SAM’s Diner

Not a bad spot to grab a bite after a show at the Orpheum theater. We were all very hungry and found this place on Unilocal.We also saw that we needed reservations for a party of 5 so I’m glad we checked online first. We were able to get one for after the show.
Our waitress was nice and friendly. We all enjoyed our food, so much everything was gone. Either that or we were just that hungry! I had the marinated beef Korean tacos minus the spicy sauce. They were good. The Pico de Gallo made them a little messy, dripping down my wrist. So extra napkins were a must. The rice needed salt, but was good, especially with the extra drippings on the plate. Overall good place, decent food. There was a variety of choices, cause you know, it is a diner. Korean tacos, hamburgers and a burrito in our party.
I’d eat here again.

Had an amazing burger here yesterday! Their plain half-​pound chuck burger at a very reasonable $ 10.5 incl. fries is just amazing, cooked perfectly medium and still pink in the middle. Had to resist the urge to order another one since it was just so delicious. Service is super quick and efficient too, ambiance is classic diner style. Will definitely be back next time I’m craving a burger.

My daughter really enjoyed her very large steak burrito and I totally Loved my blackened fish taco! We will return :)

Great place to stop at. We were watching a musical at the Orpheum and then walked out of the theater and to the right and there we were at Sam’s. Casual ambiance and good american bites. Quick and friendly service too. I would definitely come back!

Definitely would recommend this place to the world! I had the club sandwich and there homemade coleslaw it was amazing! Ambiance was great, service was great this place is great great great!

Great diner on market street! Clean and welcoming with great breakfast selection and huge serving sizes. Omelettes were delicious as were the pancakes. Staff friendly and helpful. Nice diner to go to when the grime of market street gets to much.

I was walking bye, headed to lunch and noticed this place. They had a health inspection score of 100 so I had to try it out and I’m glad I did. They serve breakfast until 3pm so I had the 2 eggs, 3 bacon breakfast for $ 8.50. I will definitely go back.

Great burgers and Korean tacos. Food came out fast but she was slow coming back but was very nice when she did. Nice casual atmosphere and interesting photos from the past.

This place is so good. Not only was the food phenomenal the customer service was great. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and it was the best one I have ever had. We placed my order and it didn’t take me forever to get my food. The waiter was attentive she even helped us with finding out way to another building even though she was working. The only reason I am not giving this place 5 stars is the price. It is a bit much but being in San Francisco it is probably normal.

We’ve walked by this place a zillion times and never stopped. One dreary Sunday morning my wife and I were on our way to the BART station to go to Oakland for brunch. I’d cajoled her into it, and when we passed SAMs, I stopped and saw they had eggs benedict, which is what I was after anyway, so we changed course.
This was on par with any benedict I’ve had anywhere. I always get mine on a bed of spinach instead of muffin, and they were totally great about that request. Perfectly poached eggs and a velvety Hollandaise. Zero complaints. So happy I finally checked out this gem in my neighborhood since Little Griddle is so terrible.

Ive eaten here multiple times when at concerts. Right around the corner from the Bill Graham auditorium.
The staff are awesome, the place is really clean, the prices are more than fair, and they get your food fast.
Also, Id like to add, Ive been all over the damn planet, and eaten a hamburger in every damn place known to man, but Sam’s «the rock» burger is the best I’ve had anywhere. Hands down.

Would not have come in here if not for Unilocal — and I’m glad I did.
Had a great cheeseburger, big, perfectly cooked and tasty. Really friendly and accommodating service too. Not a long wait for food. Couldn’t ask for more in a diner, I’ll be back for sure.

How often do you eat at the same restaurant night after night? Thai food can do that for me sometimes. But now, there’s Sam’s. Three nights in a row, and still going!
I’ve tried something different each night, and every dish is a genuine home run. Prices are moderate and affordable. The staff is professional, engaged, warm and friendly.
Steps away from the Civic Center train station, Sam’s is a neighborhood oasis that you need to build a long term relationship with. Even if you’re just here visiting.

The gem on market steet.
Located at Market and 8^th, outside is filled with crazy, homeless, drug addicts but once you step into Sam’s it feels like your in a different place. The food is always excellent. If you come for lunch they are always quick, and get your food out very fast so you can eat, and get back to work. The menu is filled with many different options including breakfast sold late if not all day. If your looking for excellent food, and at a great price, come to Sam’s Diner.

Excellent food — The filet of sole was perfect!
Excellent service — Fast, friendly servers who know the menu.
TIP: A great place to eat close to the Orpheum Theater. Mention that you have tickets to The Orpheum, and you will receive 10% off your bill!

