101 Second Street

Nice hidden spot inside a building. And it’s free!
This can get really crowded during lunch. There are reasonable number of tables and chairs to sit down and have lunch.

I love art. I especially love things like architecture, public art, and community open space in a built environment. I will keep beating the following drum: Public spaces are where it’s at. SF is a beautiful place to begin with, but all these little POPOS’s are jewels pretty much just sitting here to be enjoyed at will. Of the 68+, this POPOS is in the the upper echelon. 101 Second Street Greenhouse and Mezzanine is a terrific space that you might not realize is open to the public.
My first experience with this space was walking by on a December evening shortly after sunset. The space at 101 Second Street looks normal enough during the day — a large window façade on another nice, relatively new building. Well, at night, the façade shows the space inside with a lot less effort. This is a huge glassed-​in lobby with a mezzanine-​level. There are trees inside, and there are two nice pieces of public art. On a sunny day (and we have some of those in California) the light is amazing through the two-​story+ glass. There are also a number of tables and chairs on the mezzanine-​level to eat, which also provides a nice view of the space and the art.
Of course this is the FiDi, so almost everyone here if working and on a lunch or a break. This place is pretty vibrant, so if you’re looking to chill it may not be your first choice. (There are several places around that will work for that — try the KPMG Building.) This is also a place where the irony is that it’s indoors, but particularly beautiful on a nice day. I look forward to coming in once it gets Novemberish/​Decemberish and open during the darker hours to see what it’s like in that light.
Oh — and there’s a Peets Coffee on the ground floor. It’s also very near several other terrific POPOS such as: 560 Mission Plaza, 555 Mission Sculpture Garden, Shaw Alley, The Sun Terrace, KPMG Greenhouse and Galleria, 235 Second Street and Marathon Plaza… just to name a handful.

My friend brought me to this lunch spot which I really enjoyed. The expansive glass windows illuminated the building with lots of natural sunlight. The faux trees, metallic sculptures, and a large painting that adorned one of the walls added a nice ambient touch.
Although seating was quite limited, we were lucky enough to find a spot on the second floor just as a party left. Phew.

The atrium is kept pretty clean. There are limited seating, and even more limited tables. There is a second floor the the atrium
It’s open to the public and a great place to grab a bite or have coffee with somebody.
On warm days, they open up all the glass windows… YES! Almost all the glass «walls» can open up like doors!
There are no public bathrooms available here.

Greenhouse
Schon ganz niedlich gemacht, aber ich sitze lieber richtig draußen und trinke meinen Kaffee
An sich ist diese Location schon interessant gemacht, aber nichts wo ich länger verweilen möchte. Es gibt so viele schöné kleine Parks und Plätze in der Nähe.
Aber schön mal gesehen zu haben. Ist auch ein relativ junges Gebäude. Ich glaub gebaut wurde es 2000 oder 2001. Eben mal was anderes

The perfect place to hide out on those chilly, windy San Francisco afternoons. Sure, there are some lovely, sunny POPOs scattered throughout downtown, but sometimes you need a great indoor spot to hide out. This is a great place to catch up on some reading, take a phone call, and escape the general downtown madness. Tables are limited and can fill up fast, but there are lots of benches and seating room downstairs. And Peets is right downstairs if you’re in need of a pick-​me-​up!

It’s nice to have a place like this in the city; great for getting out of the busy streets and it’s a great for meeting someone for coffee or taking that phone job interview. The rating is more so for the location, cleanliness and accomodation (not so much for the views). There is a Peet’s coffee attached to this location (through the back — fyi). It gets busy during lunch hours so the chances of finding a seat let alone a table can slim.

Places like these are rare-​finds in the city — just somewhere you can take your lunch & eat. They have tables, chairs, and benches. There are 2 floors, and yet there still isn’t enough to provide to all the people that come here during lunch hour. I’d say 50% of the time I go here, I end up not having a table to sit at and settle for a bench. But it’s still a great place to have in the FiDi and if you want to eat your lunch some place outside the office, it’s definitely worth a try!

