Sextant Coffee Roasters

The men and women behind the bar are extremely nice. A clutch coffee spot with a sunny backyard to enjoy your afternoon coffee break/​short meeting. They roast their coffee there, too — which is always a bonus if you love coffee.

This is a great place to study/​do work! I went on a Thursday at 2:30pm. The backyard is shaded so not too hot, and has umbrellas and mosaic tables. The wifi worked very well, the coffee was delicious, and the servers were very friendly. Great atmosphere.

Good coffee. Only 1 – 2 plugs. Exposed brick and industrial vibe. Solid wifi. Snacks are just cookies, scones, and the like. Good for working if you don’t need a plug. They have some tea options as well. Nice open space with natural light similar to Sightglass coffee, but a bit smaller. Outdoor patio!

Really cool coffee place. The coffees great (I get an iced latte several times a week) and while the pricing is a bit skewed with regular coffees seeming a bit overpriced for what they are, it’s worth it. They also have Fivestars which is great for reward junkies like myself.

This is a seriously hidden gem! It’s in a part of SoMa that is super industrial and full of warehouse stores, interspersed with restaurants and bars here and there. Given the industrial nature of the neighborhood, I wasn’t surprised that this place does their own roasting. You can see all of the roasting equipment in the back.
The environment is very spacious with basically just one line of tables along the exposed brick wall. There is free wi-​fi. Given the location, it was never very packed which was awesome since I came in to do work.
The coffee is great too. The coffee is not as pricey as it is in some of the more premium neighborhoods in the city, which is a plus. The one downside is that it’s not the easiest neighborhood to get to, nor is there much to see or do in the area during the day.

Absolutely love this place. My coffee was very tasty, it’s big, they have an outdoor patio, well designed, coffee isn’t overpriced, but what struck me the most is the music choice. So good.

Pour over was ok, but the cold brew was watered down as others have said. I’m disappointed they raised the prices from the website menu. I paid $ 5 for a pourover and $ 4 for the cold brew!

Great music, service and of course coffee. Across from the huge self storage, it’s a nice respite from folsomism.

I have dropped my car in Castco to have its tires changed. They said it takes about 2 hours. What do you do if you wanna spend 2 hours of your life waiting? Have coffee in a neat place and chill? Right! This place’s two blocks away from Costco (which I found my best closest option), cool environment, super nice staff, try it next time you wanna change your tires.

Great atmosphere: large amount of seating area indoors, outdoor fenced in patio, generally hip music, brick walls, lots of natural light, some window seating, and friendly staff. Good selection of pastries including scones, muffins, and cookies. Tasty cold brew! Handsome hipster staff and diverse clientele. My only complaint is the wifi can be touchy, but that’s small issue compared to the rest. Highly recommended!

Shoulders nudging, horns honking, odd smells wafting, vagrants begging … SF is the new NYC.
Then I step off the street into Sextant. It’s clean. The staff are jovial. It’s like a different country in here. Relaxed. Upbeat, yet peaceful. It should just be called «The Oasis.»
I can’t speak to the coffee … I’ve only had tea here so far.

Flavorful house brew with a great finish. Sometimes coffee has good aroma when you first sip it, but then once it coats the tongue, there’s not much flavor. But this house brew left a wonderfully rich taste on my tongue. Probably one of the best cups I’ve had in a while. And this is even after it cooled off a bit, so I was impressed. Coffee gets 5 stars.
One minor annoyance was that the barista never announced to me that my cup was ready. He just left it sitting there behind the counter (as I sat down at a table), letting it get cold. After 10 minutes or so, he finally told me that the cup was ready and he was waiting for me to pay for it. After paying for it, he handed me a warmish cup of coffee.
If you wanted me to pay for it ahead of time, then tell me. Instead you continued to fiddle with your machine, giving me no indication that you will be expediently pouring me a cup of your already brewed coffee, so I assumed that you would bring it to me because I told you I would drink it here. You should never hand a customer coffee that is barely warm. Sorry, service gets only 3 stars.

I really like the vibe of this place — on the quieter side, brick walls, airy, bright. I came here on a Sunday morning and got an iced latte. It was pretty strong and not too milky — just the way I like it! I like that it isn’t one of those super popular coffee places in the city that gets overly crowded with people who only go there for the purpose of Instagramming their coffee. Good place in SoMa.

