Blue Danube Coffee House
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Restaurants, Nightlife [Edit]
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond306 Clement Street
(between 4th Ave & 5th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118 (415) 221-9041
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 7:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
Sun 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Wi-Fi: Paid
- Good for: Breakfast, Lunch
- Music: Live
- Best Nights: Mon, Thu, Sun
- Happy Hour: No
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
- Smoking: Outdoor Area/Patio Only
- Coat Check: No
135 reviews
Neighborhood: SOMA
"I heart the Axis Cafe! I work nearby and it is my absolute favorite lunch spot near work. The food is excellent, the prices more than fair.…" read more »
234 Reviews for Blue Danube Coffee House
I've had the same rosemary chicken sandwich on 4 visits already. However, I've tried 2 different smoothies...this place is so good for lunch!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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06/26/2008
Another quaint place for lunch on a nice afternoon. Central perk-like setting, but much smaller.… Read more »
This place provides a nice spot for sitting and chatting with friends... I am a tea drinker.. so it is important to have other alternatives... or mocha... coffee for the non coffee drinker... I am pleased...
Staff friendly... clean... yummy baked goods... mocha good too... yum yum!
Something I enjoy very much... their tables.. I find them pleasing :) I have spent many hours there chatting the afternoon away... I should revisit soon. :)
A
Good, creamy lattes.
They carry ABC (alternative baking co.) vegan cookies--- "best in the galaxy!".
Especially the pumpkin.
And I am left alone to write and think.
So anonymous not even Keane at the next table recognized me.
I would have said hello but... celebrities hate paparazzi or adoring fans blowing their cover.
So it goes. :)
People thought this was:
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I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place. It's quirky and charming and attracts an interesting crowd that varies depending on the time of day. I tend to settle in here with my laptop for hours when I have a big project I need to finish. There are power outlets near most of the tables, and Wi-Fi is $4 a day.
The food looks good but I can't eat most of it (because it's all full of wheat); it's mostly salads and sandwiches. Drinks run the gamut from lattes to smoothies to delicious, delicious sangria, and they've got beer and cider on tap. I love the variety.
The location is great. I can focus on my work when I need to or just gaze out the big windows (which are open on nice days) for some fascinating people-watching. I wish I'd found this place years ago, because it's quickly become my favorite coffee shop.
Also, it cracks me up that they sell Oreos for 25 cents apiece.
Ridiculously long line with one slow moving person behind the counter. I'd maybe rate this place higher if the food was worth the wait, but it's not. I don't have the patience nor time to wait for breakfast. Pass.
I like this place a lot- mostly because it's very comfy-cozy and chill. The staff is friendly, and the coffee is great. I've never tried the food (and probably never will), though.
It's also the only place I've ever known that keeps "house journals" where customers can anonymously harness their creativity, and write or draw whatever they want for the world to read/see. I think that's pretty damn cool, honestly- what a concept!
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Hella good cupcakes!
Everytime I want to come in here and read..it's PACKED! I hate that! I would give this place 5 stars if there were more seats available.
People thought this was:
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Love this place. I've always been walking around this area and never noticed it, the outdoor sign is hard to recognize. The prices are worth it especially the ambiance. This place is a very chill, artsy-fartsy eclectic hole in the wall type of place. Seems a little crowded but the outdoor seating is great when it's sunny out. Try their smoothies and their pastries, hey try everything, I've been pleased with everything so far.
They usually have local artists once a week or so. Every type of artist: music, painters, clothing designers, everything!! And the art work is usually for sale, vendors come in to sell sometimes too.
Surprise, surprise: they serve alcohol in the evening. Perfect place when you're waiting for a crowded restaurant to die down, which is pretty common in Clement.
This is my ultimate weekend coffee and eggs fix. First of all, the vibe is one of the kindest in the city: the people will actually have a real conversation. There is a lot of in and out traffic, so the feel is dynamic. The staff is friendly. The late is superb. Go for the California Wrap (salmon, eggs, creme cheese, capers in a flour tortilla) or the Breakfast Bagel (decadent with bacon, eggs, and cheddar). The smoothies are also creative (try the Funky Monkey with peanut butter).
People thought this was:
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I'll always come back for the pastries, the coffee or the half-liter of sangria you can down while you're, hypothetically, waiting an hour or more for your table at Burma SuperStar. They won't look at you funny for trying to eat all the little pieces of fruit after the actual sangria is gone, either. They have individual Oreos for sale. They have actual food-food, best for brunch. I know!
It has an awesome set-up for lounging, chatting or working, and it has quality goods without the hipsters (Ritual) or the suits on PDAs (anywhere in FiDi). Bonus points for being near my humble 'hood. I'm loathe to give any coffee shop five whole stars (it's just a coffee joint, after all, however well it serves that purpose), but this one comes close. Add some free WiFi and we'll talk.
