Picnic on Third

Great food, reasonably priced.

Thought I would give this place a try. Decent food, not great, but edible. Is it worth my 18 dollars for a plate? NO. Will I return? Only if It’s the only place open in the area and I was really hungry.

excellent brunch venue. enjoyed the overnight braised pork with poached egg on polenta. and a glass of house red.
the staff is friendly and thoroughly answered my questions.
will definitely return on my next trip to the city.

Good food, menus rotating everyday, 3 different choices most of the time.
Meat and vegetarian options, and multiple sides to swap.
I would say that the price is a bit high, but I am not sure of their costs so hard to tell.
Food is of quality though, and I love that they have kimchi or other to-​go options to complement the meal or take home.

They have several types of premade combinations platters to choose from, which they call chef’s compositions. I chose the veg one and it did not disappoint. The vegetables were diverse and were nicely seasoned. Overall, this was a healthy lunch option.

This wonderful Mission-​esque Marina-​esque location feels a bit out of place, but based on the skyrocketing rent in San Francisco, I suspect they were happy to open the doors anywhere they could.
I absolutely love (when it’s effective and execution is right) the down home, laid back, charming crunchy granola concept. This place, for me at least, is crunchy in a good way.
I’ve never ordered poached eggs. Not once. I’ve seen them on Food Network, I’ve heard great things about what I am missing and on this day, it happened. I saw «slow cooked pork» on the menu and quickly ordered it. As I sat at the table, staring out the window at the world passing by, I saw the menu posted on the front window. From the inside out, I could see the item I ordered and poached eggs were coming my way in a matter of moments. My immediate thought was, it’s not too late. I can run back to the lovely gal at the counter and tell her that I’m scared of runny yolks. I could run so fast there and back that she’s focus more so on my energy than my request. I realized shortly thereafter that this was the day. The day to try what everyone has been so fascinated with.
The dish was flavorful, the pork was tender, the soft polenta was delicious and I sliced through the poached eggs, one at a time, and mixed the pork, sauce, polenta and yolks together. Pretty darn good. Pretty darn good, but runny yolks, as I anticipated all these years, just isn’t my thing.
I pulled up the website when I got home to learn more about this wonderful restaurant and the ever changing menu, created by different chefs each night, seems intriguing. I will be back this Sunday for more. In fact, I do a sports podcast a few blocks from here every Sunday and I told my crew that we should meet here before the show to grub and prepare for the show. I wanted to try the coffee on my first visit, but I literally had 2 large Philz shortly before I arrived so I will checkout the caffeine this weekend for sure.

Love this place.
They make the «plat du jour» concept of a delicious home cooked tasting entrée and side set work. Maybe you’re not sure what you’re going to get but you’re pretty sure it’s going to be good.
There are enough options that you’re not boxed into a today’s special that is your worst nightmare but few enough that you don’t really have to make any real ordering decisions.
Style is «home-​cooked» and mixed ethnicity. I’ve had Asian style eggplant and slow cooked chicken; cous cous and Thai green curry with beef. So don’t expect anything specific!
Line is usually out the door but moves quickly.
Only real drawback? It’s kind of expensive. Lunch runs about $ 15 with no beverage.

Found this cute neighborhood breakfast/​brunch spot through GILT city!
It’s small and quaint inside and could be easy to pass by if you’re not paying close attention.
Food is delicious, portions are a bit minimal but it’s nice so you don’t leave overly stuffed and the food is quality.
The menu looks as if it changes daily but I’ll upload the pictures of what we got: braised pork and farmer scramble.
The yogurt granola side is DELICIOUS — get that and share it!

I wish I could fit Picnic on Third into my kitchen. This is where I want to be on a Sunday morning. Coffee, various parts of pork cooked in different ways, all covered with eggs… is everything I need to prepare me for Monday.
Minus 1 star for location, it should be closer to my house. Parking is a hit or miss.

