St. Francis Fountain

Mediocre diner food with some of the worst service I ever had the misfortune of experiencing.
I guess if you are friends with one of the continuously stoned looking hipster servers, you’ll have a good time there. If you are in the vast majority of people that have no direct relationship with the staff, get ready for long waits and surly ass attitudes!
The food is decent diner fare, for new mission prices (i.e expensive).
Additionaly, people waiting to be seated block the entire sidewalk and could not be less self aware about it. God damn, just thinking about it boils my blood.
Would have given it two stars instead of the one but the customers that frequent the place (especially weekends) drop it down to a 1 star.
Last weekend, friends of one of the servers where sitting on the outside portion under the awning, crushing beer cans and throwing them at cars. Staff saw it and thought it was the funniest thing ever.
If the mood strikes you for diner food, go the Mexican diner 3 doors down, La Torta Gorda.

I came here with a friend for Sunday afternoon lunch. We were seated after a 15 – 20 minute wait. Overall, it was pretty good. It didn’t particularly stand out to me. However, the chicken cilantro soup is AMAZING. So warm, wholesome, and uniquely flavorful. I definitely recommend getting it as a side order next to your main course. Extra star for that! Besides the soup, I got an S.F. Reuben which was alright, as far as a veggie sandwich goes.
Random: The kind of folk that come here seem to be hipsters in their 30s. Also, when I used the bathroom one of them kept trying to yank the door open repeatedly when I had clearly locked it, so I banged back on the door and he scrammed. :P So that’s a thing. That works. If you’re ever in that situation.

I love diner food and this falls easily in that category. Quick, tasty and clean.
Pancakes are good all over the US and this place is no exception

‘Nebulous Potato Thing’ is delicious! Pile of baked spuds, melted cheese, fresh salsa, sour cream (I subbed guac though), and chopped green onion. $ 5.50 for a small; $ 7.50 for a large. Add an egg for $ 2. Worth it. All the flavors blend together nicely.
St. Francis Fountain is an old school diner. You’ll get seated quicker if you choose the counter or outdoor option. Lots of good breakfast options here, with an unique, home-​comfort twist.

The bf and I went to St Francis Fountain on Sat for brunch and it was a full house. There was a small crowd outside but the wait wasn’t too bad. They started seating next door which made the waiting period go by even faster! Sadly– I think it took longer for a server to come take our order than it did waiting for a table. :/
We’re back on trying to eat «healthy» so we both created our own scrambles and said no toast and no potatoes. Boo dieting! BUT! We added vegetarian chorizo to make it not so healthy and that was deadly! The server was nice enough to let us substitute our spuds/​bread for a bowl of fresh fruit! It was a generous portion as well! The food was decent but I think I’d like to try their spuds and gluten-​filled meals the next time I come back!

Yes, come here! When you eat at St. Francis, you feel like you’re taken back several decades. The old-​fashioned booths and design are so fun.
Service is outstanding. Super friendly servers who are quick and easy-​going.
I had the Huevos Rancheros. They weren’t the best I’ve ever had, but very tasty and they are generous in their portions. I definitely want to come back for the soda fountain and ice cream :)
I heard there can be a line, so best to come early on the weekends.

Small cute diner very laid back and good comfort food nothing fancy but worth trying their food

