Boudin Bakery & Cafe

¹¹⁄₁₀₀:
As a San Franciscan native, one of my most favorite meals always comes with a breadbowl. Hence, I found myself scurrying from the halls of Lowell High school and stumbling through Stonestown to the entrance of Boudin’s.
Pros:
— Located inside the mall next to Macys
— Available seating inside the restaurant and outside as well.
— Menu consists of soups, sandwiches, salads, bread *yes bread lol), cookies
— Servers are tentative most of the time, and they bring your order to you.
— BREAD BOWLS.
Cons:
— Prices have increased over the years.
— Portions are pretty small.
— No bathroom within the restaurant, but since it’s in the mall there’s probably a bathroom nearby.
I’ve had their tomato bisque, but it’s a bit bland and watered down in comparison to other tomato bisques I’ve had. They add a few croutons and small amounts of cheese but it could be better. It’s fairly decent food, especially if you want to steer away from the foods at the food court of Stonestown.

My go-​to place for a clam chowder bread bowl!!! I always come here after class since SFSU is so close by. There is a line sometimes but it dies pretty quick.
Seating — There is indoor and outdoor seating but I prefer indoor seating just because I don’t like random people walking by watching me eat…
Service — Always good. The servers are really nice and courteous.
Food —
1. Clam chowder bread bowl — So good… so so good! Sometimes it may get a little gritty though but it’s just from the clams.
2. Turkey and havarti grilled cheese — I love it! I’m the type of person who likes their bread more crispy or with a crunch so it’s great they coat the bread with some cheese. Much toasty. I definitely fell into a food coma after eating this.
I will be back!

I love boudins especially their chicken pesto sandwich on soft sourdough slices & their semi-​sweet chocolate chip cookies. However, their presentation & portions of the food was not the same compared to other boudin locations. The locations in Corte Madera & in the city give more salad & do a better job of putting the food together. The food at stonestown’s boudin seems rushed.
Also, the cashier did not mention my bread requests & even forgot to give me my number. The servers who give out the food were helpful & even fixed my sandwich. I don’t know their names but the older Asian lady & the tall Filipino young man were very nice!!!

I love Boudin for a sandwich while shopping at Stonestown. A bit overpriced considering they give you a tiny bag of chips as your free side order and no drink included but I love the Turkey Avocado and the Chili even though I almost always go for the sandwich. Wish they still offered the roast beef sandwich as part of their regular menu.
The one thing that really turns me off about this place though is that if you come by late after they just mopped the floor, the place smells like feet and I won’t even consider eating there as I lose my appetite. I really wish they would address this problem so I wouldn’t keep coming across it. It’s probably just a matter of changing the mop water daily but you can smell it walking out of Macy’s and always turns me away if that smell is present.
Come to think of it, I haven’t noticed that in a while so maybe they have already fixed that problem. Hope so, fingers crossed.

ok the food is great, but yesterday while in line to order my food I see a mice run out where they keep the bread. it ran out from the counter through the restaurant and out into the mall.
Hope nobody gets sick. This place may be infested with mice? This is food we eat and could be dangerous if mice are around it.

I love boudin’s bakery! I eat here probably 3 – 6 times a month. It’s great for lunch! Always fast, hot & delicious!!! I always get the half soup half sandwich combo w/​their bread bowl. Sooooo good!

Great service from the cashier who took my order to the waitress who brought me my food. The manager was standing behind the counter making sure every dish came out as ordered and were served or handed to To Go patrons. Uncommon to just get good service in what is a quick lunch stop in a mall. Tip them generously for their hard work! Had a Turkey Avocado sandwich and bowl of clam chowder. Both were fresh and tasted good. Highly recommend this restaurant in Stonestown.