If you’re driving, there’s parking around here for 1 hour.
The vibe here was great, and I would say that their coffee and baked goods were awesome too! If you’re deciding to work here, I would say that it’s not the best place just because the outside noise seeps in the coffee shop easily and the music was playing quite loud. It’s a great place for socializing, though!
Oh, and the baristas were friendly and engaging to the customers!

Spacious. Good coffee and wifi. Definitely a good option. U fortunately the baristas tend to be quite talkative. After hearing for the 5 th time her lament about her roommate broadcasted to everyone in the café we went elsewhere to get work done.
The neighborhood is a bit sketch so don’t leave stuff in your car if you drove here.

Great find where expected least!
I was visiting from the other side of town to go to COSTCO. I got there a bit early and the warehouse was still closed. It was 9:30 on Sunday morning, I had not had my first cup off coffee yet and was desperate! So I started walking the neighborhood with little expectation until I ran into a local walking his dog. I asked him if there was a café around, he, with an Italian or Spanish accent told me there was a good one around the corner. I must admit, hearing the endorsement in that accent gave me some hope. So I went around the corner and to my surprise I found this very nice Café (i.e. Sextant). I got me a cup of their regular coffee and it was pretty good.
The space was nicely laid out, clean, and pleasant. The restroom was very clean, and the barista was very nice.
I will go back to try their espresso next time.

I only got a scone and a blueberry almond granola bar. I was actually trying to get something from a nearby bakery for breakfast while staying at a hotel nearby before heading to my workplace for the day, but that bakery was not open though Apple maps had said it would be. I was happy to find Sextant Coffee Roasters instead.
I bought the berry scone, which was thankfully not too sweet, and the granola bar, which actually has chocolate on the bottom that you can’t really see even though the packaging is clear. There are a lot of calories in the granola bar – 300, while I’m used to the smaller Quaker ones that are only around 100 calories each. I did like the almonds in the granola bar, though; you won’t get those in the low cal Quaker ones.
Overall, I’d walk to Sextant again.

This is one of those hipster cafes that you’d see and automatically assume would have amazing coffee and Instagram-​worthy latte art. Well, check and check! Sextant definitely did not disappoint.
The café has a super chill vibe — brick walls, cute lights, and soft indie music playing in the background. It’s also extremely spacious which makes hanging out there very pleasant as you don’t get people trying to squeeze past you like in some other cafes. If indoor seating is not your thing, there’s also a cute outdoor patio you can check out if the weather is good! We wanted to sit outside but the chairs were all wet from the previous night’s rain.
The baristas were friendly and patient while we were deciding on our order. I honestly don’t know why it took us that long to decide since they don’t have a huge selection. We ended up getting a latte and a café au lait — both were excellent and left us fully satisfied. There’s no doubt that they brew some good quality beans! I’ll definitely go back if I visit SF again.

I like. I’ve passed this place 1000 times but never thought to stop in and try it out. I’m glad I did. The barista was warm & friendly and her perfectly made latte kicked off a perfect Saturday!

This is the skinny: Sextant boasts a friendly staff, an attractive setting (think: exposed brick and wood table-​tops), and a great, on-​site roasted product. From what I gathered, Sextant has been open for about a year and a half (someone correct me if I’m wrong). The roaster, a young, whip-​smart man, is newish to the biz, but has his eye on ever-​improving his craft. East African and So. American beans dominate the output thus far.
The espresso they serve, tasting vaguely of blueberry and nicely balanced, makes a lovely cappuccino. Occasionally, however, I find the espresso-​and-​milk drinks just a tad too hot. I’ve become quite accustomed to flat whites which, temperature-​wise, seem to be like Goldilocks’s porridge: just right.
Sextant’s pastry selection is modest. Among the offerings were: lovely-​looking cupcakes, croissants & pain au chocolates. Other sweet treats included cookies. I would recommend the croissant to anyone hoping for a butter-​rich, flaky experience. Dunking croissant into cappuccino was this morning’s breakfast fare and brought me back to my recently-​lived and now sadly over Euro-​life in Switzerland.
As has been mentioned in previous reviews, Sextant is off the beaten path for many of us. I’m somewhat hoping that that means lines will never be too long and there will always be a seat at a table. Of course, any third-​wave coffee lover would do well to visit Sextant and I should expect that this place will only become more popular over time.
*18 bucks for a 340oz bag of beans
*lovely back patio
*free wi-​fi