Caffe Bianco
Categories: Caterers, Breakfast & Brunch, Sandwiches [Edit]
Neighborhood: Financial District39 Sutter Street
(between Montgomery St & Sansome St)
San Francisco, CA 94104 (415) 421-2091
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch
- Alcohol: None
35 Reviews for Caffe Bianco
One of Caffe Bianco's Favorite Reviews
This is a great place for a morning pit stop! I had their Chi latte today and it was superb, even better than $tarbuck$ and at a much more reasonable price! They also have a great selection of fresh fruit, bagels, and breakfast burritos. The service is excellent, they get you through quickly and everyone is nice. I have stopped there a couple of times for lunch and their sandwiches are pretty good as well.
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Caffe Bianco is a no frills lunch spot with a bit of an odd atmosphere. Every time I go there are a bunch of the "senior crowd", folks above 60, having lunch. Odd.
Their wraps are decent, and I typically stick with those and an iced tea. For the price, for an average but decent lunch, and an atomosphere condusive to seniors, it's a ho hum alternative for lunch. It works when you're too lazy to think of anything else to eat.
i use to work around the corner from cafe bianco so it was convient. i love their wraps, my favorite is the ceasar wrap. the staff is very nice! i do recommend this place for a quick lunch!
This place serves up a fairly large selection of sandwiches and hot dishes. I've tried the turkey club sandwich, breakfast burrito and the pre-made Ciabatta sandwich. Hands down - the best bet is the pre-made Ciabatta sandwich: turkey or salami. Both options are winners! As for the turkey club, it was mediocre at best...something I could make better at home. The breakfast burrito was just plain terrible. It's overpriced and bland.
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Caffe Bianco makes for a weird place. It has a European-style seating area, makes decent sandwiches, and have fairly quick service (a necessity when you're on your way to a meeting and your beemer is double-parked). So they definitely satisfy some essential criteria for lunch in yuppie-land. But then come the parts that weird me out.
First, across the little corridor is another cafe or branch of the cafe. Or maybe it's the Bianco annex. Whatever it is I can't figure it out. They seem to have a decent salad bar, although I am far to fond of meat and carbs to eat that shit for lunch. It creeps me out and they should get their shit together and either make it one place, with a coherent decor, or just really make it obvious, and paint one place black or some shit.
Secondly, there is a really angry man with a moustache manning the register. He doesn't seem to really have his shit together, and it takes a long time for him to ring people up, creating a long line. But I can only assume that he owns the place, because not only is he kind of short with customers, but he barks orders and complains to the sandwich staff, even though they seem to be working hard and (almost) never screw up my order, unless moustache man was the one who took it down. Mr. Moustache Man, if you are the owner, let your staff do the work, sit down with an espresso and the "gazzetto dello sport", and live of the profits. You're not helping!
Lastly, their lasagna sucks! I love lasagna, I eat it and make it all the time. But theirs is honestly weird. the beef is all pale, and there doesn't seem to be any bechamel sauce in it. it is like buying frozen lasagna at safeway and cooking it in the microwave, but it costs you $6 or so, instead of $0.35.
Despite all this, I come all the time. It's literally across the street from my work, so it is too convenient. But stick to the ready-made salami-cheese ciabatta, or the melts. Don't experiment with the pre-made "Italian" food. And don't be nice to the Moustache Man, cause he won't be nice to you.
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After reading all these wonderful reviews on Yelp, I had high hopes for Caffe Bianco. Alas, it was not meant to be.
I went in, looked at their sample for the Chix Caesar Wrap and was unimpressed. It looked like a tightly rolled Examiner newspaper. So not worth $5.
So I decided to order the Mesquite Chix Sandwich on a ciabalta bun. Well they charged me an extra 30 cents for the fatter bun. So I ended up paying $5.60 for a cold sandwich. Really I could do that myself at home.