People thought this was:
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Funny (2)
Cool (5)
This cozy and comfortable little coffee house, i can definitely spend several hours here people watching, surfing on my laptop, or writing/reading the public journals that line the shelves.
Plus one star for offering mighty leaf tea!
People thought this was:
Cool (3)
This is my favorite coffee joint in SF. It has a cool ambiance and great selection of breakfast and lunch. I used to work down the block from here, so it would be great to come here in the morning and get a cup of coffee. They have homemade soups and the best one is their Chicken and Rice, which is a bit spicy and comes with garbanzo beans and corn. My favorite panini is the salami and provolone. I am not a big fan of salami or mustard, but this panini is awesome and the best one I've tasted in SF. It also comes with a side salad as well. It's a great place minus the parking around the area.
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
Can be a touch pricey, but or ambiance, the incredible random writing/art journals from the last however many years and the delicious food, this place is worth the time (several times per week).
Also the owner is an awesome, awesome dude.
YUM! so good. The chicken sandwich is BOMBBB, and I KNOW my chicken sandwiches, trust me. Good portions with a salad on the side for $7.50. The smoothies are also good as well, they're basically a whole meal and perfect for hangovers. I deducted a star cuz it's cash only. I hate carrying cash.
People thought this was:
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Went here to wait for a seat at Burma Superstar, and I inevitably found my newest favorite coffee house.
They give you a lot of quality coffee for your buck, but that's only part of it. The ambiance is just stellar. Makes you just want to bring your favorite mag while sipping that cup of joe.
Maybe I'll go back next weekend just to hang out.
I greatly enjoy this place. When I go in, I feel super artsy and hip as I order my white mocha and a croissant. I can't wait to just chill there, read a book, and drink a beer or mimosa (they serve alcohol!) Although I feel as if some of the food/drinks in this place can be a little pricier than one would expect, I suppose it is redeemed by the cool tables and chairs that furnish this establishment.
I mean, on one of the tables I sat at, there was a naked man and woman. Sure it was some kind of art thing, but any place that I can behold nudity as a placemat to my breakfast pastry before 10 in the morning definitely rates high on my list.
I took one star off for the hit and miss employees. Sometimes I get someone who's really nice, and other times I wonder why ornery seems to be their word of the day.
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I love the Blue Danube- it is my neighborhood coffee shop. I love love their coffee- such good quality. They also have a delcious menu- with lots of healthy options. The veggie sandwich is to die for- mmm lots of roasted veggies and pesto- you cannot go wrong. Also, I am obsessed with their balsamic vinagrette they use on their side salads and their mixed green salad. It is perfect. The service is always friendly. The Blue Danube is the perfect place to sit outside on a sunny day or cozy up inside on a cold foggy morning!
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Useful (1)
Great cozy cafe with strong coffee that you can enjoy quietly as you read Dosteyevsky.
I love their Mexican Hot chocolate & also greek yogurt. heart the people that work there and I can sit there for hours without feeling in anyway annoyed. The Journals are also awesome to read if you just want to relax.
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Most comfortable cafe in the Inner Richmond. Coffee is very good, though not as strong as Martha's one block up. The couches are great for getting reading done, writing, etc. And the food is fresh. Haven't been there at night yet, but they look to have good beer on tap. Always a plus for a cafe.
***AND***I have no idea where they get their tomatoes, but they are so delicious--juicy, ripe, very red and incredibly tasty. Get them on a bagel, and you will leave happy. I have not had a bad tomato there yet (knock on wood).
People thought this was:
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I just stopped in Blue Danube for a Saturday lunch. The place was pretty packed and there were more people coming in all the time. The atmosphere is nice and cozy with lots of interesting decor. The chalkboards are really nice too.
I had a turkey sandwich and a raspberry Italian soda. Both were pretty nice. This place is a bit on the pricey side, but the food is good and the ambiance is cool.
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Order the Black Forest Ham, egg and Cheddar Cheese croissant. Hella bomb... The Cupcakes are a delight as well. FYI The Sangria F$#k's you up. Always a cool place to go when you need to get out of the house to kick back read a book or catch up with some friends. People watching is always fun because BURMA SUPPER STAR, QUICKLY AND GENKKI are all close by. YES its here on Clement street where there are so many bad Asian drivers. FUCKIN GO U DUMB ASIAN DRIVER.
Love this Cafe... the whole place rocks. It might be a little pricey but it is worth it. The coffee is a thousand times better than starbucks. They have everything from breakfast to desserts they even have smoothies. I really enjoy this cafe, I think it is my new fave... it's a great place to study, or to sit down and chat with friends or you can even grab something and go. They have two computers and outlets where you can plug in your computer. Great GREAT PLACE!
