Urban Picnic

I've been here a couple times before for their salad but decided to try their chicken pho (to go).

I got back to the office & they split up the noodles & soup for you to do yourself. I poured in the soup & it got a little messy.... really hot soup which is appreciated but hard to pour into the noodles... (which had the larger bowl).

The soup was tasty but for the price I paid - it definitely lacked chicken & noodles.... Going to stick to going to International Kitchen for pho - which is right down the street.

Ordered a pork banh mi from Caviar for lunch. I'd pass on ordering from here again.

The pork in the banh mi was DRY like jerky and flavorless. Their pickled veggies could use more spice and time in the brine. The bread was the wrong consistency. It needs to be toasted/cooked more for a flakey crunch. It was just too soft and soggy. If you're going with Vietnamese inspired, at least get the flavors right. My grand ma would have a fit if she tasted the flavors I just did.

Also if I am paying around $10 plus delivery for a sandwich, I expect a little more sandwich. It barely measures 6 inches. I could easily go to a mom and pops place and get hella sandwich for that price!

For an Americanized take on Vietnamese food, I was pretty impressed at how the food tasted authentic. I ordered the bahn mi with pork and it hit the spot- the bread was crunch and pork seasoned well overall pretty decent.

2.5 STARS

What do you want after a night out drinking? Soup! After a fail down the street at Ramen Underground, we settled on Urban Picnic. I've never been to any of the locations, so this was my first time here.

*Chicken pho: rice noodles, onions, cilantro, bean sprouts, basil, msg-free lemongrass broth ($8.95)
-When slightly hung over, I want the comfort of soup. This didn't really deliver. It didn't have any of the savory levels of flavor I'm used to in a chicken broth. It was very one note. Plus the rice noodles were a little thicker and chewier than I'm used to. I don't really eat the noodles so I didn't care much, but the texture was a little weird.

I get what Urban Picnic is trying to do. Healthy Asian fusion. Unfortunately, this just wasn't my cup of tea. Give me greasy Chinese any time! I want the comfort of my favorite Asian dishes!

Was in the neighborhood looking for a quick bite to eat for breakfast. Wasn't sure what I was looking for, but walked by Urban Picnic and their breakfast menu caught my eye. The breakfast egg bowl was exactly what I had in mind; something quick and healthy. You have the option to add bacon and/or avocado. I opted for the avocado and it was totally delicious! Everything tasted really fresh. This can totally be made paleo, if you're into that kind of thing. (Only brought that up because there are a couple crossfit gyms nearby).

While their breakfast menu all sounds really good, not sure I would come here for lunch. Their items are a bit overpriced, but for a fairly healthy breakfast, this is the best I can find. But for pho and vietnamese sandwiches, you can find better elsewhere, like Chinatown.

I like the concept of "healthy global infusion fare" - doesn't that sound too good to be true like world peace and non-fat French fries? Everything sounds good in the complicated menu that Urban Picnic provides, but it may suffer a bit from Jack-in-the-Box syndrome, i.e., spreading themselves across too many things to be truly outstanding at any of them. The In-N-Out model works better for me...do a couple of things right and just focus on those. But Urban Picnic wants to give you the world, and I don't want the world. I just want a fresh salad with some standout flavor that'll tie me over until dinner.

On my virginal visit there, I tried the $7.95 4-Option Deli Salad. I just went with my gut since there was a chubby suit behind me sighing heavily perhaps trying to compensate for years of ordering at Jack-in-the-Box. I decided on the Roasted Balsamic Beets, a bit sour mixed with walnuts, red onions and a lemon thyme vinaigrette, followed by the slightly overcooked Curried Kabocha Squash with red onions and cider vinaigrette. For contrast, I had them add the pretty decent Black Sesame Garlic Noodles with garlic, cilantro their house soy sauce, and then finally, the buttery Gigante Beans, which were mixed with roasted tomatoes, Kalamata olives, organic lacinto kale and Parmesan pesto.

I topped it all off with the bean sprouts that were sitting on the condiments table (see photo). Did you follow all that? Yeah, me neither. It was a bit like eating at the buffet line at your cousin's bar mitzvah - a little bit of this, a smidge of that, a skosh of those, oy vey... I think all the vinaigrettes and sauces were doing battle with each other in my little plastic container, and why so skimpy on the noodles? Oh wait, I'm a flexitarian. Never mind. I think I better stick to one of their signature salads since they stick with one dressing at a time with those. Or maybe the Organic Tofu Urban Pho Noodle Soup (say that three times fast!) since it sounds healthy, but could it be that satisfying without the beef? Only a return visit will give me the definitive answer.

FOOD - 3 stars...a smorgasbord of options in their deli salad but nothing that stands out to my taste buds
AMBIANCE - 2.5 stars...gets crowded in there quickly
SERVICE - 2.5 stars...kinda meh to me...they were nicer to the chubby suit in a snit
TOTAL - 3 stars...disappointing first round won't prevent me from trying something else next time

Americanized twist to Vietnamese food.

If you're looking for pho to fill the soul, you're not going to be getting it here. Their Vietnamese food, is fused with American concepts. An example, is their rice noodle bowl with 5 spice chicken. It was too much like a salad instead of it being combined with Vietnamese authenticity. The fish sauce didn't have an adequate umph that I usually like for that kind of sauce and the spiced chicken didn't have much of a flavor for it to be named 5 spice. Also, the broth for the soup lacked the tasty flavor that is found in pho. It was simply broth.

Their Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh Mi), lacked vinegar marination to the veggies. Their chunks of meat in the sandwiches, was passive.

It's on average 10 bucks for a meal and a doable place for lunch - only if you are craving for a Vietnamese sandwich in the FiDi!

I experienced really grouchy service from this girl at the register. She should be consistently friendly to EVERYone! I still like the food, but I had to comment on this.

I've been here a few times and only for the Pho. The service is friendly but the Chicken in the Pho is always dry and over cooked. It kind of kills it for me and I don't know why I keep asking for it! At this point, it's my fault for requesting they add something that I don't like. Maybe next time I'll ask for something else.

It's not bad and I will be back but if you come just remember to be underwhelmed. If there is an Urban Picnic in Lodi it would be a blessing; this is downtown San Francisco.

I work downtown so I'm lucky to have a variety of lunch options to choose from. Today, I decided to go to Urban Picnic, I've been here before and ordered Vietnamese sandwich.

Last time I was here, I ordered chicken Bahn mi and that was just alright. I mean, I've had better ones like Little Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich which is located in Larkin between Eddy and Turk. Their sandwiches are soo good and cheaper.

Anyways, I have decided to give this place another chance by ordering Pork Bahn Mi. Major regret! My pork is so hard to bite and chew. My first bite was also super spicy. Like, my god, seriously?! I paid at least 10 bucks for a crappy sandwich that is so hard to bite, especially the pork. I'm still hungry and kind of upset that I wasted money on this sandwich!

Urghh I'll come here for pho but no more for sandwiches. Major waste of money!
It sucks cause the employees are really nice but the quality of their sandwiches just sucks!