Anyway, I took it back to the office and threw it into our sad toaster oven to heat up the sandwich (I like hot sammies!). There was nothing special about this sandwich. They just gave me some tomatoes and lettuce. No special dressing nada. Chicken was so flat that it looked like it was steamrolled into submission. Sandwich was blah. Not that great.
Nope, as my Kid likes to say, "me no like it that one." Not gonna come back.
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Besides the slight long wait, the sandwiches are made to order. My favorite is their Salami-Balsamic Ciabatta and second, the Caesar wrap. All sandwiches can be toasted. Their pastas also looks healthy and delicious but it's a meal I would only order for dinner.
A salad buffet is available in the room next door for your own salad creation to-go, 1lb =$5.25. You can also dine upstairs if you want to be away from the lines and noise. This cafe gives off an old charming SF financial district feel. You'll notice the many customers eating and chatting in their black or navy business suits.
For eating in, you can walk up the stairs for a more quiet atmosphere. It's the most convenient lunch spot for me since my building is directly across the street.
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Out late last night. Now hungover and in a climate controlled office downtown. Bad air. Staring at a computer screen. Feeling gross. Need to get out. Need nourishment.
What does any of this have to do with Cafe Bianco, you ask?
The answer is simple, Cafe Bianco has the best vegetarian Minestrone soup around and it helped sooth my wretched condition.
now if I could only find a conference room or something so I can take a nap.
Why did I even come to work?
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Any place that gives you real cups and saucers and has little marble tables gets a plus, even if the tea selection is semi-uninspired. It's friendly, not too crowded, and a good place to have work meetings over coffee because it's quiet and spacious with nice tables. Their lunch food doesn't look inspiring, but the pumpkin scone I had there once and the proximity to my office go a long way. With how crowded some other FiDi spots get, the quiet dim upstairs is a nice change of pace Once my friend sweet-talked the cashier (en espanol, claro) into "lending" her a bag of chips to eat upstairs until she could bum cash off of me to pay for it.
We have a winner for CK's First (and possibly last) Pumpkin Muffin Challenge.
Actually, I spent 15 minutes this morning walking from Briazz (no pumpkin muffins) to Specialties (line was too long) to Seller's Market (no pumpkin muffins, try back for the cupcake) before swinging past Caffe Bianco for a pumpkin muffin. They won by default, since no one else wanted to step to the plate.
Beyond serving pumpkin muffins the week before Thanksgiving, Caffe Bianco also serves a pretty kick-ass breakfast burrito, which is made even awesomer with an included fruit cup for free. Now I can scarf down 800 calories of bacon, egg and cheese with out feeling guilty because I finished it off with kiwi and melon. Thanks Caffe Bianco!
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Pleasant north-beach style cafe with marble tables, homey atmosphere, right in the heart of downtown. Quiet and easy place to work from on this Thursday afternoon. I can't figure out why anyone would sit in starbucks when you can hang out here. Wifi access if you ask behind the counter for the password. Good coffee, and looks to be a kick ass lasagna for $5.50 - wish I hadn't eaten lunch.
This place is okay. Sandwiches are small and they slap wwaayyy too much mayo on the bread. The staff were all really nice.
Awesome breakfast/lunch spot downtown. I hit both today. Started with the Cafe Bianco, which is a mix of the house coffee and cinnamon, delicious. That was accompanied by egg whites and salsa wrapped in lavish bread. The perfect combo.
A bigger than normal breakfast leads to a smaller than usual lunch, and after spotting half sandwiches on the menu in the morning, I returned for a tasty house baked turkey cranberry sandwich. No complaints whatsoever.
I have worked in the FiDi for almost a year now, and never knew that the Market street Ritchey-Chancery corridor next door to the 7-11 led anywhere worthwhile...until today! My coworker dragged me away from work (or hanging out on Yelp and not working) to grab a quick bite to eat. And that's exactly what it was.
