Al’s Cafe Good Food

Cheap, fast, good. I love a brunch that comes without a long wait.
It’s a diner with a few nicer CA touches, like fresh squeezed OJ and some decent salad greens to go with your standard eggs Benedict, omelette, burgers and bacon fare.

Chicken fried steak is 5*! Never had a bad experience here. Great service! One of my favorite breakfast spots in SF! Coffee os always on point!

I love this greasy spoon, when my gut can handle it.
They do two of my favorite greasy spoon breakfast foods here the RIGHT way. And in my book, that’s what matters.
1) Corned Beef Hash. Forget «fancy» corned beef hash. I want the stuff that comes out of a can, then perfectly grilled up so that it’s got a crunch on both sides. CHECK.
In San Francisco, the land of fancying everything up, Corned Beef Hash the way I like it is hard to find. I ask the waiter sometimes, how do you do your corned beef hash and they talk about how they make it fresh and put herbs in it. WHAMMY. NO! You do NOT put herbs in corned beef hash. It’s gotta be mushy on the inside, crisp on the out. No herb in sight (except maybe a parsley for decoration.). That’s the way I like it.
2) Hash brown. Let me repeat — hash browns and not home fries. Why does anyone bother making home fries? Who likes home fries? Hash browns is real breakfast. Don’t give me home fries and it better not have rosemary on it. Hash browns perfectly crisped. CHECK.
I don’t really get much else here except the corned beef hash breakfast. So, I can’t really say much about anything else. I think I might have had the pancakes once and remember it being pretty decent.
Anyhow, I don’t know why this place gets a low rating. Greasy spoon hole in the walls are a dying kind. There is a time and place for a fancy brunch, but sometimes you just want some grease. When that’s what you want… come here.

Have been going here since before the ownership change. When it re-​opened a few years ago, I was unimpressed by the menu changes as the quality of the food had declined, and prices went up.
After a while decide to give it another chance and the staple breakfast items had improved.
Unfortunately, this morning my opinion changed again as I was closing out my check. I walked up to the counter to give my bill and debit card to the owner. He didn’t seem to realize I was standing nearby and I saw him receiving two plates of food from the cooks. Apparently, the eggs served on one plate were too plentiful, so the owner TOOK HIS BARE UNWASHED HANDS ANS PICKED UP A HANDFUL OF SCRAMBLED EGGS FROM THE ONE PLATE AND TRANSFERRED THEM TO THE PLATE NEXT TO IT.
It was only after he did this that he realized I’d seen him do this. He made small talk and closed out my bill. I told my two friends what I’d just witnessed. I will never go to Al’s again. Disgusting.

We live in the neighborhood and wanted to love Al’s. We’ve now been twice now and probably won’t go back.
The food itself is mediocre, and the ingredients are not fresh or flavorful. The tomatoes were tasteless, avocado hard as a rock, hash browns seemed straight from the freezer.
The service is slow and disorganized, especially for a diner (we ordered 2 omelettes recently — 1 arrived almost 15 minutes later than the other and was not even the one we’d ordered). We had to ask for water three times.
And the prices are a few dollars more than you’d hope to pay for this quality fare (most breakfast dishes are $ 10, where $ 7.50 would feel right).
We love the space and unpretentious diner feel, but unfortunately that’s not enough.

Food is OK. If you are looking for something fast and on the go this is the place. Mission Omlett OK. Staff is great!

One of my favorite places to have an amazing breakfast and the employees really make a major effort to make sure that everything is perfect! I have been having breakfast and even sometimes lunch here for over two decades. I unfortunately this morning had a problem using my debit /​credit card which I have been using there for many years and have used it all over the country, but for some reason the owner feels that there is some law that was enacted in October of this year that precludes him from accepting this form of payment otherwise I would have given this rating 5 stars!

We had a great early morning breakfast there today. Coffee both regular and decaf freshly ground per pot, was delicious, we drank several cups each. Poached eggs met with moms approval, as did the bacon. Chocolate chip pancake was fluffy perfection. Enjoyed cheese omelet, sliced style hash browns were crispy outside soft inside, buttered sour dough toast, everything was good. Bathroom was clean and service was friendly and attentive. Two thumbs up!

