Darwin Cafe

Great salads never a letdown only issue is the ordering before 11 rule. Too many rules just to get a Delish Salad in my belly

It was a decent sandwich and came with a side salad which was unexpected. I had the roast beef sandwich and enjoyed it. Though I don’t think I would seek out this place in the future, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed if someone suggested it.

Great lunch spot, though line gets long right after noon and there is limited seating on premise.
Beautiful salads and somewhat limited selection of hearty sandwiches w side salad. Cold smoked trout w horseradish aioli was great, though more like tuna salad sandwich than fish filets that I was expecting.

If I could give this café negative stars I would. I came in here to wait for a friend who was a block away, so I ordered food and pulled out my laptop to do work. After what seemed a short amount of time, a man wearing a camel shirt approached me: «the waitlist is starting, you’re going to have to leave after you’re done eating.» Bullshit. Interestingly enough, he failed to inform other customers who were eating at the same pace as me about the «waitlist.» So it seemed odd that he approached me. Why did he, anyway? Perhaps he was having a bad day or being an asshole.
Reconsider coming here; putting up with rude service is not worth it when other places are much, much better than this establishment – and are friendlier!

Love these guys! We had an excellent time when they hosted the staff of a fitness studio I work at for a holiday party. Their appetizers, wines, and cheese plates were all amazing and the staff here is so friendly and fun!
The breakfast muesli bowl is delicious, love the pears and fresh chopped fruit that they make on the spot.
The café is incredibly cute and a great find. Can’t wait to give this place a try for brunch! See you soon!

I love Darwin Café for brunch on the weekend. It’s not a place you take a big group of people, but it’s nice to catch up with one or two friends here and sit outside in the alley.
The menu is never the same, but all of the fruits, salads and sandwiches I’ve ordered here have been deeelicious and fresh.
I wouldn’t recommend studying here. It’s not that type of café.

1 Star for the good sandwich and negative stars for the service of one specific staff who told me that I couldn’t be sitting there for ‘hours’ without ordering anything else and that I should move to
The counter.
Facts:
— There were still empty seats available
— I was not sitting there for hours (place was empty most of the time I was there)
— I spent around $ 20 while on average most of the people were just drinking coffee ($ 4)at the time I was there .
In the end she could politely just say something like. «Would you be ok to sit on smaller table?» Or something more appropriate.

I’m usually a big meat eater but I actually crave their kale salad. I also had their turkey sandwich and their roast beef — both so tasty. If you’re craving something sweet after, try one of their cookies. I like the chocolate chip cookie.
Here’s a tip if you: go early (like 11am) if you don’t want to wait in the long line.
They’re also going to be serving brunch on weekends starting 1÷16÷16 (10 – 3). I’m curious.

Darwin Café and I have a love-​hate relationship. I love them and they hate me… J/K…sort of.
I work right around the corner and they save my life at least once a week. They do their best to keep things running smoothly, which is why they have ordering limitations. The limitations aren’t there to annoy you or offend anyone. They exist so Darwin can make delicious food and serve it in a timely manner.
Love the food. Love the peeps. If u r too distracted to listen for your order, then that is ur fault, not theirs. Just sayin’

Great place for breakfast/​brunch. They have some of the best challah bread in San Francisco. You have to order the cinnamon/​sugar toast, it’s delicious. It’s a small place to you might have to sit at the bar, but there’s not one bad spot in the place.

Even though Darwin makes great food, it’s a little overpriced, a little douchey and slow on a lunchtime rush. So I guess it’s just basically 2015-​San Francisco in a nutshell.
Good food, but average as a whole.

Stopped by with some coworkers for lunch a few weeks back. Didn’t hear them call my order for the first time and after a few minutes went up to the counter to ask for it. After being ignored for a few minutes, I was then scolded for not hearing them call my order the first time… Whatever happened to calling it out a second time?
Kale salad was decent, a bit too heavy on the cheese, but the standoffish treatment turned me off majorly. Won’t be going back.

1. Amazing staff & location, old school cash register.
2. Yummy sandwiches.
3. The.Best.Kale.Salad.In.San Francisco
That’s all! See you there!

