Artesano

Been here half a dozen times, and everything is consistently good. The plantains and coconut bread pudding are standouts.

I’ve been going here since they opened and the quality continues to go down and the prices continue to creep up. Bad combo. Two sandwiches with fries and two drinks used to be a little over $ 30 and now it’s a little over $ 40. Fries don’t come with a lunch sandwich? Seriously? That’s some nickel and dime stuff. The food is usually pretty good but at this point I think they are just trying to cash in on affluent customers in Laurel Heights who probably don’t care how much their lunch costs anyway.

Food needs to be fresh, especially at the prices Artesano charges. Day old yucca fries taste rancid & bitter and the texture is not crispy. Also, black beans need to be fresh –soaked in water overnight and cooked slowly the next day. Onion and garlic a must. Artesano’s beans have the bitter after taste of a can… not good! I think kitchen staff is not paying enough attention or they are not of Latin American origin like me. Regardless, well prepared comfort food is awesome but needs attention to detail!
Net out: Too expensive for mediocre tasting Latin American food. Okay in a pinch but I always walk out feeling disappointed in the quality and ripped off. Lacks love in the preparation.

I was here again today. I really love their chicken and the plantain chips. I’m starting to realize I have a thing for Peruvian food.

Today, Artesano upped their game.
I had the yucca fries (solid, just like the first time I had them), the black bean soup (amaze, I tell you, perfect flavor/​decorated with fresh jalapeño rings and crema), and mango-​orange agua fresca.
You got it right this time, Artesano. I shall return.

I tried the albondigas and chicken skewers. The albondigas were a bit dry. Not sure if they’re cooking frozen meatballs or not, but they weren’t fresh with moisture. The chicken skewers were a bit of a let down. They have their own hot sauce on the tables, but the texture is too watery. Barely tip the bottle and most of it comes out. The flavor of the hot sauce is ok. The table I sat at wasn’t sturdy/​leveled and it kept moving — which was slightly annoying. The restaurant appeared clean and tidy for the most part and I was there post-​lunch. I’ll try the place one more time and will definitely try something else on the menu. Hopefully it will be a hit.

I have been here several times, I like the chicken sandwich and the hard limeade really good! I like the limeade the alcohol one and the non alcohol one both are really good! They taste the same the one with the alcohol gives you the warm buzz. I also order the rice and beans with the chicken sandwich, really good and flavorful. Just enough food to leave full, but not overally full where you say ugh I ate too much.

Are we allowed to use an expletive on Unilocal?
Well, if the answer is «yes,» I wanna tell you ’bout the chicken: Damn! F-​ing #Amazing! If I gotta keep it PG, I’ll just say the chicken was «so damn yummy, it’ll make you wanna slap yo’ mamma!»
Either way, we had lunch for 14 catered to our weekend retreat: HUGE success. Generous portions, an array of spice & aromas to tickle the senses and satisfy the tongue.
The vegetarian options were equally as tasty (or so I’m told) — I couldn’t tear myself away from the «Chicken Artesano» marinated to perfection in oregano & garlic. Once again, DAMN!

The chicken artesano was phenomenal! I’d say easily one of the best cooked pieces of chicken I’ve had in the last few months.
It was definitely on the blander side so I had to add some of the salsa picante they had on the table.
The rice and beans were tasty, though very average.
The side salad was just a few pieces of lettuce and dressing. It felt a little out of place with the rest of the meal.
If you’re looking for something reasonably priced, reasonably healthy and you’re not feeling like taking a risk, this is your dish.
Super friendly service and a lot of other tasty looking items on the menu so I’ll be back for sure!

Sandwich: 5 stars
Bang for your buck: 3 ½ stars
$ 13 steak sandwich with no sides included. Excellent and tasty sandwich but they should throw in some fries.
$ 4+ for the Agua Fresca. Tasty but pricey. You can skip this and grab a free water.
$ 19 and change for 1 person for the items mentioned above. Lower your prices and you’d have me coming here every single day!

