Cafe Divine

I wanted to offer a posthumous review for a place that became my regular breakfast/​brunch go-​to after my countless, futile attempts to eat at Mama’s. After the third Mama’s attempt, Divine solidified itself as my b line, until the glances at Mama’s line didn’t even phase me anymore.
But enough about the other establishment. Café Divine offered really great breakfast fare (my favorites were the hash and the cheddar/​maple/​bacon waffle), and the ambiance was always perfect. I enjoyed bringing many friends here for weekend brunches in the City, and it made for great memories: al fresco business calls, watching the daily tai chi, and some awesome conversations.
RIP dear friend, you were indeed divine!

I live right near Café Divine and rarely ever go there. The reason? Mediocre food and consistently bad service.
The food: pretty mediocre. Almost everything involves pork in one way or another. Nothing wrong with pork, of course, but it’s a little monolithic. Sometimes you get the sense that the kitchen does not have a great deal of pride in their work – it can seem hastily assembled rather than lovingly prepared. I have usually gotten salads, as it’s harder to screw it up.
The service: I have been probably 6 times, and at least 4 of them involved incredibly slow service. Want a refill on that wine? Expect to wait 5+ minutes while the waiter makes 8 inefficient back-​and-​forth trips to 8 different tables (an inability to consolidate trips seems to be a widespread disease there). Want your check? It may take you a while – just give them your card and save yourself an additional back-​and-​forth interaction.
If you want better food and service, never fear. You’re in North Beach! There are dozens of restaurants a short walk away that blow Divine away (Don Pistos, Park Tavern, Ferry Plaza Seafood – just to name 3 within a stone’s throw).

Après une avant midi chargée, nous cherchions un petit coin pour nous restaurer, le café divine né paye pas de mine de l’extérieur, mais l’intérieur est très sympathique. Ce que nous avions commandé était bon, pour moi une simple salade césar et mon épouse avait pris un plat qui comprenait une soupe (très épissée) et un sandwich. A conseiller pour s’y restaurer sur le temps de midi.

I have only been to Café Divine for breakfast but have gone at least a dozen times because I like their egg scramble so much. It is by far my favorite place to go to breakfast in North Beach (I haven’t tried Mama’s yet).
Food: I have only ever ordered one thing here, the Spinach and Goat Cheese Scramble, and I love it! I order the scramble without tomatoes as I am not a fan of eating those little red things in the morning. The scramble is served with a warm cheddar biscuit which always puts a smile on my face! If you love biscuits as much as I do then you can always order an extra one on the side.
Service: They always seem to be a bit understaffed, but the waiters and waitresses are friendly and get you your food quickly.
Atmosphere: Café Divine has a great café atmosphere. You can sit outside and watch all the activities going on in Washington Square Park.
Location: Café Divine is in North Beach which is, in my opinion, the hardest SF neighborhood to find parking in. If you can walk or take public transit here I highly recommend it to avoid the headache of trying to find a parking spot.
Overall: All in all I give Café Divine a low 5. It is a great breakfast spot in North Beach and I will be going there again very soon.

Came here for brunch when we were visiting the bay,
and I hate to say– everything was just OK.
The dry cappuccino had too much milk in the cup,
and the waffles were so sweet– man, what’s up?
We ordered fresh OJ and were so excited about our drink,
but it was totally watered down– what did they think?
It’s in a sweet location just next to a park with some green,
which also seems to be an Asian lady workout scene.
If I had the chance, I wouldn’t come back–
a shame, really, but the food was all a lil whack!

Great Happy Hour on Thursday’s. They have featured wines and beers $ 2 off and specials on oysters. Great little café in the heart of North Beach across from the Washington Square

Their pizza’s not bad for being right across the street from the famous Tony’s Pizza! I had the garlic, sage, caramelized onions one (I forget the actual name of it) and it was amazing! I also had their caesar salad which they topped with Fresh parmesan. Only thing missing was free bread. That would make me wanna visit again sooner than later. It’s ok. At least I know to come back!
p. s. Get the
deal!

