UCSF Courtyard Cafe

The background: Nestled within UCSF’s nursing building. It basically wins me over out of convenience factor. Only open on weekdays.
The details: You’ll find a small sandwich bar (2 people making fresh sandwiches on a variety of breads (dutch crunch, wheat, slices, buns, rolls), random hot food bar (chicken fried rice, next to peasant pies), dim sum asia station (XLB, steamed buns, dim sum), chinese hot foods (fried rice, fried noodles — feels like panda express), random snacks snuggled in every corner (candy bars, kind bars, chips, hichew, etc) salad bar (about $ 7/​pound), coffee station, refrigerators for beverages ready made meals… Sounds like a circus? yup — but you’ll find SOMETHING to eat always… even if it isn’t great. Yeah I don’t know how they manage to conduct any orderly business here, but it happens!
The Verdict: limited hours, high prices relative to low food quality (lunch will be about $ 7 – 10). Keep the pepto handy!

The dim sum & other chinese food here has never appealed to me, and while the sandwiches are pretty popular with many students I know, I also don’t like them — I think they’re a hassle to order and I guess I like fancier sandwiches if I’m not making them myself. Also, the chairs SCREECH whenever anyone moves them, which is constantly, so eating around here is a nightmare. I do like that they offer little individual pieces of candy for sale AND have milk/​plasticware/​napkins out in case you’re passing by and need anything…

This place is Ok and then is terrible and the staff is so unfriendly!
They are very over price, and they are also very sneaky about pricing. Not all items are priced, and you get the surprise when you go to the cashier. Items do not have their price listed on their description, which is doable… it is on a badly hidden list, where is difficult to read and even find!
I am not eating their sandwiches, so overpriced! I might go for the dim sum, ridiculously priced at $.98 cts each!, or their Chinese food. Those are the only items you might know the price, the rest will change with out notice.
They import everything beside some of the veggies in the salad bar. The salad bar didn’t use to have a sales tax, now it does… and you wont walk out of it with out paying at least $ 9.
They used to have empanadas a $ 4.50 each. you need at least three of them. It cost .75 cts to make it…
Once I asked the older lady to sell me a paper plate, so I can heat up my food, and she charged me .25 for it. I have been their customer for over 4 years.
The love to play stupid when you confront them with a question about the items or price. If they weren’t the only option around, I would not eat there ever! They make me bring my own food to work.
The best thing is their coffee and their sweets (which I do not do the latter!) There is one girl on the staff, she takes care of the chair/​tables area and works the cashier out side, SHE is nice, polite, no bulshait!
I cann’t wait until they get out of contract with UC Reagents…

Can get loud, but on off hours its great. Lots of table space to study and do your thang when no one is around.

Ah, good ol’ Nurseteria… I’ll get straight to the key points.
The Good:
–solid Peet’s coffee (Costa Rica, Major Dickinson’s, Sumatro, Fair Trade House Blend) at only $ 1.25 for a small/​$ 1.50 for a medium
–good (enough) and reasonably priced sandwiches. I usually opt for turkey on rye
–decently friendly staff (the lady at the outer counter is awesome, can’t say the some of the folks inside though…)
–above average selection of bottled drinks and snacks
The Bad:
–crappy, extremely greasy dim sum that costs an appalling $ 0.85/piece
–expensive, mediocre Americanized Chinese food

I come to the Nursing Building for cheap coffee ($ 1.25 for a small). When I’m sick of Moffiteria, I come here for their Vegetarian Italiano sandwich on Dutch Crunch (eggplant or artichoke with sun-​dried tomatoes, provolone, and pesto). They have a hot foods section with Chinese food. Greasy but works for some. Dim sum is ridiculously expensive here since they outsource from Hing Wang on Judah. It’s almost $ 0.90 for each piece! Despite the inflated price, I get it every once in a while to temporarily curb my hunger and it’s decent. They also have a self-​serve section where you can fill up with salads in your own box, which is weighed.
Food is meh. Come for convenience only… or for relatively cheap coffee.

There is a lot I can’t speak for — sushi, chinese, salad bar and dim sum. It’s a rather diverse menu. But what I can comment on is the half grilled chicken sandwich and the cookies.
The former was made to order, contained a generous slab of chicken, and cost $ 3. The latter was small enough to not feel guilty, and bursting with chocolate goodness.
Both very good.

