Urban Picnic

The food is good but the attitudes of the employees absolutely sucks — every time I’ve been here, they’ve gotten my order wrong and when I ask them to fix it (I have food restrictions) they act like its a huge inconvenience. Not sure I’ll be going back when there other 1. more pleasant and 2. more cost efficient places nearby

What a HUGE disappointment. We ordered food for catering from here and everything was so bland. Their sandwiches were so bland. The beef on the vermicelli bowl looked gross and their dressings had way too much vinegar. We order catering often and never had we had so many people comment that the food was just a «meh — not terrible but nothing to write home about».

First time eating here. Being vegan I’m always looking for something new to try!
The service here was awesome! I got the Vegan Phở, and Limeade. They gave a discount for checking in on Unilocal,and I will definitely be coming back.
The Phở was delicious! Can’t wait to try their other items! Two thumbs up

I’ve been here a couple times before for their salad but decided to try their chicken phở (to go).
I got back to the office & they split up the noodles & soup for you to do yourself. I poured in the soup & it got a little messy… really hot soup which is appreciated but hard to pour into the noodles… (which had the larger bowl).
The soup was tasty but for the price I paid — it definitely lacked chicken & noodles… Going to stick to going to International Kitchen for phở — which is right down the street.

I had the lemongrass with quinoa bowl. The chicken was dry and had no flavor as well as the quinoa.

It’s alright. I got a bowl with rice noodles and wished I had gotten quinoa instead. The noodles tasted not so good. There’s a line during lunch hour… like out the door. As to be expected.
Does ok in a bind but wouldn’t make a point to go.

This is a very quaint and clean café, and we enjoyed our experience here. Staff is friendly as well. Instead of Phở, we decided to give their sandwiches a try. We ordered the five spice chicken and lemongrass chicken banh mi’s. They were tasty but had a bit more chicken meat than we would have liked. I would have preferred more fresh vegetables in the sandwiches and a slightly less chicken with more bursting flavors. Overall, I like this place and would love to come back again and try their phở than any of the restaurants in Chinatown.

Pricey kale salad but it was delicious. Thank you for introducing me to kale!

It was a cold and foggy morning with not a glimmer of sunlight. The only solution? Piping hot phở! Fortunately my coworker and I were able to locate a spot in Fidi (today was not the day for a Chinatown trip). Both of us ordered the beef phở with a bag — important because its multiple containers — for $ 12.50. Here’s a breakdown of the dish:
Soup: Very flavorful but after devouring the dish, I realized it was a little overly salty. Also even though it claimed to be MSG-​Free, I definitely food coma-​d with a minor headache. Word to the wise, don’t go here for lunch if you have stuff to get done in the office.
Noodles: Cooked perfectly and a sizable portion.
Meat: Ours only included beef brisket which was very tender and flavorful. It did taste like the meat was marinated though so I was not a fan.
Toppings of beansprouts, basil, cilantro, fried shallots, green onions: Crunchy fresh and tasty. My only critique here would be way too much onion flavor. It was a bit overwhelming.
Overall it doesn’t miss on the flavor front but a little salty and a little too much onion. I would return again but probably not for lunch (my boss wouldn’t be happy with the lack of productivity hah).

Phở was great! I got the beef phở, it’s not thinly sliced beef, but the flavor and texture was delicious. Amazing service and they are quick with your order. Definitely will come back!

I can’t believe I just paid $ 12 for a phở bowl. I feel like my Asian ancestors are all shaking their heads, frowning down on me. It was a simple phở bowl you can get anywhere else. Nothing special. I got their beef, and wished it came out raw (so that it cooks with the soup) like how it traditionally is served. Overall, it was ok. Probably won’t come back… I’ll just go to that international food court down the block and order my phở from the Vietnamese auntie instead. For $ 6.

The price of phở is reasonable in the area; however the favor and quality of the phở doesn’t justify the price. I’m a bit disappointed.

came for their vegetarian Bahn Mi, ended up ordering the Tofu Bowl. My bowl was served fast and was a generous portion, and while I did enjoy it I would not say it was anything super special — i think adding a little more veggies & marinating the tofu would bring it up a notch. Next time I will try the Bahn Mi or add avocado to the bowl.
Great for a quick meal on the go!

I work downtown so I’m lucky to have a variety of lunch options to choose from. Today, I decided to go to Urban Picnic, I’ve been here before and ordered Vietnamese sandwich.
Last time I was here, I ordered chicken Bahn mi and that was just alright. I mean, I’ve had better ones like Little Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich which is located in Larkin between Eddy and Turk. Their sandwiches are soo good and cheaper.
Anyways, I have decided to give this place another chance by ordering Pork Bahn Mi. Major regret! My pork is so hard to bite and chew. My first bite was also super spicy. Like, my god, seriously?! I paid at least 10 bucks for a crappy sandwich that is so hard to bite, especially the pork. I’m still hungry and kind of upset that I wasted money on this sandwich!
Urghh I’ll come here for phở but no more for sandwiches. Major waste of money!
It sucks cause the employees are really nice but the quality of their sandwiches just sucks!

