (a tamper is the tool used to compress espresso grounds), but the founders describe the place as more of a community art space and cafe than just a typical coffee shop. They focused on creating a space for creativity and social connection as much as coffee.
Fremont native and owner Samantha Huang grew up helping out in her family’s cafe. She is a graduate of California College of Arts in San Francisco and organized art shows as a student. After college, Huang moved back to Fremont.
“One of the reasons I was reluctant to move back to Fremont was because I felt there was no art scene,” said Huang. “At some point, I realized we could create our own.”
During her travels she was inspired by cafe culture in Japan and Taiwan which combined art, music and cafes. She partnered with a group of creative colleagues to open the cafe.
Since its opening in February of 2023, the Tamper Room has hosted more than 200 events including gallery exhibits, craft workshops, live music, raves, open mics and nonprofit events.
Imran Najam-Noveno, the talent liaison, said, “We wanted to make a space that was welcoming to everyone. It definitely caters towards the arts, but really all kinds of creatives. It’s a very DIY, do-it-yourself, creative space where you can enjoy coffee and croffles.”
DIY in this context means the artists are typically local and use unconventional spaces to display or perform their work. They participate in shaping the programming in a more informal, community-based setting.
Creo Noveno-Najam serves as the artist liaison and gallery director. “We’ve become a third space,” they said. “We’ve basically evolved beyond being just a coffee shop. It’s been really fun seeing people come here and make friends, make connections, I think that’s been the most fulfilling part for me.”
A third place is a social environment, separate from home (“first place”) and work (“second place”), where people regularly gather for conversation, relaxation and community. The cafe offers a relaxed and inviting setting. The walls are brimming with local artwork and hand-made items for sale or display. Gallery exhibits can also reflect community celebrations like the Filipino American History Month showcase.
The menu reflects the cafe’s focus on creativity. The most popular menu item is the croffle, a hybrid pastry created by pressing croissant dough in a waffle iron to create a caramelized, crispy exterior. There is an imaginative variety of croffles on the menu. The ube croffle is topped with ube custard and berries and the churro croffle is topped with cinnamon, condensed milk and caramel sauce. There are several savory croffles too like the maple bacon and tomato basil croffles.
Customers not in the mood for coffee can try a kumquat matcha tonic or one of the many other flavors of matcha on the menu. The menu also features hojicha tea, roasted green tea with toasty, nutty notes, less commonly offered in local cafes.
Looking to the future, Huang said, “Ideally, I would love to expand our hours and stay open later. That is the priority right now. We are looking into being able to have regular craft nights maybe twice a week. A year ago people hadn’t really heard about us yet. Things may have changed now. The more people hear about us we can ride that momentum and just make more events happen.”
The event calendar can be found on Instagram: @tamperroom
Tamper Room Cafe & Gallery
43737 Boscell Rd., Fremont
510.573.0070
