Snowbird Coffee

A tiny coffee shop with tiny furniture. This adorable café is better used as a to-​go sort of joint, as the likelihood of finding is seat is slim. Many stop for studies or meet-​ups here, and seats are gobbled in a heartbeat. This is even more so on weekends. Plan accordingly. The back of the café is shared with another small local eco-​friendly soap refill business. As there were no seats, the young woman manning the soap refill desk allowed me to sit with her as she worked on inventory. There’s also a lone bench out front but that gets taken fast, too.
The place has a steady hum. And if you work well with noise and people chitchatting around you, this is a perfect spot to get some work done or read.
Snowbird is in the heart of the Inner Richmond, with loads to see, do, eat and visit within walking distance, making for a perfect start to an adventurous day. You can walk to Golden Gate Park from here, too.
I like their hot teas. Coffee is a hit or miss. There are not many choices for edibles or snacks and they sell out quickly and don’t seem to replenished immediately. I like the emphasis on cinema here. There are books on cinematography and script writing and posters from film stills and famous faces of the movies. I wonder if the owners are filmmakers, too? Or do they have a strong film industry based clientele? In any case, as a cinephile, I appreciate this and I’ll be back.

I waited ten minutes for this boring latte? Are you kidding me?! I was so angry after waiting for so long that I didn’t even want it anymore. Plus, I tipped at the counter before my ridiculously long wait which I now regret doing. Not coming back.

The baristas here are the sweetest! They where super chill with this lady that was nonstop talking.

Following the trend in SF, another hipster coffee shop in the inner sunset. Snowbird Coffee is a cute little place tucked away on 9^th ave with some great coffee and specialty drinks. I ordered the Matcha Green Tea Latte — which I honestly didn’t like very much… I really enjoyed my friend’s Brevano — a breve cortado with espresso shot and wildflower honey, it was the perfect balance of sweet and bitter. The café itself is relaxing and quiet with plenty of tables to study, work, or hang out. The baristas are very friendly and welcoming. Overall a great place and definitely worth checking out.

Very hipster. They were serving their own roast and parlor when I went. Coffee was bad. I got a shot and a pour over, both were over extracted and over developed. If you’re in the neighborhood and want a drink with a lot of milk then sure. Not worth the drive out to SF though. Go to Andytown just up the street.
Atmosphere– 3 out of 5
Staff– 4 out of 5
Coffee– 1 out of 5

This is a great little artisan coffee shop right in a little nook on 9^th ave. It can be pretty easy to overlook, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled.
It’s beautifully decorated and definitely has that typical «SF hipster» café vibe going on. The coffee itself is carefully brewed to order and strong – just how I like it. The pastries are fresh, but was rather limited when I went.
The space itself, while beautiful, is very small and the tables are even smaller. If you’re expecting a café to do anything more than catch up with some friends (I.e. Get your Sunday work done), you might have to look elsewhere. The small tables barely fit more than my laptop and the wifi (while free) wasn’t the most consistent.
But as a pure coffee shop – they’ve got the formula and they’re rocking it

Snowbird Coffee is a gem on 9^th Avenue; even though it has lots of competition in the area, it still stands out as one of the best coffee shops in the area. With a large variety of coffee drinks, from pourovers to coffee to unique drinks such as the shakerato and brevano, customers have a good selection to choose from. So far, I have tried the pourover, brevano and cold brew. Even though the pourover and cold brew are delicious, the brevano is the star of the show. A mixture of an espresso shot and wildflower honey, the six ounce drink is smaller but the subtle sweetness is a pleasant surprise and contrast from all of the much more sugary sweeteners out there such as vanilla, hazelnut, etc. It is a perfect balance of sweet and bitter, and I always come back for the brevano now.
The environment of the café is also relaxing, quiet, and an escape of sorts. A couple desks sit in the front of the shop, with some more in the back for doing work. Even though the lighting is a bit darker, it is a nice escape from the more hectic city environment around the area and is very conducive for doing work. I always come back to Snowbird for unique coffee and coffee beans to take home for my French press.

Good coffee drinks and tea, I particularly enjoyed their coconut infused? green tea which is a great hangover remedy. I don’t visit as often as I do with other cafés because they just don’t have enough seating optimal for conversation. I personally also find it weird that they are sharing the space with a soap/​oil/​body care company. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of co-​sharing spaces. But it just seems a little odd when I take a sip of my cappuccino and smell soup at the same time. Maybe it’s just my sensitive olfactory neurons.
Anyway, it’s a great pit stop for good coffee in that part of the sunset, but I wouldn’t stay for long.

Pretty nice place. SO and I stopped by on a weekend afternoon looking for a snack break, and were pleasantly surprised by this place. It’s a cute little café, albeit a bit small, but nice, and has decent coffee. They have a few specialities — notably the Café Bombon, an espresso over a bed of condensed milk. Pretty good vibe, and def a nice local hangout. Would probably stop by this place more if I lived in the area.

Kinda nervous about giving this place a good review as it means it’ll become more popular. It’s great to have coffee of this quality in the neighborhood. The space itself is a great place to come and sit/​read/​drink for a while. It can get crowded… but if it does, take the coffee to go and sit in the parklet outside arizmendi — hopefully the parklet outside snowbird takes off so there will be some outside space to enjoy their coffee.
The only thing that doesn’t make too much sense is the detergent store in the back. It takes up valuable real estate that could be better used with seating.

A woman in the register decided to flirt with an old man (who was not making an order, just pure chit-​chatting) and ignored me and the other customer for over 5 minutes.
There are other coffee shops in a walking distance, so I left.
Good bye, Snow Bird.