Open at 7 AM and had a decent menu. I really have to give joints on Market Street a real chance and I’m glad I did. They had many items for breakfast. I looooove breakfast. The Wed special was a mascapone stuffed french toast with strawberries but it started at 8 AM. I was too early. Darn. I went with the two eggs OM, wheat toast, tator tots, wheat toast and water. It came out pretty quickly and the eggs were done as expected. The staff was friendly and there were quite a few folks in there that morning. I will have to try some other items on the menu. Their lunch options look good too. Decent.

Very disappointed today. The food and service here is usually pretty decent. Today, we arrived to join a small crowd waiting to get in. I asked if the two of us would be able to get in, order and eat before our 2pm show. The young woman smiled and said no problem, 15 minutes. This was at 12:20.
At 1:05, I went in to remove ourselves from the wait list. I told her it was a very long 15 minutes. She apologized and told me that we were next.
I eat out often enough to understand that a business cannot always guesstimate how long a guest will sit. At the same time, they have a responsibility to learn how to gauge realistically.
The food here is good enough that we’ll return in the future but never again with less than two hours before show time.

This is a convenient place to go before a show at the Orpheum. If you have tix for the Orpheum you get 10% off the price for food. There was a short wait. A lot of folks were headed to the play.
Their wine is horrible. Nothing but the house wine. But they have a nice selection of beers that I’ll try instead next time.
We had the garlic fries which were crisp thin and super garlicky. Also had the deviled eggs that had absolutely no flavor even the some overly crisp pork belly.
We split the fried chicken order which came with mashed potatoes and gravy and a house salad. The four pieces of chicken were small. The skin had a sweet crisp batter but needed seasoning.
The burgers looked great. Probably try that the next time.
Service was good and staff friendly.

Can you get more precarious than walking around Market and 8^th Street (Civic Center area) late at night? Surprisingly I have the will and desire to do. And this one place I have wanted to check out for a while.
When I walked in, I was surrounded with a bunch of sports memorabilia’s and many cool neon lights from beer companies with the local Bay area teams.
From the menu, I ordered the popular Giants Burger. For $ 16.50, I get thick Angus beef patty with two kinds of melted cheese (cheddar and pepper jack), avocado, bacon, grilled mushrooms and a spicy sauce in a bun. A side of fries is also included with this unique burger. I asked my beef to be medium-​well. But the patty turned out very arid. And for that price, I would probably get a better burger elsewhere and slightly cheaper.
With my meal, the bar/​restaurant has eight different kinds of beers on tap. I chose the Anchor Steam’s California Lager. For $ 5.00, I get the San Francisco brew in a frozen pint glass, which I indeed liked.
I thought my meal and visit was mediocre. But more importantly, I did survived and left that Civic Center area unscathed.

Funny how many times I’ve come here late in the evening after work despite my initial reaction that it was a «rather dreary little place». The neighboring Burger King still attracts quite a campsite of homeless people, some agitated enough to make it something of a minefield to get to the front entrance of SAM’s (all CAPS please). Nearly nine years ago, when I first tried this spot, it was a more Korean-​oriented café with sullen servers and mediocre diner fare that obviously didn’t leave a great impression on me. However, for some reason, I started coming back a couple of years ago to find the place under management. The brown naugahyde booths are still there as well as the unused counter, but the menu got bigger.
The Korean tacos are accounted for, but the rest is much like Denny’s redux. The other major improvement has been the attentive service. It appears to be making a big difference in business since the booths are often fully occupied with a microcosm of Market Street life from cops to hipsters with nose rings to armies of tourists representing most of Western Europe nation by nation. I don’t look at the menu much since I’ve ordered the same thing over and over again, the $ 12 Classic Joe’s Special with an additional dollar spent on sauteed mushrooms. It comes with sourdough toast and country potatoes, although I always ask for the hash browns as a substitute. They always oblige (photo:
).
Truth be told, it doesn’t compare with the Joe’s Special served at the Soma Inn Café much less at Original Joe’s, but it hits the spot anyway with the mix of ground chuck, spinach, onion and scrambled eggs. I squirt a lot of hot sauce on it and even use those little plastic containers of jelly on my toast. But last time, I did order the $ 12 SAM’s Cobb Salad, which was pretty decent with avocado, bacon bits, cucumber, tomato, a hard-​boiled egg, blue cheese crumbles and ham with ranch dressing on the side (photo:
). It was hamstrung by a poor $ 4 cup of their soup du jour, French Onion that was missing the cheese and used salad croutons instead of a baguette slice (photo:
). All in all, it deserves another star just for the service upgrade.
FOOD — 3 stars… still nothing special but better than my first visit
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… they put my wattage in their lighting but otherwise the same diner
SERVICE — 4 stars… here’s where they got better, much better
TOTAL — 3 stars… sometimes Joe’s Special is all you need at 9PM