I had some time to kill in SoMa last Friday afternoon, and ended up at Darwin Café for a mid-​afternoon snack. I’d read about their kale salad and thought I’d give it a try. I loved the small, cozy, friendly environment. I looked over the menu, scrawled on the wall, and chose the salad as I’d originally intended.
When it came, at first I was impressed. It looked gorgeous, with the big colorful radicchio leaves and strips of kale. However, the «prosciutto» as listed on the menu was in the form of (overly cooked) bacon. I thought prosciutto was typically thinly sliced, and not in the form of lardons. Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE bacon. But this prosciutto/​bacon hybrid had pieces that were too hard and overdone (for me). The bigger issue, however, was that the salad was drowning in the balsamic vinaigrette. Now I love salad dressing, so I’m not one of those people who likes it pretty dry and was overcome with this. Even as a dressing lover, this was way too much.
Should I have said something? Maybe. But it was a small joint and I know what food costs are, so I wouldn’t want them throwing out a salad that I could certainly eat without a problem. But by the end, the volume of dressing was so overpowering that my mouth was puckering from all the vinegar.
It was still a worthwhile stop and I’d encourage others who wander in to try something… just ask for light dressing on your salad!

I usually eat lunch and dinner at my office so I have never noticed Darwin Café despite it being right next to it. However when a friend suggested having lunch there, it sounded good to me. We got there around 12 and it was busy but not too crazy. There were actually a few tables outside when we arrived (all taken by the time we ordered) and we were lucky enough to grab seats at the counter. By the time we were done (maybe around 12:45), there was quite a line and a LOT of people waiting. So, come early if possible.
The lunch menu is mostly salads and sandwiches. My friend had the tuna melt which is made with tuna they poach in house. It looked pretty good and she liked it. I got a turkey sandwich– turkey, brie, some maple syrup, aioli, apples. It was fantastic. The various ingredients complimented each other perfectly, and it was a wonderful balance of sweet, salty, smoky, and tart. The bread was quite tasty too, though I would probably ask for wheat bread in the future. Both sandwiches came with a side salad which was good also. I think it had persimons and cranberries, and a bunch of other stuff. The salad was quite good– not super memorable, but a tasty side.
We also shared a nutella and marscapone baguette which was as good as it sounds. Such a smart flavor combination– the mild and creamy marscapone and rich, chocolatey nutella went really well together.
You can apparently call ahead (anytime before 11) and then pick up your food at 11:30 which seems wise if you don’t want to wait in line. They have a few breakfast items as well and serve dinner (I think the dinner menu is different than the lunch, but not sure how). They have wine and beer along with coffee and tea as well.
I would probably have given them 5 stars after my initial lunch experience, but I came back to grab breakfast and coffee a couple days later. My cappuccino was okay, but by no means the best I have had, and their coffee and espresso drinks are overpriced. I have had some really excellent, and also cheaper coffee, just down the alley from Darwin. What would have probably been a 4.5 star review that I would have rounded up has been rounded down. Still a great lunch option though– I definitely would order the turkey sandwich again and want to try the tuna melt as wel!

Delicious sandwiches and brunch!
Their sandwiches are fantastic, especially the roast beef and rock shrimp melt.
The weekend menu is different than during the weekdays, and focused more on brunch food — sandwiches with croissants, poached eggs, etc. Luckily, they still have one or two sandwiches on the menu, but careful because they often run out.
Lines during the week can be very long, 15 – 30 minutes. But on the weekend, the line is much shorter.
They brew De LA Paz coffee, which is quite delicious, but they don’t offer cold brew options, unfortunately.
They accept credit cards on orders over $ 5.

I’ve been wanting to try Darwin Café for a while to try their kale salad. I was a bit disappointed and won’t be back for a few reasons a) the kale salad is kind of boring and just really hard to eat after a while… kale on kale with 0.5 pieces of radicchio is not fun
b) too expensive for what you get
c) they wouldn’t let me substitute the proscuitto for anything else. So if you’re a vegetarian/don’t eat pork and want the kale salad, sucks for you because you’ll just pay way too much for just a box of kale and cheese.
My salad was also covered by a thick layer of grated parmesan which was awesome in theory but also not awesome because it totally ruined the idea of eating a healthy low cal meal. Lastly, the lady taking orders wasn’t all that nice so that’s just one too many reasons to not want to go back. The props I will give them is for the dressing on their kale salad – super refreshing and lemony!