While we walked across the street, he mentioned I should try the Chicken Caesar Wrap...although he had 'overdosed' on it himself. We stood in line for a few minutes, placed our order with the older salt & pepper haired owner of the cafe, and then went upstairs to wait for our food. The ambiance of this place isn't anything special--cheesy art on the walls & no music to speak of.
I munched on my wrap, which only cost me $5.50 and was actually really good! Not too much caesar dressing, and just the right amount of grilled chicken. There's another place down the street that also does a chicken caesar wrap with cold chicken, doesn't nearly compare to this one in quality.
Their pastries looked fresh, but the lasagna did not. I would opt away from lasagna at this coffee shop/cafe, unless you want a long afternoon in the bathroom and a rough n' tumblin tummy.
So yea...Chicken Caesar Wrap with Lavash bread at Cafe Bianco is definitely a winner. I'm asking that they add some olives next time.
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Live it, love it, eat it.
For years and years (and years) Cafe Bianco has been a late afternoon haven for lunch. Perhaps the only lunch place in the Financial District (FiDi!? Come on kids -- does everything need an acronym?) with a neighborhood feel. Why spend lunch at a food factory or with other hipsters posing with $15 salads when you can grab really good grub, great chai & fair trade coffee, and free wireless late into the afternoon?
'Tis a bit dingy, but with friendly service, marble-top tables, Lester Young or other jazz greats on the stereo -- hope Cafe Bianco's around for decades to come.
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This place gets 4 stars because it's quick, the food is decent, and the price is right. The pre-made, house special salami sandwiches on chiabatta bread are great and huge, and you get one plus a drink for $6.00. If you want more, have the meatloaf sandwich or the meatball sandwich, or the Skyscraper club.
I'm not a "lunch" guy. What I want is decent food that I can grab in 10 minutes or less and drag back to my desk so I can stare at Yelp for a few minutes before going back to work. This place fits the bill excellently. You can't eat at Tadish's (or Aqua) every day.
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Caffe Bianco is a god place to grasp a fast breakfast and lunch. The owner is a very nice guy and his workers are mostly helpful. I use to have my oatmeal and boiled egg for breakfast, sometimes a bagel toasted with cream cheese or a low fat blueberry muffin. Coffee is fine there. For lunch, I love the salad bar, with lot of choices of green. Potato salad, bean salad, apple salad, pasta salad are all so tasty. One of the must try is the lavash wrap. Try the chicken ceaser or the caper tuna and you won't be disappointed. My husband tried its meatloaf and lasanga, he likes it. The price is quite reasonable for a downtown restaurant in Financial District. Well, I also like the smoothies but it's a bit quite pricey.
A friend works across the street on Sansome so I always take a shortcut from Market through the lobby of this random building. Whenever going through I always want to stop and check out the salad place and Caffe Bianco.
Fast forward 3 months. She no longer works there but I had to check this place out. it is honestly great! Fast, friendly, fresh and cheap! For the same price of Subway (except for the daily special) I get a bigger and better sandwhich. These guys don't cheap out on ingredients.
I liked them so much our office will now add them to the list of places we order our catered lunches from. In fact if you order catered lunches on a regular schedule they will give you 10% to 15% off the final invoice.
Yummmy stuff!
A trip back to the 1920s, or 1940s, or 50s, or 70s, this lunch push-a tray-and-point joint occupies both sides plus the upstairs of a cramped "arcade" in a dark old wedge-shaped office building. Red wine poured generously into chipped little glasses is a perfect accompaniment to highly cooked soups and dutch crunch bread toasted with some orange fat spread. Between being refrigerated cold and the vin-o-vac stopper, its' a remarkably fresh glass of vino for $3.50.
If you are on the run from somebody they will never look for you here. Beware the incessant light piano jazz.
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This place gets two starts because the space is nice and the service was very friendly and prompt. Lots of pretty women coming and going from this place in their business suits, heels and take-out salads so if you are into business-suity women, the scenery is great.
The food is shite!
