Cafe Metropol

Unfortunately this wonderful little brasserie is closed.

I had the Spinach Ravioli during a work-​lunch once. It wasn’t super terrific, but it was satisfying until my next meal. The place was about half-​full, and the blonde waitress we had had a great sense of humor.

Came here to treat my friend out to lunch for her birthday and a quick chat before heading off to our respective meetings at 1:30pm. We arrived at around 12:15pm and were immediately seated at the bar since the restaurant was pretty busy.
They were pretty slow in taking our order, but I ended up getting the Tri-​Color Tortellini.
I didn’t get my food till about 1:05 which I found to be pretty ridiculous. The bartender kept assuring us that our dishes were coming but they weren’t set in front till 35 – 40 mins after we ordered. Surprising, since most of the lunch crowd are working professionals that don’t exactly have 2 hours for lunch.
The food itself was pretty meh. My tortellini was overcooked and slightly mushy while the alfredo sauce was watery. The sauce didn’t really adhere to the tortellini since it was so runny so I was essentially eating a combination of tortellini mush. Thank god the filling and parmesan were good.
Overall, wouldn’t come back here again. I paid a good $ 16 for a total crap meal and would have much rather grabbed a slice of pizza for $ 4 from the pizza place around the corner. Never again.

I came here on an early evening date at 6PM and we were the last ones in the restaurant so DO NOT come here after 3:30; although our meal was fine and the wait staff very friendly it was clear that as soon as we left they could go home.
The food is good, come for lunch.

Only been here once for lunch with co-​workers and had an average experience at the café.
Starting with the environment. It was a bit too crowded at peak lunch time, I needed to raise my voice a lot in order to be heard.
The service was very bad, maybe it doesn’t apply to others. But our waitress forgot to bring the soup that we ordered to the table.
The food was average. The black and white bean salad that I ordered didn’t disappointed me at least. I thought it innovative to mix the greens, beans with the mango slices. My co-​workers who ordered the sandwiches seemed to enjoy their meals as well.

I am in love, loVE, LOVE with Café Metropol. It is my favorite lunch spot in the city. I have introduced at least 6 people, no exaggeration, to this café in the last two years.
Let’s start with the customer service which is incredible. I never wait more than 5 minutes to be seated. Any and every waitress I’ve ever had here has been very attentive.
i usually order the Chicken Breast Sandwich and a Vanilla Lemonade. The chick breast sandwich is always so moist and delicious and I love the Vanilla Lemonade because it’s not too sweet, not too sour. I’ve also have the Mushroom Bacon Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetable and it is delicious as well. It’s a little heavy so I usually only order it for a late lunch of afterwork meal.
The drinks, I had a lemon drop, that was so strong and delicious I order three more. smdh.
There is no dresscode but seeing how it is in the Financial District I’d say go business casual. If you go mid-​lunch it can be a little loud. 2PM is almost perfect for lunch and lastly, they are a bit pricey but totally worth it to me.
I love this place and everyone I’ve taken here whether on business or person loves it just the same.
We need one in the Eastbay! I’m sure it would stay packed. :)

There’s nothing like drinking at 3PM. That is, if you’re drinking at 3PM while your car is parked at a $ ³⁄₁₅ minute parking lot down the street.
Came in for the happy hour with the bf just because we were not in the mood to walk around looking to get liquor’d up. Service, slow. I understand, we don’t look like your demographics, it’s fine. Good thing we were only getting drinks because the waitress never came back to ask if we wanted something to eat.
I had a Cosmopolitan (strong, but could be better), and my manfriend got a Whiskey Sour, which tasted like watered down apple cider. I’m going to blame it on the unusually warm weather making the ice melt at a warpspeed.
Cute place, liked the outdoor seating! Had a nice chat with a Samsung vendor.

I ‘ve been to happy hour here several times since I work around the corner. I do have to say that I’ve been very disappointed w/​the cocktails here. There martini’s and mojito’s are awful. I believe their mojitos are premixed and they put like 3 mint leaves inside… not good. There bartender didn’t know what a Gibson martini is.
However, I’m rating this place higher because the service is actually really good, and I really like their waitresses… whom are super kool.
The prices are reasonable for SF and their margarita pizza makes for a good happy hour snack. This place really is A-​OK.

