Tan’s Cafe III

Just finished a clinic inspection and noticed this café on my way back to my car. A few things caught my eye… Petes coffee, a deli menu, a high health inspection score and fresh hot Chinese food items! Don’t think this is just a regular liquor store or deli shop. There’s outside seating where you can eat your hot Chinese food! As I poured myself a cup of coffee, one of the ladies asked if I wanted milk because she puts it away to be stored in 41 degrees! Love it! I was kind of in a rush so I decided to not order from the menu and just grab a fresh slice of pound cake to go with my coffee instead. The cashier was so kind to even offer me the option to pick my slice! She told me about other options and I asked how long it would take. The food is already prepared and comes from their restaurant. The prices are decent. So I decided to give it a go and ordered the chicken mushroom. The portion is very generous and I am eating it as I type this now! It is soooo good! They were all very friendly and we’re proud of their score of 92 on their health inspection. As a person who does inspections myself… I appreciated that! I am really surprised by these other reviews. I’ve had rude service and this was not my experience AT ALL! I had to write this review to shed some light. Don’t judge this café without actually going inside and seeing what they have to offer! I love finding hidden gems.

I loathe places like this. You walk in and think it’s a mom and pop place and expect nice smiles and friendly service but you’re quickly disappointed. They act as if you’re bothering them and you speak to them in Chinese and they reply in English when they were clearly speaking to one another behind the counter in Chinese. Super rude! Customer service is customer service no matter the language. The coffee urns were empty and the lady watches you like a hawk as you try to get some out.

This place is my favorite to-​go simply because it’s the closest and most reasonably-​priced area place to grab a quick lunch near my work.
While I’ve only ordered sandwiches here, I have looked around at the chips and snacks and the packaging does look outdated and questionably expired. Haven’t bothered to snoop around much, because their sandwiches are filling enough that I don’t bother grabbing another side snack.
Their sandwiches are all really good and decently priced, but other than that, I don’t think I’d buy anything else here. Maybe their chinese food specials, like the BBQ fried rice, but I question that as well.
Really amazing prices relative to the rest of the area, and really great fresh-​made sandwiches. However, I wouldn’t grab anything else in the convenient store except for maybe their cup noodles /​instant ramen.

Yo son this is where I always go to re-​up my loosies. Hit P39 after and double your money, but most of you don’t be knowin. Usually stand near the magic show, watching out for the cops. see you there.

Convenient tiny little spot located semi-​near our work, so when we’re in a bind and feel like a drink, coffee or bagel, we head here. I know they have more than that, but that’s all we’ve gotten before. There were a few people working, but didn’t really pay much attention to us, as they seemed to be having a pretty intense conversation amongst the 3 of them. I saw some reviews of possible outdated beverages in the fridges so I made sure to check my V-​8 prior to drinking it and it was good to go. The top of the can needed cleaning, but still within safe drinking date range!

Not like they care or will change anything due to all the negative reviews so I’m really just writing this to vent.
Tans– here is what I HATE about you:
Old, expired candy, drinks, and chips.
OVERPRICED EVERYTHING. A mini (55 cent) bag of chips for $ 1.50 that will expire in a few days? Oh hell no.
Also your sandwiches are disgusting. Your chinese food makes me sick (literally, the fried rice made me throw up before).
You couldn’t even nail it with the cigarettes, which are stale and over priced.
Dusty sodas straight out of the fridge– yum! Who doesn’t love some dust with their drink? No wonder you charge extra!
Gross, this place really sucks and I’m boycotting it even tho I work around the corner and its the only store for blocks.

If Chinese food and fast food come together, this is what you might get. Why? It’s Chinese food, at what seems like, pre-​made and packaged! I see them popping them into a microwave and there’s lunch! What I got was a small box of Fried Rice for $ 3.50. I’ll say this much though, the fried rice didn’t taste that bad, but expect it to be more home-​made quality than your high-​end Chinese.
On another note, this almost feels like a small scale grocery store as well thanks to the selection of drinks and chips. Even so, this is a small, small place and there is nowhere to sit and eat other than a couple of benches and a table outside. This is more of your quick and cheap take-​out joint.

This is definitely one of those places that you walk into and seriously question if they serve food or not.
Came here one morning early for a bite to eat. They’re kind of like an old school mom and pop corner store and a badly remodeled 80’s café. But there’s no place to sit. They have a lot of stuff in there, but not much space to put it.
They’re ok when you’re in a hurry because they’re only a block away. But they still make you wish they had more stuff.

I’m giving Tans a 4 star rating based on a curve. There are VERY limited lunch options in this neighborhood and the only places that DO exist are very expensive.
Tans is not the best food ever but they do have a few things that you could do a whole lot worse.
Stick to the home made items served here. The daily Chinese food lunch specials are just as good if not better as what you would get from a Panda express or another counter service style Chinese place.
The «home made» turkey sandwiches are about $ 6.00 and you can ask for the bread to be toasted… much cheaper than local delis and it’s fresh carved turkey! Get the sourdough bread.
The «home made» corned beef is yet another good option and some of the soups that are home made are pretty good.
The lady behind the counter is always really nice and it’s good to support small businesses.
Suggestions to them would be:
Get some fancier breads and you would sell more sandwiches. If you ask for wheat. it’s basically the fake wheat/​wonder bread wheat.
Maybe some egg rolls or pot stickers. they can be pre made and heated per order.