I’m in love, guys. I’m in love with the steak sandwich that I ordered. It perfect sandwich bread, toasted and soft on the inside. The steak was cooked medium and had an aioli spread. I was craving the Cubano sandwich, especially after watching the movie, ‘Chef’ multiple times. The Cubano was not what I expected. They included a pulled pork marinated in some type of spice, reminiscent of curry, which I’m sure it isn’t. Along with our sandwiches, we ordered the yuca fritas and the ceviche. The ceviche was tangy and fresh, perfectly paired with crispy platano chips. The yuca fritas was yummy with the two sauces that came with it, one of which was garlic cream similar to ranch dressing.
No five stars given only because it’s kind of pricey. This lunch consisting of two sandwiches, an appetizer and side, one beer and an agua Fresca cost $ 80. Yes, they are located in the boutique neighborhood of Laurel Village, but please, it was only a sandwich! Don’t get it twisted however, I would come back.

Delicious food and great customer service. Really can’t go wrong here.
Management and cashiers awesome!

Stopped by after a disappointing lunch at Rigolos (same ownership) hoping that artesano was spared. Unfortunately doesn’t seem like it. They reprinted their menu on paper– no obvious food changes but their prices did look higher. Last time I was here the staff highly recommended the brownie with dulce de leche, so I figured now might be a good time to try it. Raise my spirits after a terrible lunch at Rigolos.
Don’t get the dulce de leche brownie.
Sore bought mini brownies. The guy scraped the bottom of a bin to smear on a bit of tastless «dulce de leche» sauce. For $ 6, next time I’ll go buy a can of condensed milk and a tub of store brand mini brownies and make my own damn dulce de leche sauce.
Depressing. Really depressing. What used to be two great restaurants…
To contrast with the first time we ate at artesano– right when thy first opened, my husband ordered the chicken guisado. They had run out, so instead the chef whipped him up a dish from scratch that was hands down one of the most incredible and complex chicken dishes we’d ever tasted. Simply phenomenal. Now incredibly disappointing.

I’m work less than 10 mins away from this place-​walking distance. I really like this place, but there are a few annoyance that I have encountered here. The first time I tried this place, I had them cater a retirement party for one of my co-​workers. I work with a bunch of doctors and surgeons so I had to make sure I ordered something good.
For the retirement party, we ordered the Ceaser salad and the chopped salad. It was really good and the portions were just generous. Then for the meal we had the unpulled pork and the chicken Artesano. I remember it because really juicy and tender. The were spot on with the flavors. Then we got the shrimp skewers. Everyone had a hard time taking the shrimp off the skewers. I mean it’s not rocket science, but the shrimp did not budge.
For dessert we had the brownies which was just ok and the tres leche which was completely melted because they had the hot items on top of the desserts.
But when we ordered it recently for our Staff Appreciation Day, we ordered the Caesar Salad, beans, rice, and the Artesano Chicken. Everything was good except the Artesano chicken. It was so salty! Everyone was complaining how bad the chicken was.
Also, when we had our food delivered for our staff appreciation day on March 6^th, they gave us a to-​go menu. My co-​worker and I ordered food. The menu said the Ceaser salad was $ 7.99 and the 2 piece chicken Artesano was $ 10.99. So the bill should of been about $ 19.00. They have raised the prices in less than a week or someone is passing out old menus.
Too cheap to reprint new menus?
Anyway, when we picked up our food, the workers must have been so lazy. Our salad that we ordered had the lettuce sticking out of the container with the lid already closed. So unsanitary.

Heyyy Artesanos! It’s the Super Hangryo Bros Super Dinner!
Actually not all that. I mean yeah it’s a nicely textured ciabatta with ok meatballs but places do meatball sandos — they’re a thing. I just don’t see what I’m suppoowtf there’s plantain banana all up in this sandwich #instigating amidst the savory this is dope!
And #donttrip about the coleslaw — kicka spice is different & tasty.

I’ve been here a few times and I love love their their pulled chicken sandwich, Caesar salad and fresh squeezed limeade.
The pulled chicken sandwich is comprised of pulled chicken with sweet-​spicy cole slaw and cilantro lime crema, $ 8.99. This sandwich is messy but I love it anyways.
The Caesar salad is made of chopped organic romaine with creamy serrano Caesar dressing, shaved parmesan, and house-​made croutons. It’s $ 7.99.
Their fresh squeezed limeade is $ 3.75. It’s actually one of my favorite drinks of all time. it’s so refreshing on a long day.
There is a lot of seating inside the restaurant and some seating outside.
I’ve always gotten my food to go so I can’t say what it is like to sit there and eat your food but it does make for great take out.
The to go service there is great in my opinion. When I call, they are always nice on the phone. When I get there, they usually have my food ready and all I have to do is for them to make my drink.
Overall those three items are great and I would recommend them to others.

