Terra Bakery and Cafe

Coffee — eh. Atmosphere — quaint, cute, cozy, passable. Baked goods — YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME. The croissants were probably the best I’ve ever had. I have been to Paris and trust me — that experience will never leave my brain with great coffee, pastries and views but this croissant might possibly top that croissant.
The woman behind the counter was pleasant and attentive. She was setting up shop for the morning and had no problem with my early-​morning requests. I grabbed a couple cups of coffee/​lattes and a box full of assorted pastries and headed out. I don’t think there was an empty mouth in the apartment. the box was gone in a matter of minutes.
Terra — I think I love you.

If you are a snobby hipster. .. oh wait minute :-|
Okay fine, I can be one too, but despite that fact, I have a soft spot for the scruffy and quirky that San Francisco offers in its neighborhoods, people and yes, cafes.
I actually stumbled upon this place because a cooler café down the street was too crowded and was sans power outlets. Terra has tables, outlets, great bagels and decent coffee. I parked here for a few hours and it was splendid. I guess I have some of the negative reviewers to thank for scaring off the competition ;-)
And did I mention it’s a little scruffy around the edges. Some of the critiques are right on about the chaotic feel, odd service and lack of a particular vibe. .. but you know, that vibe of not being the cool chrome and wood café that I do in fact like, is a tad bit refreshing.

I don’t normally hang out in Hayes Valley but it was a beautiful day yesterday and I had Terra Bakery on my list ever since Thrillist wrote it up. After reading the reviews I decided to order the fried chicken sandwich with a side salad. The salad had a good dressing on it and was really tasty. The sandwich was made on good bread and had a good flavor to it as well.

My 3 room mates and I live here in Hayes Valley and often wonder how these little boutiques and places on Hayes St. stay open. This place I also wonder about.
The décor is lacking: ugly and outdated wooden furniture, the only window-​seat couch was ripped and saggy. There were only two electrical outlets, which were in random places. Free wi-​fi, but what’s the use without power?
I ordered a latte with a biscotti on the side. The lemon biscotti was marginal and the latte was in a chipped mug and looked like it hadn’t been used in years. Didn’t taste too horrible though.
People kept walking in and then immediately walking out. Only 2 other people sitting around on this Wednesday afternoon.
I honestly feel bad for the place, and the barista seems to hate her life.

We happened to stop in Terra before the rummage sale around the corner, simply because it was the closest to the bus line.
I really liked this café. The furniture was well spaced so even though it was small, it felt bigger and yet more intimate than it actually was.
My turkey sandwich was excellent (while slightly higher priced than expected) and came out quickly and my tea was piping hot, held in one of the largest teapot’s I’ve ever seen at a café, which I loved. Service was friendly which balanced out the un-​speediness of the line and their bathroom was quaint and well kept.
I’d come back.

That everything bagel I was excited about last time?
It’s become sub-​par. This morning I forgot my breakfast at home so I thought, I haven’t had a bagel from Terra in a while — let’s go get one! Bad decision. Tasteless cream cheese, bagel seems old and has a weird texture and the flavor isn’t there anymore.
The place seems kind of dirty now too — anyone else notice that? Cushions on the window bench seat are torn up, floor looks like it needs a thorough scrubbing.
Not coming back.

The server was nice both times we came in today. She made a yummy vanilla latte. Croissants and bagels to be eaten for tomorrow’s breakfast. Free wi-​fi!

After my weekend indulge in Hayes Valley, I remembered I should get the kids something so I stopped in here to grab some pastries. Like most other places in the area, they have an abundance of croissants, fruit pastries and bagels. I grabbed a variety of four croissants. Not bad, but kinda a stretch to spend almost $ 20 on them. Is that the going rate in that area? No worries, kids loved them anyway. For that, they are A-​OK.

My grilled vegetable and portabello mushroom sandwich was good. So was the accompanying salad. I’m not sure whether they were $ 10 worth of good, but we came with a KGB deals coupon for 50% off, and it was definitely $ 5 worth of good.
The service was initially friendly and cool. However, my initial server went home or went on break or something, and then the café was empty. The wifi connected me but refused to load anything, so I kept poking my head in the back room waiting for any employee to appear so I could ask to reboot it. Nobody did. I sat back down and just started working on some offline work on my laptop and listening to music.
A new customer came in and looked at me and then stood around awkwardly waiting to see if anyone was around to take his order. He started poking his head into the kitchen. I couldn’t hear any indication that anyone was around. Finally another employee appeared, got his coffee, then immediately disappeared into the back again before i could ask about the wifi.
The music was grateful dead and other classic rock anthems. I put in headphones.
The chocolate cake was dry and overly sweet but not that flavorful. It tasted like it may’ve been good whenever it was initially made but that hadn’t been recently.
I waited for 20 minutes and poked my head in the back periodically to see if someone might come back for me to order some coffee or ask about the wireless. No one did. So I decided to go find another café where I could order something.
Overall, I’d return if I had another 50% off coupon because it doesn’t seem like there are many cheap lunch options in Hayes Valley… however, I don’t think I’d pay $ 10 for a sandwich + salad, $ 3 for a small round cake and $ 2.50 for a sparkling water otherwise.

