Let’s Jam Cafe

Great Pesto Chicken sandwich w/​side of salad + coffee = $ 12
Bread nicely toasted, great flavors.
A little expensive for the area and ladies speakinh really loud.

Walked in, place didn’t look too clean but what do you expect in the Tenderloin. Then I saw the cockroach running across the floor. Dealbreaker. Walked out.

Let’s Jam Café is small, just a few tables. looked empty when i entered. upon leaving some korean speakers were at the counter.
offerings: coffee, express, smoothies, sammies, salads, soups, pastries…
brew: french roast, organic coffee co. (2.45m)
–strong, smooth brew.
3.5 stars
drips:
–would be 4 stars if something else looked interesting
ambience lacking, nothing unique, just a coffee shop
–pastries ($ 1), obviously source from wholesale stores…
–quick service, easy since i spotted coffee already. pricey? rent issue?

Let’s jam café it’s a small, quiet and cozy place to enjoy a nice coffee with such a variety of pastries. Run by two beautiful and nice ladies, I take every chance I have to come here and enjoy their delicious Mongolian food.

I like this place! Great Wi-​Fi and the people who work here are nice. However coffee prices went up and, the music is annoyingly loud at times (just went there today and it wasn’t so loud). The fact that’s it’s not too crowded makes it easy normally to find a table and an outlet for my laptop.

I have to be honest… I have had some bad coffee before, but this place makes the worst. Let me explain. My drink of choice is an Americano. So I ordered my Americano with an extra double shot. They used two coffee shots worth of espresso to brew the four shots. Essentially I end up with two shots of espresso and melted ice that tasted like burnt dirt. I would buy from McDonalds before I would buy here again… It was that bad.

Let’s Jam looks like a hole-​in-​the-​wall café with usual café fare like sandwiches and pastries and cakes, but it’s run by friendly Mongolians (some of whom can speak Korean, apparently) and they are preparing a Mongolian menu. During my early 2015-​April trip the menu wasn’t official yet, but they have pictures behind the register and you just have to go up to the counter and ask for Mongolian food.
I ordered an Ice Chai Tea Latte with soy milk (part of their regular menu) and a half order of dumplings. It was just $ 10.
A half order of their deep fried dumplings (banshtai shol, I think) is three large, thin dumplings with a thin layer of beef inside. Kind of like flat empanadas. Tastes sort of like Chinese food, so it might not be as interesting to Asians. About ¹⁄₃ meat, ²⁄₃ fried-​to-​golden-​brown chewy dough.
Comes with token salad like a slay with vinegar but no mayo. Use of bottled sauces optional. If I remember correctly, I was offered sriracha chili sauce and Bragg Liquid Aminos Soy Sauce to which they had added cloves of garlic.
Cheap food (especially when the $ 10 includes a drink) good for a light meal.
My Ice Chai Tea Latte came in a big plastic mug (the sort they use for bubble tea) which they had (bonus points) filled absolutely to the brim such that the lid couldn’t be put on. Not too much ice, either. Nice!