Artesano is a casual establishment with a casual attitude. The food is good — not spectacular, but solid and relatively consistent. During the day the have «counter service» — order at the counter and get a number. In the evening they now do «sit down service» — more traditional restaurant style order at your table.
I have been here a handful of times for both lunch and dinner. The menu is the same for both. In addition to the food offerings they have beer and wine — including Agave wine cocktails.
Over the past year I have sampled about 10 different items on the menu. They ranged from good to very good. For the starters I particularly enjoyed the Yellowtail Ceviche and the Albondigas as well as the Black Bean Soup. The Quinoa and Kale salad was flavorful and healthy — two things that don’t always go together.
For the main meal item I usually get a sandwich (often because I am getting it to go or I am there for lunch). I enjoy the Cubano — while I have had better elsewhere (Miami, L.A., Buenos Aires), I haven’t had a really great one in the SF area. This is probably the best I have had so far in the area (Note: I have not yet been to Parada 22). I also have to say, I have been getting Cubano sandwiches long before the movie Chef came out — seems everyone says that since they saw the movie the need to order them.
The Albondigas Sandwich is good, but I think I prefer the meatballs on their own as served in the starter item. I also enjoy the grilled fish sandwich, though I think the sandwich masks the more delicate flavor of the fish.
For main plates I prefer the Grilled Yellowtail. The steak has been ordered twice — once very good and once it was sort of tough.
So overall I would say that it isn’t my favorite place in an area filled with plenty of good options, but it is good enough and convenient enough for me to keep coming back on occasion.

After a difficult time picking a place for a Sunday dinner with friends, we decided to try Artesano. We all enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant very much — it is very bright, open, colorful, and modern.
The food itself was great. I had the steak churrasco dish and loved it. The entire plate was flavorful, and my steak was cooked at a perfect medium-​rare. Everyone at our table ordered an agua fresca and they were all delicious and refreshing.
I didn’t experience the poor service that it seems like a lot of reviewers did. In fact, we all enjoyed our night and loved the vibe/​ambiance inside the restaurant.
My only gripe with Artesano was the portion size, specifically on the appetizer I ordered. My main dish was good, but the shrimp skewers appetizer is literally just four shrimp, for $ 11.99! I felt a bit cheated by that, and definitely was not expecting so little.
I would come again, but will likely stay away from ordering the same appetizer!

Came here after watching the movie Chef. Always loved this restaurant, but this time came while family just had a craving for some cubanos and yuca fritas so expectations were high.
Honestly didn’t think it would live up to my cravings, so I split the steak sandwich and the cubano with my daughter. Also ordered the yuca fritas which come with 3 sauces. They serve alcohol here as well but I can’t resist the sugary Mexican coke!
I always get the Albondigas which is my favorite, so was prepared to just have something different.
Anyway, the sandwiches were awesome. Wife had the albondigas (pork meatballs) and she was happy, but the steak and cubano sandwiches were perfect. The bread was nice and crispy and crunched with every bite just like the movie. Lots of closed eyes and yummy sounds around our table as we spoiled our taste buds
I like plantains but the yuca fritas are like vegetable tater tots or tempura. There are 7 to a serving. I could have had 2 servings.
Other notes: the bathrooms are very clean. There are seats outside with heat lamps and there is a fireplace inside. I do wish they’d get another set of doors though as it does get cold inside and sometimes windy.

Heaven on North American earth for a South American.
I fell in love with this place for a number of reasons:
1. Delicious food. A variety of options from Brazilian food to Venezuelan food. The food was well seasoned and represented each cuisine it advertised to a tee.
2. The mango sparking water juice was absolutely phenomenal. They also offer watermelon and lemonade versions.
3. The variety of decisions dessert makes it hard to choose, but it also makes he hard to make a mistake. Everything was delicious.
4. Service was outstanding. Friendly staff and people who appear to enjoy their job. Such a graceful ambiance. The decoration was authentic and a beautiful representation of artesanato.
5. My idea of a great place for comfort food.
6. The shredded chicken sandwich is messy to eat but worth every single stain on your clothes. ;)
7. Definitely coming back…