Sundance Coffee

For the average Joe or Josephine, this place is probably quite nice. I liked the way it looked, I liked the coffee and it looked like they had good bagels and stuff. Has it closed?
I bring my own vintage restaurant coffee cup for my espresso – three or four shots, depending on how they pour – it seems to catch people by surprise. Do they expect me to bring a regular to-​go coffee cup for espresso? The problem I encounter is that when I hand them a cold china cup, for a hot beverage, they — coffee house employees in general – don’t think to warm it, first. Here, when I noticed that they hadn’t steamed the cup, I asked for it to be warmed and for the first time, both employees seemed to be flummoxed by my request. Really? So, unless you carry a cold china cup you probably won’t have this problem, and I would think you’d like this place. I did.

So, I took a client recently to check out a place to live right off 24^th. I haven’t been to the mission in awhile, and the funny thing about the mission, is whenever I am there I don’t want to leave. I want to stay and become a resident of the mission, wear my sarongs from africa, grow out my highlights, wear my nerd glases and spend my day reading a book and people watching in one of the many coffee bars they have sipping on my organic and fair trade coffee…
We decided to try sundance because the open feel and window seats beckoned us in as we passed by. I ordered a latte and she ordered a caramel frappé which she said was very good. Then we decided to try out the chairs and silently ponder the consequences of not returning back to suburbia (marin). Or at least I was, I couldn’t read her mind.
If I lived in the mission, you would find me at sundance on a regular basis.

love it that you can grab a mug off the wall. they have an eclectic collection. i had skulls on my mug, my friend had kittens.
we all had chai tea lattes, after having entered with the intention of getting coffee at 5:45 in the evening. not sure what that was about, but it was a great choice. we were all greatly delighted with the frothy and spicy chai.
atmosphere was good. service great though staff was not talkative, just went right to work on our drinks… which I guess is ideal!!! but anyway you put it, a good local corner coffee shop.

i really love the way the place looks inside, nice décor and furniture and nice paintings. I also love the fact that they have a little thing where you can trade things, people leave a lil nic nac and go about their day or leave once and take another, i love the idea.
i also love their prices!!! i say very reasonable. also the coffee is nice and strong, how coffee should be and i can taste the coffee.

I gave four stars more for the super laid back atmosphere and the super cool staff. However, I don’t know that I’d ever stay to drink and read, as I usually do at coffee spots. Although the atmosphere is laid back, it’s also a bit grungy. I totally disagree with the past reviewer who states that Sundance is aspiring to ‘be’ Starbucks. On the contrary, they are the exact opposite.
So, regarding my mochas (the only coffee drink I ever order, everywhere), they are tasty. I may start asking for extra hot along with my no foam request. Yep, I’m there every day since I discovered it on my path to work.

this place is really relaxed, unlike all the other yuppified cafes along 24^th street. the ambiance is pleasant, the cashiers genial, and the setting very very relaxed, which makes a nice cup of tea on a beautiful saturday morning in sf very enjoyable. i have never had their coffee before so i cannot say anything about that, but they have a great assortment of teas, in bags though :(. if you want to just hang out and not try to fit in because, honestly, it is perfectly acceptable not to be pretentious while in a café, then sundance is for you.

Best. Chai. Ever.
went twice this weekend it was that amazing

Umm, some of the reviews below are downright nasty.
Sure, Sundance doesn’t have the ambiance (pretentious and expensive aesthetic) of some of the other Mission coffee shops, but i admittedly am always there on the go and don’t give a rats ass about whats on the walls.
Their coffee is good, strong and affordably priced. I never have to wait more than a minute which I can’t say for many other spots, and they seem to have decent food at decent prices.
The staff are always SUPER friendly to me when I go in and are way more affable than I would ever be at that time of the morning. Honestly, they make the whole experience for me, everyone’s super nice. Oh, and the comment about how they must treat their Latino working class customers? WTF?! Half the time they ask for their orders in Spanish and are always as friendly as they are with hipster trash like me.
PS. Part of what makes Sundance so awesome is that it’s a good café that warmly welcomes the neighborhoods hispanic community. I mean, how often do you see working-​class latinos lined up to get a cup of french press coffee at Ritual or Haus? Right?