Living in San Francisco, we have the luxury of having good clam chowder all year round. Boudin is one of the few places that I’ll go to when craving a great bowl of chowder in the city. Although it is a food chain, I’ve never been disappointed.
This specific Boudin is located on the Macy’s side of the Stonestown Galleria mall near SFSU. I actually like to park behind the mall near the apartments, that parking lot is way more spacious and less hectic than the main one near the main entrance.
Here, you are greeted with a menu and you walk up to the register to order you meal. They do have outdoor (in the mall) seating right next to Macy’s and indoor seating within their restaurant, and they ask you which you prefer so the food runner delivering your food can promptly deliver it to you (via those numbers on a stand). They are very fast in turning out the orders.
On this particular afternoon I didn’t feel like a bread bowl, and frankly am over bread-​bowl chowders because the bowl just sucks up all that yummy chowder. I opted for the half soup/​half salad combo and boy was it filling! The clam chowder was a little salty, but nothing a little sourdough bread on the side couldn’t fix. The Caesar salad was crunchy and flavorful — not too much dressing and with the perfect sprinkle of cheese. All of the workers are very friendly and are well-​mannered, asking before they take your plate calling you sir and ma’am, which is a nice touch.
For great service, and a full meal for less than $ 12, it was a delicious lunch and I definitely will be back!

First impression when you walk by (this particular?) Boudin’s – smells like vomit :(. Nothing impressive about their clam chowder either, though it is decent. Anyway, I don’t regret eating here but I would not recommend it.

Nice, basic lunch spot. I chose the soup and salad option with half chicken caesar salad and a bowl of clam chowder. The meal comes with a bread bowl for the chowder, but you can opt for a cup instead and still get a side of sourdough loaf. Clam chowder was creamy and delicious.
The cashier was very helpful and there was a guy constantly coming around the dining area to see if you’re doing okay. Great customer service!

This location has the nicest workers of any restaurant or café I’ve ever been to! The food is consistently delicious. Love the half turkey cranberry sandwich and half Caesar. Good value for the quality and amount of food! The only place I’ll eat at Stonestown and sometimes I come just to eat here (and not shop!). TIP: Sometimes the salads are overdressed so ask for dressing on the side!

This is my favorite go-​to clam chowder place! Amazing food and service every time I visit! It’s around 7.50 for a bread bowl with chowder. So worth it!!!

I always frequent Boudin because not only are their prices on par with food court prices, but the food is BETTER than food court food. Plus, I don’t like the hustle and bustle of everyone at the actual food court, so I go to Boudin to enjoy my meal. I usually ordered the grilled cheese with a side of Caesar Salad and a bowl of Clam Chowder and I am usually and definitely satisfied. :) The employees are usually hit or miss, but most of them are pretty nice. Be careful, dinner for 2 can cost $ 20+ and even though it’s Boudin, it’s still mall food.

Couple days after Christmas, Stonestown Mall parking lot was still busy. It wasn’t days before Christmas bad, yet there was steady traffic flow all over.
To be bluntly honest, this mall sucks when it comes to food selections. Their food court is uninspiring and the restaurant variety outside doesn’t leave much to be desired either. Lunchtime was right around the corner and so was Boudin. Since it did feel like I spent a quarter of gas looking for a parking space, toppled on the fact as the weather outside was cold, the thought of a nice bowl of clam chowder would gladly hit the spot.
Since I was set on that chowder, I ordered a CLAM CHOWDER BREAD BOWL with HALF SANDWICH (CHICKEN PESTO). Got my number and chose the scenery outside that includes the vantage of people getting their feet rubbed, business next door. Outside if you didn’t know means in the mall and smack dab in the entrance of Macy’s. Instead of people watching, I felt more watched as mall goers passed by.
First impressions were positive. The sourdough bowl was big. Bread had that traditional wholesome sourdough taste everyone comes for. Great dipped in the chowder. The amount of chowder was deceiving though as it came in a big bread bowl. After digging in a few spoons I was near finished. Clam chowder had all the usual ingredients as it gets the job done, however nothing remarkable. The chicken pesto half sandwich was good. It came apart by the second bite, but was full of flavor. Pesto was pronounced and the chicken was moist. I might have to try a full sandwich next time.
A Boudin in a mall counts as mall food. Doesn’t it? Either way, it’s arguably Stonestown’s best food option. Warm chowder on a cold day coupled with hospitable quick service will put a smile on my face.

