Boudin Bakery & Cafe

I placed a fairly large bread order. Kathy (Kathleen) the restaurant manager assisted me and had the order ready and wrapped. She was polite, friendly, accommodating and I was happy walking out with all the bread.

Banh mi salad is a joke and does not live up to what it’s named after. They apparently discontinued the Waldorf salad which was my absolute favorite and the only reason why I ever go to Boudin.
Please bring the Waldorf salad back immediately.

Had an issue with my order here and they were so good about quickly fixing it and giving me a discount for my troubles. Great customer service. Love the food here.

That was a fantastic experience when I came here at the first time. The manager was soooo nice and generous to take care of us. And the clam chowder was tasty. Thumbs up.

I just want to say besides the food tasting good. I want to say their customer service was excellent. Joshua was great I’ve never had customer service like I did that day. I’m not from San Mateo and I can’t wait to bring my family in so they too can experience the great service. Thanks Joshua and staff. Thumbs up

Accessibility (Parking /​Wait Time)
¹⁄₁ Star: free mall parking. No wait to order or get a table.
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Service (Waiter /​Cleanness /​Ambiance)
¹⁄₁ Star: normal service. Quiet ambiance.
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Taste (0=Not Edible /​1=Edible /​2=Good (average) /​3=Must Try!)
⁰⁄₃ Stars: sandwiches are not edible. The bread is tough like leather and their Pesto is just green mayo.
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Overall Experience
²⁄₅ Stars
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Last Words
Yes I went there for dinner so the bread might be from the morning but still… my jaw was hurting after trying to eat that chicken pesto sandwich.

I came here twice and both times ordered a bread bowl of butternut squash soup. The first time the quantity of the soup was really less. The second time it was clearly degrading quality and quantity as well.
I usually go to boudin in SF near ferry building and I know the original butternut squash. This was so disappointing.

I’ve been to this location multiple times. And each time they did not disappoint. The service has been efficient and professional, even during the madness of holiday shopping. The food is fantastic. I’ve tried just about everything on their menu; BBQ Chicken Salad, Chili, Flat Bread, Pizza, Clam Chowder, and more! I highly recommend any dish. My only complaint is having just one bathroom and seating for 50+. Overall still 5 stars across the board.

Came here after a couple of people were raving about the soup today. Mistake. Ordered the broccoli cheddar soup and a grilled cheese. How can you go wrong with a grilled cheese? Maybe I ordered the wrong things or perhaps this was an off day. I’m not sure but I have no desire to go back, unless a friend insists.
The broccoli cheddar soup was too salty and didn’t seem to have much broccoli in the soup. The little bits of broccoli in my cup of soup were beyond over cooked.
The grilled cheese… meh. The cheeses were not completely melted. I didn’t care for the combination of cheeses, but again that could just be the result of the sandwich not being hot and cheeses melted. The bread was decent.

Underwhelming. Meh service, meh food.
Clam Chowder Bread Bowl
The clam chowder is a bit fishy. Does it come from the cans they sell? Cuz it kinda tastes like it. The bread is okay, but I expected better from a bakery type place. If I came back, the soup-​salad combo seemed okay, but I might try the chili instead of the chowder.
Cranberry Turkey
The bread needed to be toasted. Can you choose a different type of bread for your sandwich? I saw other people with different breads for their sandwiches and was a little jealous. The soft bread kinda just really killed the sandwich. Otherwise, the filling was okay, but nothing special. As far as cranberry turkey goes, I’ve had better
Salmon BLTA
At least the sliced bread (the same as the turkey) was toasted. That helped. But, the sandwich was cold, which wasn’t very appetizing. First off, the avocado was more guacamole, but that wasn’t a big deal. The bacon, however had been sitting out, which made it look less appetizing, but I’ll give them that it was still surprisingly crispy, making it okay. Not the best bacon I’ve had, but definitely not the worst. The cold, cold salmon, however, which should have been the star, was instead just sad. It kinda felt like eating canned tuna (maybe canned salmon), just in a whole chunk instead of broken up. All in all, pretty disappointing.
Both sandwiches came with salad or chips. We opted for salad and got a side of some sorta lettuce (only lettuce) with I think a balsamic vinaigrette. While the vinaigrette was tasty, the salad was a little bit overdressed and (since it was already tossed) slightly wilted. Does it come from a big bin already tossed or do they make it for each plate? I didn’t notice, but it was also pretty disappointing. It doesn’t help that the dark color of the balsamic made the lettuce look extremely unappealing – think slightly wilty lettuce coated in some sorta goopy dark matter. Taste-​wise, it was okay, but our first sense with food is sight and I was slightly put off by the look of it.
Conclusion: I’m not coming back unless I’m getting dragged. But if that happens, I’ll probably stick with a soup-​salad combo and see how that works out. Signing off for now, hopefully there won’t be an update.

Clam Chowder and Bread. I mean what more can you ask for? I came in for a lunch with some coworkers and business was efficient and the food was fresh. I did take some to go one day after work and the soup did get kind of cold so I definitely recommend eating on the spot, especially with soups like clam chowder.
It is yummy and I love going back here.

This is my third time here & I have to say, it’s not bad! I had the sandwiches & soups. They are a bit pricey for the serving you get so I don’t recommend going there expecting a large lunch or dinner. Good menu though.

