Boudin Bakery & Cafe

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! CASHIER JANE IS SO RUDE! NEVER COMING BACK!
We went to check out SuperBowl City today and decided to stop somewhere to eat where we could sit down. There wasn’t a line so it looked like a nice quick choice. I should’ve realized there was a reason for the lack of a line. I went to order and because my kids were getting restless I needed something fast. I asked the cashier showing the kid’s side of the menu how long the pizza/​grilled cheese would take. She said 10 minutes either choice. Fine. I ordered the pizza and a bowl of soup, a little under $ 5 each item. I gave her my card, she rang me up and told me it was $ 16 total. The transaction had gone through. Realizing it didn’t add up right I asked her if it was the kid’s pizza and soup. She rolled her eyes and snapped at me «YOU DIDNT SAY KIDS!». Fair enough, I didn’t. I assumed her seeing me point on the menu was enough. Partially my fault but the eye-​rolling and the tone was completely unnecessary. She then tells me «It’s ok it’s the same size as the regular menu anyways.» me: «does it cost the same?» her: «Ugh NO!»…Why would anyone pay the same price for something the same size? More eye rolling from her and she storms into the kitchen where the door is open and I can clearly see her. She is at this point talking to a manager but glaring at me, we even make eye contact but she’s made sure I see her staring me down. They both come out and the manager starts the refund. Luckily the manager was very kind, I was ready to just cancel the order and leave had it not been for her. Jane is standing next to her telling her how I didn’t say kids while still glaring at me and added some annoying sighs and more eyerolling. The manager cancels the original order and starts a new one. Asks if it was the pizza and soup, Jane butts in «she didn’t say kids the first time». Look we get it. Get over it. Who points fingers and gets defensive over an order of pizza and soup?! The manager later apologizes again and even personally starts my order. I let her know my thoughts about Jane and how she handled the situation extremely poorly and thanked the manager for taking care of it. I’ll never be coming back here as long as Jane is still there. She’s rude, unprofessional, and has no idea what customer service entails. How sad that Superbowl City is happening right outside your door and this is the customer service you portray. One can only imagine how many people she’s pissed off with the crowd. Don’t come here unless you like your food with a lot of ‘tude.

My food was yummy as always; however, me and my friends came across a B.
Cashier Nancy C employee number 341 016 made my checkout beyondddd pleasant. Never in my life had I had a cashier yawn and be so rude to my face.
If you want exceptional service get your order taken by anyone else who works there cause at least they smile. I RECOMMEND Dominic G as cashier because he was such a pleasant guy

Let me tell you, Jane is the best!!! She went above and beyond to take care of us and the manager gave us 3 sourdough loaves as excellent customer service for standing in line so long during Superbowl 50. All in all aside from them not having a restroom. Love this place. Again Jane is the best. Go here. 5 stars.

I’m a regular luncher at this location, as I work nearby and love the clam chowder. But the best reason to come to this location is the super friendly staff. There are 3 people in particular who really have been outstanding: Maurice, Nancy and Jane. They always remember my name and my order. I’ve seen them remain super poised, professional and pleasant even when dealing with rude customers, which there are quite a few of in the Financial District. I really enjoy coming here for lunch and consistently having a positive experience.

RUDE SERVICE! BAD FOOD! HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE OVERALL!
After today’s experience, I am never returning to Boudin.
I understand that people have bad days but it doesn’t mean you have to take it out on customers. I visited this place for lunch and was appalled by the amazingly rude cashier (Nancy). I tried ordering a soup/​sandwich combo and before I could finish my sentence she told me she couldn’t do the combo with that particular sandwich I then selected another sandwich (while she glared at me like I am some idiot) and she yelled «I just told you, we can only do combo with regular sandwiches», to which I replied that she didn’t have to be rude. She replied «I am not being rude!», slapped the receipt and my number on the counter and said «here you go!». Very very rude. Right after that I saw her going back to the kitchen and giving the cook some «instructions», I hope she didn’t spit in my food because I have been feeling weird ever since I had that soup. The staff in general seemed to hate their jobs and very rude.
Then while we were having our food another waiter, I believe Jane, came up and said are you waiting for food? We said no, before we could finish, she snatched the number from our table, almost spilling my soup. My friends and I looked at each other and said wow! Rude.
Here is a message to the management. Hire people who can treat customers with respect and if you see your greeters and cashiers misbehaving with customers, take action!
I am going to encourage all my friends who were there with me to write similar reviews of this place, people should know what they are going to get before they give you guys any more business. You just lost a bunch of customers!