Had some time to kill before Yoga so I wanted something to eat that wouldn't weigh me down.
A cup of the Chicken Noodle Soup and some yummy Vanilla Black tea hit the spot, and for under $7!
Nice and homey atmosphere though smoke comes in from the smokers on the patio due to the large open windows.
Met a fellow craigslister here for some board games. I was surprised and amazed at how many journals they got going there. I started one at a cafe in So. Cal and it was eventually stolen. Here they've got 15 volumes or something crazy like that. Plus they had Telemundo going on silent, then some latin rock/pop in the background. They serve alcohol and caffeine, not sure which one you might need for meeting a new board gamer.
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The Blue Danube has many functions. It is a wonderful place to come on a nice saturday or sunday morning and kill time having their yummy french toast and a fruit cup. Or you could shop on clement street first and then stop by for lunch and have their great grilled cheese or turkey sandwich.
Another of its fine functions is to serve as a great place to sit and drink coffee, tea, beer, sangria, etc., while you wait to be seated at Burma Superstar. This place has saved me many times from freezing to death while I stared through Burma's window and watched people eating slowly at MY table!! lol.
Another very interesting function this place serves as is an outlet for your artistic or literary talents. They have all these little books laying around (like 30 volumes?) that you can just pick up and start writing or drawing in. It truly is a fantastic idea. And for those who aren't inclined to draw or write it is even more fun to read through those books and absorb the craziness of san francisco. I have laughed out loud a million times reading people's crazy adventures or funny pictures. It's like picking up someone's diary and getting a peek at their innermost thoughts and feelings......without the fear of getting caught.
My recommendation would be to come on a sunny saturday or sunday morning when they open their huge windows that look out onto clement street, order the french toast, pick up one of the volumes and enjoy your morning. It doesn't get better than that.
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This is absolutely the perfect place to study or work if you don't mind a bit of background noise. Please note, it's not unbelievably loud here, just normal street and cafe noise.
The tables are a good size and there are plentiful outlets and wifi (for a fee, but I have a wireless broadband card so it doesn't really matter). There are sandwiches and small plates along with everything else standard at a cafe and the prices are student-cheap.
I will definitely be coming here more in the future as I try to break up my day more - working at home all the time is painfully boring and uninspiring.
This is a very USEFUL review. You are welcome.
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Although the place can get a little on the dirty side some times, I used to love going there during my free time, especially in the summer when it's nice out and they open their ginormous windows.
The coffee tastes great here and their sandwiches and salads are very good! What I like best about this place is their public journal that anyone can write in. They save these things and put them in a bookshelf. I think that is so awesome. Sometimes, you will read weird things, and sometimes you will read funny things... but the whole concept is so unique and fun to me.
Anyway... all in all, I'm sad that I moved away, because otherwise I'd be going there every weekend just to hang out and have some ME time with my macbookpro and coffee in hand!!
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I could spend an entire day here,
sipping on a large mug of Mexican Hot Chocolate,
catching up on all that reading [Green Apple is RIGHT THERE!] I never get done,
enjoying conversation with an old friend,
sneaking a glance in the mirror at some gal on her laptop surfing Facebook [this is what you look at while paying for wireless?],
watching the line at Burma Superstar grow across the street,
making funny faces at a baby,
smiling on the inside and out.
I wish it wasn't all the way across town.
PS - Mimosas and pear cider, among other alcoholic beverages, are available. There's food, too.
PPS - STUDYING here should be great too.
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In my Green Apple review I joked that the one block radius around 6th and Clement is essentially the center of the universe, but I am actually beginning to believe it.
No nexus would be complete without a great cafe, so here we have Blue Danube. What better place to come and swoon over your latest finds at Green Apple while getting addled up on good coffee and eating delicious sandwiches and not-so-good pastries?
Last time I was at the Blue Danube I both began learning Chinese (learned the most that day-downhill since), AND made a list of all of the dreams that I had dreamt in the last month!
And WHO? said coffee is bad for you?
P.S. Minus one star for the computers. I hate cafes with computers bolted down to the tables. Not so keen on telecommuting cafes, either.
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This is a really nice local coffee house. I work not too far and it's a perfect place to meet a friend for a quick catch-up. It's cozy and the service is always warm and friendly.
The coffee drinks are good though I won't recommend the Chai. No offense, but it tastes pretty unpleasant. They also serve wine and beers. More power to ya! The food are pretty good too. I like the croissant-wich and the wraps.
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A humble cafe on Clement with good service and quiet surrounding. I always come here for Mexican hot chocolate. They also have cupcakes from Sweet Things.
JONASAPPROVED!
