Cove On Castro Cafe

I stopped by here to have the lasagne and a beer. I paid my bill $ 21.15.
And I gave the nice server a tip. I left and then realized that I had left my
umbrella behind. I went back and was confronted by someone who said that
he was the Ass’t mngr. I said I need my umbrella he said it was not there.
Then the server said here it is. I left never to go back.

This place is great if you’re just looking for a casual diner to get a standard breakfast. The vibe is very east coast. The food will fill you up and you won’t be unhappy, but you’ll likely never think «wow, that was a delicious meal!» My thoughts are usually more, «wow, I’m glad I’m no longer hungry and that breakfast was relatively inexpensive!»

We are very lucky to have this «comfort of home» place to eat in the Castro. Today I stopped in with my partner and son for a before Christmas lunch. After 10 years, Solange knows me and greets me with a hug. Scott the waiter is always so pleased to see us and also gave a wonderful hug for me, my partner and my son. Solange, Scott, Annie, and the rest have watched my son grow up at their tables. From the newborn I sat on the table, the toddler who could walk under the table, and now the 10 year old who doesn’t need his menu to order. This is not the fancy french restaurant or the new trendy spot, but it is our tradition. The place my son thinks about as where he and Dad go to eat. The place that serves his favorite french toast with eggs and bacon with the fresh squeezed orange juice. An order Scott always remembers. It is my place for tomatoe soup and a toasted cheese. The best shredded potatoes for breakfast. I always crumble my bacon into them and add some hot sauce. So over 10+ years later (yes before my son was born I would go), I still find this place to be my «comforts of home» environment. Wonderful comfort foods with a family friendly and familiar staff. Thank you Solange and your staff for making this an irreplaceable tradition for us.

Solange and her husband have kept with the times, updated to perfection. Menu updated to meet the peoples choice. We had to wonderful meals and could not ask for more, Sunday brunch was over the top fun, place was packed and the chef hands down one of the best … I love the place and will be back more and more, they r a ICON to the hood and people should remember not many place have stood the test of time… They have and rocked it even more so… you GO COVE!

My favorite thing about this place here is its employees and owners. They’re very friendly. And there’s a very cute blondish server boy, I love him. Food is very good, many options. It comes fast and satisfies!

I ordered «fresh squeezed orange juice». I’m pretty sure it wasn’t fresh squeezed. They handed it right out to me and there was no pulp in it. False Advertisement.

I came here for brunch a couple times and the food was very tasty and the bottomless mimosas are refreshing and delicious. I love the eggs benedict. The employees are very quick to take your order and there is usually seating available at most times.

I love coming here for breakfast, a true gem in the Castro. The service is always very friendly, and the menu has a wide variety to choose from. My absolute favorite has always been the Irish Bennedict, which comes with a delicous corned-​beef hash.

I bought a chicken noodle soup from this place to take out. Cost 14 $ for a big bowl 0₀. I am experiencing some stomach issues and I was hoping to get something like ‘homemade’ comfy food. The soup I bought at this place could not ever be called homemade — my mouth was burning from how salty it it. INSANLY SALTY. My husband also said it’s too much salt. The stuff on the phone was very rude, they claimed the soup is just fine, but I could bring it back and they would refund me. All that said in not friendly, arrogant way. They were not sorry that my lunch was spoiled. I was already back at my place on a steep hill and didn’t have time to return it. Never go there again.

I’ve always been very critical of this place, saying that it’s just a basic diner… no biggie, whatever ho hum. Recently, I went in here for breakfast and was blown away at what I ate. I feel like my stubbornness has me making up for lost time now. I ordered the Smoked Trout Benedict ($ 14). I was blown away at how good it was! The trout was smokey and juicy, the hollandaise sauce was on point! Service was prompt and friendly as well.

The service is always friendly and nice, attentive.
But the food was underwhelming, slightly overpriced and under-​portioned. Half a waffle, two tiny sausages, and two eggs for $ 12… Let’s think about that. I should’ve taken a picture.
Café Mystique, check it out.
And side note, if I’m paying $ 4 for coffee, it should be Four Barrel.

From the perspective of a pleasant dining experience, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this place.

Standard diner fare. Nothing really stood out about it. I kind of prefer Orphan Andy’s, mostly because of the location… excellent people watching.
Cove is fine, but it didn’t really do anything for me. Food was okay. Service was okay. Prices were okay. But I can’t think of anything special about it to write. It’s… fine.

It’s like home. Friendly, comfy, yummy. And a nice morning cocktails with your meal.

