The Plant Café Organic

San Francisco, United States

3.5

Open now

38 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 415-931-2777
Website:
www.theplantcafe.com
Address:
3352 Steiner St, San Francisco, CA, 94123
b/t Chestnut St & Lombard St
Marina/Cow Hollow
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
500 ftBig Bus Tours Stop 14, Lombard Street 1
0.5 miBig Bus Tours Stop 13, Palace of Fine Arts
0.6 miBig Bus Tours Stop 15, Lombard Street 2
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Bitcoin
No
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
Yes
Waiter Service
No
Caters
Yes
Good for Working
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Open now
Local time (San Francisco) 3:09 PM Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Our mission is to offer delicious, fresh wholesome dishes, freshly made juices, salads, sandwiches, soups, entrees and desserts… all organic and at affordable prices.

Wherever possible, we rely on only the best quality local produce. In many cases, food has been growing only a day or two before it is served to our customers. When it is not available locally, we search the globe in our quest for the best organic, natural or artisan quality ingredients as reflected in our coffees, teas, and spirits.

We offer a great menu and a wide variety of dishes with the casual approach of counter order sit down service, take out, or grab and go. Try our delicious freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, coffees, and teas. Stop by for a specialty salad or have your own created to order at our salad bar.

History

Established in 2005.

Our 50-​seat counter-​service café, serving organic food and drink, opened in San Francisco’s Marina district on December 1, 2005. The contemporary setting is both casual and upscale, using sustainable materials that are raw and refined. A central element is the juice and salad bar; made from hickory, tile, glass and brushed zinc, it is an expression of the fresh food being served. Owners Matthew Guelke and Mark Lewis have hired chef Sascha Weiss, who has cooked at Roxanne’s, Millennium and Mecca, in addition to working as a private chef for George Lucas. The menu includes fresh organic juices, smoothies, salads, sandwiches, rice/​grain/​noodle bowls, small plates and desserts, as well as chicken and fish entrées with seasonal accompaniments in the evening.

Our recipes combine a healthy set of ingredients in order to provide the utmost in taste, and nutritional value. We are organic wherever possible and are constantly striving to source any currently non-​organic ingredients on our menu.

Meet the Manager

Lucy F.

Manager

Lucy Frick

General Manager, Marina

The Plant: Café Organic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Committed to furthering sustainable

practices and healthy living.

www​.the​p​lant​cafe​.com

http:twitter.com/theplantcafe

415.931.2777

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38 reviews of The Plant Café Organic

