Gallery Cafe Live

Worst food I’ve had in San Francisco. If Unilocal had negative stars I’d give them to this place. Huevos rancheros drowned in oil, ice cream tastes like plastic.

Great place to come with friends. Owner is awesome and makes all the food handmade. Delicious! Very ethnic place and fun to be at.

About 10 days ago it changed owenrship and it is under major renovation in terms of atmosphere, style and clientle. Please read my review on the new Café Chanta:

wtf! i have been looking forward to trying this place out and today instead of going to our regular saturday hangover breakfast we went here… i looked at the menu and thought yumm a waffle with fruit warm coffee and those chairs look so comfy but no it was like the breakfast nightmare. first off it was really cold out and the door was proped open causing the place to be drafty, then they let the chef have off so we could only have crappy costco pastries. i let it slide everyone needs a day off right? then i asked for coffee with cream and sugar and so did the boyfriend. with a glass of water. my boyfriend got his coffee and i waited for mine for over five minutes while the lady went on and on over the phone about how proud she was of some guy and how she wished the person she was talking to was there… i was there and i wished i could have my coffee… they were also out of cheddar cheese for the boyfriend’s bagel and i ended up having to rush to work with out breakfast or coffee. horrible

For estethical pleasure:
Eye-​candy of arts and comphy seats + live music to please your ears + yummy baklava does the job ;)
P. S. Dont be overly demanding to people who work there, just chill.

My boyfriend and I visited from Los Angeles. Gallery Café Live was walking distance to Kensington Park Palace where we were checked in. The live music caught our attention and we decided to check it out. The singer was really nice, greeted us in the middle of his song. There were a few people inside who were busy in their own conversations and we decided to stay and check the food out and the ambiance. It was a very cozy place. And people were so nice. The owner/​chef who was there waved and smiled at me as soon as he saw me.
The coffee was good and the mango cheesecake, just divine. The artworks on the walls were really cool. I loved the greeting cards that they were selling and bought a bunch. They would really look good if framed.
The bathroom is really pretty, i felt like I didn’t want to leave the room anymore. I give it 4 stars instead of five because the sound system was not up to par.
I would definitely visit this café the next time I visit San Francisco.

If you’re looking for a slice of Tehran in San Francisco, Gallery Café Live is the spot.
I’m not sure what it is, but the place just transports me to the modern cafes of Tehran. Nice art, presented with a fair share of quirkiness, dark lighting and really friendly people working there.
Sometimes I just want to grab the first Middle Eastern looking girl I see, throw a scarf on her head, and go have a latte at this place… Is that bad?

Now to give this place a fair shake, I should probably come when there is live music. It just needs something since it has been as still as a tomb the two times I’ve been here for a cappuccino and something (smack-​smack) a little sweet.
It’s a «scrunchy» place… that’s a scientific term that describes something as trying had to be intimate but coming across as crowded and strangely uncomfortable…“scrunchy”. It’s on the same block as Postrio but steps away from the Tendernob at its near-​bleakest. Despite an appetizing breakfast menu on the window, I never seem to come here when they serve hot food, just the pastry they have left in their acrylic case.
The set-​up is… well…odd. There’s a little purple section with a low sofa and coffee table. then there are the standard tables and chairs along the wall. And in front, a different set of tables. There looks to be an unused bakery in the back… not sure why it’s blocked off. Artwork everywhere… on the walls, on pedestals. The charitable term would be «eclectic», but the medical term would be «schizophrenic» or as the layman would say…“Hum-ma-na, hum-​ma-​na, boing!“
Gosh-​darn quiet at 2pm on a weekday, but the nice server microwaved my almond croissant while I nursed my cappuccino. I think they need to hold a garage sale, so it feels more open. Honestly, I kinda felt like I was at my social studies teacher’s house for tea and scones circa 1972 and wondering why he had velvet paintings of naked men on the walls as he talked about gladiator movies.
FOOD/​COFFEE — 3 stars… oh it was fine for a coffee stop
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… maybe I should look for price tags on things
SERVICE — 3.5 stars… friendly but she must get awfully bored
TOTAL — 3 stars… middling stop on the road to Tendernob

I am honestly mystified as to how this place is still open. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good — but most of the things on the menu were unavailable. Apparently the owner has been having a hard time getting the chef to show up (seriously — she told us this as we were leaving).
My group were the ONLY people there from 12:30 to 1:45 on a Friday afternoon. No one else even walked by.
I ordered a sparkling water and the owner complained that it was too hard to get out of the beverage case. Seriously.
When we went to pay our separate checks, she apologized for the credit card machine being out. Then, when we only had $ 20 bills, she said, rather rudely, «Are you all going to paying with $ 20s? Because I don’t have that much change» — as if that’s our problem? Hello, your credit card machine doesn’t work — without cash, how are you going to do any business at all?
She did **graciously** offer that we didn’t have to leave a tip. Uh, yeah, that goes without saying.

Had a good napoleon /​w espresso here. The owner was super nice and offered us a free pastry on the house as we were leaving. You might wonder how that doesn’t warrant a five stars. I mean, anytime you get free food (assuming it’s decent), it should be a default five.
HOWEVER, there was no live music on that night. That was a terrible disappointment. :’(Next time, maybe?

My friend and I met up here for a working meeting. I had a roasted chicken sandwich and some raspberry herbal tea. The café has wireless which is a plus and I enjoyed the live music. The owner was super sweet but the service was rather slow and the food was just okay. Good place to go if you are not in a hurry and just want to hang out, sip some tea and catch up on some emails.

Perfect place to have great food and drinks and listen to great live music. All the musicians there are incredible, especially come sunday nights to hear great cover tunes.

My boss and I were walking by the Gallery Café Live this morning on our way to work. She wanted to stop in and grab a menu – instead, the friendly owners invited us to sit down and sample (!!) some of their bite-​sized treats and coffee. The baked goods were really great, but the coffee! Oh, the coffee! I don’t even LIKE coffee very much, but it was DELICIOUS! They have live music 3 nights a week, plus beautiful art all over the walls (it IS the GALLERY Café LIVE, after all). The friendliness and generosity of the owners, plus the delicious treats and excellent prices create the perfect combination. I’ll definitely be back, and will send as many customers as possible!