Small and tucked away café that is located in an alley!
They offer sandwiches and their kale salad serves up as a healthier, green option!
Too bad they don’t restock once their sandwiches are sold out! Their prosciutto crisp and buttered up baguette is a good substitute!
A cozy café to sit back, chit chat and enjoy!

This place is a little hidden gem deep in the heart of SoMa. The menu, although consisting mostly of sandwiches and salads, is delicious and has a ton of options.
Good: The kale salad is super good. I would recommend ordering a side of salami and adding it in or just asking that they add salami to it. Portion size is huge so I took the rest home but I’m sure you could share with someone and still be full.
Bad: There was a sticker tag in my salad. Not thrilled about that.

Someone sent me a message asking me if this place was named after Jeremy S.‘s dog at Unilocal.How the hell would I know? I did snicker thinking that Unilocal was on a mission to take over the world. Oh wait, that is their mission, isn’t it? Anyhow, I got the straight skinny off the Web and discovered this place was actually named after the former occupant, Darwin Motors, a BMW motorcycle shop. Who knew? Now it’s become a popular spot for the young, geeky hipster who work and live in the area. There were sure plenty of them with their dogs when I arrived in the early evening just before going to a tech demo at Gallery 16 up the block.
All the tables were taken and none were really set up for single diners, so I squeezed myself at the counter between an anti-​social laptopper who was ironically on social on his laptop and a frizzy-​haired woman who resented having to move her oversized purse. Bitch, move yo’ bag… and your purse, too. I knew what I was having because that’s the primary reason I came: the $ 11 Kale Salad. It’s taken on mythic portions in my mind because everyone was raving about it here, and I needed something dark and leafy to fill my bottomless tummy. It turned out to be quite a mound with Cavolo Nero kale and radicchio mixed a little too liberally with hand-​squeezed lemon juice.
Parmigiano-​Reggiano shavings, crispy pieces of prosciutto, and aged balsamic vinegar completed the plate, and it was more than enough for me to eat (photo:
). And yet, I ordered the soup, an $ 8 bowl of the Sugar Pie Pumpkin Soup, which was subtly sweet and not overly creamy with cauliflower, golden raisins, curry spices and pistachios (photo:
). I have to admit I found that more satisfying than even the kale salad that brisk evening. Although the space is small, there was a staff of three keeping themselves busy with the cooking and serving (photo:
). I’d like to come back when it’s less hectic, but I haven’t a clue when that would be since I heard tell that lines form even past lunch. Maybe I need to get a dog and a raggedly wool cap.
FOOD — 4 stars… the ballyhooed kale salad was overshadowed by the sugar pie pumpkin soup
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… felt very crowded in there
SERVICE — 4 stars… very attentive
TOTAL — 4 stars… probably need to time my visit better the next time… it’s the theory of evolution, Darwin

Ist der Kale-​Trend schon bis nach Deutschland vorgedrungen? — Na, hier in Kalifornien ist Grünkohl seit einiger Zeit das neue Super-​Food: ob in pürierter Form als Smoothie oder Saft oder in roher Form als Salat.
Im beschaulichen Westfalen, wo ich aufgewachsen bin, ist Grünkohl auch sehr beliebt. Aber mehr im Rahmen vom traditionellen Grünkohlessen, wo sich die Mitglieder der örtlichen Vereine treffen, um Grünkohl mit Kassler oder Mettendchen zu essen. Die Atmosphäre von dem trendigen Darwin Café in San Francisco und dem Gemeindehaus auf dem westfälischen Lande könnte nicht unterschiedlicher sein, aber dennoch haben sie beide eines gemeinsam: Hier ist der Grünkohl King!
Nun ja, neben dem Kale-​Salad, der übrigens wirklich sehr lecker ist, gibt’s aber auch noch andere Leckereien: verschiedenste Sandwiche, aber auch Frühstücksspeisen. Zur Mittagszeit ist das Darwin Café ein Hotspot und zwischen 12 und 13 Uhr sollte man auf jeden Fall eine 15 – 30 minütliche Wartezeit in Kauf nehmen. Wem das zuwider ist, der sollte einfach hier einfach für ein spätes Mittagessen oder ein frühes Abendessen vorbeikommen — dann kann man sich nämlich auch vielleicht ein Weinchen an der Theke gönnen!
Ein Besuch ist auf jeden Fall lohnenswert.