Cafe Ponte

Cute café for coffee or a smoothie. I was disappointed that my granola said «fresh fruit» and the blueberries were from a can or jar. Also, it took about 8 minutes to pay for a cookie. All items that can be corrected.

They lie about having wifi, it’ll mysteriously turn off when you ask… beyond that it’s your typical neighborhood café. Food is good not great as is the coffee.
It’s a step above Starbucks but if you’re looking for a good place for breakfast/​brunch Noe Valley has quite a few better options

I went to Café Ponte the other morning and made an order, only to find out that the price had been increased, but had not changed on the menu. The manager there is great so I didn’t hassle him about it. In fact, the manager is the best thing going for the place.
I have also noticed that it seems they cannot keep employees, I have seen at 3 different people working in there. When I enquired about the others, I was told that they had quit. Some of them had been there barely a week.
One last thing, if you order waffles or pancakes, be careful when you pick up the syrup. The bottles will be sticky and practically glued to the plate. This has been the case every time I have had to use them GROSS!!!
So a note to the owner: Update your menu prices if they have increased. You cannot list one price and then charge another. I believe that falls under the category of false advertising.

Sitting in the café now– the latte I got taste like kind or warm milk. Not sure they know how to make drinks. Wouldn’t come here for a latte.
I did not have the food– but, I won’t be coming back to try it.

This café has a great location but it felt subpar to other cafes I’ve visited. It seems like a spot where locals go to hang out and read the paper. The owner of the shop was a really nice man and he was so sweet to me and other customers coming in. But I still feel the place could use some updating. I did really enjoy my cup of Green Tea Tropical. It was perfect just like the owner said it would be. :)

Chicken pot pie is very good. Steamy filling with peas, carrots, chopped onions and of course chicken on a nice flaky crust. Washed that down with a tea on a rainy Saturday in the city and I was golden.
I’d almost give it four stars. Half a star shy b/​c there’s this smell of burned toast (or an uncleaned oven.) Nonetheless it’s a cool corner café where one can pull out a laptop and write reviews… such as this one.
Disclaimer: I used Scoutmob to find this place.

Quaint café with good drinks but mediocre food. I have gotten the tofu sandwich, which was… lackluster at best and the mac n cheese, which is ok, but it has bacon in it and nowhere does it say that it contains bacon. If I were veg and I ordered it I would be pissed.
The decaf cappuccino I had here was excellent and the ginger lemonade was good as well – it came with crushed ice, which I actually quite liked.

Drove to Noe Valley on a hot day for a Philz Iced Coffee, ended up using a scoutmob at this quaint corner café for lunch. It was middle afternoon and there was no morning crowd. Lots of seating indoor and outdoor available.
Ordered:
Strawberry Lemonade (3 of 5) So refreshing on a hot day in Noe Valley. Perfect drink to sit at the café and enjoy their free wifi.
Pastrami Sandwich with Salad (3 of 5) Tasty pastrami and good sized salad. I really enjoyed it.
I would go back again to this corner café, especially on a hot day, and when I just want to be out and about Noe Valley.

I came here to take advantage of some LevelUp credit that I had available and ordered a panini sandwich. I like my paninis to be hot and melty, crispy on the outside and warm and juicy on the inside. I think the problem was that the sandwich was just a bit too thick, because the outside was nice and hot but the inside was still cold. Maybe it needs a little extra time in the press?
Aside from the sandwich not being to my liking, it’s a cute little space in a nice location. Would definitely stop by again for lunch or coffee.

Worst lunch ever. An empty café and it took them about 15 minutes to come outside and tell us they didn’t have the soup we ordered. We chose to take the alternative. It took another 15 minutes for that soup to arrive. Talk about hungry and we had 3 toddlers with us. The bean soup was the saltiest mess ever. The bread on the side was mouldy. I don’t know how anyone in the food industry can let that happen. After forcing down half of the salty soup, I went in to tell him the bread was mouldy and ask for the cream cheese and cucumber bagel I ordered. He’d forgotten all about it. When it came, there was no cucumber which I assume I paid the extra 50c for. I didn’t bother to complain. I’m not into causing a fuss so I have come home to write a review in the cowardly way!
The guy was kinda apologetic and gave us free cookies hence the feeble extra star.

