Bluejay Cafe
Categories: Southern, American (Traditional) [Edit]
Neighborhood: Western Addition/NOPA919 Divisadero St
(between Golden Gate Ave & Mcallister St)
San Francisco, CA 94115 (415) 447-6066
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
284 reviews
Neighborhood: SOMA
"Wow.... one of my co-workers brought back to the office one day a killer sandwich (tuna melt with avacado) and some SWEET POTATO FRENCH…" read more »
338 Reviews for Bluejay Cafe
I was suppose to go to the Little Star PIzza place down the block from here, but it was closed. A local told me to go here. I was pretty satisfied after leaving this place. I had a chicken salad sandwich with a side of potatoes, with a Heineken bottle. Yummy. Good brunch. The sauce they used in the sandwich was good. Then I shared a bread pudding with my friend, and that too was yummy. The setup of the place was kind of different, but still kind of cute. And our waitress was cute too. It was just a cute experience all in all for me.
Try as I might I just can't give this joint anything but average stars, and even that waivers in the wind. Waitstaff was fairly attentive but smart to leave me a carafe of water-as I'm a big H20 drinker. But $12.60 for a waist conscience portion of blackened red snapper and sweet, sweet potato fries and another $3.50 for the Pacifico set me back a Jefferson for dinner for one. Not worth the sporadic hours, ok waitstaff, or next to meager portions.
My girlfriend is trying to get me to go vegetarian, and I have met her half way and quit the red meat....except when I go to Bluejay. Their Rueben is amongst the best I've ever had, with nice lean meat and tasty 'kraut. Their menu is also very generous with the sides, and they have a nice range of beer & wine, cool deck out back, and a funky decor nonpareil.
One major complaint: The Waitstaff isn't the best. I counted 3 groups who came in after my party who were served before my party, which is a major pet peeve of mine.
I have a special place in my heart for the Bluejay Cafe...
While I've never been to the Bluejay when it's really crowded, I have gone with groups of two to ten and can't say that I've had a bad experience. As a server myself, I think the service is great. The corn bread is a major bonus, and my fave dishes have to be the mac & cheese, salad w/mangos, bleu cheese & candied walnuts, crab cakes, & strawberry shortcake. It's a cafe with character. I love it for what it is.
I will agree with the comment on the low tables/high benches, however. I prefer to sit in the chairs.
I like Blue Jay for brunch and lunch. The eggs and potatoes were good and so was the biscuit. For lunch they have several good salads and soup specials. The drinks were also rather good and strong for the price. One caveat that does not bother me but may bother others is that there appears to be 1 waitress for the entire restaurant regardless of how busy it is. Which means everything happens at a very leisurely pace if it is busy.
I really wanted to have a good experience here, but I didn't. I felt like the food was bad and the service was just okay. I'll come back for a beer and kick it on the patio when it is warm, but I will not eat here again... :-(
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Delicious and affordable enough to eat there everyday... which I would if not for a daily plate of fried chicken leading me to an early grave.
The price is right and the food is decent... I used to live right around the corner, but there's always a line and it just doesn't seem worth waiting for it. It's a nice place to go to on an early weekend morning with the paper, except their espresso machine was always broken when I was there. :(
Also, every time I've sat at the bar, I've seen cockroaches roaming along the counter. Gross. I used to work in food service and understand that these things happen, but if a few are out in broad daylight saying hello to the customers, I can only imagine what is lurking beneath....
Nice space, good character but doesn't quite strike the blend between a good bar and restaurant in the evening. People are drinking at the restaurant tables and eating at the bar which makes finding a table for you and your friends to eat around pretty tough. When I went we waited over an hour and half for our food, it may have been two I wasn't really paying attention for the first hour, it was friggin rediculous. When the food arrived it was all pretty mediocre except for the fried chicken and crab cakes which were bomb. The wait staff was also very friendly but I haven't been so frustrated in a restaurant in years. Two stars, sorry nice ladies.
I really wanted to like this place because I know they have fried chicken and comfort food and my husband is a fried chicken-aholic. So we went early on a Monday night. Service was OK. Cute place. Not too crowded. They had garlicky green beans as a special so we ordered those and I got the meat loaf which was decent - too much food though. Hubby got the fried chicken, of course, and he said it was ok but he's had better. I wasn't feeling well that night so I wouldn't mind going back to try it again when I felt better and maybe I'd give it a better review.
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- Ok food
- Great service
- Charming location
- Decent prices.
