Ramzi’s Cafe & Catering

Ramzi’s fuels me and most of my office on weekday mornings. Now it’s not the best café in the area, but it is certainly tasty, convenient, and inexpensive. They are located in the basement of my office building, which connects to the Montgomery BART tunnel. Breakfast sandwiches are $ 4 or less, and you can usually do a bagel/​pastry/​croissant plus coffee for about $ 4 as well.
All the ladies who work there are wonderful, as is Ramzi himself when he’s around. They will learn any regular orders and have no problem substituting or customizing ingredients when available. The only time I’ve seen them run out of hazelnut coffee, they brewed an entire new airpot just for me. Way after the morning rush.
Top breakfast items: bagel sandwich, breakfast burrito (a bit heavy with hash browns), croissant, and blueberry muffin. They usually toast up the muffins in the morning so they have that perfect crunchy top part.
Lunch offerings are typical deli salads and sandwiches. I usually only go for lunch if I need something really quick or if it’s raining out and I don’t want to leave the building.

Had a steak burrito and I have to say there’s nothing authentic about it. The meat was dry and had no flavor. The salsa taste like it was store bought not homemade.
I suggest sticking to the sandwiches…

BREAKFAST MORNING BLUEBERRY MUFFIN
Through different companies I’ve been working in the Financial District ever since I graduated from college. The first time I encountered Ramzi’s was during my first job after college. The first company I used to work shared the same building as Ramzi’s, which is a local owned eatery. It was a convenient place to have breakfast as there is a halfway passage underground at the Montgomery Bart Station. I’ve order several items, but the items that really stand out are the muffins. The muffins are addicting because they have the crust on the outside shell and moist in the inside. The muffin that really stands out is the blueberry muffin. It has the characteristics that was aforementioned such as the outside and inside of the muffin. However you can really taste the blueberry. It’s intense, but not tart. The blueberry muffins are so popular Ramzi’s sells out these muffins every morning it appears. I’ve had the occasion when I’m not able to get a blueberry muffin in the morning because all the blueberry muffins were sold out. When I crave for a blueberry muffin in the morning I’d rather go to Ramzi’s than Specialty’s Café & Bakery.

This place is so great.
Ramzi is wonderful
Cheap, delicious food.
I am tempted not to write about it because I feel like it is a hidden gem, but alas. Enjoy!!!

Best croissant in the whole financial district. Also, bomb ass brekkie sandos! The owner is super nice and always so accommodating. I didn’t have my wallet on me one day and he insisted I take my meal and just come back another day.
My norm before work: big crystal geyser, kombucha, banana, bfast sandwich or baked good.

I have a love-​hate relationship with this place.
I love that they have bagels and lox and bagel sandwiches for the morning.
I hate that the bagels just sit out for flies to land on and that they nickel and dime you for everything. Also $ 5 minimum for debit/​credit cards.
If there was a Noah’s bagels closer to my work, I would never ever go here.

i love Ramzi’s. I love the fact that the sandwiches are well priced and yummy, and if you buy a bag of chips, you get a free small fountain drink. i love the fact that the staff are so friendly and accommodating. I also love the fact that they remember you and your «regular» orders.
some stuff i luv
orzo salad
spinach pasta salad
chicken caeser (btw… they are willing to sub tuna and vinegrette)
falafal ***love***
turkey club
breakfast bagel w/​sausage egg and cheese
fruit salad
veggie salad
fresh cookies
mushroom broccoli soup
my only minor caveat is that the items not on the official menu (i.e. canned, bottled drinks, chips, candy, etc) seem to change price depending on who rings you up… I still dont know how much a sugar free rockstar is **supposed** to cost there. also, they stopped carrying tahitian treat:(
btw. they accept GoPago
also, they are AWESOME for catering. they have catered a bunch of events and meetings at my office and they do a great job. They are affordable and the food is delivered fast and fresh!!!

Rammed.
There are not many places in the city you can find a deliciously packed turkey cranberry sandwich on wheat for $ 5.25.
Or $ 3 smoothies made with real fruit and a friendly enough staff to swap milk for OJ when you are trying to avoid citric acids.
Last but not least divine and gigantic chocolate chip cookies for a buck and the quarters you have left over from the sandwich.
This place has been here for at least five years. So far not very crowded. Word will eventually spread. Get in before Ramzi’s becomes deservedly rammed.

Convenient location, great for a rainy day breakfast burrito on the way to work, although the only fresh things in it are the eggs. It’s otherwise frozen sausage and a hash brown patty and salsa from a can or jar. Hits the spot for sure.

I go here about two or three times a week, especially if the weather is cold, wet or generally dismal. The women who work there are always very friendly and efficient. The food is standard sandwich/​deli fare, and probably something you could make at home, if you had the time. And don’t mind soggy or cold sandwiches.
I wouldn’t reccomend their breakfast sandwiches, but besides that, everything I have had was great. (Favorites: BLT, California Club, Burritto if you’re in a heavier-​food-​mood, chicken salad sandwich, chicken noodle soup, gumbo, chicken and rice soup).
Not a huge fan of their pastries or cookies, even though thtey do look like the cookies are baked there, but in a pinch, they’ll do.
Really, this is a 3 star place, but becuase of the service, efficiency and convenience, I added another star.