I’ve come to Picnic on Third for Sunday brunch, lunches, and happy hours. I always find something delicious and nutritious to eat, and always walk away stuffed!
Their lunch concepts are so well thought out and I love that the menu changes every day, it seems like they never run out of new ideas! I look forward to their weekly newsletters so even when I can’t make it out for lunch, I can spy on their menu for my own cooking inspiration.
You can tell the owners are passionate about this concept and their food, and it shows in every dish they serve. 5 stars all day, every day

I was in the city for another convention and looking for a quick breakfast and a tasty adult beverage to start the day off well. Well… I happened upon this little gem of a coffee shop that just happened to serve awesome breakfast sandwiches AND had a nice assortment of local microbrews! So my morning was off to a nice start.
I asked and was quickly answered by the attentive staff what the draft beer selection was and got a great recommendation for the breakfast sandwich. I went with a light field (or something like that) IPA and a breakfast sandwich. The IPA was delicious as one could imagine and the breakfast sandwich hit the spot like a cannon!
The sandwich was a egg/​cheese blend cooked perfectly but shaped a bit too perfectly (looked like a McDonald’s egg). It was topped with yummy bacon and served between two halves of an English muffin, YUM! Just the right sized bite to file my big day in the city.
If I lived in the city this could surely be a favorite spot for me, give them a try!

Based on the picnic concept espoused here, there’s probably a right time to come to this place and alternatively a not-​so-​right time. Given their 7AM-​7PM business hours, I’m guessing 6PM is not the best time to try the menu. It’s not that anything is cooked improperly, but most of the food appears to be made earlier in the day and stored in containers (photo:
). I wasn’t aware of the concept behind this SoMa spot until I walked in and asked about the menu. It’s a nice-​looking space, a bit country kitchenish with an urban vibe. I decided to try the $ 8 Braised Beef Short Ribs but was told they don’t heat up anything.
Uh OK, I guess I’ll grab a plate and pour it on there myself. It was a generous portion for sure, with about seven thick slices of beef with gravy (photo:
). It was high quality and pretty tasty, but oh how I wish it could have been warmed up. I also went for a couple of sides, the $ 4 Roasted Broccoli and the $ 4 Grilled Eggplant with Lemon & Oregano. Once again, they were good portions for the price, but eating them cold just wasn’t doing it for me. I ended up packing most of it and bringing it home to nuke on my own. Perhaps I should have come with the mindset that this was a takeout spot to avoid a dining disappointment.
FOOD — 3 stars… obviously well made but alas, stored in a container
AMBIANCE — 3.5 stars… comforting sport to go with the comfort food
SERVICE — 2.5 stars… gee, don’t let the door hit ya on the way out
TOTAL — 3 stars… guess I should have brought my own picnic basket

I’m glad I got a Gilt deal that helped me discover this cute little spot! It was $ 25 for 2 coffees/​juices, 2 starters, and 2 entrees (which would’ve cost about $ 35).
No wait around 10:30am on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. You order at the counter and seat yourself. Our food came out very quickly. The servers were really chill and nice.
* Homemade chai ($ 4.50) — 2.5 stars
Quite watery, a bit lacking in flavor.
* Persimmon spice bread ($ 2.50) — 3.5 stars
Very nice, you can definitely taste the cinnamon-​y spice. Dense texture, a tad on the dry side, and the nuts go really well.
* Brown sugar bacon ($ 5) — 4 stars
Very delicious. Thick pieces, nice balance of the sweet and the savory.
* Two-​potato hash (bacon lardons, brussels sprouts, herb aioli & fried eggs. $ 12.50) — 4 stars
My boyfriend wasn’t a fan, but this was nice and light, just what I was looking for. The potatoes were a tad dry, but they had good flavor.
* Overnight chile pork & soft polenta (collard greens, sous vide poached eggs. $ 13) — 4 stars
A bit heavy for me. I didn’t like the collard greens, but I never like collard greens. It added a sour flavor. My boyfriend really liked this, and the eggs were just perfect. Polenta was fantastic.

I had heard great things about this place so my friend and I decided to try it out for lunch one day.
I ordered the sampler plate with a little bit of everything, LOVE that they have this option so i could try a little bit of everything.
The food was tasty (mac and cheese, kale salad, green beans) but everything was mushy and the kale salad had a little too much dressing. Not totally sure if I’ll be back.