Definitely a locals-only spot, this is a good place to get away from the hustle & bustle of the tourist traps and get a hearty, no-nonsense breakfast.
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I'm surprised why the reviews for Bluejay aren't all that positive. We had a great time here last weekend. But I must admit, the only reason why I'm raving about Bluejay is their STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. Definitely the best strawberry shortcake in the city!!! The cake was nice and flaky and the strawberries were fresh and sweet.
But seriously, the service was also great... the ladies were very attentive and friendly. And the food was tasty... I had their fried chicken and my partner had their pot roast. The fried chicken was a little burned (I think they fry it ahead of time and then refry them before serving) but I still enjoyed it. OK, I might be biased. I love fried chicken a lot and it would take a lot to screw it up. And the biscuits are just divine.
Why take out a star? Two things. First, the mashed potatoes that came with pot roast was forgettable. There was a lot of air but not a lot of taste. Second, they should change those benches. They're too tall for the table!
I paid $18 for a tiny veg omelet and side of bacon. I'm sick of these so-so local cafes with low-to-average food and extremely high prices. Sorry, but if your client base is geared toward the local residents of Western Addition, then you cant be successful by charging us that much $. And they wonder why the place is empty during the week??? BlueJay Mgmt, you're a pretty good Greasy Spoon for locals. If you want to attract tourists and overcharge them, then get out of my neighborhood and open a place in the Wharf or Cow Hollow. Learn from MoJo cafe, they're always busy. If you want our loyal business, then keep it reasonable and we'll keep coming back.
I was told this place was awesome but sadly, my experience wasn't the greatest. I went here on a Sunday night with a few friends and the service was terrible. It took about 45 minutes just to get our food.
I ordered the hanger steak with mashed potatoes. The steak was good minus the outside of it which was over-charred and burned(i just ended up cutting off all the inedible corner pieces). The mashed potatoes had a nice texture but lacked salt/general flavor.
The cornbread muffins were awesome but the biscuit you get with your meal sucked(dry and crumbled really easily).
We also ordered the strawberry shortcake for dessert, pretty darn good.
The prices are great for the amount of food you get so you can't beat that I guess. But don't come here if you're in a hurry... service is extremely slow.
Two Words....FRIED CHICKEN!!
I ate here for the first time a few weeks ago and I have to say I really enjoyed myself.
Its a little different of a place, very casual, but cool. The wait staff seems like they might have started recently, but that could have been a one time thing?
So, if you don't mind waiting, this place is a good place to sit back and relax with friends and enjoy some soul food.
Not too expensive, food is worth the price!
Enjoy!~
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The waitress was really nice and perky and very attentive even though she seemed to be the only one on shift in the front of the house. An extra star for her great energy!
The food was not so great. Don't you hate it when you read a menu and it's exciting and everything looks so good that you don't know what to order, then your food comes out and completly unerwhelms you?
The sweet potato fries were over done, half of the were burnt. The catfish wasn't soaked in milk long enough to remove the overly fishy taste. The fried chicken was a big dissapointment, although the white meat was moist which I know is hard to accomplish. But oh the collard greens. Completly undercooked. Was up all night digesting them if you know what I mean.
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I LOVE bluejay cafe!!! The cornbread is amazing....well pretty much everything i've had there is pretty damn amazing. The price is right and the portions are always more than enough.
Our hood has somewhat limited choices for breakfast/brunch/lunch, I'd rank them thusly:
1. Eddie's Cafe (4.5 stars)
2. Herbivore (4 stars)
3. Bluejay Cafe (3.5 stars)
4. Cafe Neon (3 stars)
The hostess was NOT A GEM. She was so annoyed by the fact that we even decided to walk through the door. There was no one waiting to be seating, and pleanty tables available, and the wait was still 15 minutes with no explanation.
Bathrooms are cool, and almost made up for the snotty attitude. The walls are covered in gold veined mirrors.
Oh, and the food. It's good.
Shrimp etouffe (or however it's spelled) was magical.
Fried chicken was overcooked and the meat was sinewy. I still loved it, but would not recommend it. Mac & cheese was Krafty.
Beer and wine prices on Monday night are outta this world!! Chimay for $3.25? Yes sir!
Wow. I live down the street from this hidden place on Divisadero and have never been there until today for lunch. They have THE BEST blackened red snapper sandwhich I have ever had. They have a cool sky window, lots of light and good food. The tables were a bit shorter than the seats but I am definitely going back!