Every Time I come here my food is fresh and delicious. Soups, salads, drink selection
Love it here!

Kale & Quinoa salad is a big portion of veggies in a bowl. I liked the sesame soy ginger vinaigrette. There’s not that much protein in this salad (ie. small portion of quinoa and sliced almonds), so a starvin’ marvin should maybe order something else. The staff member said this kale salad and the chicken phở are the most popular items. This is a place to come for a healthy, quick workday lunch. There are many other similar healthy options in the city.

I stumbled into Urban Picnic as a last resort lunch option because I was on a deadline but needed to eat. I came here because of its close proximity to where I was, and that is probably the only reason I would visit again. The low energy service was subpar, which matched just how barely decent the food was.
I decided on a Cobb Salad ($ 9.50) because none of the other options seemed appealing at all. They are very generous with their salad ingredients, but none of it tasted fresh. By the time I got to the bottom of my salad, the remaining soggy vegetables sat in a puddle of dressing.
I will say that it is AWESOME how Urban Picnic has a nice table of amenities, fully stocked with napkins, utensils, water station, and anything else you would ever need to ask the workers for. This place is not terrible, but it’s not great either.

Was in the neighborhood looking for a quick bite to eat for breakfast. Wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but walked by Urban Picnic and their breakfast menu caught my eye. The breakfast egg bowl was exactly what I had in mind; something quick and healthy. You have the option to add bacon and/​or avocado. I opted for the avocado and it was totally delicious! Everything tasted really fresh. This can totally be made paleo, if you’re into that kind of thing. (Only brought that up because there are a couple crossfit gyms nearby).
While their breakfast menu all sounds really good, not sure I would come here for lunch. Their items are a bit overpriced, but for a fairly healthy breakfast, this is the best I can find. But for phở and vietnamese sandwiches, you can find better elsewhere, like Chinatown.

Not down.
Today I have a bit of a sore throat. Phở was sounding real good from my fave Phở Express in the International Underground Café. But since the wait can be really long, Rita I and I stepped into Urban Picnic instead, with $ 11 in my pocket and high hopes for some soothing, comforting soup.
When the soup was ready, $ 11.15 later (yes, I had to borrow 15 cents to cover the exorbitant cost of my soup) we threw in our basil leaves, bean sprouts, jalepenos, and Sriracha and dug in.
The beef was cooked thoroughly which I was not expecting since at other spots rare beef is a go-​to, not brisket, and without any distinction on the menu, one may assume rare beef, or at least not dry as eff, gristly brisket.
The broth and noodles were also terrible. Broth tasted like beef bullion cubes gone way wrong: it was sicky sweet and had a weird flavor to it. The noodles were hard and spaghetti-​like. Also, though I am a fan of fish sauce in my phở, Rita (and a bunch of other people) prefer hoisin, which they didn’t have.
I don’t get how phở could go so wrong, but I will take my business literally anywhere else for phở.

2.5 STARS
What do you want after a night out drinking? Soup! After a fail down the street at Ramen Underground, we settled on Urban Picnic. I’ve never been to any of the locations, so this was my first time here.
*Chicken phở: rice noodles, onions, cilantro, bean sprouts, basil, msg-​free lemongrass broth ($ 8.95)
–When slightly hung over, I want the comfort of soup. This didn’t really deliver. It didn’t have any of the savory levels of flavor I’m used to in a chicken broth. It was very one note. Plus the rice noodles were a little thicker and chewier than I’m used to. I don’t really eat the noodles so I didn’t care much, but the texture was a little weird.
I get what Urban Picnic is trying to do. Healthy Asian fusion. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. Give me greasy Chinese any time! I want the comfort of my favorite Asian dishes!

Me encanta el concepto de Urban Picnic, y sobre todo me encanta el sándwich de pavo: una barra de pan crujiente y esponjosa, un pavo cocinado a la perfección y una salsa de mostaza y miel que hace que los ojos se te den la vuelta de puro placer.
Por si que la comida sea buena fuera poco, además el servicio es rapidísimo. No hay servicio de camarero y puede ponerse hasta arriba a la hora de comer, pero la rotación de mesas es bastante alta, así que casi siempre encontrarás un sitio donde sentarte un minuto a disfrutar de un poco de descanso (bien merecido) durante tu almuerzo.