Red Cafe

I’ve been going to Red Café consistently, at least a couple times a month, for the last five years and I cannot believe this is my first Unilocal review for them! Maybe I was too busy eating some of their delicious meals to actually take the time to write something! Lol…
Honestly I have never had a bad meal at this place there was a point in time they actually had Pupusa (the Salvadorian dish) that was amazing and then I guess the person that made them no longer works there, but aside from that everything else has been soooo good from the Chilaquiles breakfast, to the Plantain breakfast to the American plates & they even have a delish Veggie burger made in house! Honestly, I can say their service is great in house or take out, you cannot go wrong. The staff is super sweet, polite & timely. I’m a fan!

it’s a good breakfast place with a lot of good looking mexican dishes. i could see coming here more. the coffee is a little thin, but that’s the kinda coffee you expect. i got the chilaquiles which was just warm. I wanted them hot, but probably more so that day because it was raining. which is a good thing and all, but on that day, give me the chilaquiles hot! they have plantains which the gf loves.

The food was all tasty, but they tried to overcharge us and argued against the pricing that was on the menu, which was frustrating. Maybe it was a one-​off; I hope so. Pretty small spot but at 9:30 am on a Saturday, we got a table for 4 within minutes. So go for it, just make sure to read the bill before you blindly pay it.

This brother (David) makes a MEAN cappuccino! I gauge my caps on a 0 to 5 scale (do they make me feel like I did when I had my very first in a street café in Paris?) This is a sturdy 4! Perfect foam, no sugar necessary (that’s saying something for me) and strong enough to know I’m drinking coffee.
Ok, lets talk grub. I came here ISO gluten free breakfast options (sister really wanted pancakes) but when I saw the plantanos con casamiento I knew I’d be okay.
I had my eggs scrambled with mushrooms and they were moist and fluffy. No salt necessary (you see I judge my food by how much stuff I have to add to it) and the plantanos and casamiento were seasoned and cooked to perfection.
Friendly and attentive service (y’all need to tip people right when they are good to you) in this family style corner spot. Clean, comfortable spots to sit (booth) and relax while enjoying your meal.
Good music on the radio (mix popular, I’m too old to know any of the songs but I didn’t feel the need to put my headphones on so that’s a good sign. «Sugar how’d you get so fly» is on now so Imma check out soundcloud to get some deets. David tends to sing a bit so if you are lucky and listen when he’s doing his thing you’ll get a little smile.
Sweet spot.

My new favourite breakfast spot! It’s cheap and delicious and in a pretty convenient location. Diner style too… The best!

Great place to go for an inexpensive meal. Very attentive staff and great tasting food. I highly recommend going here. It is a lot of food, so you may not even finish it. But you won’t regret coming here.

Arrived around noon today, waited 15 and were sat at a booth. That’s always nice on a busy Saturday. Our server was very friendly which accounts for 1 of the stars.
My gf ordered the ranchero eggs and she thought they were great– that accounts for the other star.
My order however was a mess. I asked for a sausage breakfast burrito with crispy hash browns inside.
Got the order quickly but it was wrong– no hash browns and it had bacon and sausage. Not that I don’t like both, but I also didn’t need or want both, I asked for just sausage.
They took the plate back and I waited not too long for them to remake it. My gf had already finished her food when they gave me my order again. STILL wrong. I didn’t ask for anything complex, and I explained it clearly both times. I told them that I was just going to eat it because I didn’t feel like waiting anymore.
Gave me $ 2 off of my $ 14 disappointment of a breakfast burrito. I think they could have done better than that, not that I wouldn’t happily pay $ 14 for something done right.
Anyway, bummer but I won’t be back.

Artisinal coffee?
Nope.
Organic chicken apple sausage?*
Nope.
Vegan soy anything?
Nope.
Hipsters everywhere?
Nope.
Basic Mexican diner food like guacalicious breakfast quesadillas?
YEP.
*

Came here at 2:30pm on a sunny Sun. They were very fast. It took them 10 min to prepare my poached egg with beef. The food is delicious ! And it’s clean here!

My favorite spot for a simple and reliable breakfast. Nice family working there. Always busy but never too too busy.

Been coming here for as long as i can remember. Service is good. Food is great. Place is very small, wish they had a bigger location. Also there might be a wait time since its sooo small but its worth it!

We really enjoyed this little family owned café, we weren’t sure about how to order Mexican breakfast but were thoroughly glad of the recommendations.
After three months, I’m back, their handmade tortillas are a real hit. I enjoyed every bit of my order.