No registration required
Place rating: 2
Mountain View, CA
No sense of abundance. Bare bones. Pricey and no service.
Sorry but am from the peninsula and Mayb this is the norm in SF !
Place rating: 1
San Francisco, CA
Went with the lunch special which was HALF of a sandwich and a salad for $ 12! The sandwich was mostly made for presentation. The avocado was a big chunk and i had to divide it up myself. The chicken inside was drenched in sauce and was dripping everywhere. The salad was super oily and drenched in sauce as well. My friend got a quinoa bowl which was also drenched in sauce. Everything was way overly sauced which ruined the flavor of everything! Not worth the $ 12!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
I’m pretty much obsessed with the acai bowls here — they’re best thing you can order on a sunny weekend morning. And I’m not going to lie, this is the only thing I’ve ordered here because I can’t get enough of them.
The Plant serves generous portions of the acai, fruit, and granola. I love how fresh the fruit is and it’s always seasonal.
At some point I’ll have to try something else on the menu, but it’s so hard with such a perfect bowl.
Place rating: 3
San Rafael, CA
Great menu, juices, and atmosphere. Especially appreciate attention to food allergies. However, everything you order ends up being little less than you wanted and staff don’t seem to want to be there. Could be a great place but it isn’t yet.
Place rating: 5
Santa Monica, CA
Food is great. I also tried an acai smoothie which was over priced (8 $) but good. Its in North beach so I guess everything is over priced. The place is cute and service was good.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
I had an unfortunate experience at The Plant with a takeout order taking longer than 45 minutes to receive (while being told I’d only wait 5 minutes). I went back after hearing from the manager that they would fix my experience, and guess what. they did. I got the expected quality food and great service. Love ya, Plant.
Place rating: 2
San Francisco, CA
I got an acai bowl and I was disappointed. Tasted too healthy. The granola used didn’t taste right. Over priced.
Place rating: 4
Concord, CA
On my last Visit to SF, my husband and I visited this restaurant for brunch since it is one of his favorites. This place is a must if you have a desire to be Organic. The interiors are quite ordinary with enough tables and chairs to ensure a quick turnaround. They’ve got a fresh and vibrant menu from which we quickly placed our order.
First came in, our SHIITAKE SPRING ROLLS — marinated tofu and shiitake mushrooms with a lot of fresh veggies wrapped in paper thin rice wrappers served with a roasted onion peanut sauce. Its crispy crunchy creamy textures and bright flavor made it quite an interesting dish.
The SPECIAL SCRAMBLE that I ordered was nice but the country potatoes served on the side were slightly under-​cooked. Although the Wheat Sourdough Bread and fruits served on the side were fresh.
I also tried the BREAKFAST BURRITO that my husband ordered for and regretted not ordering for it myself. It was delicious with an amazing filling and the tortillas were cooked to perfection.
To sum it up, I had quite an enjoyable meal here. :-)
Place rating: 4
Orange County, CA
Another spot for vegans!
Pros: friendly service, delicious food.
Cons: The Plant Burger was delicious but the patty was aesthetically off putting. The beets made it look like a raw meat patty. Also, I ordered a sandwich and the bread and sandwich itself was small for the price. «Housemade pickles» were three thin slices on the plate.
Overall, decent for some fresh and healthy food.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
My Favorite Things
*The Strawberry Smoothie which comes with mixed in dates, vanilla and your choice of milk.
*Vegan Banana Bread
*Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
*Chicken Sausage & Egg Breakfast Sandwich
*The AMAZING service
*Everything is organic, fresh and just really high quality
This is definitely a gem in the Marina and recommend it to anyone I meet! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write them a much deserved 5 star review!
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
Just came for breakfast.
Pros: Decent, healthy food. Large selection of smoothies, green juices, brunch stuff. Mellow atmosphere.
Reason for 2 star deduction:
Pretty expensive. The most frustrating part was spending $ 50 on 2 underwhelming sandos with coffee, two-​egg breakfast, smoothie, green-​juice. We ate in the dining area… But I was denied a refill on my ‘house’ coffee. Spending that kind of money and not even getting a coffee refill is pretty lame.
Place rating: 3
Half Moon Bay, CA
Came here for lunch with the Niece. She had an avocado chicken sandwich that came with a side salad and me– buttermilk pan fried chicken sandwich. We both hated the salad — had to let it go. Something was a little off with the dressing (maybe it was just that day) but her sandwich which was dressed with a honey Dijon mustard was tasty but not worth the $ 12. My buttermilk pan fried chicken was small for the price and filled with coleslaw. Overall, nothing out of the ordinary but not bad.
Customer service was ok too.
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
Pros:
Wide variety of food. Vegan, Vegetarian, and Organic options
Comfortable interior
Food gets out quickly
Cons:
Price (Even though that is expected with places like this that use high quality ingredients)
Side salad
We ordered and I got the chicken avocado sandwich while he got the buttermilk pan fried chicken sandwich (both $ 12.75)
The chicken and avocado was not anything special, I would say the highlight of it was the honey mustard. He said his sandwich was tasty, but average. We both disliked the salad because of the dressing (But then again, maybe it’s just our taste buds.)
All in all, okay place, high prices and average food. We wouldn’t go back here but if you’re in the area, check it out!
Place rating: 1
San Francisco, CA
As a vegetarian who eats organic/​clean food (and lives in the neighborhood) I have given this Plant location so many opportunities to improve their operations, cleanliness, food quality and customer service. They have not. After getting food poisoning today from my meal, I will NOT be eating here again. Ever.
As a former restaurant owner, I have voiced my concerns to their management about their kitchen (staff not wearing proper uniforms, gloves, headwear, finding hairs in my food on several occasions, etc). Their kitchen is not run properly. Their COO reached out me via email and stated they were aware of these issues and were trying to turn it around. That was six months ago. Clearly, those changes have not been implemented.