I've been patronizing this coffee house for over twelve years, and have seen it change hands at least three or four times. The current owners appear to have gotten the establishment's vibe and flavor down, for indeed simultaneously the most lively and mellow java joint in the Clement Street commercial corridor. The other notable coffee houses in the neighborhood like Java Joint and Cafe de Flore don't really compare in terms of having an inviting attitude and an interesting, colorful clientele.
It's cosy enough to encourage friendly conversation with fellow coffee goers and also for people watching. It's also a place for laptop junkies and readers as well as writers. I've seen people sketching in their black books, and I've seen people killing time awaiting their table at Burma Star, something that wasn't really done back in the day, liquor license notwithstanding. I sketch in my own black book, so I find this a great place to draw people. I also like sketching the environment itself, which is busy due to the space's size but contains curious objects, like the large mirror with an ornate frame, and the tree decoration with holiday lights hung from it's leafless branches.
And it's all so compact, even cramped, but that's what contributes to the place's appeal. It always gives the illusion of crowdedness, so that when you take your seat inside, you feel a part of this close knit caffeinated Blue Danube community. It's like a living room vibe. You want to stay and watch live reality and hear layered conversation, and that's to me always enjoyable, and as been for over twelve years now.
The coffee's good, the food and desserts are delicious, the beer's on tap and will give you a buzz if you drink enough of it. One thing I do miss about one of the past incarnations is Wednesday night Simpson's happy hour! Yup, that's right. There used to be something like $2 pints during the Simpson's weekly episode, back when a television once hung from the ceiling corner above the entrance. It was marvelous!
This place has a great atmosphere; nice layout, just perfectly cramped (and full of quiet low-key people like you), and even has a huge window for ultimate ventilation and sprint/summer breeze experience while you sip on your sub-par espresso or beet juice.
The 5 bucks for wireless is worth it for me *if* I can find a spot to sit.
Reminds me of my college days.
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I used to go here and crochet, listen to the live jazz combo, and sip on a misto while I waited for my laundry at the laundromat across the street. Those were the only times I enjoyed doing my laundry.
Whenever I had friends in town, I'd take them to Danube for the atmosphere, the french toast, and the community journals.
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So I think the only thing I haven't done here is sleep, it is that inviting and comfortable. Now if they didn't serve awesome coffee and tea (including a nice vietnamese drip) here, you would totally see a drool stain that looks like Gorby's head tattoo on the pillow of one of the couches.
So before I go off on my typical tangent, this place is a great spot to meet friends, grab a bite to eat (especially breakfast, yummy freedom toast). At night, it's a great place to grab a beer and wait one hour for your table at Burma Superstar.
The other thing I like about this place is it's uniqueness in the sense that the tables have all been painted by local artists (kinda partial to the naked couple table...). One of the owners, Jimmy, also caters to local artists by allowing them to hang their artwork all over the cafe to sell. Haven't bought anything, but I like looking at it.
My other weird sorta thing I like--and I'm so not a wacko or anything--is they have a journal that patrons write in, draw in, converse with each other in. All super interesting stuff, even the stuff that isn't interesting is somehow interesting. I get off, in a hyped up on caffiene sorta way, on reading people's inner most thoughts and trying to guess who wrote it. There are also some really good artists at this coffee shop which is evident in the pages of these journals. There are over 20 of them so come on down, grab a coffee and an oreo cookie and write about how the smell of bacon and onions cooking makes you want to eat beef again.
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Good Coffee, good service, great atmosphere. I'm a big fan of the Danube. They make a good Cobb Salad and good sandwiches. It's a little bit more expensive than the average Clement fare, but it's a nice change from dim sum and pho.
I've only been in for coffee or a drink before dinner, and I have to say the Sangria is the best I've had in a long time. Good selection of teas and sweets, too. I've overheard that the sandwiches are great but I can't comment on that -- review is based on drinks only!
One small downside is that it can get a little crowded around dinner time with folks waiting for tables across the street at Burma Superstar.
How do you earn 5 stars despite serving wayyy sub-par coffee?
Have: the overall best vibe of any coffee shop in the city (shut up, you in the shirt, i've been to all the good ones), eclectic yet tasteful music, an entire staff of genuinely sweet people, good-looking but not snobby patrons, and have 27 volumes of guest journals featuring interesting sketches and funny/pathetic entries.
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Come and go, come in slow, oh Danube, two Purple Rains Yo..make conversation, drop the dough. come and go, walk out slow.
This place has some awesome seating...real cafe feel with a wide span of fresh prepared food's to eat, the kitchen closes at 9pm but the place is open late. This morning when I went there for my morning smoothie I saw this cop car catching all those freaking speeders on Clement..bad folk, bad folk for speeding on Clement..
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