Update. after going to a few coffee shops in the city. $ 3.25-$ 4 is the average price for a cappuccino. Obsessions get you poor. Anyway. I still think snowbird is better than the beanery nearby. I really enjoy the quaint space and friendly staff.

Yummy!
Enjoyed my Breve cortado with wildflower honey.
The little bit of sweetness was a nice touch.

Love this place. And it gets better with every visit.
What to look forward to:
* delicious, quality azz coffee.
* friendly atmosphere — customers + baristas alike
* community feel
* in need of soap, shampoo, or good smellies? They got a great bulk shop in the back corner
I really love this place!!! I ordered from the small lot coffee menu and wow, my coffee tasted nutty. Just the way I like it. I also had great conversation with the barista, Leon, as well as some locals who welcomed me to the neighborhood.
Highly recommended!!! Come here for delicious brews, drinks, tea, and sweet treats… and good smells.

Tried the breve with wildflower honey, believe its called the Brevado or Brevano. Drink was the perfect temperature and size, but was extremley thick and rich. Wildflower honey flavor was very subtle. I think this was a tasty drink, but not all would enjoy because the half and half makes it so creamy.
If i return i will try the cold brew which comes with coffee ice cubes.
Also, pretty cool how they have an organic soap shop in the back. Good variety of products here and a quaint atmosphere.

I love trying new coffee shops. Snowbird is kind of an old, new coffee shop for me. Located in the old Drip’d Coffee Lab space a couple of years ago, the front of the house received a new facelift, while they’re still making soap in the back. The wooden counter gives it a very Californian feel, while the rest of the seating is reminiscent of some of the hipster cafes I’ve come across in Brooklyn. When I used to live in the Northeast, «snowbirds,» were people who flocked south, mainly to Florida, in seek of warmer weather when winter came. Having grown up in the Sunset, there are snowbirds year round in these parts in seek of warmer refuge. Enter this coffee shop.
For coffee aficionados, their specialty selection is the Café Bombon, a shot of espresso with condensed milk. It’s a simple concoction, which I’m sure would taste more like a Vietnamese iced coffee if it were poured over some cubes. Their latte was standard if you like more milk in your drink. It’s always a nice drink to warm you up on a cold San Francisco day. If you fancy cold brews, I highly recommend their bottled cold brew for $ 4.50. Chug, or enjoy slowly — there’s absolutely no acidity.
The space is a little too small and dim for my liking, but I appreciate the atmosphere. The tables are personal-​sized to fit a single laptop so sharing may be an issue. Prime location gives you a stone’s throw to Arizmendi Bakery across the street for some fresh pastries or pizza.

Cool, TINY place. Very small inside and very hipster (which I love). It’s dark, not much natural light, but great color scheme and fun wallpaper.
Deliciously made lattes and delightful desserts! Haven’t been back since my first (and so far only) visit but do plan on returning.
Great almond milk latte and almond milk mochas.
Randomly, they’re closed on Tuesdays.

I was in the area and was hoping to grab an amazing cup of coffee (per all the great reviews).
The staff greeted me right when I entered. I quickly looked over the menu and ordered a sweetened latte ($ 4.25). It was OK. Not served as hot just warm. I get hipsters think milk changes it’s flavor at a higher temp and blah blah blah but can I get HOT drink dang it?
Dunno if I’ll come back but maybe if I’m in the area.

The Inner Sunset has a ton of coffee shops, but nothing that serves standout expensive hipster coffee like one might expect for this area of SF. Awhile ago, DRIP’D tried and I thought they were doing pretty well, so it was surprising for me to walk over one day and see that it had closed.
Now comes Snowbird, accepting the passed torch with open palms and inheriting this highly coveted spot on 9^th & Irving. I have to give them points for a better name and a better use of space. The awkwardness of sharing the area with another business that sells cleaning solutions has been remedied: there’s actually plenty of seating and a nice open feeling when you first enter the storefront. The lighting is a little dim for my taste but the hipsters with their Macs and the store’s vintage movie posters and succulent-​lined shelves make Snowbird strangely appealing. Like, I feel a little cooler just for buying my coffee here.
Unfortunately, the espresso was a letdown. I tried both the Americano and the Café Bom Bom (shot of espresso with condensed milk). Both were sour, but the sourness was especially pronounced in the Café Bom Bom. I’m sure the coffee beans here are excellent but the roasting method, to me, seems to yield espresso that isn’t on par with the quality of the beans. Maybe it’s a personal preference or because I’m really just a coffee dilettante who prefers bitter and burnt over under-​roasted and sour (and yes, I admit it, I’m a regular Americano-​drinker over at Starbucks and Martha’s).
I want to see Snowbird do well and am inclined to give their pour overs and cold brew a try. Expect an updated review soon.

I’m finally embracing the Sunset. I’m exploring both the outer and inner sunset and finding little gems like Snowbird.
Just hop off the N Judah and strut on in. It’s directly across the street from Arizmendi, so if you need a good cup of wake the F up before grabbing a slice then get it here!
I felt like I stepped into an episode of Portlandia. Indoor bicycle parking, standalone shelf with roasted beans, Inner Sunset and Snowbird printed gear… outlets with Apple usb cables coming out of them, mason jars and flowers, hipster barristas. If that ain’t hipster enough for you, the Green 11 (bring your own container because it’s a refill store for soaps, detergent, etc.) stand in the back portion of the shop should sell ya.
The coffee? Excellent roasts. STRONG. and great service.
P. S. coffee ice cubes!