Visited: January 17, 2016. Sunday lunch.
Occasion: On a break at a yoga conference.
Service: 1.5 stars
Food: 3 stars
The Good: It’s open on Sunday when nothing else is, and the tomato soup is creamy.
The Not As Good: Many better options on normal days, and lack of customer service.
Boudin Bakery is a chain bakery, and for that purpose does what it needs to. They have a nice selection of sandwiches, soups, and salads. The tomato soup I had was yummy, and the spring salad was … well, it was a salad. I like salads, so it was good. I’m usually a fan of places like this, but the customer service here is seriously an issue.
Normally I am pretty accepting of customer service. People make mistakes (we all do), and sometimes people just have bad days. After the terribly rude interaction I had with the cashier, I got home to look at reviews and found that she is specifically stated in other reviews for the same issues so it seems to be less of a bad mood and more of a bad attitude. It was a rainy Sunday afternoon when I came in, there was absolutely nobody in line and a handful of people inside. When I approached the counter Jane simply gave a blank glare and said nothing, even after I smiled at her. After waiting far too long for a response, I had to ask where I was supposed to order and she replied coldly saying I could there. Not sure why she glared at me when I walked up if she was supposed to be taking orders. The rest of the interaction was similar. Although she said the things she was supposed to say in terms of the order, she was super cold and stand-​off-​ish the entire time. She seemed to intentionally avoid eye contact, but did not mind glaring. She could barely even reach her arm out to hand me the receipt.
After I ordered I went to sit down to wait for my food, and she came back around to wipe up tables. Where I was sitting had two small tables pushed together. She wiped off the table next to mine, then pulled it over to divide them. At that point I looked up and said «thank you!», to which she death glared me and responded «oh, you want me to wipe yours down too?» in a sarcastic tone. Not sure why the hasty response to a thank you, but I started to reply back saying it was okay because I needed to get back somewhere anyways and she cut me off before I could even finish my sentence saying «I know you got it to go».
It’s not even as much of an issue of customer service as it is of how incredibly rude she came off in her tone of voice and facial expression for absolutely no reason. It’s not even a customer thing actually, it’s just not how I believe anybody should talk to each other in general.
To the manager or whomever is in charge, I’d probably suggest putting this girl in a part of restaurant where she doesn’t have to interact with other humans.

We wanted to have a fun family day and ice skate at the embarcadero center, but before we decided to have lunch at Boudins. Wow, talk about horrible experience! Clearly the employees were not in the holiday spirit!!! The place was packed which I am sure did not help to diminish the clear stress on the employees. We proceeded to order (with a woman (Jane S.) that was more concerned with her drawn on eye brows and perfectly lines lips, than customer service) in which we were not greeted at all unless you consider «what do you want to order?» A greeting. Then after each addition to our order her response was «what else?» One of our orders was grilled cheese with bacon her response? «We’re out of bacon». Same response to our order for apple juice. Then at the end of her order she slapped down our number and said hopefully you can find a seat! Our arrival of food was not much better, someone (yet another happy employee) yelled out for our number (usually at Boudins they bring your food, hence the number they give youth put on the number holder) and then when we got our food, the potatoes in the clam chowder were almost raw… barely edible! Unfortunately we did find a table next to the place where the food was put up for people to pick was shouting the pick up numbers to the point that other patrons around me were saying things like «someone pick that order before the lady loses it!!!». Oh my, maybe the employees should be grateful for a job to come to rather than be absolutely miserable making everyone else miserable too!!!

A friend recommended we come here for clam chowder. We were not disappointed. Everything was fresh and tasty. Perfect treat for this wet weather.

Service has improved since my last review, so I’m raising my stars to reflect that. The spring salad is still my favorite salad, as they are generous with all the ingredients, such as nuts and apples.

09.22.15
I was feeling cold and nostalgic, so stopped by Boudin for a clam chowder in a bread bowl.
Tastes like childhood.
Total damage: $ 7.59

I’ve been going to this Boudin’s since it was located on Drumm Street (where 7 – 11 is now located). The food is terrific — fresh, tasty and portions are appropriate. Lately, though, something has happened — and not in a good way. From what I’ve seen, the manager of this location is very difficult. She ripped an employee a new one in the restaurant in front of his colleagues and customers (something to do with not taking his break). Very unprofessional; these folks work hard simply because of the sheer volume of customers. I asked for another piece of bread and she asked me if I paid for it; I asked if there was charge and she told me it was $.25, but she’d «give» it to me «this time» (but no butter, because I didn’t pay for the bead). Seriously? Hopefully she won’t last long and I can go back and enjoy my favorite salads and sandwiches.

In San Francisco for a conference and of course I need to have my clam chowder, bread bowl fix. Last time there I had it at the wharf. There was a location right near the hotel I wad staying at.
Ordered my soup to go so I could sit down outside and enjoy the weather. Poured my soup in to the bread bowl and started my meal. First thing I noticed was the soup wad not very hot, want even very warm. I probably should have taken it back but just finished it off. Not sure about anyone else but I like my soup hot. Definitely wad not a positive experience. Oh well, live and learn.

It’s a great place for a quick soup salad lunch. Love their soup in bread bowl + Apple goat cheese salad. The service is pretty quick and breads delicious. Wish they had the special bread they serve in fall available all year.

