Il Massimo Lounge

Sad that this sandwich shop CLOSED. Prices were a bit more expensive than other lunch spots, so perhaps it didn’t help that it was flanked by Noah’s Bagels and Subway. Both with cheaper sandwich options.
I still have their frequent dining card (buy 9 lunches, 10^th is free). I just needed 2 more to get another free lunch (I claimed a free lunch for my first completed punched card a long time ago). Any of their grilled to order panini were good. In my opinion, food quality (both bread and fillings) was easily much better than Focaccia Market (on Sacramento). The salads were okay, my favorites were the bowtie pasta salad and the beet salad. There was a limited assortment of excellent pastries and gelato. I also got to try their short lived pasta cart a few years ago.
The original (wider menu selection and weekly specials) somewhat hidden location on Washington street is still open (next to a SFFD station, and across the street from the US Citizenship and Immigration building).

Loved their trio salad. They were my default place. But looks like this location is now closed.

The sandwiches (all on focaccia) are not bad, but there is no reason to come here when Focaccia is just a block away (
) unless you are craving focaccia bread and want to avoid the lines at Focaccia. But you should be aware that all sandwiches are pre-​made offsite (at 441 Washington Street, I believe), so Il Massimo Lounge offers no customization of sandwiches or salads. On top of that, there is just a modest assortment of pastries made offsite, and some very bland coffee. Somewhat disappointing.

Absolutely terrible. Ordered over Grub Hub, accepted and charged the order, told us it will arrive in 45minutes. Got a call later telling me they had a big lunch rush and no longer make our order… Don’t trust this place if you’re catering in…

I ate here right before a conference and came in after lunch hours. I ordered broccoli which I believe was raw with olive oil and half a chicken panini. I can’t really comment on the service because it was after lunch hours, but the workers seemed nice, and the food was good.

Catered from Massimo Lounge yesterday for clients and was kind of disappointed. Sandwiches must have been slapped around with mayo because there was a LOT. The mozarella in my caprese sandwich was sort of dry and didn’t seem like a caprese sandwich should have been? The cookies were soooo underwhelming and DRY. Dry cookies? Strange… maybe mass produced is not their forte.
I’d like to try their breakfast, salad or soup to be fair.

Breakfast croissant was nice. Good beer selection, not that I had beer in the am, but I could have…

The paninis are pre-​made with an option to toast. I usually order the grilled chicken breast on filone bread — TOASTED. Pretty good, although pre-​made, the ingredients taste fresh and the bread is delicious!

I have to start this by saying my coworkers and I have been here 3x in the past week — we’re fans.
On our first visit, the people working were super friendly and guided us through the available lunch specials and offered up numerous tastes of the pre-​made deli style salads. Very patient.
I think between the 4 of us we’ve probably tried all the sandwiches and most of the salads — here is a brief synopsis:
— The potato salad was really good — I think my favorite so far. It wasn’t a mayonnaisey style potato salad though. Think more of a euro style olive oil type. It had an assertive flavor — not sure what it was; but it was in a good way.
— The pasta salad is good — my coworker gets that all the time, lots of flavor.
— They have a rice based one with peas, corn, some parsley, I had my doubts — but it was so good. Get it.
— The lentil one was good also.
You know what, just ask to try any of the salads and make up your own mind, they don’t care — they’ll let you try any of them.
I’ve had the prosciutto, the pastrami and the ham sandwich — all good.
The bottom line here is that, yes the sandwiches are premade — but they are of good quality and reasonably priced. This place isn’t Subway and I mean that in a good way.
They also have a pretty damn good beer selection AND they pour a very generous pour for a glass of wine.
So go, get you the salad/​sandwich special (if there are 2 salads you like they’ll split them if you ask nicely) a glass of wine or a bottle of beer and sit outside and watch the people pass by on Market — you won’t be disappointed.

Came here for lunch with co-​workers. I’ve always passed by this place but never was curious enough to check it out.
Pre-​made paninis, grilled on the spot, with a variety of yummy looking salads.
The cashier was super helpful as it was painfully obvious it was our first time there, ooo-​ing and ahhh-​ing over our choices.
It was good food. I had the salami panini. Tasty but a little dry. Probably just need a touch of some kinda sauce. My coworkers had the mozerrella panini which is what they are known for supposedly. They seemed to enjoy it with the same sentiments I had, needed a tad of sauce.
The cookies looked delicious and 3 for $ 1.50 got my attention. Sold. It was a nice sweet treat after a good lunch.
Only peeve was that the paninis were pre-​made and sitting there. I would understand if the place was packed and super busy but it wasn’t.

Already made sandwiches. Anything but standard service.
You might have read previous Unilocal regarding already made sandwiches. I’m rarely a fan. Can’t tell how long they’ve been sitting their. Often have things you (or at least me) don’t want.
Such was the case at Massimo. The roast turkey on house foccacia looked awesome. Unfortunately it came with aioli.
Wish I had gotten the name of the guy helping me. Sensing my disappointment, he offered to scrape off as much of it as he could before grilling. Super nice gesture.
A few minutes later I was enjoying the sandwich. While not exactly made to order, it was close enough. Great service has a way of making up for almost anything.