What can I say? I love a good meal, good solid service and great value.
Red Café checks all those boxes! I grew up in the Mission and how I never found this place in a previous life beats me. I’m a hog for chiliquiles and this place just does it right. They were probably the best I’ve had because instead of being doused in sauce, the tortillas (which were spectacular) held up and really gave a great textural contrast. My mom and aunt got shredded flank steak breakfast… the name escapes me but it was damn good. The steak was seasoned perfectly and the tortillas (corn and flour) that they brought with it was warm and perfect. My other aunt got the grilled chicken and eggs and that was pretty solid as well.
This place got packed pretty quickly. I don’t blame them seeing the tasty morsels they were dishing out! As all places in the Mission, especially for brunch, I recommend getting in early, lets just say 9am or so to snag a table before the rush starts.
I’ll definitely be back the next time I’m back home!

When you’re looking for a homey, casual Mexican breakfast, give this place a try!
Food: Ordered the corn beef hash and the boyfriend had a meaty omelet. Both came with hash browns and toast with lots of butter and jam on the side. I think our total was only around $ 20! What I like best about this place is the extended menu with classic diner foods and Mexican options. And you can tell with the amount of Spanish spoken in the restaurant, this place is very popular. And I’m hoping that means it’s authentic! Something that did bother was my boyfriend’s omelet came with cheese… As in a Kraft slice of cheese on top of the omelet as an afterthought and not in the omelet itself. It wasn’t even half melted…
Service: Not as quick as I had hoped… It’s an open kitchen so you can see all the hustle and bustle but for two simple dishes, it took at least 20 mins for us to get served. And they forgot our toast until we reminded them :(
Ambiance: Loud and noisy but a lot of people like that vibe for breakfast/​brunch. Place is really bright and airy with lots of windows. Could be a good hungover-​next-​morning-​brunch joint or a breakfast with the whole family place :)

Great coffee. Awesome and friendly service. Worth the wait in line. I ordered two buttermilk pancakes with banana. It’s delicious!

I live this place and have been coming here for years. The customer service has improved as well. The food is delicious, especially the Latin Breakfast. The only thing I don’t like is the people that come in to play on their guitar and sing and then ask for tip money.

For the price you pay, you get a semi-​decent amount of food. It’s very small inside and there are always neighborhood hipsters packing the place.
Excellent service form the staff. They really welcome you and follow up to make sure your okay.

Let me start by saying this place used to be amazing. It had the best coffee and fresh dishes cooked to perfection with highly attentive staff. Over the last three months we noticed a lot of changes in staff and service. We used to crave this meal and made it a weekly visit. Now I would not recommend a visit or even consider it as my top 3 choices for a meal.
Some examples of the decline is most of the staff is standing behind the counter while the tables are full and not serving patrons refills on coffee or drinks. My last visit I actually had to get up and bring my cup to the counter just for a refill and they did not even seem embarrassed or offer an apology. Huge decline in service and attention to detail. The staff needs to really take the initiative and ensure the patrons are being served. This is probably the second biggest let down since the last 3 months.
The first biggest let down is the change in quality of food. The ingredients are still fresh and delicious but the food is coming out burnt or overcooked. I ordered chilaquiles and got basically a bag of cooked tortilla chips with one egg. It was not gross but greatly deminished in quality and taste. My girlfriend ordered an omlete with bacon and cheese and the egg was burned and brown and super dry. These are huge no nos in the restaurant business. Highly disappointed in the declinethe staff offered to remake the food but by this time we were tired of the wait and so disappointed it was easier to take the food to go and give it to the homeless.
Overall this place used to be a 5 star establishment but now I am sure the drop brings it to only 2 ½ stars. For the price wait and quality I would suggest to keep looking for another place for breakfast because reds café is on a slippery slope down to 1 star.

Solid basic breakfast and lunch place. The onion rings are amazing but if the «house made corned beef» didn’t come out of a can I’ll eat a bug.

It was the first meal of our girls’ weekend and it was terrible. Good thing the rest of the weekend didn’t follow suit.
We arrived around 10 am on a Friday, and the restaurant was packed… and hot! The kitchen is open so the heat is distributed all around the small restaurant. I ordered a shredded beef omelette which was okay, nothing memorable.
The 1 star rating is due to how the staff and manager handled one of my girlfriend’s meal. The first mistake was a hair strand nestled in my friend’s eggs. She returned her plate, only to get the same meal, but with little egg shells in her eggs. Poor friend was so hungry while we almost finished our food. Upon returning that second plate, we asked to speak with the manager who didn’t offer any refund or alternative for my friend’s meal. We had to ask for at least a comped meal for our friend, but he only gave her 50%… which sucked considering she didn’t even eat it!
We paid for our meals, no tip. Sorry… terrible service, no attention to detail on food quality, and an unprofessional way to handle mistakes.