Time: 7:43am/62°F cloudy
Purpose: In TL area finishing up with quick brief term talks. With talks ended less than 10 mins I had time for a cuppa joe before heading in. So across the street sign reads «Let’s Jam Café». Thinking hey that’s what I need jam and caffeine to start.
Ambiance: Hopes of listening to jams and having good coffee quickly vanishes. Inside a 4 – 5 table seater mostly local middle age semi retired patrons. One fridge, a 4ft danish display, two backless stool, a staircase, the actual counter itself. Real small place but has everything on hand to make business run smoothly. Noise level average although the door is open during business hours traffic noise is non existent. No sidewalk seating just a local independent own café with all basic essential eats mostly breakfast and lunch.
Staff: One girl asian unknown age with nice personality greets you when you enter. I said let me have a minute or so to look things over. She turns around went to kitchen area for a long period of time. I had to grab the menu of the counter myself to see what else they have. I’m pacing back and forth to get her attention but to no avail. Finally she drops what she’s doing and came over. Now she seems piss that I stop her from progress.
Cleanliness: Grade B-​, enough to pass for inspection but have some areas needs a good wipe/​scrub down.
Eats/​Drinks: croissant and drip house coffee my client treated me, price unknown. The croissant was a hit surprisingly. Light airy and flaky exterior has a slight crunch. Inside was airy not dense each bite was consistent. I was worry as some of their goods you can tell it’s store bought. The coffee was alright tasted a little watery. Not sure if it was dark brew or not came out looking light brown with anything added.
Products/​Services: Sandwiches, salads, soups, bagels/​melts, special of the day, juice bar, shakes/​smoothies, fruit salad, package pastrys, stash tea, torani syrup, LaVazza, coffee by organic coffee co. Indoor ATM.
Punch Lines: Small, quiet, located in TL, basic standard offerings, worker average, 2 person juice bar seater, street parking, not much selections.
Tradeoffs: Name of business sounds more attractive than what’s being offer.
Final Thoughts: My impression of let’s jam would be pretty impressive here. Turn down the lights drop the mirror ball and blast the special effect lights. I get down on it. This place feels dead have nothing really going here. For entertainment the locals inside will scan you from top to bottom as you enter. Felt like a mob hangout instead of a café. Silver lining here is the indoor ATM, much safer than getting it in this neighborhood banks. For todays experience I didn’t see any Mongolian food some mention it’s hidden secret menu. Will if you hide it instead of showing you’re probably doing ²⁰⁄₈₀ rule. Were 20% of the people buys 80% of your goods.

This is a great café right outside my place. A lot of people were bummed when Bill sold it, but the new owners are fantastic. Uugi is super cute and super sweet and the perfect compliment to my morning coffee. Plus, she puts up with my annoying inquiries into Mongolian culture. Besides tasty coffee and great food (I’m told there is even a secret Mongolian menu I need to order from. If it tastes half as good as it looks and smells, I suspect I will become addicted), the prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is as welcoming as the great people running it. I hope they are around for many years to come.

What a nice café with a geniune nice service. This is the only café or place that you can find Mongolian food in San Francisco!!!
Heard about them a lot that they have very delicious authentic Mongolian food with good portion and in affordable price.
Happened to be today was my first time to try out their dish. I didnt know their closing time and stepped in right by 8pm. After i got my first cup of tea i learned that they close at 8pm. But Bill welcomed me like if i were in his house, offered me a super delicious Mongolian dish –Tsuivan, steamed beef noodle dish to me. Right away, i get so excited and couldn’t resist his offer. The dish came. Woooow, there was an Xtra– add up on my plate :) ‘huushuur’, which is a Mongolian style beef sambusa. Usually tsuivan comes in with a small side potato salad. But my plate had two small sides, huushuur and cucumber salad. Awesome! I tried the dish, oh my god. It was a heaven in my mouth, melts like a butter. Super delicious perfect combination. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Won’t forget it. Yep.
Delicious food, very hospitable welcome service. Definately i will tell anyone who wants to try Authentic Mongolian Dish in the city.
Have you ever tried Mongolian beef? Guess what? You’ve been eaten Chinese food that was named after us. Come to this café to try out real Mongolian beef dish.
I will tell you one Secret. They dont have all kinds of Mongolian dish on their everyday menu, but they make every day different dish special out of scratch. So just ask them today’s special Mongolian dish please. Voula. You will get one of the famous Mongolian dish first time in your life! :) Dont forget to get a cup of Mongolian chai. Thats the best combination with the dish.
In the end, thank you so much Bill. You Rocked it! :-D

iiiiiii got dressed
begged for coins
spent them in the Tenderloin
didn’t get run over on my fixie com-​mute
banana juice (?!) $ 3.50
spicy cajun chicken sando $ 7.95
off the wall #ripmj food
to start my off the wall day
extra star for service
morning win!