This is just my review for the web order and pick-​up!
I love how convenient this place is to access from my work and even more convenient since they have a cool web order system. You place your order online, mention the time and go pick it up!
I love the combo option. They have some really good sandwiches. I really like the crunchy spring salad.
Cool lunch spot! Will be back for more!

I must admit I probably eat Boudin about once or twice a month just from getting lunch catered for work — so I’m certainly not in any position to complain. Beggers can’t be choosers.
But I felt compelled to leave a review, because this Boudin location in particular does have some clear strengths and weaknesses.
Best of Boudin? Always a great choice. The best part about this place is the variety, and this combo really lets you take advantage of it, which is great if your lunch options are limited.
On the other hand, the caesar salad here (my favorite thing on earth) is a little watered down, and doesn’t pack a punch. It’s almost kind of sad frankly.
But the sandwiches and soups here are the real deal, and the turkey cranberry joint is crazy. Can’t go wrong with the clam chowder in a bread bowl either. It’s just a classic.
Stick to the sandwiches/​soups and you’ll be likely to leave happy. Just be careful during lunch — you can oddly be forced to wait a pretty long time here despite how straightforward most of the food should be to prepare. That’s just how it is.
Overall solid lunch spot with enough options to keep things interesting.

Very good iconic SF clam chowder in delicious sourdough bowl. I also enjoy their grilled cheese sandwich and sourdough pizza. This location is more peaceful and spacious then the Pier 39 location and not usually as busy as the Jefferson St location. However, this location has limited hours and I’ve found that later in the afternoon they often run out of the clam chowder.
Nice outside seating with view of the bay and adjacent park.

Nice relaxed place for a Sunday lunch.
Hot soup and half a sandwich for 7.99 do it.
Boudin is boudin great soup and love their sandwiches.
The staff is really friendly and work with a smile:)
I will decently come to this location again.

It kinda burns my buns to give this place a lower rating than I normally would give. We came for lunch on Saturday as we were excited about the prospect of grilled cheese. We picked out our options, paid, and sat down with our number.
20 minutes later, we were still sitting there. Were they busy and swamped you ask? Nay, I say. It was pretty quiet actually. People were coming in and out but there was maybe 3 or 4 tables of people at the time. Well it turns out you actually have to wait at the counter to get your food, which they put out when it’s done. It would have been nice if we’d been told that instead of waiting to have our food delivered to the table.
Except even that was kind of fail. My partner went up to find out where the food was because it looked like his was sitting out there. His had actually *just* come out and mine took another five minutes. I don’t understand how two grilled cheeses, a salad, and a bag of chips took nearly 25 minutes to get put together and set out. I don’t understand how both our dishes also didn’t come out together, leading my partner’s sandwich to be lukewarm.
As others mentioned, the customer service is kinda lacking. Clear instructions would have been great, food coming out in a timely manner would have been even better. Coming out at the same time shouldn’t be rocket science.
That being said, the food was excellent. We had the regular grilled cheese and the apple/​fig/​brie grilled cheese. It was one of the best grilled cheeses I’ve had in a long time.
Get your staff together Boudin and I’d be happy to give another star.

Clam chowder in a bread bowl. Can’t really go wrong there. The only problem I have with it, is that there isn’t enough soup to my bread. I end up with wayy too much bread. The sourdough bowl is pretty good and the clam chowder soup is definitely better than any canned soup you can get.
Sandwiches here are pretty good but a little overpriced.

I’d been wanting to come here for lunch after I realized that they did grilled cheese (it’s one of my many food weaknesses). Then to discover that they did a grilled brie? You’ve caught me: hook, line and sinker.
Boudin is very reminiscent to me of Panera. You order at the counter and then bring your number to a table and the food is brought out to you. On paper plates that can be recycled! Good way to be conservative. There’s also an option to order ahead online, to be picked up at the counter at your leisure.
I found my grilled brie sandwich to be pretty greasy, but even eating just half of it was really filling. I honestly didn’t notice too much cheese, but it may have been that the fig jam and apple slices overpowered the brie. Still very yummy though! And for under $ 10, it’s not too bad in terms of San Francisco pricing.

Encore une chaîné de restaurant basé sur le concept du pain «a la française». Il en existe pas mal aux US.
Même si je né suis pas fan des chaînes, nous avons trouvé notre bonheur ici. Un petit dej rapide et bon! Ok on voulais un café et deux jus d’orange et finalement on a eu deux jus d’orange alors qu’on a payé un jus et un café… Mais bon, le caissier semblait nouveau, sa supérieure la un peu embrouillé et stressé en voulant «bien faire»… Bref, on né lui en tiens pas rigueur.
Le granola était super bon en tout cas. Le lieux pas transcendant… Une chaîné quoi ! Les plats servie autour de nous étaient alléchant en tout cas.
A tester une autre fois :-)