I went in this morning to have breakfast at this local spot this place is nothing to look at by the food is decent service is not great though. I wanted to sit at a table with a chair because the counter and stop are not comfortable and the owner would not seat me in the dinning room (that section is closed he said). What if I were a party of two or three is that section still closed? This is very bad business especially for a restaurant where at 9:15 am there was only one person there. I would hope that a restaurant in need of business would accommodate anyone anywhere

Wonderful, tasty simple food! Friendly fast service. I’m glad this place is still here (I do miss the previous Edith Massey-​esque/​waitress/​co owner though.) Check it out and support it! The family owned diner is a dying breed !

Tried this place after having lived ten years in the area. This is a great breakfast place. We had
egg benedict and sicilian omelet, both were delicious. We will definitely come back.

This place has all the great elements of a diner: simple, delicious food in a relaxed atmosphere at affordable prices. My go to breakfast spot when I want some pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Also serves excellent mimosas.

I have eaten at Al’s several times now in the past 6 month and it has consistently been a solid performance. The omelettes are not cooked dry like other diners and their pancakes are fluffy and delicious. Oh, and the mimosa and bloody Mary’s give you a boost if you are feeling a bit peaked from the prior evenings activities.
The place is nothing fancy but the service is good and the prices are right. Definitely will return.

Almost tempted to order eggs benedict, to redeem the lousy eggs benedict I had at the Doctor’s Lounge, the day before. Instead, ordered good olé corned beef and hash. Not often this dish gets messed up.
Greeted right away by the owner as soon as we walked in. Very happy, polite gentleman. His wife seated us.
Décor is nostalgic all the way, with posters, headshots, and American kitsch dating back to the ’50’s. Everything tired and a bit grungy, but food was on par for an American breakfast diner dating back to the ’40’s. Owner said the café has been open since 1942; the couple has been running the joint for the last 6 years. One page menu had the usual choices of omeletes, scrambles, pancakes, etc. Menu says breakfast served until 3pm. I have a feeling all they serve is breakfast. Corned beef hash was $ 9.50, chicken fried steak was $ 9.95, large fresh squeezed OJ $ 3.95, double stack $ 4.95. Very reasonable prices for the generous serving sizes. Noticed they had mimosas and champagne available on the menu… And a counter full of red wine.
Lots to look at, while waiting for our orders to come out, and they came out in a timely fashion. Loved the fact that their hash browns are not grated potatoes, but rather, scalloped. Side stack of pancakes were huge and thick. No seasoning on the hash browns, but I didn’t mind as corned beef tends to be on the salty side to begin with. Asked for some hot sauce and the missus proudly said she be back with some… Gingerly handed over a lidded jar, saying the hot sauce was homemade, fresh and organic. You could tell she was quite proud of it. It added a nice kick and something different than Tabasco or Cholupa.
If I was stuck as to where to go for breakfast (I don’t do breakfast often), I would easily consider coming back.

Went there for brunch this morning with some friends, for Sunday brunch around 11. It seemed like a reasonable no-​frills diner from the outside but my interest drained as the meal went on. Service was slow with the place being not too busy. Our food took about 30−40mins to arrive and I was pretty disappointed when I saw the chef microwaving food. I ordered the Al’s scramble (I think is the name): ground beef, tomatoes, onions, and three eggs. Portions were huge but the food was mediocre; it tasted like a bunch of ingredients added together after being cooked, not something with mixed together with flavors. We left feeling too full and not so happy, so I probably wouldn’t go back here again.

Walked in and was greeted by the owner with a huge smile. There are two entry-​ways the one to the left is the counter and to the right is the dining room.
Service was really sweet although they could be a little more attentive on refilling drinks. We were pretty much on our own once the food got there.
French toast was simple and delicious I definitely will be back.

