Latte Express

Get the Vietnamese sandwiches. They may not be the cheapest (about $ 6) or even the tastiest, but the bread more than makes up for it.
They also experiment with new menu items. Two thumbs up for keeping it interesting.

Great mom and pop shop. Became great friends. And the serve the best French Roast coffee. My everyday go to

I love their chicken katsu and the loco moco!
Ordering tip for the lunch rush: Call ahead to order and it will be waiting for you.

Their breakfast burrito has just what I like: choice of meat (sausage, bacon, or ham), scrambled egg, cheese, HASHBROWNS, and pico de gallo. They also have milk tea and their boba is cooked perfectly. It’s a nice local joint with a variety of lunch items including teriyaki chicken, loco moco, and katsu curry.

«Excuse me, sir. May I have another?» is the theme of this stale, drab «neighborhood eatery».
The miserly shopkeeps sneer at their patrons as they allocate one portion (read: slice) of lox per bagel. Try your credit card for an order under $ 5, and they will stare back at you blankly in absolute silence and contempt as if you had crawled from a sewer or a happy hour at Appleby’s.
One day on crutches I ordered a large coffee. I crutched over to the coffee station only to find the pot of french roast nearly empty. I poured the remnants of the french roast into my large cup, only to find my cup half full — or is it half empty?
Rather than fill up the second half with decaf or hazelnut like a surbanite, I thought, «No problem, sir! I shall return once the pot has been replenished!»
So I crutched back to my seat and waited for the pot of coffee to be refilled. Once refilled I made my way back to the pouring station.
Big. F’ing. Mistake.
Shopkeep: «You pay for refill!»
Me: «I paid for a large coffee and got half a cup because you ran out of french roast.»
Shopkeep: «You paid for medium and grabbed large cup. Half large is medium.»
(Note: I have never in my life ordered a medium coffee. In fact when I am President, my first executive action will be to disenfranchise anyone who orders medium coffees OR wears flip flops to dinner. Anyone who does both will be shot.)
In short, it’s our local neighborhood coffee shop, if by neighbor you mean someone who wants you to die.

Tiny sandwich shop that makes you think you can run in and out to grab a quick sandwich but it can take a little longer during the lunch rush.
Its location makes it convenient for folks coming in on Caltrain to grab some breakfast. For me, this is the closest spot to grab a Vietnamese sandwich at work. Sadly it’s a pretty pedestrian one at that.
I have only gotten the ham combo here but thought the bread was a little stale and lacking the district punch of flavor you would expect from the meaty pâté to pickled veggies. It will suffice for a quick lunch at your desk. Sadly not many options around the neighborhood for a bahn mi so this will have to suffice.
Friendly folks that work here trying their best to move you through the line. They have other items on the menu like curries and stews but I wished they had more folks on the sandwich assembly line to speed things up.

Bustling at breakfast. Great breakfast sandwich. Bagels and donuts look fabulous. If I lived here I’d be a regular.

I walk from Caltrain to 1^st and Mission about five days a week and occasionally like to drink coffee on the walk. This is easily the best deal I’ve found of the eight or so places I’ve tried in that area.
They have about eight pots of drip coffee ready in the morning. Most of them are pretty good. The Columbian is excellent. It’s not quite as good as my favorites from Philz, but it is pretty close, less than half the price, and the transaction is about fifteen minutes quicker.
Their bagels and donuts are pretty good too. Cash only under $ 5, but they have an ATM (and my free bank account reimburses ATM fees, so there’s no reason that should deter you).

My morning go-​to place. Small café, nice ladies who remember all the regulars’ orders. Cash only for anything under 5 dollars.
Bagels are great, croissants are huge, haven’t tried the donuts myself but they seem to be ordered quite a bit. Breakfast burritos (eggs, hashbrowns, salsa, sausage). I get it without the meat and it’s a pretty good size, just could use more flavor

Got the tofu bahn mi with avocado (no mayo). Tofu is the little fried slivers and there wasn’t much of it. There was more cilantro than tofu, actually. Saddened that it wasn’t on delicious dutch crunch roll, but instead a pretty weak and plain white roll. Just not worth what I paid.
Maybe their meat options are better, but in terms of their veggie stuff, my search for a decent bahn mi within walking distance of my workplace continues.

I work down the street occasionally and I always love to visit this spot. A few mistakes here and there after 20+ visits but that’s normal.
I love to get a custom breakfast burrito and depth charge and they always remember my order.
Good variety of choices! Deli meats are quality and service is usually quick depending on when you arrive! Not many options in the area so this place can get packed around 8−10am

I’m a regular here — the people who run this spot are great, the food is down to earth in a sea of pretentious dining establishments, and the prices are pretty good. Great breakfast sandwiches, solid basic sandwiches (think what your mom used to pack in your lunch) and incredible Bahn Mi (I love the chicken, pork, or shredded tofu).