Not a bad cup of coffee, especially the decaf, but this is the only coffee place I can remember where as soon as I sat down, I wanted to leave. The prior comment describing «the atmosphere of a funerary» is exactly right on. Big empty room, random chairs scattered around the edges, semi-​dismal and uninviting, no décor to speak of – like its name, it reflects an aspiration to be Starbucks-​like, but just doesn’t pull it off. Plus, my sweetie has been there twice, and both times the service was slow and distracted (part of the problem may be understaffing — just one person behind the counter this morning).
Like I said, the coffee is fine, but why go here when you can go somewhere else? This is one place where, in the world of one’s imagination, putting in a drive-​through would be a distinct improvement.

Like this café. Especially their organic coffees. Next door is Humphry Slocombe and you can’t get any better than that! Friendly service.

I only go there when I ran out of coffee or when I am really late for work.
It’s across from my house and I hope it’s open on time and the workers are in a good mood.
I have an accent and they mostly always give me a hard time. These are the first people that ‘don’t understand me” when I say… «Can I have a medium house coffee please?» Most of their customers are Latino working class with little or no English. I do not even want to know how they treat them!
The younger and the more hipster, the worst it gets.
The coffee tends to be too strong and too bitter; however, the double latte has almost no flavor. That’s why I save my money and buy the house one.
They have bagels and sweets, but it is super super super basic.
The art in the walls and the music is good… Their Wi FI is very WEAK.
too bad they bark at you when you go to give them some business. Maybe they would add more flavor hiring more color people. For a very while there was an African American lady that was super nice, and fun… not over polite, just nice… maybe a mix of people would make it more tolerant and friendly.
The coffee is not the best, so until they don’t get friendlier workers I can not give them more than one star.

I am addicted to their coffee. The chai is consistent and is the best I’ve tried.
When they are closed on Sundays, I am really pissed.

Holychristyou’vegottobekiddingme — -this place sucks! There is never anyone in there. It’s frequently dirty and tables left unbussed (sp?) and the coffee is not friendly. Eeeek!
Never tried the Dogpatch locale, which actually looks nice from the outside.

Light-​filled, spacious. Parked myself in an easy chair, with a footstool and beside a marble-​topped table.

The atmosphere of a funerary BUT an excellent coffee at a very good price.
This is all I am asking for.
Love the place

If I could give Sundance ten stars I would.
Here is why:
I go into Sundance on a pretty regular basis. To the point that when I see one of their employees elsewhere I say «hi» and chit-​chat with them for a bit.
Today, after running to the grocery store and leaving my dog in his crate (something which made me feel immensely guilty,) I put Max on his leash and figured I’d give him a quick bonus walk before I started dinner.
I didn’t even put on a coat, I was just going to pop around the block with him.
Only to realize half way down the block that I had left my apartment key sitting on the table *in my apartment* along with my cell phone!!!
I fretted for a few minutes and then realized that perhaps I should walk around the block to see if my roommate had come home by the time I returned. No such luck. So, shivering in a tank top & yoga pants, I figured my next best bet would be to walk up to Sundance to see if I could use their computer (to access my Gmail which has my roommate’s cell phone saved in it or at worst to email everyone I know on the planet to see if they could come get me and Max.)
I walked in and asked the manager, «I have a really weird question: do you have Internet access and can I use it to look up my roommate’s cell phone number and can I please use your phone then, I locked myself out of my apartment…»
She said, «Of course!»
Not only did she let me use the computer (to get the phone number, then to email and Tweet my roommate, my other roommate who is in Portland for the weekend and my roommate’s boyfriend an SOS message) BUT she lent me her jacket so that if I had to wait outside after dark I wouldn’t freeze to death. She also offered me a warm beverage (though I declined, as I thought it would make me have to pee… what’s worse than being cold and locked out of your apartment? Being cold, locked out and having to take a whiz.)
I do not know a lot of people who would have done this for the random redheaded girl with the pooch who comes into their coffee shop every so often. It was really a true act of kindness and something which will make me a very, very loyal Sundance customer from here on out.
Thank you manager girl who’s name I can never remember — thank you from the bottom of my heart. I owe you a hearty thanks, some flowers and a drink the next time I see you out and about at the bar!
EDIT: Her name is Lynn and I won’t forget again! :)
Post Script: My roommate came home just as I was sending my SOS message, so I didn’t have to wait very long to be let back in. Max and I are now happy and warm in our apartment. And, I will be constructing a lanyard tonight to wear around my neck with my key attached to it.

