Franklin Templeton Cafe

The food is amazing here and very reasonably priced! I wish I discovered this place a few years ago! Look for Martha, the chef, she will cook you up some great food!

Cafeteria style food. Went here last Friday, where they had an option for an outdoor BBQ — $ 8. On this particular day it was Mexican themed. Choice of two meats (chicken, steak, or fish ceviche), rice, beans, slaw salad, fruit, and various Mexican cookies. Lunch was served in a to-​go container by the staff, while the fresca drink was self serve. Good value for the price, but the food was nothing particularly memorable – just OK. Would go back only on Fridays… for the BBQ. Place was pretty empty so it’s a great place to spend a lazy Friday lunch with a friend. ;)

Go here for lunch. Recommend getting: any of the hot plates. I discovered this little hidden gem and like to go here for quiet relaxation away from co-​workers. You’ll find a balance meal for a great price.

This place is INCREDIBLE. I used to eat at Whole Foods, across the street, but the salad bar was expensive and the lines were long. I started eating at FTI after a friend recommended it to me, and there is no looking back. The food is great. It all tastes super fresh. Plus, the special are incredible.

I previously reviewed this café but long before the recent change in the chef and kitchen staff.
The quality of food here can be uneven depending on which dishes you order. But I would recommend giving the café a try if you’re in the area. Not many people know about it, as it’s tucked away in the FTI office complex.
I would agree with one of the recent reviews mentioning how the new chef puts ‘WAY TOO MUCH SALT’ on the dishes. It’s not a consistent problem, but the pork adobo on rice dish that I enjoyed a few weeks ago certainly suffered from this issue. After the meal, when I placed my fingers against the carotid artery running along my neck, I swear I could feel the blood being pumped through my vessels at a higher level of pressure. Afterwards, to alleviate the fear that I was about to suffer a stroke at any minute, I gulped down a potassium pill followed by a banana just to be safe.
On the other hand, a co-​worker of mine, ‘Jaycee,’ recently had a freshly made risotto dish prepared at the grill section, and he could not stop raving about it. He praised the skill with which the new executive chef was able to make the ‘flavors of lemongrass and chili dance on [his] tongue’ and declared that ‘the pinch of chili gives this dish a level of heat that is simply… perfetto.’ According to Jaycee, Sodexo, the company contracted by FTI to provide cafeteria service, recently hired this chef (M. Tong, I think, is his name) from a topflight Vietnamese fusion restaurant in SF. To be honest, as Jaycee was saying this, I wasn’t quite sure whether he was being ironic with his effusive compliments, but based on the way that he licked his glistening lips after the meal, I can only conclude that his praise was genuine.

New Chef likes to put WAY TOO MUCH SALT on the dishes… We want Mario back… Super Mario where are you?

$ 3.50 hamburgers. Aztec chicken salad is good. They have a different special every day. 5 stars when you consider it is in a corporate plaza.

I like this place a lot.
I work across the street, so it is an easy convenient place for lunch. The people preparing the food are super nice, and the food is great. A lot cheaper than lunch at Whole Foods.
They have some super deals some days. And delicious veggies. The chicken quesidilia is bomb. So is the Aztec Chicken Salad, and lots of other stuff too!

Leave it to Sodexho to mess up a salad. Or a burrito. Or a stir-​fry. Or chili. Seriously, this is a nice looking café, at a $ 500B+ investment firm. You’d think they would try not to poison the execs, and maybe even branch out a bit.
The menu hasn’t changed in 5 years, and everything they make has this weird metallic aftertaste. The same industrial chicken is used in everything.
It’s this or $ 11 at Whole Foods across the street. I hate market hours.