This place makes sandwiches as well as coffee. What a nice surprise. The sandwiches were pretty good, and very affordable. I have no idea what the coffee is like, but this will be my sandwich place when I am in the area

Despite the name, they have more options than just coffee. They also have flavored milk tea with boba. (I usually get their thai iced tea.) I’ve tried a few of their other food menu items and they’re OKAY. Just another under $ 10 lunch option to add to your list if you work in the area, are headed to the ballpark to a Giants game, are on a budget, and aren’t super picky about the quality of your food. Please do not have high expectations from a place called Latte Express.
$ 5 credit card minimum.

Nearby place that sold sandwiches and we were starved. The banh mi looked really good, so we ordered one to share.
Unfortunately, the banh mi left much to be desired. All we got was 1 piece of meat, a big huge cucumber, and slices of carrots (see photo).
OK REALLY?!
I left staved…

I love this place! It’s totally random given their name «Latte Express» and my hatred for drinking coffee. Nevertheless, they have amazing lunch options.
I was first taken here for their cheeseburger and sandwich options by my co-​workers. We work right around the corner so this is an easy stop. The cheeseburger comes with fries. It’s a lot better than you’ll get at MCD and closer to what you’d expect at a pub.
What really got me was when I decided to try out their real entrée’s and got their chicken katsu. It’s a dish I’ve had hundred’s of times and the thing I like best is the simplicity. It’s rice, katsu and broccoli (which I also like as the healthier option to potato salad most places will serve it with). I think it runs around $ 8 for the katsu, which is what you’d expect from most places in the area. They also get their food out pretty quickly — which is great when you have an hour. You can also call ahead to place the order and most times, it’s ready by the time I walk around the block.

I work near by and have been craving a Vietnamese sandwich for awhile so I wish I knew of this place sooner!
I had the grilled chicken banh mi. The baguette tasted soft and fresh and all the veggies in it were refreshing. I also had a taro milk tea with boba, which was just ok. The boba was a little hard but I wasn’t expecting much of it anyway.
It’s worth a try if you happen to be in the area and are looking for a quick, inexpensive lunch. Definitely a good alternative than the usual Subway.

Definitely good for a quick in and out breakfast. We appreciated its convenient location on our way to the train station, somewhere we could also set our bags down and eat.
I didn’t love the selection, not much for a vegetarian, except junk. And fruit that didn’t have a clearly stated price. That’s a pet peeve of mine, no visible price tag. She really wanted me to get cream cheese with my bagel. I didn’t though. Even after the third time she asked.
What we did eat was fine, nothing stand out. I had a bagel and donut with tea. And speaking of tea, I’m not sure what happened to my tea, but it didn’t taste like the Stash Black Chai I have at home… maybe I let it steep too long? My partner ordered the breakfast burrito.
They do seem to be quick to serve and happy to see familiar faces, though. I’m not a regular, just a one time customer.

What a hidden gem!
I found this wonderful place while walking back from discovering another gem (see review on Fantastico). Who knew that there was a place for Vietnamese sandwiches by my work? Yay!
I had a pork Vietnamese sandwich and it was delish, just like how you’d expect a Vietnamese sandwich to be. It was about $ 5.70, so not bad, although I was a bit surprised when the price I was charged did not match the price on the window (I think it said $ 4).
They are pretty speedy, so this is a good place to go if you’re looking to pick up a quick meal to bring back to work. I can’t wait to come back and have another Vietnamese sandwich from here!

What’s with the bad reviews for this place? Latte Express is exactly what it looks like. It’s a mini-​diner. They are not gourmet. They don’t offer seared ahi or kale salads. Ironically enough, I don’t even think they make lattes. If that’s what you’re looking for, there are dozens of those types of restaurants in SoMa. Latte Express is kitschy. They are dirt cheap. They serve carby Asian/​American food like sandwiches, two egg breakfasts, rice plates, and curries. Some of their surfaces are dusty and it looks like they haven’t wiped off their letter boards in years. Why are you surprised? It’s a diner– Have you ever been to one?
My Vietnamese sandwich with grilled pork was flavorful and spicy. The baguette was fresh, crispy and flaky on the outside, & soft in the middle. They didn’t skimp on the cilantro either.
There’s nothing not to love about this place if you take it for what it is. I will absolutely be back.