It’s unfortunate because they have a great concept, however, this restaurant lacks management, training, and the proper food handling/​storage/​safety protocols.
Both the front-​end and back-​end of this restaurant is a disaster. Eat here at your own risk.
Place rating: 4
Gray, ME
We are actually from the East Coast and The Plant Café Organic is a MUST whenever we vacation to San Francisco!
Place rating: 3
Ingleside, San Francisco, CA
Yummy but pricey food. I asked for my food «for here» but end up with a «to go» box? The guy working there helped take plates away from the table next to me but never offer to take my empty box after I was done eating. Well then.
Place rating: 5
New Canaan, CT
Great food, great view. Kombucha on tap was a plus!
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
The waiting time is sometimes ridiculously long, however I like the quality of products.
Place rating: 5
Cathedral City, CA
Update: Plant’s COO wrote me about my Unilocal Review: «Yvonna — Thank you for your review. I am concerned about your feedback regarding one of our staff members and have spoken with the Director of Operations to ascertain who this was. Given you describe someone who was not in uniform, I think I know who it is but will be investigating as rude or impolite behavior is not what we aspire to.»
This is really great because it shows that they care about customer service or at least want to respond to customer feedback. I will definitely be back to the Plant!
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
Breakfast burrito — pretty delicious and lighter than your traditional breakfast burrito
Sambazon bowl — why is this not just called an acai bowl? Maybe it was the fact that I ordered this in the wintertime but the seasonal fruit that comes with it is apples. aka not that great. Granola is good though
Also, a small orange juice is $ 6 and it’s absolutely tiny — don’t waste your money here.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
My friend and I were looking for a place with fresh juices. Its 8:15PM on a thursday and almost everything was closed. Luckily we found The Plant Café open (closes at 9:00PM) I was very thirsty; I ordered the protein smoothie and the healthy sunrise. They are very fruity, delicious and refreshing. Definitely coming again to try the salads next time they look good. My friend got the peach matcha smoothie, its a good choice for something sweet but not overly sweet or for a green tea flavor that isn’t too strong. The ambiance is very nice and calm. Soft Jazz music was playing in the background.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
As much as I love wholesome organic ingredients, this place truly deserve all the stars I give. Plant Organic Café has presented all aspects of a business in a fashionable way.
The reason why their salads, smoothies, and plant burgers are so awesome is because they use fresh organic ingredients, which greatly enhances the flavor and the texture of the dishes. I’ve tried most of their dishes now, and I have no complaints. I did notice quite a lot of reviews mentioning that the dishes are over-​priced, but that’s the price you must pay for top quality ingredients.
As for me, the service is always great when I go there. Derrick, the server, has left me the biggest impression amongst all servers. Not only was he passionate about the food he was serving, he was also attentive and prompt. I always look forward to seeing the guy. A very spontaneous guy that adds zest to the business.
And for the interior and the décor, they give a pleasant, comfortable, and a natural ambience to the place as the lighting and the wood décor/​furnitures add quite a good vibe.
Definitely one of my favorite places to stop by when I’m in the area!
Place rating: 2
Chicago, IL
Management needs to be mindful of their inventory and plan accordingly. We made the trek here from our hotel only to be told, after paying for our food and being served our drinks, that they were out of the plant burger. For real? It would have been nice to be told this earlier before my boyfriend was served his beer. We ended up going elsewhere.
Place rating: 3
Alexandria, VA
The ambience is pleasant, and the seating is comfortable. I had a breakfast burrito that was yummy. Our vegan basil tofu huevos rancheros came out right (no eggs, no cheese) on the 3rd try. I would say they use high quality ingredients. The cashier seemed a little annoyed with the vegan order and in retrospect this was probably a heads up. The coffee was probably the best part of our experience and it was par.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Great smoothies, and very healthy menu options. This place is great for vegetarians and vegans as well as people like myself trying to eat cleaner.
I live in the marina and this is a neighborhood staple. I know they’ve had some problems with rude staff in the past but I also know management is fixing it! If you’ve been burned here in the past, might be time to give it another chance!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Delish veggie burger
Place rating: 5
Beaverton, OR
Atmosphere is spot on, great employees with happy faces, and healthy food. Can’t complain :) also, get a smoothie !
Place rating: 1
San Francisco, CA
As much as I love the Plant and their food, I will never be back to this location. Similar to what others have mentioned, a combination of new management and supposedly less labor means extremely long wait times, forgotten orders, and extremely sassy waiters.
My family and I trekked here after the nike women half marathon — since every brunch place in the city had a 1+ hour wait time, we were excited to see plant without much of a wait and since it had tons of vegetarian options, we were sold.
Issues:
1. We tried to order a lunch burger at 10:53. Waitress snapped and said she couldn’t put a lunch order in until 11 am… and asked that we wait in line when it was 11 am again. Instead of offering to put the order in but not start cooking till 11 or simply nicely telling us her hands were tied, she gave us a ton of attitude.
2. Forgot my sisters breakfast burrito — 50 minutes later after asking numerous times and getting vague «your burrito is on its way», I walked up to the register and got my own sass on and had them make it immediately after showing her the time-​stamp on my receipt. Instead of apologizing, she took the burrito of the check and told us, yet again, that the burrito was on its way (10 minutes later after my whole family was done eating, my sisters burrito arrived).