Located at a corner at Union and Stockton Streets, you can’t say Café Divine doesn’t have a great North Beach location with Original Joe’s and Tony’s at two corners and Washington Square on the other.
From the reviews, many Unilocalers have frequented Café Divine’s breakfast and brunch fare. We decided to try out their dinner menu. Seated near the front, we had a nice view of the busy corner through the restaurant’s large windows. Checking out the menu, our waitress let us know that we could still order from the happy hour offerings and she suggested the oysters. We decided to order a plate of oysters on a half shell at $ 1.50 a pop. The oysters were fresh and were served with Mignonette Sauce. (
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For our entrees, we ordered:
Beef Bourguigonne — slow braised beef in red wine. The dish, which had potatoes and carrots, was tasty. But compared to other Beef Bourguigonne that I’ve had, the beef was overly braised and was very shredded. (
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Fresh Spaghetti with Salami, Asparagus, Sun Dried Tomatoes in a Cream Sauce, which was a special of the day. A unique combination of ingredients in a light cream sauce. First time that I’ve had cubes of salami in a pasta dish. (
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House bread was a focaccia with nice olive oil. (
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Overall, nice corner restaurant with a view of a bustling North Beach corner. Service was friendly and the food was good but with the restaurant choices in the area, there are better options.

Today will be my third time that I’ve been here. Foodwise, it has always been great. But, if it’s on a weekend, expect to wait a bit, but for me personally, I’d rather wait for Café Divine than Mama’s.
The first time I came here was a pretty good experience, had a good quiche and was seated fairly quickly. Their waffles with walnuts an bananas are really good too.
The next experience, the service was great; our waitress was very nice and attentive. However, my dad had ordered the same waffles I had tried a while back, and they were cold! Fortunately, it still tasted good and they were kind enough to take the waffles off of our bill.
The third time I went, which was the most recent, was good as well, but this gentleman was looking through the list of names on the list and when my father, who was with me again, went up to him to ask if it was our turn, he basically shooed him away. Also, again, my dad’s latte was lukeworm, from what he told us, and when he asked for it to be warmed up, they put it in the microwave.
However, our waitress was also nice so we still enjoyed good food.
Like most people say, food is worth going, just cross your fingers that your servers will be alright. But, besides the food, try their lemon tart and cheesecake, so good!

Excellent North Beach option for music and an evening drink.
With the feeling of a Euro Café, you’ll find Café Divine to be extremely cozy and warm. We visited while awaiting our table at Tony’s Pizza, an extremely popular and long wait establishment. We had excellent service and wonderful wine.
Great little spot!

Location, location, location.
If anything, Café Divine has its most fortuitous location to thank for its years of existence in North Beach. Nestled on a corner next to Washington Square Park, it gets its fair share of tourist traffic from the park and the Saints Peter and Paul Church. To boot, it’s also primed to swoop up folks who have given up on the long lines at Mama’s to the left and Tonys Pizza Napoletana to the right. Throw in the opportunity to soak in some morning sunshine along the side of the street, Café Divine has cornered ‘em.
But alas the food’s just alright. Standard brunch fare during the day like scrambles and quiche. I didn’t really find anything too memorable about the dishes but one peculiar thing did stick out in my mind — the food was never really hot but rather tepid and lukewarm. This makes me wonder how much of the food is made fresh or just heated up? Portions also skew towards the smaller size for the price.
Still if you want some morning eating and drinking in the sunshine with a view of the park, the friendly servers at Café Divine will happily seat you. If there are said seats on sunny day.

Cozy place just next to Washington square park. The wine list is great as well as the food. My duck was cooked to perfection and composed in an interesting way.
And just when we thought the visit couldn’t get any better there was some live jazz music by two great musicians.
Go to Café Divine if you want to have a relaxed and nice dinner with local wines and great service!

I like this place for it’s not. It’s not a hyped place. It’s not over run with long wait. It’s not the new San Francisco — with white subway tiles and filament lights.
It’s a bistro with a true Euro vibe. I had a great glass of Malbec here, with no pretense, and I could carry a conversation, and I didn’t feel rushed.
Amen.

Mama’s line was far too long so we decided to have brunch here instead. And… Good. We ate outside, sun was shining. All in all, it was very nice. I was starving and enjoyed a lot my fatty waffle with tons of whipped cream, banana and nuts. My boyfriend had eggs benedict. We had better ones at Cuivre in Shanghai but we liked these ones too. A good surprise.

Stopped in for Friday lunch. Nice setting, right on a little park.
The servers were really nice, but not as quick or frequent as I would like them. And our primary server was obviously new (knew very little of the menu) and barely spoke English. But she was nice, smiley, and cute, so all is forgiven.
Started off with an outrageously priced can of diet coke, water, and then shared a bbq pork sandwich, and arugula/​beets salad. Both were fine. Pork was a bit fatty and the bbq sauce was mildly sweet (I like very sweet). Human portions and good was good but not great.