It’s a solid joint. Like everyone says, very convenient and I haven’t had to wait too long in line yet. I’ve had the toasted bagel with cream cheese, and today had the breakfast burrito. I was really into the burrito at first since there were hash browns in it, but I realized they were kinda soggy and bland. The sausage was the only thing that added flavor (aside from my dousing of ketchup), which was not cut up into pieces, rather, it was just one stick of sausage, still in stick form. I do give them props for making such a big burrito with so much eggs, though. I do love eggs.
This is a more of a three and a half star joint for me, but I’ll give them the extra half for thieir non skimping on eggs. Still haven’t had too much experience with this place yet, but I’ll be back for more since it’s sooooo convenient…

Ramzi’s is conveniently located near my office and on rainy days it proves to be a lifesaver!
There cookies are super soft and chewy, they often cater for our office.

Ramzi’s is in the basement of 44 Montgomery. Just follow the BART tunnel. They are quick and have sandwiches, salads, and burritos. The breakfast burrito is pretty good.

Utterly acceptable breakfast burrito… considering it’s in the basement of a giant office building. I wouldn’t say that it blows my skirt up, though.
It takes a little navigating, but you can find Ramzi’s by taking the first elevator on the left down a level. When in doubt, ask the security guards on the ground floor. You might get quizzical looks, but it’s fine — I’m sure they’re used to it.
If you’re ordering more than one (like we were), expect for it to take some time to prepare these little bundles of fattening joy. Definitely not a quick in-​and-​out kind of experience. But, hey. What worthwhile venture didn’t take a little time and energy, right?

Hidden down the underground hallway leaving the Montgomery BART station, this café was a nice place to pick up a muffin this morning. They also have a solid selection of breakfast and lunch sandwiches and a full barista set-​up for your coffee needs. Racks and cold cases provide a surprisingly wide assortment of drinks, snacks, and candy.
The pale taupe color palette throughout gives the seating area a calm sense and probably makes this café a decent retreat from the pressure and chaos of the surrounding Financial District.
TRIVIA: «Taupe» originally referred to the average color of a French mole, but variation evolved, including «pale taupe» aka «mouse» or «mouse’s back». Pale taupe was the default color for computers throughout the 80s and early 90s.

ERRR… my office ordered a dozen (or two or three) cookies for a going away. Placed the telephone order on Friday for Monday. Monday goes and passes — where are the cookies? We call and the lady said she «forgot.» uhhh…

Once in a while I get an insane, overpowering compulsion for a breakfast burrito. It usually ends in heartache. My first time at Ramzi’s only reminds me of better places that’ve come and gone in the decade & a half I’ve worked in the Financial District.
Most in-​building cafes like this seem to have withered up and gone, but this place was like a hundred similar operations that cropped up to exploit the caffeine addiction that fueled the dot. com era — except that it’s still around.
–3 points: microwaves.
+2 points: hash browns in the burrito…
–2 points: …that are also microwaved. Who nukes hash browns?!
+1 point: my favorite berry flavored lo-​carb Rockstar in the fridge case.
–3 points: waiting five minutes to be rung up after food was ready while the manager walks off into the back, leaving one of the servers to prepare espresso drinks and ring up the growing line of customers.
Conclusion: I still miss the Salvadoran place in the old food court on 3^rd St. that’s now been demolished and replaced with a f*cking California Pizza Kitchen. [sigh]

I’ve been coming to Ramzi’s for quick fixes on munchies for over four years, ever since I started working in FiDi.
Orzo salad is yum
Breakfast burrito is yum
fresh squeezed OJ is yum
spinach pasta salad is yum
brocolli salad is yum
Cali bagel is yum
soy latte is yum
I’ve eaten their veggie sandwich on multiple occasions and it’s always been filling and great (i’m not a veg)
if you go in the afternoon you’ll get their fresh-​baked choco chip cookies!!!
the people who work there have been there longer than I’ve been going there. They remember you… you chat, they ask how you’re doing…
I really like this place. Just one of those local delis that you frequent because it’s convenient and friendly, ya dig?

Tried the breakfast bagel with egg, bacon and swiss cheese. It was better then average. Have not tried the sando’s yet.
Service: ok. Clean place. Location: below the street, on the way to the Montgomery BART station, next to a men’s weed wacker.

I used to love this place because it’s directly below my building. I’d stop by in the morning from taking the train, right before going into the office.
Here’s what I love about the place: FRIENDLY staff. They’re always there to greet you in the morning with smiling faces, asking what they can make for you. What better way to start off the morning, right?
Here’s why I probably won’t go back: PRICES — the owner recently jacked up the prices of EVERYTHING by what seems to be $ 0.80. A tiny PBJ on toasted english muffin now costs almost $ 3! It used to be under $ 2. C’mon dude… you already get so much repeat business from everyone that works nearby. How do you justify ROBBING us too?