Excellent fast good soup and salad fix after a long tiring shopping trip.
Fast and good because don’t have to wait 1 hour for a table at the chain restaurant that serves the same food at much higher price
Salad is refreshing and of course the clam chowder speaks for itself. The soup and salad combo is excellent choice to fuel up and continue with the shipping spree.
Overall a gem of a «pit stop» for a shopping spree at the mall.

In my opinion, Boudin is the only decent quick place to eat inside the Hillsdale Mall. As with all Boudins, the clam chowder in a bread bowl is delicious but this location actually has a lot of seating. The staff is super nice too; they have always come up to me and asked how my food is!

This is the best Boudin’s I’ve ever been in. Unlike the FiDi and Embarcadero stores, this Boudin is actually really spacious and has a lot of tables for people who want to eat in. The staff is also really friendly. They came up and asked us how we liked our meal — unheard of in casual fast food places! They also bussed our table. That’s why the facilities is clean clean clean!
Food is good — about the same as the other Boudins. Yeah, I would eat here if I’m at Hillsdale.

My comfort food of the season is usually clam chowder and I often frequent Boudin’s for those cold nights. But after being told to go back to the counter and pay $ 0.89 for a side of bread and butter… I think it’s time for a new place!!!
It’s been over 10 minutes since they brought over my food so I went to the counter to ask about my starving daughter’s clam chowder in a bread bowl and inquired about my bread roll.
The staff person proceeded to get the clam chowder. But looked perplexed when I asked about the dinner roll. I reminded her that she told me I had to pay for it and that I still did not receive my bread and butter. Guess what she did. She grabbed one piece of butter and put it on the tray and added that I could get more from the container if I wanted.
At this point I just explained that I’m waiting on my bread because I didn’t receive it yet.
So much for a quick bite to eat. It turned out to be a 20 minute ordeal just to get my full order.
Definitely time to find a new place for clam chowder!!!
Any suggestions?

I’ve been to boudins in Sacramento and SF so since i was shopping and hungry I figured I might as well give it a try in the Hillsdale shopping center. I got the soup and salad and it was pretty good. Of course I got the standard clam chowder and the house salad was tasty with cheese, walnuts and cranberry. I thought it was interesting how everything was served biodegradable materials, either way it was tasty and the service was fast. I would come back here if I am in the area and hungry.

I’ve eaten here in the past and loved it but the person making the sandwiches this time just didn’t care at all.
I ordered a half California Veggie and small caesar salad. The salad was great but the sandwich was a joke.
They staked two small tomato slices on top of each other in one stack and two cucumber slices in the other, put a tiny string of red bell pepper and then for the spread that was supposed to be on it, both sides of the bread was completely dry except for a quarter sized dap in the center and they didn’t even bother putting on any basalmic vinegar.
I wouldn’t have paid 1.00 for it much less the 7.99 they charged.
I’m giving 2 stars simply because the side salad was great.
I will go back in hopes that next time they will have someone else making sandwiches.

While strolling out of the mall with my daughter, we spied Boudin and headed straight in hoping to find something special. Being fans of fresh bread, Boudin has a soft spot in our hearts. We walked to the counter and started perusing (and drooling) over the loaves and loaves of sourdough on the shelves. It was then that I spied it, hiding in the corner, waiting patiently to come home with us. It was the most adorable loaf of bread I’ve ever seen in my life. It was a sourdough loaf shaped like a turtle! After thoroughly embarrassing my daughter by squealing loudly in delight, I managed to compose myself long enough to order and pay for the newest addition to the family which I affectionately named Herman. Happily, we drove our new pet home and showed him to Hubby (and the neighbors, the relatives, and anyone else I could send the picture to). Herman had a new home!
Hubby loved Herman so much, he suggested shellacking him and keeping him as art, but sadly Herman smelled too good not to eat. I threw together a plate of cheese and salami and olives, and carried our prize turtle to the table. It was difficult to bring myself to dig in, but finally, with a bit of a sadistic grin, I peeled off Herman’s tail and handed it to Hubby. One bite told me that it was time for me to get serious about eating this cute little morsel. I ripped off a fin, slathered on some seriously stinky blue cheese and popped it into my waiting, still drooling mouth. It was as good to eat as it was to look at!
Needless to say, Herman was short-​lived. Next time, we’re going to hollow out the turtle’s back and use it as a dip bowl. I can’t wait to go back and see if they have any other cute little critters that we can demolish and pair with some smelly cheese. It’s a little creepy, but it’s only bread.
PS — No one could bring themselves to eat the head, so we gave it to the dog. *smile*

My girlfriend and I needed to grab some lunch before checking out the San Mateo County Fair and happened to be walking through the mall at the time. We figured we might as well eat there since it was nice and cool inside and weren’t in the mood for anything too fancy. Boudin seemed perfect for the situation.
We shared a clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, a half Thai chicken salad, and a chicken pesto sandwich served with a green salad. I was truly unimpressed overall. Both salads were hopelessly overdressed and soggy, while the sandwich roll was super hard and thick, making all the innards of the sandwich fall out. What’s more, it was overdressed with balsamic vinaigrette and there was no pesto to be found. The soup was tasty, but the bread bowl was very mediocre, and I’m sad to say that I prefer Panera’s to here. Just a very disappointing meal overall.
Service at the register was not very friendly and the rest of the crew just didn’t seem that into it. Our food certainly didn’t reflect what we’d expected from a famous San Francisco treat. Quality control was poor here and corporate should really look into it before I’ll ever go back. No thanks.
Food: ³⁄₁₀
Service: ⁴⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁵⁄₁₀