This place at best is meh.
The panini was bland and basically warmed. I didn’t experience the slight crunch most paninis are accompanied with.
The customer service was extra dry and, after I paid, they waited around to see what I would write down for the tip. o₀ (can you say thirsty?)
Also, the décor was blah.
And everything was a blur due to the blahness in this blah blah blah overdignified DELI. (Lounge… really?)
That is all i can remember about this place. Blah.
This is literally two steps from where I work and I most likely won’t be back. oh well.

Nice décor. A bit dated. Bought wine here — sauvignon blanc, chilled.
Decent wine on a warm day.
Their free ice water was the best thing ever.

Had a lunch meet and I was missing one thing: a drink for him so I made my way through the busy streets of Market to get to here and yes, San Pellegrino (sp?) is available. I bought my Diet Coke at Deli Board and it was waiting patiently in my purse so that was taken care of! As I was about to pay, I noticed the pastry case. not a lot of varieties but cakes and mini cookies (mini sandwiches that looks like a crabby patty from Spongebob) enticed me. 3 for $ 1.25 or was it 3 for $ 1.75? Either ways I got 3 of each of the 4 kinds they had, haha.
Yes, I’m a fatty. I admit.
I saw great salad selections and sandwich selections. and this place has gelato (drooling profusely) so this is a must do if you are in the area for lunch.
The place has tables indoors and outdoors and well lit. it’s so open that I don’t think the place needs any lighting. It’s a clean place w/​many savory, healthy, unhealthy, and sweets selections. I will go again!

The Ferry Building and farmer’s market were ridiculously packed last Thursday. I was craving a latte and ended up here. This place is a bright, cozy (small) café and lounge located across the street from One Market and right next to Noah’s Bagels. It’s easy to miss this place if you’re hurriedly walking somewhere, but it’s a great find.
As the sign above the door says, this place is a café and lounge. You look at the display with all the sandwiches and desserts and think café. You turn around and look at the seating area and notice how all the tables have a few cute and colorful flowers and it looks like a lounge. Turn around again, it’s a café. Then it’s a lounge! Café– lounge– café– lounge– café– lounge! This place reminded me of a cafes in Europe where you can have coffee, sandwiches and alcohol during the day and it’s no big deal.
I looked over the menu while I waited for my latte and craved just about everything. The sandwiches in the display looked delicious and the portions are generous. They have a soup of the day and also a happy hour from 3 – 5. The pricing on everything is surprisingly reasonable, especially considering that this is located in the FiDi.
I got my latte and sat outside to people watch and enjoy the rest of my lunch time.
When I got back to work I told some people at the office that we should go there and try it out. This suggestion and my apparent enthusiasm turned into our supervisor ordering lunch the next day for the office from Il Massimo.
I had the tuna sandwich and the beet salad and a cannoli. Coworkers tried the chicken sandwich and the steak and pepper and cookies. I really liked the sandwich and the beet salad (beets tossed with herbs and light vinaigrette). My coworkers liked their food too.
I’m looking forward to coming here again and trying the gelato and checking out the happy hour.

I’ve been here a few times. Actually, earlier last week i got a large fruit salad, which was fresh and delicious. Its a good place to go to for some healthy fruit. They don’t add anything to it so its super wholesome.
Today i got a small order of their Lentil Salad. Wow, Totally tasty. They use their vinegarette and it has basil and tomatos, I wasn’t too hungry when i was eating it, but it was so tasty, i had to finish it. I’m definitely going back here for this Lentil Salad. Or, i’m gonna attempt to recreate it at home. :)

I Go here for lunch everyday it’s an amazing establishment. Panini and espresso tIkes me back to the old country that I never visited before. Very professional staff, who really work to make your lunch special.
And when the weather is nice you can sit outside which is a plus

Authentic panini. Chimay beer and gelato. Oh yeah I am in love. I did not even break the bank. I am glad this location is so central to BART and transportation. I am glad this place is here.

Massimo Lounge is a cute, casual, sit down café. I honestly walked in here because I liked the flowers they had on their dining tables. And boy am I glad I did that because they have awesome paninis here, and especially with a huge selection of fresh and tasty sandwiches it’ll be hard to choose because everything looks and sounds so tasty.
I also had their tomato bisque soup — which I think is fantabulous. Especially on a cold day, having a cup of soup and a panini would be so good!

Aw another Unilocal disappointment! After reading such glowing reviews, I hopped over for lunch today. I ordered the Pollo Panini (on wheat) with a side of pasta salad.
That panini was grossly thin and dry! I had to dig through my desk for a pack of ketchup to make the sandwich a little wet. It was the worst panini I ever had (how dare they call themselves an Italian deli!). You get a couple of thinly sliced (maybe 1/​8″ thick) chicken and a few pieces of lettuce. Where was the roasted bell pepper sauce described in the menu? It would have certainly come in handy to make the sammy more palatable!
Pasta salad was bland but at least I get a slice of fresh tomato with it.
For $ 11 that’s one expensive lunch (I didn’t even buy a drink!). No thanks, not coming back here again!