I keep trying this café and hoping that it will get better, but the experience is always the same. I end up waiting for the food to come out for a half hour although I’m one of the few people in the restaurant and then my order is always wrong (or doesn’t match the menu listing).
I ordered the egg sandwich with salad today. It said it came with caramelized onions, which were absent. The eggs were beautifully scrambled, but majorly lacked salt or pepper. I got the sandwich on a bagel, which was bread with a hole in the middle, not a bagel. Coffee… bleh.
Their baked goods look delicious and I might just stick to that next time. Given the large variety of brunch/​breakfast/​lunch places in this neighborhood — they gotta bring up their game.

Came here the other night before a show for a quick bite to eat and something to drink. So I got a hot cup of tea and since a turkey sandwich was already going to be $ 7.50, for the $ 8.50 grilled beef.
The sandwich was decent, just didn’t have the option of fries like the menu said.

Vietnamese-​style grilled chicken sandwich ($ 9.99). I wasn’t exactly expecting anything like Saigon Sandwich Shop, but the thing was dripping in mayo (pardon me, «cilantro mayo»), had very little of the slaw on it, no jalapenos, and no cilantro. It was just a bland, boring grilled chicken sandwich.
The fries that came with the sandwich were pretty blah as well.
Hoping to make lemonade I decided to get a red velvet cupcake ($ 2.75) to take back and have later. The place is a bakery after all. When I got to it, about an hour later, I found that the cupcake itself was thoroughly stale (like 2 – 3 days old) and the frosting had solidified into a solid, hard lump.
Before the cupcake I was willing to go again, try the fried chicken sandwich. But now, nope, never going back.

Let’s see: crappy «free» wi-​fi, indifferent service, unclean tables, no atmosphere and mediocre coffee. Wait, why do you exist, Terra? I feel lame just for sitting here right now. Average local coffee shops be warned: this is why Starbucks happens. Hayes Valley deserves better.

Sunday breakfast at Terra Bakery was not good at all and I probably won’t visit again considering all the better options just a couple of blocks away.
The service was bad but sorta friendly; the half-​half was lumpy; the food oily and the quality below average; avoid the pancakes as they are dry as paper!
When I told the cashier about the hall-​half he looked at the two cups with stuff floating in them, gave me two new cups and half-​half from the carton but never took the bad container off the floor!
The baked goods looked good but didn’t try them; the prices were too high for the quality and service received.

2 stars because the food was decent, but $ 10 for a small bagel, small amount of cream cheese and lox? REALLY?
the waiter was so weird and seemed miserable to be working there and the other woman working there seemed the same way.
the place looked cute, but really needs to get their act together.

Big disappointment. The food is fine but the service is just plain BAD.
We ordered a croissant and bagel with cream cheese to-​go. The guy toasts a bagel and then forgets about us. By the time he gets back, he says it’s cold and asks if we want it re-​toasted. We’re in a hurry, so cold is fine. As he’s putting cream cheese on it, he drops it, and then says he has to make another. He toasts another bagel but then completely forgets about us again and bagel #2 gets cold. This whole process took 20 minutes.
Finally, a female employee walks up and asks us what we’re waiting for. She puts some cream cheese on the bagel and we’re finally out the door.
I haven’t written a review on Unilocal in ages, but was inspired after the terrible service here. I’ll be sticking with La Boulange.

The fried chicken sandwich is good. Fried to order chicken served piping hot with carrot, cabbage and black sesame seed slaw on good quality bread. The first bite reminded me of the infamous fried chicken sandwich at Bakesale Betty’s in Oakland.
I could see coming here somewhat frequently since it’s minutes from my work, but $ 9.99 for a sandwich, even in Hayes Valley is outrageous.

I stopped in for an onion bagel over the weekend. It paled in comparison to the garlic bagel I had previously at this location.
Word on the street is that Phil (aka Roland) is no longer involved at Terra. Too bad, I won’t be returning to pay $ 2+ for a bagel no better than Noah’s.

Loved the cheese bread!!! I like coming here because they have tasty food and casual, laid-​back environment. I have been going every week. My friends liked their cheesecakes (flan consistency) topped with fruit.
They’re still working out lots of small kinks for dining in. Once overcharged by accident, once undercharged; many times they were out of certain menu choices but didn’t let us know until long after we ordered; sometimes during open hours, nobody answers the phone; sometimes they forget you’re waiting on the phone on hold. lol

I wasn’t as observant as usual because we met Philip Roland, the owner/​baker of Terra Bakery (and the former Roland’s Bakery). He recognized Genevieve Y. and came outside to thank her for her Unilocal review. He was so nice!
We wandered inside and spied cupcakes on the left, morning buns, croissants, cinnamon melt-​aways and other pastries on the right. They also had full sized loaves of bread (five grain, sourdough, Italian, baguette) and a chalkboard menu. They even had free samples. All I remember from the menu is that they had Pad Thai (which I wasn’t expecting). I think I saw some sandwiches and salads on the menu but I really wanted to try the hand-​rolled New York style bagel. It’s not cheap but the emphasis is on quality here.
They had about 8 kinds of bagels including a couple cheese topped varieties… I think some were $ 2 each. I tried the classic plain bagel. It’s a nice size — about the size of a Noah’s Bagel but with more flavor and character. I was surprised by the softness of the bagel, though it had a good chewy quality and it was divine toasted — more like a good piece of bread than a bagel. It’s the best bagel I’ve had in the Bay Area.
The baguette was excellent as well — a soft, golden crust, and great flavor. I love carbs and I would love to try one of their sandwiches on their fresh bread.