So happy with my most recent trip to Boudin!
They are pretty busy because it’s much colder out now, but the service was great!
I was helped by Duana & the entire time there was a smile on her face. She also helped answer any questions I had.
The clam chowder had lots of large pieces of clam as well, it was soooo yummy.
Will be coming back for more chowder while I finish up my holiday shopping!

I use to love coming here because of the great food like clam chowder and sandwiches, but stopped because of really bad customer service. 4 out of 5 times they will not ask you if you need a bag when checking out, or forget to count the bag fee in. The cashiers also often mis-​order items for customers, and I had to repeat what I want to order like 5 times before the female cashier would suddenly «wake-​up» from zoomed out state and finally get the orders right. These situations happens so often that I stopped going there for half a year, and guess what, I went this month, and still same old mistakes.
Seriously, the 2 stars are for the great food they provide (go kitchen!!), but 3 stars off because of rude and inefficient cashiers at this store.

01/​31/​2014:
Nice location conveniently adjacent to Macy’s Stonestown Galleria Shopping Center. A healthier alternative was part of my finding and I also wanted to find a quiet spot to eat at. That is also when Boudin came to my mind.
I ordered the Rustic Tomato Soup and Chicken Caesar Salad. The soup and salad combo was absolutely delicious. Flavoring of my meal was perfect, it wasn’t too light nor was it too heavy. Bread and butter came as a complement! The bread was so delicious that I’d buy a loaf of it to munch on as a quick snack.
Reasons for rating:
— Clean facility (+1)
— Nice friendly staff (+1)
— Good food (+1)
— Good service (+1)
There are seats available so that is a good thing. Overall, positive first time experience here. I am coming back here for lunch next time I pass by.

What I ate: Caesar salad
Visit date: January 17, 2014
First time? Yes, to this location.
I really only have one thing to say: never order salad at a place known for chowder and bread. I wanted a small snack because I was planning to have a real meal in a couple of hours, so I stopped by Boudin and noticed they had some lighter-​than-​chowder options. I love Caesar, but this one was sad. It looked like a Caesar — lots of chopped lettuce, grated Parmesan, and croutons — but it didn’t taste like one. The dressing was lacking in salt and creaminess. Lesson learned; I’ll stick to the chowder and look for light snacks elsewhere.
What’s nice about this location though — waiter service! But note, if you sit in the common mall space, you should bus your own table.

Came here with my mom since my mom was craving for their clam chowder soup. We usually get clam chowder in a bread bowl. It usually cost around $ 7+ with tax included. To me, i thought its quite expensive since they give you little soup in a thick bread bowl. You’ll will always get the leftover bread if you don’t want to eat too much carbs or get full fast. But its always good and fun to eat at the restaurant.
The staffs are always friendly whenever i come here and the food always come out quick. Within 10 minutes or less if it is not too busy.
This restaurant is inside the mall. You can choice to sit inside or outside if you dine in so there’s a decent amount of seatings. Even though its a restaurant, you have to pay at the cashier.

If you’re a tourist and you hear great things about Boudin’s famous clam chowder, this is not the place to go. You must go to the Fisherman’s Wharf location! Although, their clam chowder was good… more on the mediocre side, this location inside the Stonetown Mall is nothing compared to the real thing at Fisherman’s Wharf. My chowder came out lukewarm, not piping, burn-​the-​roof-​of-​your-​mouth hot, which is how it should be. I also played tug of war with my sandwich, which is not a pleasant game to play with your food.
The good things about this location is that they have seating inside and outside of the «restaurant» and the servers bring your order right to your table.