Coffee is gross, have bought my fair share of expired granola bars here — ALWAYS CHECK EXPIRATION DATES PRIOR TO PURCHASE, but if you’re in a pinch is the closest thing for blocks. They carry the V8 fruit juice/​vegetable juice blend is nice and one time I got a bagel sandwich that was good for a hangover, but other than that I don’t think I’d eat the food.

Tan’s Café III will forever occupy the bottom rung on my personal ladder of lunchtime options over here in the neighborhood near my new job.
Crammed into a cramped, dingy space on the first-​floor of a dated apartment building, Tan’s doesn’t offer much in the way of fresh food or friendly service. They offer standard hot/​cold sandwhiches, meager Asian noodle dishes, and fruit flies galore.
Swarms of the tiny, zig-​zagging, winged parasites hovered above the kitchen area– directly above the cutting board where all food is prepared. The counter is just high enough that you can’t see the ingredients, the floor, or the greasy-​haired guy making your food remembed to wash his hands. If they even have a sink at all!
Apparently, for the 5 suits yapping on their cell phones waiting ahead of me, this wasn’t enough of a deterrent to the inevitible diptheria or terrible food poisoning that I assumed likely to arrive for them post-​meal.
So, I stood in line for what seemed an eternity (how long can it take to make a basic turkey on stale rye) all the while thanking the corporate robots in front for slowing me down so I could notice the disgusting conditions this place operated in.
When it was my turn, I opted for the safe choice: a can of Diet Canda Dry Ginger Ale. Woman who rang me up seemed to yell at me, though after many trips trough Chinatown on the 15, I suppose it wasn’t personal.

In a desert of expensive lunch options, Tan’s is an oasis of affordability. They offer a different lunch special every day, such as Mongolian Beef, Chicken with Vegetables, etc. The food is pretty decent.
Unlike others here, I find the service to be friendly and quick. If there are a few people in line in front of me it might take two or three minutes to get my food. If my change includes pennies, they almost always round up and just give me a nickel or dime or whatever instead of pennies. And when I forgot cash they took an IOU that I paid off a few days later.

Naomi C. nailed it, Tan’s really is terrible. Don’t even think about buying a candy bar, old and nasty. I may trust a Coke from T3, but that’s about it. And yes, she moans and groans over a $ 20s.

It’s not great, but it’s not that bad either. Best of all it’s dirt cheap.

Ok, Tan’s really is terrible. They sell horrid, expired stuff. Service varies depending on who you get but is never spectacular. The cashiers are nice enough, Ms. Tan is hit and miss. I don’t understand the people who buy the hardboiled eggs. They are taking their lives into their own hands. I think I have seen the same microwave burritos in the refrigerator case for the last 3 years. (Notice I said refrigerator case and not freezer. They’re not known for their food safety) The draw for this place for me is it’s near work and I never, ever buy any of the candy, chips, drinks, aforementioned eggs or sandwiches. So yeah, really no draw, right?
HOWEVER, the lady does have some amazing chicken curry on Thursdays. I mean people who curse Tan’s still sneak in for this stuff. If you do attempt the curry, phone your order in. The service is AMAZINGLY slow and you might get stuck with the chatty cashier. I think everyone who goes here knows what I mean. There are specials everyday of the week, but they are just so-​so and not worth the risk.
Note: Don’t bring in $ 20 bills unless you want to get squawked at for them having to break a large bill. Don’t ask for change. Bring exact change if you can because you’ll have to stand there and listen to chatty cashier tell you about the entire days’ customers who did or did not bring in exact change.
UPDATE: 5÷29÷08
So it’s been a while since I have been here, but I got a craving for some curry today. I walked in behind a man who had ordered chow mein. As he walked off towards the cooler by the door to wait, I watched as Mrs. Tan, unaware that she was in my plain sight, served up the man’s chow mein with her bare hands. She is a sweet lady, and yes I am quite aware that her brusqueness may be a language thing, and you can call it hipster hate, but I prefer my food served up with a heaping helping of safe health practices.

The worst San Francisco has to offer.
Located in a little niche between Pier 39 and some office buildings — this is a hole in the wall. Treats it’s customers poorly, because they don’t care about repeat business. And sells things like almost rotted milk and stale donuts. Run for the hills.
Also, my friend once gave the cashier (old chinese lady) a $ 10 bill, she said he gave her $ 5. A fight broke out and she refused to pay, she wouldn’t even listen to his points. He laid down the bill and said the words «ten dollars», she quickly put in the register and gave him a $ 1 and change on a $ 3.xx item. My friend left steaming.
They do have lunch specials that are really cheap and about 1.5 pounds of food. Though I suspect the chicken is hormone injected — it’s the only way it can be this cheap.
How can you support such a business?