Fuel Cafe

I found ladies behind the counter as very friendly and helpful. Their portions are big but might taste bland for some people. I like that they use fresh Ingredients and can mix up smoothie any way you like it.

I’ve been here a couple times over the years. Attached to the very pricy Equinox gym, Fuel Café was tricky to find at first. The entrance is simply the main Equinox entrance, and the café is to your right. Because it’s in the same building as the rich-​ass gym, I assumed the prices would be crazy. However, I was very surprised to see that their food was actually pretty affordable.
I always order the tuna melt on whole grain bread. They pack those ingredients in, let me tell ya. My mayo-​hating friend took a bite of it and was pleasantly surprised. You really can’t taste the mayo at all because they don’t put an obscene amount. I can still feel healthy-​ish while eating it so I’m all good. There aren’t too many healthy options in downtown San Mateo, so I always try to come here to get my healthy on. I ordered their strawberry smoothie a long time ago, and I remember it being good, so you might wanna give that a shot.
I can’t attest to the other food but if it’s as freshly made as the tuna melt, I’m sure you’ll get a good meal for your money.
Now if only I could afford Equinox…

I really do enjoy the food here, but the lack of customer service and the false pricing on certain foods doesn’t deserve anything more than a single star. If the menu above says a tuna wrap is $ 6.95, I shouldn’t be charged $ 7.95 because of «manager discretion.» That is false pricing and incongruent, making Fuel unreliable. If the prices have changed, the menu needs to change. Plain and simple. If you feel the same I encourage you to rate Fuel 1 star to encourage the manager to make a change.

If you are looking to Fuel Café, you need to go inside Equinox Gym. I had to call to find out where it is.
The Café is really small. it’s only a small counter with two nice women running it. When I was there, they had a large order going out so I had to wait about 20 minutes before I could order.
I think most of the people who go there are getting smoothies but when you are waiting for a meal, it takes a lot of time.
I bought two California Club wrap with no bacon. They were o.k. but not amazing. I don’t think I would come back for food but maybe I will try them again if I want a smoothie.
There is plenty of places to sit inside the café.
There is metered parking outside so parking isn’t an issue.

Food is good, atmosphere is snotty – you cannot use wifi unless you are a member. Very exclusive vibe. NOT welcoming. I don’t go anymore because of this, but if you want a healthy snack downtown, well… It also takes a LONG time to get anything – even a smoothie. Just go to Boulangerie down the street for a better meal and a better atmosphere. FREE WIFI!

This place is in the Equinox gym. Great salads. Very fresh with a hearty serving and tasty sauces. I like the teriyaki chicken salad and the salmon salad with soba noodles.

Iris and Nena are angels. They work so hard and everything they make is delicious.
Whenever I order, I tell Iris to give me whatever she wants to give me. I’d call it a secret menu, but she just puts stuff together and its WONDERFUL. There are times when I’m thinking about my wrap from the day before.
TREAT THESE LADIES WELL.

I’m only giving this place 3 stars because of the online ordering service powered by Zuppler through the café’s website. If the owner is going to offer online ordering that actually charges your credit card, then they need to make sure the service is actually reliable and works as intended.
I placed an order online and went to pick up the order at the scheduled time. When I got there, the café never received the order from Zuppler, and one of the items I ordered was no longer being offered on the menu. I asked for a refund of that particular item, and was told that I had to go through Zuppler to get it since they are the ones who charged my credit card for the order. I went to Zuppler’s website and called them, they were all busy and had me leave a voicemail. I emailed their customer support, but we’ll see if I get an answer.
Conclusion — if you want to order from here, just go in person or call it in. If you are going to offer online ordering, make sure it actually works! It’s annoying to have your credit card charged for items that are no longer on the menu and not even have the order received by the café. Just seems like a very shady service that offers no convenience to the customer, and the owner should no longer offer this service if they care about the experience they offer their customers.
Other than that, the food is pretty tasty and doesn’t weigh you down. The wrap is huge, so might want to go with a half-​wrap or save the other half for later. The salads are fresh and tasty.

I was told this is a teriyaki chicken with noodle salad. I took one bite of the ‘chicken’ and it tasted like dried meat… pretty much like beef jerky? The veggies are way over salted and noodles overcooked

This review has one star because frankly there isn’t an option for no starts. I’ve been coming to Fuel Café since 2010. I’m a local and I’ve always loved their wraps, bowls and shakes and their customer service was always awesome.
I came to Fuel today with my fiancé to get a bowl and a wrap and I was absolutely floored at the horrible service we received. All of the previous staff I used to love have been gone for awhile but I still would come because the food was delicious.
However, the new girl that was there today literally didn’t even look at us when she took our order. She spoke like a mouse and we couldn’t even understand her. She was acting like she was on death row working there. I didn’t even want to ask her for he cilantro sauce because I felt like I was putting a huge burden on her.
To top it all off the bowl we ordered was sub par at best. The rice was hard, the cheese wasn’t melted like they used to do it and the chicken and other ingredients were dry. The beans also seemed like she literally just poured the end of the can out in a box and gave it to me. I seriously could’ve received better service at Taco Bell.
I’m not a member at Equinox but if I was I would be absolutely disgusted at the service here when I pay over $ 100 a month for a membership to such an elite gym. If I was a manager or owner at Equinox I would be outraged to have them representing my company. The amenities at this gym are supposed to be high class. They sell expensive gym clothes and expensive food and the service I received wasn’t even worth $ 2. I will never come back here as long as that young girl is working there. She didn’t have a name tag on but I will remember who she is. I’ve never received worse service anywhere except maybe a gas station.