3. New manager (older woman) got in a huge argument with another table when they discussed their order being bad — only offer she gave them was to take it off their check but not to remake it? At the end, she made a scene and had the customers leave?! Seriously?
4. They weren’t serving breakfast or lunch after 12 pm, only «entrees»?? I saw 10 – 15 get turned away (poor runners…). The manager explained the reason there were so many issues today was because they didn’t know the NWM ended in the Marina… lol that’s your job to know, and to not compensate with horrible service and slashing the main offerings.
Rude, rude service and long wait times all around. Verdict — maybe the other locations have it down?
Place rating: 1
San Francisco, CA
The staff here — absolutely awful. I ordered a smoothie that was supposedly full of fresh berries and decided to skip the apple/​oj blend since I didn’t want to have added sugar and figured the berries would be enough flavor. The result was absolutely tasteless. I gently and politely told the manager it tasted very bland and asked if there was anything they could do, and her and another employee flipped out at me and told me it was my fault for not getting the apple/​oj juice in it.
So basically, in as rude of a way possible, they told me that the ONLY thing giving their smoothies flavor is concentrated apple/​oj juice. If they used the ingredients they claim to use (fresh berries and banana) their smoothies would have plenty of flavor without the added processed sugar.
I used to love this place but their staff needs to get a reality check.
Place rating: 3
Oakland, CA
Decent neighborhood café that does the job for a quick smoothie, breakfast, or light meal. Nothing spectacular about the food, service, or setup, all of which is a casual affair. Indeed, the clientele here on a weekend morning skewed towards folks who were popping in for a quick boost during or after their workouts, or folks who wanted a quick bite before moving on towards the rest of their routines. A quick in-​and-​out stop — that’s about it.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
This place has really delicious, organic, and all natural foods. They definitely put care in delivering quality well-​sourced, real food. The curry shrimp was spectacular. They offer shrimp, salmon, turkey, and chicken… but no beef. So be careful if you are expecting your burger to be made of dead cow.
The service is professional and friendly, and when a misunderstanding arose about my order they corrected it immediately, and refunded my money, without question. I will definitely be back.
Place rating: 3
Bergenfield, NJ
You order at the counter then they give you a little number to place at your table.
I got the latte with soy milk, which was delicious and looked amazing when it came out (they do that foam art on top of a pretty leaf).
Then I got the omlette special they had that day with loads of vegetables, toast and home fries, which were all pretty good. The portions aren’t huge but they’re just the right size to fill you up as needed.
Only downfall is this place seems a little pricey. For two coffees and two entrees, it was over $ 30 and it was all good but not out of this world amazing.
They do have a lot of vegetarian and even vegan options available for those looking.
Place rating: 2
San Francisco, CA
I used to love this place but the past several times I have been there it has been really bad. The prices are higher but quality is going down and the service has become awful. I have stood there for five minutes or more on multiple locations with a staff person right in front of me, pointedly ignoring me.
Last time I was there for lunch it was quite empty yet it still took them twenty minutes to pour my kombucha, even with a reminder that I was still waiting. I was almost done with my meal by the time I got it.
They are also always of of a lot of their menu items very early in the day and are not at all helpful or accommodating when this happens.
I don’t know if they have new management or what but it’s a total bummer to have to say goodbye to the Plant!
Place rating: 3
Providence, RI
I’m less thrilled with this location of The Plant than that on the Embarcadero for a few reasons, the main one being the service (slow) and another being the dark, crowded space.
All I wanted was a smoothie, but when something as simple as that takes 20 minutes to make, something is awry. Granted, they told us there would be a wait as their smoothie maker was backed up, for 20 minutes is a bit much.
The menu looks great — veggie and meat options for everyone. Great smoothies with fun names and plenty of seating, too. But, as I mentioned, it’s very dark in here, and the counter where you place your order and can sit is right as you enter, so things get pretty jammed up pretty quickly.
My smoothie was good, but nothing exceptional, so that 20 minutes? Not really worth it.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Everything here is wonderful! The quinoa bowl is worth giving a shot, and so are any of the smoothies!
The staff are very nice.
I knock off one star for how ridiculously expensive everything is. I understand the top notch organic ingredients, which I’m a firm believer in, but it makes it hard to come here too often for that reason.
Place rating: 2
San Francisco, CA
The plant offers organic, healthy food in a «to go» sort of environment. You walk up to the register, wait anywhere between 5 – 20 minutes for one of the poor understaffed (or maybe just aloof) employees to greet you, order your food, take a number and sit down another 20+ minutes and wait for your food. You can call ahead which is convenient.
It’s so strange because the Plant downtown has nailed it. They are so quick and efficient, always reliable. Every time I come to this marina location I have to make sure I allot at least 30 minutes to just grab my daily protium shake. Ughhhh
Place rating: 3
Redwood City, CA
Tried the peanut butter filled cupcake. It was almost $ 4, which was pricey but fine. I was hoping the cupcake would be amazing because it was a filled cupcake but there wasn’t much PB inside and the chocolate/​nuts on top sisn’t do much for me. Wish there was PB on top instead.
I would prolly come back to try the food but was disappointed by the cupcake.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
One of my all time favorites and super friendly for gluten free/​vegan.
Immune builder juice is delicious.
Their lunch combos are a great option with the half sandwich (sub gluten free bread for $ 2) and half salad being the right amount of food for lunch. Everything on this menu is delicious!
The Korean Bbq panini is also to die for!