I checked out Café Divine on a Wednesday night because I wanted to hear the live ragtime music. I didn’t realize going in that it was sit-​down only and that we would be expected to order food/​drinks. No one explicitly said we had to order anything but I felt guilty taking up a table just to listen to the music. We each got a glass of champagne (just for fun) and then ordered the warm olives and the oven-​roasted olives. The olives were standard but they came burning hot. We couldn’t eat them for quite some time. The mussels were really good and served in a really tasty broth. The service was good and the live music was very entertaining.
The second time I came to Café Divine was for brunch on a Sunday. Thankfully there wasn’t a wait (I was very hungry) and we snagged an outside table. We ordered mimosas, the egg scramble with feta and spinach, and the corned beef hash. The food was pretty decent, although everything had a slightly restaurant taste (by that I mean kinda bland, possibly sat under the heat lamp for a bit). I wasn’t totally impressed with the service either.
All in all, it’s a good neighborhood spot, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there for brunch. The live music is definitely worth checking out at dinnertime.

I have been to this place many times, but it has been a little while. I usually always order he same thing whatever the vegetarian quiche is. Their quiche are yummy! What I really love about this place is the location and the space. It’s right by Washington Square, North Beach, and Little Italy. The building has beautiful big windows with plenty of light, high ceilings, and reminds me of a café that would be in Europe. The prices are a little steep, but that’s to be expected for the area. They do have alcohol so why not have a mid day glass of wine while sitting outside enjoying the sun because it’s always sunny in North Beach. I should mention it is a noisy place and some nights there is live music and you can forget about having a conversation when that happens. I recommend going there during the day and grab a latte or a drink and enjoy.

I only came in here for drinks so I did not try the food. We were waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant. Service was minimal and seemed unexcited to be there. Might be that we were only ordering drinks.
We would have ordered food if they had raw oysters on hand like the sign in the window said, but alas, they were only baked oysters. I don’t know if I would necessarily trust raw oysters if they had them.

Nice little café next to Washington Sqaure Park. Great atmosphere inside and the staff was very friendly.
I ordered up a hot chocolate to go, so that I could enjoy it out in the park. The drinks on the menu were a bit pricey, but I didn’t mind because I was excited to try out their hot chocolate. I was curious how it compared to my hot chocolate tour of Europe.
The café was virtually empty, except for the customer waiting for his coffee and the employees. I waited a bit while the customer and the barista engaged in some friendly conversation. I ordered up my hot chocolate and he asked if I wanted to add some whipped cream. I definitely did. The employees were very excited about that decision and gave me some big cheers!
The chocolate was very hot, which was nice for a chilly day in the park. I would rate the quality/​flavor of the hot chocolate as just ok, but the whipped cream was awesome!

Dawn M. and I discovered this gem on our way to Washington Square Park. It was almost 12:30 PM and we were HUNGRY. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants in the area had unreasonably long wait times. I noticed that Café Divine had a few open tables, so I did a quick rating check on Unilocal.Three and a half stars? Don’t let me down.
We were seated at a table within 10 minutes. The first thing that I noticed about this café was the affordable pricing. There are a number of items in the $ 8 – 12 range. Dawn M. and I peaked over to the adjacent table and saw the patron’s banana walnut pancakes. Without saying a word, we knew exactly what to order.
Approximately 8 – 10 minutes later, our pancakes arrived. I’m not a huge pancake fan, but this was a sight to behold. Let me break it down:
–A FAT stack of delicious pancakes
–LOTS of whip cream
–Toasted walnuts
–Fresh banana slices
…And for only $ 8.95! We were both full after splitting this generous portion. Dawn M. also ordered a café mocha. I really enjoyed its rich chocolate flavor.
Service was prompt and polite. We requested a side of bacon mid-​meal and our waitress brought out three hearty strips within minutes.
As mentioned, the price was very reasonable. Our meal came out to $ 15 before tax and tip.
This café also offers a nice view of Washington Square Park. After our meal, we laid out in the sun for a bit in celebration of Lazy Sunday.

