Mime’s Cafe

how disappointing it was on fathers day at your restaurant in san mateo ., you name it It went WRONG. first off 3 peoples food came out and the other 3 of us had to wait along time. NEXT ! one person got HAIR in there food, NEXT I ordered a hamburger without TOMATOES and IM allergic ., of course it finally came with tomatoes in it. then next it took another ½ hour to get my new hamburger back. and guess what IT HAD TOMATOES In it again. NEXT the onion rings YOU COULD NOT EAT. they were so GREASY ! Finally the manager came over and apologized his NAME Is Miguel Miranda ! and finally but TO TOP IT OFF THE BILL CAME completely wrong. charging us double for the Hamburger and the HAIR in food. double charged of 2 plates. THIS WAS JUST AWFUL none of us will ever go to the restaurant again ., 6 unhappy people. very sad. its almost every time we come to this location there are problems. . WE now vowed NEVER AGAIN ! just poor poor food and the manager did nothing about it. and does nothing about it. just a JOKE. Shame on HIM for not comping the entire meal its was A JOKE ! Im so up set im posting this on Unilocal ! this location is san mateo !

trained as cook there for 2 summers, even trained to be a waitress. I miss Mime’s café!

Came here with the old team once for lunch. Regular sandwich place. People who work here are in training to be waiters, cooks, etc. Décor is neat. Parking can be a pain in downtown Redwood City though.
Decent food, nothing too memorable but nothing bad either.

R.I.P. — Mime’s is closed.

Came to Mime’s for lunch and ordered the pasta carbonara and it was quite good. I called in my order and it was ready for pick up in 15 minutes. There were other pasta dishes, sandwiches, salads and burgers that I would like to try out in the future. I like to support this restaurant as it is for a good cause (training students for the restaurant industry).
Only downside is the parking which is tough downtown RWC especially at the lunch hour, so plan ahead if you’re on a time constraint.

Time to revise my last review of this restaurant.
We came here for lunch last week and I ordered a salad with shrimp. I could have sworn they were supposed to be grilled shrimp, but that is not what was on my salad. What was on my salad was a large pile of those little nasty pink shrimp which should only be served in a sea of cocktail sauce, which was served on the side.
Did I mention this was suposed to be a fiesta salad? Why would a restaurant give me a side of cocktail sauce with a fiesta salad?
I have decided that I am glad this restaurant is closing.

They tricked us in by saying that we’ll get free desert if we eat there, which made us believe we are special, but then we realized that every one gets free deserts. So why did he just say that, that made us feel stupid and un-​special. The food is a little on the salty side, flavor is kinda bland. Didnt really like it.

I want to like this place, but they sure do make it hard. It’s a good cause, sure. But the food is always a bit off. Too watery, too thick, it’s always something.
Also, it’s way way way too expensive. And has weird hours.

I would’ve given this review 1 star but because of the reason for it’s existence, I added one more. Had lunch there the other day and although the food was good and fresh, the service was just not there. Perhaps the servers/​kitchen staff were on a training program, but the whole operation was just plain sloppy and unorchestrated. I would understand if the menu prices reflected this, but it didn’t. Some things I noticed while dining there — something was in the pizza oven … on fire, the salad was nicely prepared but wilted (from the dressing) before our eyes as it just sat on the counter for a good 10 minutes before being delivered to our table, two items ordered never came to us but was on the bill, and finally — when we asked another server for some ketchup, a bottle literally came flying over our heads. He said sorry and that it slipped out of his hands. Yikes! The food was simple and palatable but next time, I’ll try many of the other area restaurants.

So the green chili soup is pretty good. But that is about it.
I understand the concept. And I think it is great. I am all for giving back to the community. However, for what you get, it just isn’t worth it.
The food is overpriced. I can’t see the value. I like the similar type of restaurant they have in San Francisco. Delancy Street. I think the food is better there.
I won’t be going back…

only open for lunch, but the green chili soup is absolutely awesome :)

You must go for the green chili soup. LOVE it and have never had it anywhere else. The Asian Chicken salad is really good, too. The pre-​meal bread is sweet and fresh.
Don’t go if you are in a hurry, but if you want to enjoy a leisurely lunch at a place that serves a good cause and has pretty good food, this is the place for you.

