Bancarella

Terrible, slow service. Had to repeat order multiple times and it was still wrong. It wasn’t even busy.

I had a quick meet-​up here over coffee and pastries, but I only had half of one pastry.
The pastry was a Pistachio Tart. Pretty, colorful, and expensive at around $ 5-​$ 6. Overly sweet, but the strawberries’ tartness adds to it.
I honestly thought the pastry was average and overpriced, but the location is great for people watching since it’s in Union Square.

They have the ‘fedora’ which I“ve never seen before. Dibs up for that.
Still pricey though. Always like 5 dollars for a small pastry. Should be 350 standard.

I met my wife here for lunch while she was attending a conference very close by. Fantastic selection of paninis, quiches and dessert cakes not to mention the superb lattes made by the master barista Lamar. Wonderful service and friendly staff made our lunch date a relaxing experience.

This place is always busy! It’s located right in union square in front of all the shopping. It is a good place to sit and have a glass of wine or a beer and city watch. This place has pastries and other small lunch items as well. It’s a good place to take a break from all the walking. During Christmas and early January there is an ice skating rink in the center or right in front of this place. Service is good, but since it was so busy they ran out of white wine and some red wines too. I had order their Bellini which is similar to a mimosa it was perfect.

After a long day of shopping inside Macy’s and around union square, we decided to get more into the holiday spirit by enjoying the scenery; looking, relaxing, and talking near the infamous, tall Christmas tree in front of union square. So what’s a better way to end the day with hot chocolate?! We all ordered hot chocolate and boy… It was the worse hot chocolate we ever had! It was so watered down!!! We had to self-​put extra chocolate powder and whipping cream to give it more flavor.

Made a visit here on sunday with my hubby and friends. The salted Caramel cookie looked exquisite and tasted heavenly. I would definitely recommend this cookie to be tasted !!! The Chai lathe was hot and had a mild flavors in it.

This was almost a 5 star post.
Coffee: Superb
Staff: Charming
Environment: Magical
Supervisor (Patrick): Loud, obnoxious, demeaning, crude.
After receiving my coffee and two chocolate mochas steamed to perfection with beautiful artwork I handed them to my parents to savor as we sat down under an umbrella on a cold drizzly day. It was perfect.
Soon a tall man in beanie and tie started talking about the schedule and employees very loudly. It was so intense I could not hear my mother or father speak. I watched the body language of the subordinate staff. With each word the staff’s shoulders slumped. They became visibly dejected. He loudly criticized 3 staff members work habits and ignored any communication from a person next to him by just repeating his disappointment in performance and character of the employees.
After 5 minutes of his long winded soliloquy I thought about leaving. Then he he loudly said moth******** and my mom was visibly disturbed. I politely smiled and asked for his name. When I returned to my seat he blurted our from behind the counter,” Is there something wrong or that I can help you with?” I appreciated his valiant effort but was now humiliated since we were in public in Union Square. I replied that his conversations about employee performance should probably take place in an office.
He ruined an otherwise perfect experience. I would definitely tip the baristas for the amazing work they do under such abysmal management.
If Patrick were my employee I would pull him aside and try to constructively coach him. I’m sure he does an otherwise good job and he probably does care about the people around him. It is very unfair to take five minutes of my perspective and use it as a metric for his evaluation. I just ask that he could be more aware of people around him. His staff look to him for encouragement and leadership and his patrons expect a professional experience.
If you do go here just get your coffee to go or try another one of the amazing coffee shops in the area. Spare yourself from this place.

Whenever you hit SF’s annual tradition Union Square Christmas Tree, may be you can warm yourselves a little bit walking-​in at Bancarella. I visited here just yesterday with the hubby and friends, tried their Hot Chocolate ($ 3.95 for a medium-​sized) & a cookie to add on (it’s salted caramel flavored). Hot Chocolate was OK, served fairly hot, not too sweet and not greatly flavorful either. I liked their salted caramel cookie though.
It’s a very small place with outdoor seating facility only. The staff here were friendly. And, our order was served quick. The store looked busy yesterday evening with all the tourist crowd, who’ve come to visit the Big Christmas Tree nearby. Although I’m not too sure whether it’s packed all the time or only during festive weekends.
Not definite to visit again If I manage to find other great options to grab my hot/​cold brew nearby!

Bancarella is at the heart of Union Square. If you are tired, lazy, cold, and hungry and you don’t want to walk that much, this is the place to go.
I remember I felt very sick and needed to drink some tea after ice skating. I’m glad Bancarella was right next to the rink!
It’s a little bit pricy, but I guess it makes sense since it’s in the heart of all the touristic area.

Cute little café smack dab in Union Square itself. Both of the cashiers manning the counter were almost unreasonably cheerful considering it was about 8:30am on a Monday morning, but I appreciated their enthusiasm! Though I did not end up getting coffee, I did pick up a raspberry choco mousse tart for later. I was vaguely surprised that it was $ 6+ but didn’t feel like a croissant type pastry so I just went with it. The raspberries were very nicely arranged over the dome of smooth chocolately goodness and the tart shell was pretty good, but I’m not sure it was worth it as something to take to-​go. For that price, I feel that I could easily pop over to Tout Sweet for something with a little more oomph. If I were in Union Square again really early though, Bancarella would be a great stop for coffee and a bite if I had the time to sit down and enjoy my time in the square.