THEIR BACON AND WAFFLES! Chicken & Waffles are overrated, but trying Bacon & Waffles for the first time… OH M GEEEEEE! Now, that is what I call soul food!
Drizzle that syrup on top of the flavorful bacon and a light hint of cinnamon in their waffles, makes the whole dish the bomb!
I would say brunch time would be the best time to hit up this spot on a warm day simply because the outdoor dining scenery is unbeatable in North Beach — especially at this place where you get the view of the Washington Square Park!
S E R V I C E — The waiter/​host was a bit rude because there was a waiting list and he said that he called my name already for seats, but my friend and I was sure that we did not hear my name called! We were right in front of him the entire time we were waiting to be seated! What a liar.
F O O D — I got their Bennies from Heaven. It was basically Eggs Benedict with veggies, salmon and a side of potatoes. Good, but not enough to call it from heaven.
Turkey sandwich was alright. A bit too dry and the sandwich lacked zesty flavors.
Bacon and waffles, on the other hand, won me over! MUST GET!
Raspberry Chocolate Cake served during the evening was good. My friend and I decided to go somewhere for dessert in this neighborhood, so we decided to hop in here. However, it was unappealing that fruit flies were hovering over the dessert pies in the clear window displays of desserts. Sanitation check needs to be done!
Their dinner entrees seem like typical American dishes. I was never enticed by this place for their dinner selections.
A M B I A N C E — I do love their location — it’s nice to dine out on a sunny morning/​afternoon!
Final say — Great location. Café Divine leaves much more room for improvement and needs to live up to its name!

Parce que la file d’attente du Mama’s était bien trop longue, nous avons finalement tourner les talons pour bruncher au Café Divine. Et quelle heureuse surprise ! C’est par erreur que nous avions commandé un plat au saumon et oeufs Bénédicte. Le plat était délicieux. Les bagels sont tout aussi succulent. Nous y sommes retourné plusieurs fois pendant notre séjour. C’est un endroit vraiment agréable à tout point de vue. Lors de l’addition, vous pouvez d’ailleurs laissé votre avis sur un petit coupon. Et en plus, ils ont des pains au chocolat et des croissants !
Because the queue Mama’s was too long, we finally walk away for brunch at Café Divine. And what a pleasant surprise! It was by mistake that we ordered a dish with salmon and eggs benedict. The dish was delicious. The bagels are also delicious. We returned several times during our stay. It’s a really nice place at any point of view. In addition, you can also leave your opinion on a small coupon. And besides, they have pain au chocolat and croissants!

Août 2010: la première fois … Il y a toujours une première fois, et cette première fois nous a fait revenir chez Divine le lendemain soir: c’est que ca a du être bon, non? Eh ben, a vrai dire, on en savait rien mais on le supposait !
Cette fameuse première fois, dès notre arrivée peu après 20h (8 pm si on prèfère) nous nous sommes dirigés vers le bar (un peu du genre vieux zinc parisien) ou le parton amplement moustachu (ah, la moustache genereuse, n’est-ce pas l’indice ultime pour denicher un bon vivant ?) m’a fait découvrir la seule et unique «San Francisco original Anchor beer ! «Made in San Francisco since 1896,» comme dit la publicité semble être la «originale», la «authentic» le must, quoi ! Bön, a vrai dire: «The rich history of Anchor Brewing can be traced all the way back to the Gold Rush, when German brewer Gottlieb Brekle arrived in San Francisco», un peu germanique donc, la Anchor !
Nous voulions diner avec mon ami après avoir pris l’apéro au bar mais… le serveur, très sympa par ailleur, nous a tou simplement oublié et la cuisine a eu le temps de fermer ! Dommage !!!
Cette première fois n’a donc pas été concluante, même si l’ambiance, la musique, le lieu et la gentillesse du staff (malgré le faux-​pas et la dalle qui nous rongeait par canséquant) nous ont finalement beaucoup plus. On a décidé de revenir le lendemain: cette fois-​ci pour manger… si possible ! A notre arrivé le lendemani soir, je me suis immédiatement senti chez moi: le staff m’a salué comme on salue un bon copain et le barman s’est immédiatement excusé pour la veille au soir: cette fois-​ci on va diner !
On s’est installé au centre et la magie du Divine a commencé a opérer: une jeune chanteuse et sa violoncelle, accompagnée par 3 compères a la guitare, nous emmenait dans l’ambiance san franciscaine d’antant tandis que dans la salle, les gens mangaient, discutaient, se détendaient, rigolaient et se laissaient emporter par la musique.
Les plats simples et copieux (un euphémisme de ce côté-​ci de l’Antlantique !) accompagaient parfaitement la chanteuse qui rendait grâce avec sa belle voix d’un autre temps a ce lieu agréable et attachant.
Bonne soirée, bon dîner, bon moment.
Une deuxième fois donc, et j’en suis sûr, pas la dernière !
Allez-​y de ma part, Unilocal et a bientôt !

Geniales Frühstück, Lachsbeagel, obstsalat mit müsli und echten Espresso. Schon lange nicht mehr so gut und preiswert gefrühstückt.