The only place in downtown San Mateo to get fresh, clean, healthy food! (Yes Draegers has a salad bar, but it doesn’t look fresh, is very expensive, and the selection is small — no avocados and a lot of other ingredients I want)
The portion sizes here are huge — the salads fill up the entire large plastic carton you get it in and it’s super heavy, and loaded with very fresh clean ingredients. I usually get the Salmon Salad and or chick burrito bowl. Because the sizes are so big, you may need an extra dressing — which they don’t charge for either, another pro!
The staff here is amazing as well. The manager is always so sweet and willing to accomodate any special requests or questions I have.

Healthy Quality food. I eat here 5 days a week. They have protein smoothies, salads, sandwiches, energy balls and much more.
Not only is the food amazing but so is the staff.
Nena and staff is a major reason I keep coming back. They really care about their customers and treat them like family.
Thanks Nena and fuel café for keeping me healthy!

3.5 STARS
Fuel Café was sitting in my bookmark list, and when my friend and I decided to go on a hike in San Mateo, I decided that this would be a good time to knock this place off my long list.
R E F U E L I N G
After a two hour hike, my friend and I made our way to Fuel Café. Finding it may be kind of tricky if you’re not familiar with the businesses on that block, because it is located inside Equinox (a gym). After looking at the menu, I decided on the Chicken Melt sandwich, and the Ultimate Green Smoothie. Exactly what I needed after hiking with the sun beating down my face and back.
FUEL’S CHICKEN CLUB– DELICIOUS! I have nothing bad to say about this sandwich, because for starters, it had bacon! Anything that has bacon is good. =P
ULTIMATE GREEN SMOOTHIE– not terrible, but I’m really not a fan of the taste of protein powders or almond milk. Something about it makes me want to scratch my tongue! But, it’s good if you don’t want to taste the vegetables, because the almond milk and/​or the protein powder will mask it.
Also, I forgot to mention that their prices are very reasonable. :)

Yummy food, nice people work there. Had the veggie burrito (sans mushrooms with quinoa – I don’t do shrooms) and the Ultimate Green Smoothie. Both very good. And healthy.
It is kinda weird walking into the gym entrance to get to the restaurant but it works.

I work across the street from the Equinox/​Fuel Café and this is my go-​to spot for lunch. There are a ton of great restaurants in San Mateo but most feature pretty heavy food (burgers, Indian, pizza/​Italian, etc.) and other than the Draegers salad bar, there aren’t many healthy (i.e. primarily salad) options. Fuel Café not only has awesome salads but a huge variety of great meals — all of which are very healthy but very flavorful and filling.
Fuel Café is also a great value and provides serious bang for your buck. Pretty much everything on the menu, from salads to burritos to bowls to sandwiches, is under $ 10 and the portions are generous — multiple times I’ve saved some of my lunch for an afternoon pick-​me-​up or even brought it home after work for dinner.
The only downside is that the menu doesn’t provide a lot of details per dish so if I want to try something new I usually have to ask about everything that’s included since most menu items only list one or two main ingredients. But the staff is super friendly and will answer any questions and I’ve never had any kind of weird surprises in the new things I’ve tried. Absolutely 100% recommend the Fuel Café for healthy, filling and budget-​friendly lunches!

Called in my order, as other reviews suggested. I’m glad I did because there were only 2 girls working behind the counter and quite a few people ordering. I ordered the chicken burrito and my aunt ordered the Salmon sandwich. We both really enjoyed our lunch. I substituted the brown rice for quinoa and it was delicious! The red hot sauce they have is essential to put on top.
This place is inside the quinox gym. Just walk in and turn to your right. There are only 4 small 2 top tables to eat at so if you’re lucky you can snag one of those. Next time I will try their smoothies– those looked yummy!
Lots of healthy wraps, bowls, and trays for take out if you’re in a rush!

Love Fuel Café, especially since I work right across the street and go to the gym in the morning. They have a good variety, good prices, and quality food. Only gripe is that sometimes it can be so slow since usually only 1 – 2 people are working and it can get backed up when busy.
Breakfast — actually only got the egg veggie scramble once. It was average good. I’ve heard the smoothies are good, but I’m more about lunch and dinner here…
Lunch/​Dinner — Yum. Favorites are turkey pesto wrap, chicken burrito (big enough for 2 meals — seriously, I can eat almost a whole Chipotle burrito and this thing is insane huge), quinoa bowls, and tuna salad.
One last note is that they close at 8pm but they like to stop making food at like 7:30pm or earlier. Luckily they often have premade stuff you can still buy — half wraps or salads or bowls — but if you want something made fresh, be sure to call ahead or get there with plenty of time. (Call ahead, don’t use the online ordering — it’s not that reliable)

I get the vegetarian quinoa bowl at least twice a week. It’s quinoa, avocado, fresh tomato, and red onion. I pick the lime cilantro dressing (you should too.) The bowls are pre-​made so it makes for a quick, convenient lunch. The staff here is great as well. I was bummed that there were no more quinoa bowls and was just about to order something else when the woman who worked there offered to make me a new one on the fly.
Minus one star for value: the ingredients are fresh, but the bowl is a bit on the small side for the price ($ 6.50).
Hoping to try their smoothies soon!

I come here at least 4 times a week. I love the staff and food here. From the protein shakes, to the sandwiches, you can’t go wrong with what you order. My favorite is the tuna melt. The chicken club and tuna perfect meal are also very good. I’m obsessed with the hot sauce that they serve. If you can handle really spicy hot sauce, you should give it a try.

If you want a healthy meal, swing by Fuel Café.
Their food tastes good and I don’t feel guilty feeling full off it.
I’m not sure if their drinks are worth it – pricey!, but their burritos are delicious.
Tip: call in and put in your order so you don’t have to wait!