I sought this place out on a recent visit to San Francisco (September 2015). We walked quite a distance to get here from where we were staying. My partner and I arrived just after 2:00 on a weekday and didn’t realize until we arrived that they actually close at 3:00pm. As a rule, I generally do not stay to dine at a restaurant if I arrive less than an hour before closing, but since we only wanted to grab a soda/​shake/​ice cream treat we figured we could be out in less than an hour.
When we walked in we got glared at and I can only assume this was because of the time — but it was literally not even 2:15 yet. We were off to an awkward start. There were two people standing behind the counter, but to use the word «working» would be a stretch. We sat at the counter and as the kid handed us the menus, he warned «we close a 3». Not the friendliest greeting. I assured him we only wanted ice cream so we would be quick.
There were two other people at the counter who were already eating so we were the only two people in the place that required service, but the server never came back to ask if we had questions. It felt like he was hoping we would go away if he didn’t approach us… and we nearly did. It was only the fact that it was such a long hike to get there that kept us determined to order something. He pulled the fence across the front windows while we were trying to figure out the difference between shakes and sodas, etc even though at that point it wasn’t yet 2:30pm.
We finally had to call him back to us. I asked a question about one of the ice cream items and he seemed like he couldn’t be bothered. He prepared our order and brought it to us with 25 mins to spare till closing. The ice cream itself was good, although I think it had been a bit over-​hyped and not necessarily detour-​worthy on our course. Halfway through our shakes /​ice cream, he came back and gave us the tumblers with the remaining third of our treats as if it was an afterthought to offer it to us. At other restaurants, my experience has been that you get what remains in the metal tumbler along with your poured shake, but it was weird, as if he was doing us a favor.
At one point we were trying to wrap up and get the bill (still before closing time) but couldn’t get the attention of the server who again couldn’t be bothered. We were also hoping to get the glass of water we had asked for when we placed our order. At one point, a guy who had been eating at the counter a few seats down from us walked behind the counter and standing directly in front of us AND facing us at the counter he filled himself a glass of water. My partner politely asked if we could have a glass of water to which he replied, «Yeah», we thanked him and his response was, «I’m actually on break» like he wanted us to know he was doing us a favor filling a glass of water for us while he was on his break 30 mins before they closed.
The entire experience was so off-​putting and rude. They truly made us feel like we had wronged them in some way when all we could honestly think of was that they were mad that it was 2:00pm and we were going to make them do something during their last hour. We finally got the original server’s attention by signaling to him during a break in his casual conversation with his friends at the counter. We asked for the check and he seemed so disgusted to have to prepare and give us the bill that we wanted to leave without asking for it just to avoid one more unnecessarily awkward interaction with the staff.
We paid the bill and heard them yell something as we walked out the door. We don’t know what they yelled, but I will guess it wasn’t «have a nice day». The customer service was non-​existent and they seemed like our presence and request for two simple ice creams and a cup of water was beyond comprehension. All of this being said, we were out the door before 3:00pm, so it was NOT because we had over-​stayed our welcome. Very disappointing, uncomfortable, a very strange experience… and now after reading these Unilocal reviews, I see that we are not alone in being treated this way by the staff. These little turds do not deserve jobs until they learn some basic human decency. Grow up, kids.

Good breakfast place.
I never had to wait too long to get a table and the food is great.
I’m a fan of their milkshake an flavored sodas.

I tried their veggie mess which was a VERY decent serving size and VERY delicious. It had a great number of flavors — from eggs to potato hash and some nice, crispy bread. I would definitely come back for it again.
I would come last year at nighttime for ice cream but they changed their hours such that they close by 3−4pm, which is sad. I hope they change back their hours soon!

Came here for breakfast with a friend. The places is really small but they do have outdoor sitting. The wait on a Saturday morning wasn’t too bad (5mins).
The prices were reasonable.
The portion sizes of the food was big and the food was just OK. I wasn’t blown away by the food.
But I didn’t like getting my hot tea in a water glass, I would of enjoyed it more in a mug.

Great food, great environment, and great prices… that’s all I need!
I definitely recommend this place, especially the banana bread mmmm

This place is employed by arrogant hipsters. Nothing but bad experiences the 3 times I’ve been. This last visit I rushed to arrive at 2:30 knowing they close at 3 and was turned away by the staff because they stop seating at 2:30. Why the hell advertise you close at 3 if it’s actually 2:30? Just gave me attitude like I had the nerve to impose upon them by not understanding this insider information.
Done trying. Good luck.

This place is the bane of false advertising! Despite broadcasting all over their website that they take delivery orders from postmates they actually do not on weekends! My very friendly driver went all the way over there to have them inform him that to get ANY food on a weekend you have to physically sit down to eat it! My driver informed me that in over a year of delivering via postmates he has never, ever had a restaurant enforce such an absolutely ridiculous policy.
Well they have seen the last of any of my money. I don’t support business who participate in false advertising.

I didn’t get the hype here. Granted, I did not try their ice cream or shakes, but I came here for brunch. Their french toast was nothing special. The banana bread was burnt — literally one side of it was completely black, how do you serve that?! The omelette that my boyfriend had was smothered in sour cream.
Maybe I’ll need to come back to try their shakes, but the food here was mediocre.

I love that they serve breakfast during lunch and I can get a milk shake for breakfast. They also have a Guinness float! I usually go there for lunch when I’m at work. Parking is not bad, street parking.
They have these old school collectible cards like garbage pail kids… old school candies too.

Overall: Great little neighborhood spot with all the typical and delicious diner foods you need along with a friendly vibe. Lives up to the hype.
The good: Very friendly service that was attentive and fast. Food is solid (not very healthy but it’s a diner). Good sized portions. Atmosphere is great, old school that is homey and reminiscent of the good old days. Pretty cheap prices
The bad: Small amount of seating, especially with more than 4. Not a huge menu to choose from.
Atmosphere: ⁹⁄₁₀
Service: ⁹⁄₁₀
Food: ⁹⁄₁₀