Coffe is ok, nothing special. Service is fine.
3 dollars for 12 oz can of Diet Coke. Gross.
Basically you pay for location (seeing lots of tourists in union square). Can’t say I’d come back unless I was desperate for refreshment downtown.

It’s hard not to like Bancarella. It has a great location right on Union Square with great views and good people watching. The set up is like an Italian café with yummy pastries and good coffee. Bancarella provides good, friendly service too.
My two complaints would be they have dirty tables and lots of birds trying to eat your pastries.
Pastries:
Sugar scone — very yummy
Rum pastries — very rummy
Carmelized croissant — very yummy

I usually don’t hang out in Union Square that often because there’s usually either a protest or a large group of tourists armed with cameras and baseball caps. I mean I can drink coffee or tea anywhere but for the sake of embracing my touristy side, I met up with my friend here as a convenient place to drink coffee and catch up before she goes off on her shopping mission.
Coffee prices here are decent with a few baked items and sandwiches on offer. The staff seem mostly friendly and delivered drinks relatively quickly although they did get behind once there was a line.
The birds also are fully prominent here… they have no fear and I had an open croissant sitting on my table for 20 minutes that I was waiting to eat. The birds flocking around me were eyeing that for sure… I had to protect that croissant like it was my own child. Some of them flew over my head no more than 2 feet above my head!
Probably not my favorite place to drink coffee and chat but I’m glad that I got to try it once.

Great location in the heart of San Fran for coffee/​sweets. Tiny café, with a wide open outdoor patio overlooking the streets.
Drip Coffee: 5
Mocha: 5
Macaroons: 4
Location: 5

A very convenient location plopped in the middle of downtown San Francisco.
I was annoyed by the birds that constantly attempted to attack my caramel brioche, but other than that, sitting outside on a nice day is rare in San Francisco and I will not let some damn birds ruin it!
The interior of the café is rather small but the display case shows all the irresistible pastries that leaves you drooling from afar. The woman at the register wasn’t extremely cheery that day. She didn’t ask me if I wanted it there or to go, and didn’t offer to heat of my pastry (boo). When I met up with my friend, she coincidentally got the exact same thing as me but had the chance to get it in a nice cup and her bread heated up to perfection. My soy latte was burnt. But the caramel brioche was sweet and chewy even if it was cold.
I guess I walked in at the wrong time that day.

I love this place!
Great people watching in their outdoor seating area and their drinks and good are always yummy. I always get an iced hazelnut mocha and they are easily better than ANYTHING I’ve ever gotten at a Starbucks.
Not to mention, the staff is amazing! I always feel welcomed there and even when they’re super busy, they always have a smile on and are very attentive.
If you’re in the square, you have to stop by this place!

This is a prime people watching location! Bancarella is a cute café located in the heart of Union Square. There are plenty of outdoor seating available for you to enjoy your drink/​meal and people watch.
It was a cold afternoon when I was there and we wanted a hot drink to hold. Bancrella was around the corner and we decided to give it a try. I got a spiked apple cider. It was a bit pricey for the small cup, but given the location and taste (it was delicious!), I can let that slide. I highly doubt I will be going back for another drink or to try out the food items. However, my experience was decent, hence the 3 star rating.
The service was great. There were about 2 employees working, which seemed fine since it wasn’t that busy in the afternoon. They were very nice and talkative as my friend and I were deciding on our drink orders and also helped with some personal tips and recommendations. Friendly staff!

I really like coming here to pass time and truly enjoy the scenery here. Waited on haircut appointments, on dinner venues or just simply enjoy live music they host here on the weekends.
You can never go wrong with a hot cup of cocoa or coffee or sipping on pellegrino on a nice sunny day.

I suppose I should be thrilled that Emporio Rulli has decided to open another café on Union Square in an attempt to evoke Piazza San Marco, Plaza Mayor, Piccadilly Circus or any number of European urban gathering areas. But it feels like it’s missing something… like a unique value proposition. It just feels like a generic pastry kiosk with tables crowded very close together under a plastic tarp. At least Emporio Rulli has a touch of «La Dolce Vita» about it to make you think you’re part of the Eurotrash café set. Bancarella, however, doesn’t really have much in the way of ambiance and I kinda miss the samples you could get at See’s.
I came here waiting for Jamie W. on New Year’s Eve. I bypassed the bountiful pastry selection in favor of a $ 4.25 Cappuccino. I sat at one of the round tables where there was a virtual United Nations of tourists surrounding me from Italy to India. It was like a mini-​Ellis Island except they all look like they dressed at H&M and UNIQLO. It was just too packed for me to stay there for very long since people were eyeing my table like it was their prey, giving me the international stink-​eye hoping I would leave from embarrassment. Fat chance. I paid for my cappuccino, and you can just wait, paisan, and your bratty bambinos, too.
CAPPUCCINO — 3 stars… a fine brew for a cold night but no Philz
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… it was Ellis Island with its huddled masses yearning to be free
SERVICE — 3.5 stars… efficient but no table service here
TOTAL — are we in Venice… no just Union Square with a lot of vagrants staring at me through the plastic