Briazz-A Sandwich Cafe

As a former Briazz employee I am happy to see this place shuttered. The food was not fresh (as advertised) and often made the employees ill. The «fresh squeezed» OJ was Odwalla, the pastries were delivered 3 times a week (guess what happened the other days), and the homemade soup was out of bag. The oatmeal was awesome, only redeeming aspect of the place. The owner was a real piece of work; it’s no surprise he ran it into the ground.
Awesome news, brightens my day!

Quite possibly the worst sandwich I have ever had. Soggy bread — tomatoes should never be placed directly on the bread, ESPECIALLY if you make the sandwiches 3 days prior. The «roast chicken» on the sandwich was some sort of scraps of sliced deli-​style meat. After I had to take the entire thing apart and reconstruct it, I ended up throwing it away. I get that lunch in the FiDi is overpriced, but this place is beyond. And the food sucks. Never again.

This Embarcadero Center lunch place is CLOSED.
They stocked a large selection of pre-​packaged sandwiches and salads, as well as assorted drinks. They also had hot soups, grilled sandwiches, and pastries. Their prices were generally expensive.

They have a good selection of salads and sandwiches. Just a tip… don’t buy any of the pastries that are sitting out in the open. Fruit flies go on them and the employees just shake the basket to get rid of them.
Come lunch time and it is packed and the selection diminishes. They used to throw out their food at the end of the night. I had a friend that worked here so I got lots of free food.
I’ve noticed they closed down a lot of their locations in the city.
I haven’t been to a Briazz since I no longer work in the area. So I don’t know of any new additions or changes.

Okay… Briazz, I don’t care what else you sell, for me it all about the oatmeal. It’s steel-​cut, it’s cheap, and it’s oh-​so-​good with that brown sugar you have sitting out on the counter. I hear the raisins and granola are also good it in, but I usually leave those alone.
This really is the best on-​the-​go breakfast I can think of near embarcadero. Thank you briazz for selling good oatmeal. I feel like most of the time when I order oatmeal I wind up with a bowl of slime and that’s no fun. No fun at all.

My co-​workers and I stopped by here for lunch today to grab a quick bite to eat. Well actually I just came along for the walk since I brought my own lunch from home. Just browsing the fridge area, I was eyeing the tuna salad sandwich with «just enough mayo» on organic whole wheat bread. That’s my kind of sandwich! I also noticed the selection of breakfast items including fat free vanilla yogurt with granola and fresh berries and assorted breakfast sandwiches.
Also, if you get a sandwich you can have them heat it up for you. The bread comes out toasty and warm. I’m going to have to come back and try the food. Afterall they claim «fresh, fast and fabulous» food.

I went here for lunch today and picked up the Nicoise Salad. Green beans, albacore (apparently), tomatoes, mixed greens, green olives, and a potato (WTF?). It was surprisingly tasty, healthy, and just messy enough for me to get green stains on some corporation’s tax returns.
Minus two stars for the service. Which no one seems to have mentioned. For a reason. Not only were they not friendly, but I’m pretty sure the cashiers were talking about me in another language. Almost positive, really. It’s like when you’re getting a pedicure and you’re pretty sure the ladies are talking about your nasty feet in Vietnamese. I’m a very warm person, so if someone isn’t nice to me, then they’ve got a freakin’ problem.

When the Briazz empire imploded, this location survived. I guess there are a lot of people in the Embarcadero on diets. Thinking that a salad shop would be the way to go, I dropped in here today.
They had lots of soft drinks, Snapple and such. They had interesting panini-​style sandwiches. They had fresh fruit bowls, and they had salads. Most of the salads were labeled «low-​carb,» and came packaged with cheese. Cheese, as I recall is not a carbohydrate, so they were telling the truth. Anyone on a South Beach or an Atkins diet would probably love this stuff. I, on the other hand, am cutting down on fat. Two salads fit the bill: garden and nicoise.
I bought the salad nicoise and a Diet Pepsi for $ 9.11. Picture a bag of mixed greens packed into a clear plastic box, with a whole can of light chunk tuna in water dumped on top. Half a dozen cherry tomatoes, half a dozen olives, some green beans, a hint of boiled potato, and there you have it. After I got through the tuna and the other vegetables, there was still half a box of mixed greens left. I considered buying a dressing, but pouring oil on top of my salad seemed to be missing the point. I gave up trying to eat all the greens, but not without a struggle. Every time I thought «this is rabbit food,» I countered with «fish is not a vegetable.» Alas, when the fish was gone, the rabbit food remained.
I don’t think this will become my regular lunch spot.

Genuine Mexican Coke is sold here. That’s right, not the high fructose corn syrup American crap, but the good old fashioned sugar based American coke. In a bottle. With a pop-​cap.
Key ingrediant? Sugar. That’s right, sugar. Right on the label. Good luck finding the word «sugar» on any soft drink in the United States, and this place has ‘em. Who cares what else they sell there? They could sell whipped kitten pâté in unwashed Christian baby skulls and still get five stars from me. They could charge ten bucks a pop, no pun intended, and I’d show ‘em a set of ivories that would blind a decapitated cadaver while I tossed cash at ‘em laughin’.
«Ten bucks,» I’d say, «why you must be born with a foot for a brain selling liquid gold like this for a simple sawbuck! Hell, I bet that foot don’t even have five toes!»
So you can imagine the sort of reaction I got being charged some piddlin’ amount like a dollar. The poor clerk was just about to call the police with all my laughin’ and pointin’ at their soft, doughy head while I collected my loot.
Now here’s a trick, kids, so listen up. You don’t need a bottle opener, all you need is a door that has a side-​lock. You wedge the cap in the little area where the lock goes, you know, around hip level, and then lean the bottle so there is NO LIQUID at the top. All you need to do then is gently pry off the top — it’s a snap!
Why is it important to make sure there’s no liquid at the top? You little rascal — go ahead and see what happens if you don’t! Big laffs!!!
Ah yes, REAL Coca-​Cola, one of the most refreshing drinks you can have on a hot day; you go try one and I dare you to say different! I just DARE you!

I like coming here to grab a turkey or a tuna sandwich when I don’t have much time to spare at lunch. Either are usually just enough to fill me up and help me make it through the rest of my day. Never a line, but I’ve noticed that the tuna sandwiches run out around 1:30pm.