Third time here made for a truly disappointing visit. With only $ 8 In my pocket I had a choice to make: stick around and get Al’s or make a bus ride to get to Jim’s for breakfast. I chose to stay close.
I entered Al’s close to 8:40am. They must have just opened bc I took a seat at the bar to review the menu and no one else was around. Soon someone (the owner I’m assuming, I had seen him before) came to take my order. First he asked if I would be dining in or taking out. I said for here, then began to ask him if my $ 8 would be enough for what I wanted (eggs, hash brown, sausage) he said yes but I would have to take it to go…
Why? I wanted to sit down and enjoy my breakfast. I should have asked why but I didn’t. I was hungry so I agreed. While he was cooking my order another gentleman came in. Almost immediately someone came from the back to brew him some coffee. The guy must have been a regular bc the cook knew him by name and knew his order by heart.
I got my food and left. Two blocks down I get into my car to eat my breakfast & realized the man didn’t give me the sausage. I walked back and entered to find the cook serving a plate to the other guy that came in after me. He nervously chuckled and said he chased after me when I left… he must have known by the look on my face I was bothered. I wasn’t rude though. I just got my sausage and thanked him before I left.
I was just bothered that I was asked to take my food and go while some other schmuck got to sit down and enjoy just because he knew the guy. I mean come on, I could’ve been a regular too… this was my third time here & I would’ve continued to eat here had I not just been kicked out in a «thanks for your last little bit of money, now here’s your shit n get out so I can serve the clientele I actually like» style.
For the record I wasn’t spoken to unkindly. I was just made to feel like less of a paying client of this establishment by the main person who runs it & that speaks volumes.
From now on I’m sticking to Jim’s & like the Giants in Game 6, Al’s is no longer on the scoreboard. Hopefully they start to think twice about favoriting some people and not explaining themselves for kicking other people out.

Excellent, unpretentious spot. Great décor for a diner.
Food is the most reasonable I’ve had in Bernal/​Mission area in a long time.
I ordered a tiny breakfast. The person there told me «those are small portions, is that okay?» Loved him for doing that.
Turns out that the portions were just right and that the sausages were bigger than I expected.
My friend got four pancakes, eggs and sausage too. He managed not to finish, so I helped him.
A curious thing however, is that the delicious syrup may have been overheated. It became a little viscous when it started to cool. Never happened to me before. (Like when fudge gets overheated and no longer stays gooey, but becomes a block instead)
To be honest, it was fun to play with and eat. My friend and I laughed and laughed and the. I finished it.
Did I mention everything was delicious? It was delicious and just right. They even added salt to the pancake batter in just the right amount for me.
I had to thank him twice when we left.

Interesting gem tucked away in the Mission that serves quality breakfast in a spacious area at a very reasonable price. I was actually surprised at how much seating there was, given that the rest of the Mission is pretty small and cramped. We sat a table of 10 comfortably.
The service is impeccable. There is absolutely nothing negative to say about the staff, all of whom were super friendly, attentive (perhaps because we were the only ones there too…), and patient. The walls are plastered with interesting movie, show, record posters or labels — gives off a nice, hip, artistic vibe. Our orders came also really quickly as well — standard, «good» American brunch fare. I had the California scramblers, which was basically scrambled eggs topped with fresh veggies (avocados, diced tomatoes) and a side of pre-​buttered wheat toast (though a bit too buttery for my taste). Exactly what you expect in terms of food; the pricing, location, and service invite me back for future visits, for sure!

Al’s is your classic, old-​school, Hollywood themed diner in the southern part of the Mission. This place won’t wow you away with it’s appearance as the pictures are old, and the inside is a bit used. However, the food is very comparable for the price that you pay, and if you’re looking for a good home-​styled brunch then Al’s is a great place.
I came here with a bunch of friends, and we were able to be seated comfortable and order and receive our food in a very timely manner. I had the short stack of pancakes, which were fluffy, fresh, and quite good (nothing special, but definitely fills your pancake fix). Some of my friends ordered things from biscuits and gravy to omelets to a whole combinations of sides. We had a great time in this casual, laid-​back atmosphere and enjoyed a nice, cheap sunday brunch.
The staff was friendly, efficient, and for the most part attentive to our needs.