Solid lunch option if you are in the SOMA area. Today a group of four of us came for brunch and we all ordered 4 different things which was coincidentally how many different brekkie entrees they had.
Sides: Yogurt with granola and side of fruit-​fruit was really sweet, seasonal, good portions. Granola tasted very high quality-​house made
Drinks: Grapefruit juice-​fresh squeezed; iced latte-​very good
Entrees: The hubs had the potato scramble hash with bacon, I had the pulled pork and polenta. Both were a little heavy handed on the salt if it was just a little less salty it would have been really good.
The ambience is nice, a little neighborhood café, not a lot of room for large groups though with the exception of one table that could squeeze in about 8, all the other tables are for 2 – 4 max.

I had the pleasure of coming here on a Sunday afternoon for lunch. I chose to eat the two-​hash which has potato totters with a lightly fried egg, brussel sprouts, green onion and bacon bits. Even though it was a light lunch, it was super delicious it felt pretty healthy compared to most other lunches I’ve had in the city. Everything was lightly fried or baked
I really liked how everything blended together very well in the dish, they put a lot of thought of which ingredients to put, how much to put and even plated it fairly well. I really enjoyed this meal because it tasted so good together and I’ll definitely be back again.
My friend got the pancakes and they were really filling but delicious. They had this cranberry-​maple syrup sauce with real cranberries and pancakes that were made fresh with a unique batter that resulted in a nice thick pancake. You could feel the coarseness of the pancake as you eat it, like it breaks down into chunks, it’s hard to explain but it makes it feel like you’re eating authentic pancakes.

Very cute concept (and website design, for that matter), but unfortunately, the picnic we picked up was incredibly salty, the meat was dry, and in general just devoid of flavor. The boy brought their specials of the day to my office for an afternoon lunch, and while it was a wonderful gesture, we were both left very, very thirsty. We shared:
~GROUND PORK w/​WHEAT NOODLES
~SEARED CHICKEN w/​SAUTEED WATER SPINACH
I agree with the comment from Alice S. — this food reminds me of home-​cooking in a less-​than-​positive way.

This place is super cute! It’s kind of tucked away but once you find it, you’ll be glad you did.
They don’t have much choices for anything, but my friends and I shared a charcuterie and cheese platter and I was pleased. I used a gilt city coupon so it was totally worth it… although I think I’ll come back even without a coupon :)

I really wanted to like this place! The lil smiling squid on the cup is so cute! The décor is so chic and rustic without looking dingy. The concept is so simple. I rooted for you POT, I really did. So much so that during heated office debates about you, I defended your honor, despite never crossing your threshold.
Sadly, today that changed and I wonder if I should have just left it an idea. As I mentioned, the votes were not in on lunch, so I thought I’d give the breakfast a try. Had an almond milk latte, and while delicious and beautiful, it was pretty lukewarm. As for the sandwich (option for bacon: yes please!), as you can see from my picture it’s 90% egg, and the other 10% bread/​bacon. Some people might like that extra egg but this thing was a beast, and i had to give up halfway through. I wondered: is the vegetarian version just one big egg puck? Unfortunately for me my tummy ached for the rest of the day: grumble grumble.
Service was quick and friendly. They have cute lil snacks for sale as well. Sorry Picnic, it’s not a match for me. I’ll still root for you from the sidelines.

High quality, rotating food menu served in a cafeteria-​like setting. Weird? Nah, not really. Think of your Chipotles or tech company cafes, but, well, nicer.
The day I went, they were serving up a slightly Thai-​themed menu, where I ordered a lemongrass pork shoulder for my main, and bok choy and papaya salad for my sides. Great flavors all around, but the pork was far too salty for my tastes, and there was not a grain of rice to be had, which was unfortunate, to say the least.
And while the prices are definitely on the higher side, I can see myself possibly coming back if I were in the area, just to check out a different menu. Given that I work all the way in FiDi, it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon though!
***Accessibility Info***
Venue — A midsize venue, with pretty spacious/​open seating. That said, the tables are a bit on the smaller /​more narrow side, so wheelchairs may have trouble scooting themselves between the legs of the tables. **Edit** The owner of Picnic messaged me and pointed out that they actually have reserved wheelchair tables, which I’m pretty sure I made the mistake of NOT sitting at. So, bear in mind that while the two tops may be too narrow, there should be otherwise accessible tables.
Bathroom — Didn’t try them, so no comment.