I should have went to Philz. I was walking down the street, on a day hotter than hell itself, so naturally the instant I saw this little coffee-​shop on the corner, I dashed inside. The first thing I noticed was the relatively bare atmosphere. I ordered an iced soy chai latte, which was acceptable, but ultimately forgettable.
The worst part was, right after I left Sundance and continued my trek down 24^th, what did I run into? I ran smack dab into Philz. Best coffee I’ve ever had. The regret I felt hung over my head like a deep smog. I was too filled with latte to get another, and for that reason, I cried a silent river in my heart.
Three stars because nothing was really bad about my experience; I’ve just had better.

this is a very small coffee location that sells fair trade and organic coffees. granted, this place is spartan hence «no character». friendly service from the male barrista. between the med, dark and specialty choices, i choice the latter which turned out to the ethiopian (y…L-1.95)
very smooth and needed very little cream and sugar.
very few patrons here. there is room to linger around provided one doesn’t have to feed the meters.

Sundace is a super yummy organic and fair trade coffee prepared well by talented baristas and is a welcome alternative to that franchise!
that almond croissant was Killer!

Thank you for all of your candid reviews. I opened Sundance Coffee with the dream of providing the highest quality fair trade and organic coffee at a reasonable price. I have seen the affects that buying fair trade and organic have on developing countries. Recently, I was down in Guatemala touring a plantation where we buy our dark blend. I want you all to know that each time you buy a cup of our coffee, you are supporting local farmers in Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Sumatra, and Kenya. Instead of sending their children to work, they can now send them to school!
I understand that some people have some concerns about Sundance Coffee because it is so nice for the neighborhood. I value all feedback both positive and negative. Please note that Sundance Coffee is a small locally owned coffee shop with a dream to make a difference on the global scale by setting a trend for positive change in the way we buy and consume coffee products.
I appreciate everyone who has given us a chance to make a difference!

I gotta hand it to Mike W., his review really nailed it. I just went to Sundance this morning, deciding to give it a try instead of the tried-​and-​true Philz Coffee, the slacker-​haven Atlas, or the scruffy-​but-​delicious new kid on the block, Sugarlump.
Sundance was just as Mike W. says: wide open, empty, with slick-​looking signage and a vaguely Starbucksian atmosphere and controlled setting — complete with inoffensive background music.
I ordered a coffee (you get to choose between a medium roast and a dark roast) and a chocolate croissant that was sad, cold, and lumpy. The gal behind the counter smirked when I stuffed a $ 1 tip into her jar, on a $ 4 order. It was unnerving and made me quite uncomfortable.
The coffee was okay but not great. Some might like the slightly over-​roasted taste, since it seems pretty prevalent these days. Then again, I’ve only been there once. Maybe it was just that batch? I hope so, because I’m a coffee snob, and with all the great coffee you can get these days, it’s a high bar to leap. So much the better if an indie purveyor of fair trade wares cleared it.
But never mind the coffee or the service, the main thing for me at this place is the atmosphere: it’s a simple matter of blending into the neighborhood and trying to understand the neighbors: bring your message of fair trade coffees in synch with the aesthetic of the ‘hood, and ye shall succeed.
People generally aren’t as picky about coffee as me, so I reckon if you fix this, and ensure service by people who genuinely care to get the message across and enjoy interacting with eah customer, then you’ll have a winning combo.