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Thursdays are the days that I get sh*t on at work. Extra tension, extra stupidity and extra bitching/moaning/griping/waaahh. I come to cafe bianco every Thursday morning to have a last breath of sanity before entering said gates of hell. I order the chai latte (extra chai, extra foam, extra hot..not really- i'm not that ridiculous) and procrastinate for 10 minutes - usually by reading or eavesdropping on one of the many elderly patrons. Good prices, good service and wow- their scones aren't stale. People we've got a winner.
They have $5 minimum on credit/atm cards- but there is a Wells Fargo ATM 3 doors down.
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We call this place Hemingway's. I had to do some crazy research to find out its real name, since every time I go to lunch these days I always call Brandi and ask if she wants to have a Hemingway beer with me.
Hemingway? I mean, I thought he died in Florida. So weird that he chose to haunt this place.
Perfect for solid lunch fare at a reasonable price.
Great salad sampler-- beet salad, green bean salad, potato salad... you name a veggie and I am sure they'll make a salad out of it. The meatloaf sandwich is yummy. My co-worker swears by the chicken Caesar salad.
For mornings go for the breakfast burrito. Comes with a nice bit of fruit salad.
A smidge on the dirty side. I saw a staff member kill a cockroach behind the bagel toaster once, but at least they killed it.
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I just started working in this area and I walk by Caffe Bianco every morning on my way to the office. I used to get coffee before work, but now I have to cram myself into the rush hour crowds, having coffee with me is no longer feasible. At all.
But where to go in the new neighborhood? The gross closet of a Starbucks? Ick. The Tully's I have never seen but whose cups my coworkers always seem to have? If you can't find it, you can't patronize it. The sign outside Caffe Bianco is charming, though, so I went in my second morning to check it out.
I have to congratulate myself on an excellent decision. The coffee is fair trade, and at $2.25 for a double-small latte, the price is entirely reasonable. I've never waited behind more than two people, and all the people at the tables always seem so relaxed, even the ones drowning in a swamp of laptop-and-bluetooth office-technology.
Anyway, I like getting my coffee here and I am determined to become a regular. If only they had a frequent-customer card. Still, walking past the line of Serious Businesspeople trailing out of that gross little Starbucks every morning, knowing that MY coffee place right next door is a million times better, gives me such a delightfully smug feeling, let me tell you.
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It's a funny place; kind of like they just threw a salad bar in the lobby of an office building. Actually, that's exactly what it's like. But they have sandwiches and soups and fresh fruit, too, and plenty of seating. Overall, not a bad option.
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Spacious & cosy breakfast/lunch/coffee oasis.
If you are tiring of starbucks, this old school spot is a good escape from the office to sip some joe and chill.
...and they make a mean tuna on rye.
This is just an average and un-interesting lunch spot in the findist. I worked in this area for years and it took me a while to get there and when I finally went there I was non-delighted. I think if you are going to spend money for lunch--it should be delightful, exceptional. I think the findist is not a cheap place to have lunch. I do expect a lot because every dollar I get is very hard earned.
Bianco gets outsourced by Sutter Station at lunch time which makes for a pretty good pair. The sandwiches are pretty standard, but also not too expensive, leaving a little change in your pocket for a noontime beer. I'll have to visit Bianco proper to allow for a more robust review, but until then an average 3 stars.
Went there with a friend. We almost backed out thinking the place was full. Only then did we realize that there were tables upstairs. I ordered a veggie sandwich with avocado sprouts. The waiter was friendly and they deliver it to your table. The sandwich was not filling and I had to order a pasta. The only problem I noticed was that the waiters wouldn't serve the pasta unless you paid for them (When I ordered the pasta the waiter was checking with the cashier and pointing in my direction. I guess he was checking if I had paid for the pasta. Only then did I realize that you had to pay before eating though they deliver the food at your table. Strangely as I was paying there was another guy who reminded the cashier that he owed them for a plate of lasagna. He had finished his lunch by then!)