I came her awhile back (while I was interviewing for my new job), so this is one of those «I think I remember» reviews — at least until I go back again and then edit the review if my recollection was inaccurate.
SERVICE.
Well, since I showed up at this place 5 minutes before they were supposed to open for lunch (11am), besides waiting for them to open, I didn’t really have to wait for them to help other customers. So, for me, the service was fine.
FOOD.
This is where my spotty memory kicks in. I believe I ordered the club sandwich with fries… or maybe it was another sandwich. Either way, it was prepared fresh… and I know I left the Mime’s satisfied and ready to ace my interview.
OVERALL.
I definitely appreciate what this place is trying to do, as far as giving back to the community. I don’t think this really takes away from the food and/​or service, so I would recommend this place as a nice place to grab lunch if you’re in the area. The only thing I’m not sure about is their hours… it seems like every time I walk past the place it’s closed, so that’s probably the one thing I can see against this place.

I wandered in not knowing these were at-​risk youth or whatever the correct term is, but the multiple signs and explanations on the placemat made sure we were aware of the program. If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t have noticed the staff; our waitress was prompt and friendly. I have a restricted diet so my order of half a turkey sandwich with a side salad isn’t that exciting; however, I was delighted to find their green salad was very fresh tasting and didn’t taste like it came out of a bag. Their dressings are homemade — I had a blue cheese on the side, and it was delicious.
My husband got a ½ sandwich with the cream of chile verde soup (I think that’s what it was called). He only looked regretful that he hadn’t ordered something more substantial.
We’ll definitely be back.
Update: 1÷10÷08 We have been back multiple times. The service is excellent some days, a little off other days, but they’re students, right? I cut them some slack.
Okay, the real reason I cut them slack is the personal interaction. On Halloween, we happened to be there for lunch and they invited my 7-​y-​o daughter to make her own pizza from the dough on up. Another time my daughter told the waitress she had passed an ice skating test that morning, and she went over and got us both desserts on the house. After that time, they’ve been giving us free desserts every time. I don’t know if they’re doing that for everyone or what, but one of the cooks there must be practicing because we’ve had some melt-​in-​the-​mouth cakes, bread puddings, and cookies. My favorite was some sort of butterscotch «cake» that was more like a butterscotch brownie topped with butterscotch fudge. Diet be dammed!

Working at the hospital, I’m lucky to have lunch at all.
My colleague and friend decided to pull me out of my office and took me out to lunch. She took me to Mimi’s café.
The weather was so beautiful yesterday that we decided to eat out. I’m happy to report that their raspberry lemonade is tasty and no longer watered down. Their bread taste so good, sweet, fresh and soft to eat.
My friend ordered a club sandwich and I ordered their Fettucine Carbonara, it was yummy,
The only thing we noticed we didn’t like is our server, she’s so sweet but slow. I believe she’s brand new. She gave us our ice tea’s but no straws.
We sat down and gave our orders at 12:30 but we didn’t get our order until 1 PM w/​c means I have to practically gobble down my food because I have a Meeting at 1:30. I’m just happy that I got to eat free and didn’t have indigestion.

Good cause, bad food.
Stop by if you would like to make a donation to their worthy cause of helping people get back on their feet, but not because you are hungry.

While I’m not terribly excited by the food at Mimi’s, I like their cause. Mimi’s provides a second chance to people who need extra career help or are trying a new direction in life (ie, bad backgrounds).
Most of the food, with the exception of the pizzas, is prepared in advance and reheated in a microwave (you can verify this by sitting at the bar and watching).
Prices tend to be a little high for what you’re getting: $ 9 for a piece of reheated grilled chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion and pepper jack cheese in a piece of pita with potato wedges. If you do go, try and make it before 12:00 — 12:30, as it tends to get crowded and the slow services gets slower.

A decent lunchtime spot with food between diner and haute cuisine levels; sandwiches, soups, pasta dishes, and the like. I looooove their bread. It almost makes up for the wait and the hit-​or-​miss service. I bumped it up from 3 to 4 stars because they employ at-​risk youth. You know. Giving back to the community.