I love the Vespa drinks here, but I substitute vodka for gin; it’s a delicious mix of elderflower and alcohol, very light, crisp and basically perfect. I also like the vegetable soup which is the only thing I’ve eaten here because everything else is ridiculously overpriced, for what it is, or at least what it looks like. Despite the high prices I keep returning because the wait staff is always friendly, the Vespas are always amazing and the soup is comforting and warm, also they will bring you bread upon request.

Good food, but not outstanding — especially for the price you pay for sandwiches and salads (around $ 18), definitely not a place I’d go to often.
Pretty small café so can get crowded too, but in a convenient location for people working in the area.

There’s nothing that makes me more disgruntled than shelling out money in exchange for not enough food. Why? Because this usually leads to me going back to an old favorite and shelling out even more money to feel full, when I should’ve done that in the first place.
Sara P. and I had a lunch date here and we decided to meet around 11:30 to beat out the lunch crowd. and because both of us are usually starving by 10. We were one of the only people there, so we had our pick of inside or outside seating, and since it was beautiful day, we decided to sit outside.
The menu is pretty small but had a good selection of salads and random entrees, like pizza Margherita, salmon and pasta choosings. Since it was sunny, I decided to go light and have the caprese salad, and Sara had the beet salad.
The good:
+ Prosciutto was a nice addition. But uh, not enough. More please.
+ Very fresh mozzarella cheese, nice thick juicy slices of tomatoes.
+ Light drizzling of basalmic vinegar, didn’t make the salad too heavy.
The AWFUL:
— The greens were almost like dandelion leaves, and none of the stems had been taken off. Since some of the stems had those annoying little barbs, they cut my lip when I put a forkful of greens into my mouth. WTF.
— Small portion. I know it looks big in the picture, but I finished within a few minutes. It’s deceiving because the greens are so loosely piled. Sara’s was literally 4 beets cut up with some cheese thrown on. Neither of us were remotely full or satisfied after eating.
— $ 18/​person after tax and tip. EIGHTEEN DOLLAR SALADS?! No thank you.
Sadly, we didn’t have as good of an experience as we were both hoping. While what we had was yummy, it simply was not enough to justify the pricey bill. We ended up going to Café Venue to fill the large empty spaces in our stomachs.

Came here for Happy Hour and I got an inch and a half too much foam in my beer. ‘Nuff said. See picture for proof of horror.
Interior is bland and a little depressing. Needs revamp.

Caveat to this review, I have only eaten the food they provide as room service to the Galleria Hotel.
Where to start…
Well, part of my disappointment may stem from the fact that Midi closed and they were originally the food provider for the hotel. I loved their food, especially the chicken sandwich.
With that said, I have tried 4 dishes from their menu that they offer for room service at the hotel.
First, the turkey club. Not bad, not good. Filling though. Not as good as Midi’s chicken sandwich, but that was heaven sent. I thought it was a little dry and that the panini style bread was a little hard.
Then, I tried the pasta. Meh, not too bad, filling once again. But a disappointment for the price they charge.
Then the roasted chicken with vegetables and mashed garlic potatoes. I guess if you consider box potatoes edible, you will enjoy this dish. The chicken wasn’t cooked all the way and had no flavor. I was lucky I didn’t get food poisoning. The vegetables were the highlight of the dish. I give those a 4!
Finally, last week I ordered the goat cheese and prosciutto pizza. I figured they can’t screw that up too bad.
Not only was it a tragic example of a pizza, with CANNED mushrooms, cold cheese; it was beyond salty, and the crust was terrible. I was pleased I had a half a snickers bar in my purse so I had something to eat.
At 3 in the morning, I had food poisoning. And here I was worried about the chicken.
Never again will I eat the room service from this place. I will pick up dinner before I go to the hotel while I wait for the new restaurant to open. They should be ashamed of themselves for the prices they charge and the swill they bring guest to eat.
And to top it off, the lady who answers the phone is rude. The actual café I have never been to, and never will.

Totally solid little spot — affordable and good chicken sandwich. Lingonberry preserves were a nice touch!

Cute, easily missed café with good food and great, polite service. You know you’re in good hands when the server uses the phrase, «Pardon my reach.» whenever they do reach over the table.
Anyways, our party of 10 was seated momentarily even though we did not make reservations during lunch rush at 12noon. However, soon after we were seated, the place got crowded and there was a wait. Talk about good timing!
— Salmon Special: nice crusted salmon with sesame seeds, good flavors, nothing overpowering, and just enough butter to tantalize your taste buds. the potato pancake was good with lots of veggies
They also have a great happy hour from 3pm-​6pm which I’ll check out in the near future.