It’s a nice place to hang out, and I can see why people generally like it. I’ll add my two cents — I found it a bit noisy. It’s kind of like an echo chamber, so it’s not a quiet space. While I appreciate the owners of the building making this space available to the public — and while I can see that such places are premium within the city center — I couldn’t quite see what was so different about this place versus hanging out in a public library or in the atrium of a hotel or a mall. In fact, I would say the feeling of sitting and working here would be very similar to that of a a hotel atrium or a mall.

This is my happy place during lunch when it’s cold outside. Thank goodness for POPOS! There are some pretty nifty ones in the area…
The atrium at 101 Second Street is indeed open to the public, so grab lunch from somewhere nearby and head over. It’s clean, quiet, and pretty — certainly beats eating at your desk.

I keep forgetting this place is open to the public. And in cold, windy San Francisco, indoor public eating spaces (let alone CLEAN ones) are a rarity. Why would someone maintain such a place for the public? I don’t know, but bless them! If we patrons can continue to keep the space clean, I hope they continue to keep it open to the public.
The space resembles a greenhouse /​art gallery. Floor-​to-​ceiling windows, open space and high ceilings. Very modern. A great place for a lunchtime escape. It’s also ideal for an impromptu meeting when you just need to get out of the office. It sure beats scowering for tables at Starbucks.
I was here during the holidays to watch a traveling group of carolers sing Christmas songs during lunchtime. It was awesome and so random. Yet another reason why I am so in love with my city. I have a feeling there may be more events like this, so if I find a calendar of events I’ll be sure to post it here.

I used to bring my lunch here all the time when I worked in area. It’s was always a nice escape from the office. I could finally relax my eyes from computer strain and poor office lighting. The place is spacious and quiet (when it’s not too crowded) and a great place for lunch whatever the weather is.

A great indoor public space for folks to have their lunch or coffee breaks or even set up a mini team meeting. For those cold and windy weather days in the city, you can hide indoor here.
Sometimes it gets a bit crowded and the chairs are a bit stiff from sitting on them too long. Overall, I like how clean it is indoor and that Peet’s Coffee is next door!

Remember that really bad movie involving a glass house and a girl that resembles Jodie Foster? … Well, the house was impressive. I remember it’s name. ‘Glass House.’ I liked that glass house. Just like I like this glass façade!
I enjoy sitting and snacking in a place where I can relax with the comforts of being indoors and not sacrifice the visual pleasures of being outdoors.
I like that this is public space. It’s full of people from all over the surrounding neighborhood, snacking away, enjoying the serenity and beauty of this modern marvel.

I don’t know what motivates whoever owns this place to maintain it as a great spot for eating lunch or having a cup of coffee, but hats off to them and their altruism. The place is always kept at a comfortable temperature so when it’s cold/​rainy outside it’s good times.
Also, their staff is good at putting up with freeloaders like me: I haven’t ever seen the place messy.

If I could, I would eat lunch every day outside in the sun. But, we live in San Francisco where the weather doesn’t always permit… I work in an office where sometimes I need to eat at my desk… and sometimes I just don’t feel like eating under an umbrella of pigeon poop.
On days where I can actually get out of the office for lunch and just want to sit and enjoy my meal in a large echoey building… I come here. It’s a nice public space. Tables on two levels, a huge wall of art, and an even larger wall of windows allows you to look at the characters walking down the street without actually interacting with them. What’s that you say smelly homeless man who would harass me if I was at a table outside? What? Yah, I thought so, cuz I’m in here, and you are out there… I don’t have any money for you, cuz I spent it on my delightful lunch that I’m eating INSIDE!
Bonus for being a block away from my office. Double bonus for being attached to Peet’s coffee.

8000 sq ft. Art. Quiet. Glass
Spending my lunch hour here today was just about the only thing that kept me from eating my own eyeballs due to the banality of work.

«The Glass Building» — a great spot to bring your lunch and eat, especially when you and your coworkers can’t all agree on going to one restaurant. The spacious and airy atrium is open to the public, so don’t think it’s only for the lawyers and businesspeople of 101 Second St.