I can see the appeal and old school, retro charm to this place being established in 1918. But my recent visit did not leave a smile on my face which is normal after visiting a ice cream establishment.
I ordered a hot fudge sundae and it was hardly a sundae more of a hot fudge debacle. It literally had 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream and was served in a thick glass cup that didn’t proportionately do justice to the ice cream. They serve Mitchell’s ice cream which is aright but nothing special to me. What made it worse was the price for this sundae was $ 6.00. I could have gotten just a scoop or two for that price else where.
I like the feel of St Francis Fountain but not the ice cream. There is something about a place that makes there own ice cream compared to others that don’t. But I can’t complain, this place has been around for quite some time. My search continues for the third best ice cream spot in S.F. Stay tuned…

My mouth is watering just thinking about the Devil’s Burger I ordered today at St. Francis Fountain. The Devil’s Burger is not actually a burger but a pile of paper-​thin sliced marinated and grilled seitan on burger buns. It was the best seitan I’ve ever had and almost tasted like pastrami. I added grilled onions and avocado to my sandwich it was really one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in a long time!
My friends and I arrived at 11am on a Sunday and we were seated right away and got served coffees almost immediately which was a great way to start our brunch. Our waitress was great and made good suggestions for my friends while they were deciding on what to order. My friends ordered the breakfast burrito with vegan chorizo, the vegan thing with vegan chorizo and tofu scramble with mushrooms and spinach. When the food came out and everyone had their first bites of food, we were all raving about how tasty and good everything was. Even the coffee, which was replenished quite frequently, was delicious.
I can’t wait to come back! Definitely will be returning!

Now I see what all the hype is about… this place is top-​notch!
I’m surprised that I have never come here, as I’ve had it on my list of bookmarks for quite some time, and so many of my friends are fans. I guess I’m just never in that neighborhood, so a few of us East Bay/​Contra Costa County folks hopped in a car and drove to the city specifically to grab their grub.
Surprisingly, we were able to get seated right away. I think we must have just beat the morning rush, since we did leave Walnut Creek at around 10:30 in the morning. A quick drive over the bridge, and we made it to our destination.
First impression: cute, old-​school diner atmosphere. Cozy wooden booths. Hustling and bustling, the place packed full of customers, which is usually a good sign.
Their coffee is delicious, a mild and tasty brew, and they have soy milk for your dairy-​free needs. This started off our meal on a high note, as we ordered 4 coffees and scanned the menu, our little vegan hearts pounding with excitement.
There are plentiful vegan and vegetarian options for both breakfast and lunch, so we took our time reading over the menu. Everything looked and tasted spectacular!!! We ooh’ed and ahh’ed when the food was brought over, as our dishes were quite aesthetically appealing, especially for diner food.
Rosanne P. opted for the Devil’s Burger (actually not a burger, but thinly sliced seitan), Richard A. got the Vegan Breakfast Burrito, and Laura C. ordered a killer tofu scramble with spinach and mushrooms.
I was going to get the Vegan Rancheros, but they didn’t have vegan cheese, so the waitress suggested getting The Vegan Thing instead («pile of spuds with vegan jack cheese, fresh salsa, guacamole, and green onions») with added vegan chorizo instead of cheese. Great tip! It was everything a great breakfast should be: starchy, spicy, sweet and savory. The potatoes were cooked so that one side was a little well done crunchy (but not burnt). I thought that really elevated the dish. Even the guac had a good flavor; not sure if it is housemade, but it sure tasted like it was. The chorizo was mighty spicy and set my mouth on fire… I loved every second of it. It hurt so good!
I tried a bite of Rosie’s sandwich… that seitan is phenomenal! It almost had a roast beef, pastrami-​esque texture and flavor, without being as overpoweringly salty as its meaty counterpart. I’ve never seen seitan sliced so thin. I would love to order this on my next visit, as it comes with a heaping side of fries if you so choose. It looks fantastic, especially when you choose to add grilled onions and avocado on top.
We each must have had at least 2 – 3 cups of coffee, as they were quick to come by with a fresh pot to give us a warm-​up. I really appreciated that! The staff is excellent, very attentive and well-​mannered, especially for a Sunday morning (when I know my demeanor can be a little bit cranky). Diane was our main waitress, and she seemed quite knowledgeable about the menu. I hope we weren’t bothering her with our demands (more soy milk, please/​a side of jam for my toast, thank you).
Would I return? Abso-​friggin-​lutely! This is probably my new favorite brunch joint in all of San Francisco. I left there feeling very full and yet energized, ready to take on the world… or at least Rainbow Grocery right down the street.

L’endroit idéale pour faire une petite pause quand il fait trop chaud à San Francisco. Les sandwichs né sont pas inoubliables mais on vient ici avant tout pour prendre une glacé, un soda ou un brunch donc on excusera volontiers les sandwiches loins d’être inoubliables. Mention spéciale donc à la carte des sodas, milk shakes, sundaes et autres ice creams: longue, variée et surtout délicieuse!