I’ve experienced Metropol three ways:
1. Appetizers served at office parties
2. Buffet lunch delivery for a high-​profile meeting
3. Lunch in the restaurant
The appetizers we’ve had at our office parties have been delectable. We actually get excited when we find out that the party food is coming from Metropol. In particular, I love, love, love the little potatoes stuffed with salmon. I don’t think they’re on the catering menu, but I suggest you inquire about them because they are out of this world.
Week before last I had to arrange a lunch buffet for a group of 15 CEOs. The food had to be special… no sandwich platters for THIS crowd. I ordered a few of each of the items on the catering menu, which includes chicken cordon bleu, tortellini in a creamy mushroom sauce, fillet of salmon and stuffed pork loin. The food arrived promptly and beautifully plattered and was a huge hit. People came back for seconds and thirds and asked where the food had come from. It was such an impressive lunch that our CEO went to the restaurant later to personally thank the owner.
Finally, on Monday, I had the opportunity to eat at Metropol myself. What a sweet little place. You can really feel the care, from the food to the service to the ambiance. I had a steak that was perfectly medium-​rare and tender, served on a bed of mashed potatoes and surrounded by broccolini and string beans. I’ve been thinking about that steak ever since… I feel a return visit coming on!

Fantastic Happy Hour: 3 to 6 p.m.
I love New York City (yah, I’m a bad San Franciscan) because they have lots of restaurants and bars with outdoor seating and the weather is always perfect. Metropol reminds me of NYC.
Klaus, the owner, is simply the best. My friends and I wanted to sit out door and people-​watch. All the outdoor tables were occupied — but Klaus promised to give the next outdoor table to us – and he delivered.
i also love sangria and was craving it yesterday. Although they didn’t make it — Klaus made it on the spot for me. Talk about serious VIP treatment.
My favorite waitress is Natalie — who always takes care of me and my friends. The staff are simply the best and for the men — they are probably the best eye candy in FiDi. Trust me on that. My friend’s eyes were practically popping out of his eye sockets (he just graduated from UC Davis — so he needed some serious eye candy).
On to the Happy Hour —
$ 3 beers, $ 5 wines.
Delicious appetizers starting from only $ 5 include olives, potato wedges and delicious & addictive crostinis — crisp crackers that are perfect as bar food. Their spicy chicken pizza is also really good if you have the alkie munchies.

Every time I dine or drink here I always enjoy the service, food and drink. After meeting my friend (Shirin from Blow) for a happy hour wine and bite i thought I might review it since it is directly across the street from my last review which was the galleria park hotel, and from the outdoor seating of the Metropol, you can see the hotel and the outdoor patio. The outdoor patio at Metropol has about 3 – 4 tables and sits on Sutter.
Super cool spot and great service always in our ourside. Lunch and Dinner are excellent. Not 5 stars, but always pleasing. the faire is Italian, and everything on the menu is under $ 20. Salmon is excellent and they have both daily food and drink special. A great spot for a dinner with friends or a happy hour. All beers are $ 4.50 (except the $ 6 .5L which i dropped a photo of in the gallery), wines around $ 7, mixed drinks are $ 8.
They also do take out for those working downtown.

As we entered, we were greeted by a friendly and enthusiastic looking Maitre D’. The first thing I noticed was the ambiance, which definitely brought me back to Europe. The way they position the mirrors behind the diners allows you to have the unique view of the back of one’s own head, which I found amusing.
Service was fast and attentive. As for the food, I ordered the seared ahi tuna, and my co-​diners ordered pasta dishes.
Mine was excellent. It came on a bed of vegetables and rice that by themselves were very tasty. In fact, towards the end of the meal I was feeling too full to finish them, despite being very good. The tuna was perfectly cooked, rare, as I like it. My co-​workers seemed to enjoy their meal as well.
I will be going back.

Slow service for a working lunch destination, but the asian chicken salad with frisee was delicious — and $ 16. So was the vanilla lemonade, and the fresh berries with vanilla ice cream in its super-​cute, white, egg-​shaped bowl.
$ 25 – 30 for a well-​rounded working lunch on a gorgeous, sunny San Francisco day may be worth it!