MAN. i do not know how i got into this school because i’m obviously not bright for returning to this place time and again thinking that the dim sum will be good «this time.» I guess they outsource their dim sum making to some outside restaurant cuz i’ll see them loading the food into their steamer from take out boxes from time to time.
They’re basically a middle man for dim sum. and not a very good one at that. For one thing, wherever they’re getting their food from, it’s not very good. and not only that, the steamer apparently has no purpose cuz the food is always still cold anyhow. Why would you sell someone else’s crappy cold dim sum? WHY? And on top of that, they hike up the price because that’s what all good middle men do. Here’s a little tip: never eat dim sum from a place that sells it by the PIECE.
Despite this bad review I’m sure i’ll eat there again because: 1. it’s the only place to get food in that building at UCSF, and 2. I’m stupid.
As Brian Fellow would say, «That’s CRAZY!»

Came by picked up a turkey bacon sandwich on dutch crunch. For $ 5.50 I could of made it myself. One slice of turkey and a strip of bacon, lettuce, mayo and mustard. No other vegetables at all. So simple to make but so expensive, should have walked the 2mins to moffitt café.

I liked the spot even tho I went on 4^th of July and half the place was closed. I walked in here with my friend and right as we walked in to the left was a coffee/​baked goods spot.
We got 2 slices of pepperoni pizza and ham and cheese croissant.
the croissant was very small and not that buttery and the pizza was decent.
What do you expect of a hospital café.
I guess the company I was with made everything better.=)

I do not eat at this place, rather I just camp out at one of the tables and really uncomfortable, cold, metal chairs. On the rare occasion that I don’t have anything to bring for lunch, I’ll grab from their dim sum items because that’s usually the quickest line, but I know I’ll be paying a price for convenience. LITERALLY. Their dim sum items are way over priced, you’re better off getting some dim sum at Sunset Bakery on 9^th and Irving (it’ll probably cost less and taste better). I’ve also tried their soup (again, because it’s the quickest line) and it’s decent… that is, if you even get there in time to try it.

This is a convenient place for me to grab some breakfast, just a few minutes walk. The food is okay, I usually get the pastries or the ham, cheese and egg (hard-​boiled) muffin. I haven’t tried any of their other food. They make sandwiches and actually have some dim sum. The problem is everything is too expensive. The odwalla bars are $ 2 here while at Roxie’s, which I pass by on the way to UCSF, has it for only $ 1. The only reason I go here is because I get hungry in the morning and need to get something really quick. But lately I’ve been trying to avoid it as much as I can so my wallet isn’t thinning out so quickly. Like today, I decided to skip breakfast and I have to admit I am starving at the moment. My stomach is starting to make sounds now. But I’ll survive until lunch.
I’ll probably bring breakfast from home or pick something up from Roxie’s more often now, and only on a rare occasion will I ‘treat’ myself to some Courtyard Caffe — don’t know why it’s spelled like that.

The only place on campus to get Peets coffee and vegetables that are worth eating. I do wish that it was not so overpriced for the quality of what you get. Made to order sandwiches are nice. Peasant pies are a plus. And the staff are generally helpful when I request the won ton soup with half water to make it less salty.

I *cannot* cannot cannot stand this place!
(AKA the «Nurseteria» as it’s located in the Nursing School Building)
What do they offer? Hm. let’s see.
1. Dim Sum and Chinese food brought up from down the road, for $.85 cents EACH. Yep, you read that right, EACH. In the real world, I think we all know that the price is $ 1.20 for 3 pcs.
2. Coffee is waaay overpriced… and sometimes burnt-​tasting.
3. Tea is waaaay overpriced ($ 1.50 for a small tea? really? Do they even care that I am paying for these with my financial aid funds?)
4. Cup of hot water with cup= $ 0.75. Not sure why they need to charge me *that* much for a cup (I will bring my own tea)…
5. Attitude to rival that of Eliza’s. Honestly. I see these people every cotton pickin’ day, and they are as surly and snotty as ever.
+1 star for free hot water if I bring my own enviro-​mug. That is nice.

overpriced salad bar… for 3 pieces of dolmas and 3 pieces of stuffed vegetable inari… expect to shell out $ 4−5 – they do it by weight.
Dim sum items are hella expensive… 85 cents a piece!
Sandwiches are not bad, though the egg salad is too peppery.
for lack of convenient, cheaper options… it’s either this place or Palio’s across the street. which have pricy items too.
UPDATE: They now accept credit cards and serve soup, which goes out fast!