I usually judge a café on its drinks and its baked goods. Unfortunately, neither of these is up to par here. I’ve had some baked goods (muffin and scone), and some tea. I also have to say that if the people working here were nicer, I’d be more likely to excuse the sorry food.

I really wanted to like this place, since its close to home and I’m a big supporter of local businesses. After my last two visits, I doubt I’ll ever go back.
Another Unilocaler said, «I feel like every time I go in and place an order I am burdening their staff. They are not very friendly.» That’s been my experience, too, unfortunately. Once Philz Coffee opens up the street, I expect this business will see a precipitous decline in their business, and yet, it didn’t have to be this way.

We live two blocks away and wanted to try this place out… cute little corner spot.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t good. My breakfast sandwich was just bad… undercooked bacon and scrambled egg on bread. Nothing else. Come on… you guys can do better.
The servers seemed a bit put off to be helping us.
My wife’s quiche was better. And she once picked up a pastry to go and said it was ok. Those two points give Café Ponte the 2^nd star… but otherwise, I’m not sure I’d go back.
I see lots of deals for this place (Groupon Now, etc), but don’t think I’d go back unless I hear someone say something good about it. Lots of opportunity, lack of execution.

I literally found a hair in my food. What can overcome that? It was curly. Also, it’s overpriced, there aren’t many seats, and the people were loud.

Living in the area, walking past this place numerous times I decided to give it a try…
Although I found the service friendly the place was extremely dirty… it needs to be shut down and cleaned top to bottom… it was terribly terribly dirty… made me wonder about the kitchen…
The menu in the front window had two dead flies pressed against the window… the seat cushions were dirty. the condiments were uncleaned, the bottles were sticky and full of dried ketchup… just no excuse… lazy. I’m going to have to recommend a ‘skip this place’ …

Unfortunately I have to disagree with many of the 5 star reviews I’ve read about this place. I am a local resident and live on Diamond street a few doors down. It’s convenient for me to get coffee/​brunch here which is why I’ve come many times. However, I feel like every time I go in and place an order I am burdening their staff. They are not very friendly, and I’ve also heard this from other people I know who’ve been to this place (which says a lot).
This morning my boyfriend called ahead to order some hot breakfast sandwiches for pickup. We waited 25 minutes before picking up our food, and once we arrived waited another 10 minutes for the food to come out. (Mind you, the café was not busy at all). The wait didn’t bother us at all, but as soon as we returned to our home we realized that our food was cold. It’s just very frustrating to have called ahead, waited the extra time upon our arrival, and then receive cold food. How does that even happen? We actually ended up returning to the place to ask for the potatoes to be heated up, and the woman at the counter gave a scowl, took the potatoes back and didn’t even apologize for the inconvenience. Straight up RUDE.
I think it’s really unfortunate that the staff is this way to their loyal customers because their food is good (yet a bit overpriced in my opinion). Sadly, I will not be returning to this place anymore.

Laptop camper here. Café Ponte looked promising — many food options, like eggs, smoothies, pot pie, mac & cheese, sandwiches, deli salads. They seem to bake a lot of items (muffins, scones, brownies, whoopie pies) themselves. The granola is housemade. But they might be better off getting their baked goods from a supplier.
* Oatmeal ($ 5) — very gummy, didn’t have enough water? Pretty bad. Oatmeal was on the outside of the bowl. Served with cinnamon, almond and raisins. It shouldn’t be hard to make good oatmeal.
* Latte — made with organic beans, extremely bitter, stronger on top but weaker and sweeter on the bottom (strange)
The wi-​fi connection was terribly slow and there weren’t many power outlets. I even had problems with my cell phone connection. It was a bad morning all around.
You know you love me. X0 X0, laptop camper.