I have been going to Caffe Bianco for over 15 years, I bet. I just walked by it yesterday, and thought again to myself, how happy I am that it is there. (Didn't have time to stop in and eat though.) Their sandwiches are custom made, and they're nice about tweaking things with whatver extras that make you happy. Soups, salads, lasagna... plenty of variety for everybody. They aren't spectacularly creative meals -- but just nice pleasant food, at nice pleasant prices, served by nice pleasant people. Good espresso drinks too. The thing I probably like the most about it is the ambiance. It's quirky there among the office buildings. Huge windows to let in a lot of light, and a somewhat European flavor to the decor. Lots of little round marble tables to sit at -- and the best kept secret is that there are stairs off to the side and a whole upstairs section with even more seating (still with the window light) for when the place looks full. I really like supporting the little guys, and although there are probably 75 Starbuck's within a block of here, if you feel like sitting down and reading the paper and enjoying a good latte -- this is definitely the better option.
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I've been working so close to this place for the past 5 years and would have never noticed this place nor eaten here had it not been a suggestion made by Marcia W. Located inside an old office building, it faces out to Sutter Street, but is accessable through this easily missed lobby door that faces out to Market St (right next to GNC and 7-Eleven). There's also a nail salon and alterations shop in the lobby, and you can tell that the owners have been there for a long time. The cafe has a big selection, so if you are feeling up for anything, you'll be able to find something there. There's a big salad bar, where you can make your own salad for $5, a burrito station (I got a small chicken burrito which was quite good and the perfect portion for only $3.50), sandwiches, pastas and soups. Everything is priced around $5, which is great if you're someone like me who eats out practically every day. Very casual and nothing fussy, lots of seating and not too many people.
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Having worked upstairs from Cafe Bianco for almost two years, it has worked its way into my heart. The coffee is great, and all fair trade. Everyone is friendly, the prices area reasonable, and the food is tasty and fresh.
It's a shame it's not open on weekends or later at night- but it really caters to the financial district lunch crowd. The side with a salad bar and burritos isn't quite as nice as the main counter, but it's convenient, fast, and clean. I like how the whole place is sort of welcoming, with decent music that's not too loud and a steady stream of interesting artwork on the walls.
I can't find another place to get coconut macaroons- Cafe Trieste has them, but theirs are no better, cost more, and are smaller. I hope this place lasts forever. With all of the fast food garbage, and all of the really mediocre independent eateries out there, it's great to know you can stop in at Cafe Bianco for something wholesome that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, but not five. It's a dependable favorite of mine, but if you're willing to pay enough you can probably get better food elsewhere. It's an awesome lunch spot, but I reserve five stars for the elusive combination of stellar quality and value.
a good staple if you know what to order. sandwiches are decent and i love that they lavash as an option instead of sliced breads or rolls. some good salads and nice options for breakfast.
Nice place to grab a salad or sandwich... pretty quiet atmosphere right in downtown... reasonable prices too... I recommend the Bianco Club on sourdough bread. The Chicken Caesar is a nice choice too... the staff and owner are friendly...
before you scoff at me and impugn my credibility for having given some old world cafe in the financial district four stars, please hear me out. yes... i know cafe bianco isnt going to win any awards for its food, but in the somewhat monochromatic downtown scene filled with the likes of specialitys, chili up, lee's, generic burrito places, starbucks, et al., cafe bianco's old world charm really shines through. the food is typical cafe style with sandwiches, some hot plate items and your typical salad bar. the main room has a lofted ceiling, is airy yet cozy, seating is plentiful both on the cafe level as well as on the mezzanine level. music selection is always jazz or classical. prices are cheap and the food is satisfying (i like the breakfast burrito with fresh fruit for under $3.00 and the meatloaf on penne pasta with marinara sauce and baguette for $5.70) okay, so that doesnt exactly blow you away, but if you work near sutter and market, i urge you to step into cafe bianco for a coffee break and check it out. youll find yourself wanting to just kick back for a while and relax, and thats worth something in these fast paced times, isnt it?
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