The Cove on Castro is a casual diner located in the heart of The Castro district directly across from the theatre. It offers a rather simple menu specializing in breakfast/​brunch.
The establishment itself is quite small; it provides approx. 15 somewhat-​compact tables, and even those feel quite cramped in the space allotted. Though, if one can manage to secure a seat, the interior décor and sunlight shining through the window usually make the Cove an ideal place to begin the day.
As previously stated, the menu is simple – but what the Cove does offer, it prepares fairly nicely. Its eggs and pancakes are among the better that I’ve tried in San Francisco. The prices are fairly reasonable as well – you won’t break the bank grabbing a quick brunch.
Now for the bad: I specify a «quick» brunch for a reason. I have never seen any place as anxious to get customers out the door as the Cove.
Its customer service is abysmal and I will certainly not return – which is a bummer, because I enjoyed everything else.
My friend and I ordered the (not-​) bottomless mimosas for $ 13.95 this past Wednesday morning. We were poured only one glass before being told bluntly that «we only refill for people when they order food.» It stated nowhere on the menu that a food purchase was required, but we obliged nonetheless.
Three mimosas later, our waiter seemed to be getting impatient and kept asking if we «want anything else?» We politely replied «no thanks, we’ll just drink a few more mimosas.»
About 10 minutes later, he brought our check without asking us. I assumed this was merely a convenience measure.
Nope.
Dude just straight-​up quit serving us. He refused to look our way. He wouldn’t even walk in our general direction. He simply decided that we had consumed our last mimosa – a decision he neglected to share with us.
Refusing to believe what I was witnessing, I eventually caught his attention and waived him over.
He didn’t come.
Instead, he promptly alerted the manager who reluctantly walked over, filled our glasses once more and candidly said, «this is one for the road.»
Yes – we were being shooed out after just one hour and five mimosas. Now, I graduated college only three months ago – five mimosas do absolutely nothing for me.
I left sober and dissatisfied.
It was a rather slow morning; over half of the available tables were empty. No one was waiting for a spot. The staff wasn’t busy. The Cove just decided we’d had the equivalent of «bottomless» and sent us on our merry way.
I’ve never seen anything like it, and hopefully never do again.
Also, there seems to be an issue with the homeless randomly wandering in and around the building. A disheveled man wearing nothing but a half-​opened robe entered while we ate and began bothering patrons. It took close to a full minute for staff to respond and request that he leave. When one finally did act, it appeared that he knew the man and had dealt with him before. Just another run-​of-​the-​mill Wednesday at The Cove I presume. Certainly not the most comforting scene to eat your breakfast to.
Overall, this place is OK. Largely forgettable, but OK. If you’re in a rush or don’t plan to order the bottomless mimosas, it may be for you.
As for me, I won’t be back.

Started off my date day with my partner there today. Friendly staff. Lively place. Castro at its best. But the food was absolutely bad. I had two eggs with a turkey sausage patty. It came burned on the outside and soft and wet on the inside. I had two bites and my mind said stop.
I told one of the managers and she was super nice and said she won’t charge me. That’s good service, well the bill came and the charge was there. I decided to not make a fuss. I should have.
I threw up 10 minutes after I left the restaurant.
I will not go back, please get the food fixed.

My first and likely last visit to this iconic place. First, the positive points: nice ambiance, free WiFi, and the host was very friendly and hospitable.
I had the black bean burger with onion rings. The ORs were good though the serving was rather modest. The black bean burger was disappointing. The «burger» was essentially a heap of mashed black beans with some seasoning. Not bad flavor, but did not hold up. The bun was just like the buns from some fast food chain and the alottment of lettuce, tomatoes, and onions was shamefully paltry.
I had a «glass» of house wine that was more like a shot than an actual serving of wine.
Now for the main reason for the low rating: service. The waiter had an attitude, corrected me with «please» when I was ordering, never checked on me, and tossed the check. Never asked if I wanted desert nor how my experience was. It’s like I was an inconvenience to him, or maybe I wasn’t his type. Regardless, I won’t be going back and I suggest going to one of the many other wonderful restaurants in the area.

My first time here today was pretty good. While it was insanely busy, we were seated pretty quickly and brought our beverages fast.
I ordered a ham and Gruyère cheese crêpe and it was brought to me lightening quick and they cooked my over easy eggs perfectly. The crêpe itself was ok too but seemed small for the priciness. However it was served with mixed fruit and was very fresh.
Our entire order was handled by three different people which was strange but the experience was pleasant.

I come here EVERY time I’m in SF. Friendly people, great food and a great atmosphere. Love the slide show on the TV screen! Historical pics of Castro, fun clips. It’s gay proud and a place I could bring mom, too.
:-)

My friend and I ate here for brunch and bottomless mimosas before going to a singalong at the Castro Theater right across the street.
I ordered the Carnivore Scramble, and it was pretty good. Is there really much to complain about with eggs, cheese, Irish bangers, bacon, and ham? The bangers were pretty tasty. They had a peppery and earthy flavor from maybe coriander, sage, and nutmeg.
We also had an order of the buckwheat pancakes, and we both liked them. They were fluffy and had a warm nutmeg or mace flavor to them. The syrup was just sweet and didn’t taste that maple-​y, but it was fine considering CoC is just a low key neighborhood diner.
There were two mimosas available that day: a regular and strawberry lime one. The regular mimosa wasn’t anything remarkable. It just kinda tasted like watered down orange juice. I thought the strawberry lime one was better. It was sweeter and tasted more fruity. Can’t really go wrong with bottomless booze for $ 10.95, and it was perfect for lubricating our vocal cords.