HUMBLE LITTLE CAFE
(3.5 stars)
Been searching for a not so exposed café where i can get my espresso and breakfast eats real easy. Also, been using my «bling dollars» and this place supports the Bling Nation program. When using your bling dollars, you get more rewards to this place. So far, i’ve recieved additional money to spend here. This café is a small café tucked in the nighborhood of Noe Valley. Place is comfortable and cozy, nothing fancy. Definately a place where locals from the neighborhood come in to get coffee and pastries.
Since I was using the free bling dollars, i’ve loaded up on my orders. This is what i’ve had café latte, breakfast special (pancake, eggs, bacon), 2 eggs any style (eggs, toast, homefries), chicken sausage, mango lemonade.
I really enjoy their café latte’s. Their pancakes larger than your head. When i ordered the breakfast special it came out in two plates. the rest of the breakfast items were the average tasting. I enjoyed their mango lemonade as a sweet refresher after breakfast. I’m really looking forward to trying other goods from this café like their apple pie and brownies.
Although i’ve came here on a Monday and Tuesday to grab an early bite before heading to work, this place would fit more for a Sunday morning. It’s definately a cute café, near the private school so children in their uniforms come in to buy a cookie before school, the retired elderly folks come in during the morning to have their coffee and read the paper, moms in their yoga outfits coming to grab a pastry. It’s that kind of feel.
Will I be back? Perhaps this week for another breakfast meal before work.
Until the next review…

Having a lazy Memorial Day has its benefits when a cool café is right around the corner and you don’t feel like being held up at home…
Second time in here and again, blown away by the great customer service and the other patrons.
I’ve been craving a Bloody Mary for weeks now and was thinking, while this isn’t really a bar maybe they will have them… and of course they did. To be honest it wasn’t that good but it wasn’t that bad when you consider where I was. It did the trick, that’s all I’m sayin. What was pretty damn good, was the peanut butter cookie that the girl behind the counter told me would blow my mind. She was right — so light and fluffy — just right! Good call!
What was really cool… I had forgotten my power cord and due to the lack of power outlets in the café I was pretty much SOL as my Mac was out of power. Luckily for me this super nice girl lets me use hers without even asking — she saw that I needed one and was happy to help. You can’t beat neighbors like that!
So when’s the next Monday holiday? Enjoy!

Wow, the low ratings for this place really comes as a shock to me. I enjoyed a nice morning here today, so I’m surprised to see that a majority of Unilocaler’s have a negative view point.
I came here to find a nice quiet place to read, and that I found here at Café Ponte. They have comfortable banquette tables with comfy cushions so it was easy to get in the concentration mode.
I ordered a green tea and an almond croissant. The gal working at the counter was friendly and efficient.
I can’t go wrong with Mighty Leaf Green tea, and a nice fluffy croissant with tons of almond flavor. I’ve had quite a few almond croissants at other places that are just topped with almonds, and with no bit of flavor inside. Not the case here.
Seated myself on the banquette booth facing the window display of house made quiches, chicken pot pies and mac n cheese, and the ULTIMATE Apple Pie! It was staring at me every time I looked up to take a break from reading.
And boy it really is THE ultimate apple pie. It’s not your typical All American apple pie. It’s huge, topped with granola and nuts, and crushed with walnuts mixed in the whole and halved apple pieces, I also got a hint of cinnamon flavor as well. But what amazed me was the amount of apples in the pie. If you can see, there is an abundance. It really seems like they used a whole apple just for one slice.
Apple pie tasted great, and wasn’t overly sweet. I loved the texture of the pie with the walnuts and granola in it as well. Quite different.
Overall, I really don’t understand the low ratings for this place – definitely was a great way to spend my morning.
I will be back.