Message to Bluejay management:
HIRE MORE PEOPLE TO SERVE AND COOK
Would having one more server kill you guys? Esp on a busy night? Here's the scenario this past Sat:
- Packed with diners
- 1 server & 1 bartender for the entire restaurant. Probably 1 cook in the kitchen, judging from the state of things
- Profuse amounts of smoke emanating from the kitchen & filling up the dining room, like in a smokehouse
- Nobody being served any food for at least 30 mins, probably related to above
- Finally getting our entrees nearly an hour after we ordered
- Wide range in quality of the food - some good, some inedibly salty
- Wrong dish for one of our orders
- Rock hard biscuits
- No corn muffins
If that sounds like fun to anyone, by all means, give it a go. I was embarrassed at having suggested this place.
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Tried their brunch the other day and, overall, was quite disappointed. We were actually seated fairly rapidly, despite the line out front and the larger size of our group.
The menu options looked great and, after struggling to decide on what to eat, I ordered a strange concoction of my favorite southern treats. We ordered, after waiting quite a while to do so. Finally, the food arrived and it was a disaster. Half of our orders were missing or incorrectly served. Ten minutes later, we were still trying to flag down a server to make them aware of our missing orders. In the end, I wish we had just canceled them. I was so excited for the sweet potato pie--one of my favorites. This was nothing like sweet potato pie, it was mushy and tasted like pumpkin pie that had gone bad--sour and bitter. Not right at all.
I don't anticipate returning here any time in the future.
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We struck out tonight on the 38 Geary, looking for a new place to announce itself along the way. My BF and I had not-so-great days, and were in need of some seriously comforting food. The kind that makes you purr a little.
After being on foot for a short bit, Bluejay Cafe sprung up like a song on our path. We surveyed the menu outside and were happy to find the offerings included grilled veggies and yummy soup. Mmm, a belly hug just thinkin' about it! But no prices displayed for the sides? That meant to me they might be too scary to mention, but I rationalized they couldn't be, considering the most expensive entree- a 2" thick NY steak- was not over 12 bucks. I decided to stop caring what it cost because I was starving and knew this was exactly what I needed.
We came in to find a nicely lit room, very spacious, with a great table on a raised platform in the window. The last diners were just leaving, so we swooped in on what I thought was one of the best spots to sit.
A warning- everyone there was dining in their coats, which should have been a sign. It was frickin' freezing in here with icy drafts rolling through intermittently, so a half star off for that. My suggestion to close the curtains installed around the front doors-seemingly for this purpose- was met with steely eyes and a welch. That's when you get an answer from someone so thick with resentment that you know they wish they were burping at you instead. 'Twas chilly, so bundle up yous.
Our actual server was vivacious (possibly the understatement of the year) and chatted us up while calling my BF "Sugar" and "Guy" in a way that I would not find acceptable from just anyone. But it was somehow OK coming from her. She really was sweet, which is good because we only saw her twice after that. Her sweetness needed to last.
Service could be best compared to an Air-Wick FreshDome...strong and a little overpowering at first, then quickly tapering off to nothing. It was like she stepped into some portal and went elsewhere after our entrees were dropped. The food managed to make up for that.
This is what wound up on our table:
candied yams (pretty decent), collard greens (definitely not fat-free), the chicken dinner (looked like giant chicken nuggets), a beans/rice/seasonal veggies plate (heka-salty beans with not salty rice, it evened out), a Cobb salad, and sweet potato fries (thin as spaghetti noodles and freakishly delicious atop the Cobb). The one thing we didn't order, cornbread, came to us anyway on the house. Very nice, though not warm :(
Nary a word was exchanged for the next 15 minutes as we ate and ate and ate and ate. Napkins were dirtied, trees were sacrificed, spittle flew. The occasional "Mmmrrrph" or "Dmmmmmm" was heard as we happified our souls.
I was in Team Me heaven, washing my nibbles down with a soju cocktail called the Lavish Lemon. I could have drank gallons of it...deliciously fresh minty goodness in a glass. I would have definitely had 2 more if the opportunity arose for me to order them. *If you go, and have one, which you'd be a fool not to, pour your water in it afterwards for a nice refreshing sippa aqua.
For some reason, when the meal had come to an end, it wasn't dessert I wanted. It was a salad. (Wee Disclaimer: I didn't have any of the Cobb.) So, like a total Frenchie, I had the house green salad for my post-dinner pick-me-up. It had just the right amount of dressing on it and lots of shredded carrots. Yeah!
The real pleasure came with the bill. For everything we had, plus 2 cocktails, it was 46 and change. The sides? TWO DOLLARS EACH! Oh, if only I had known that earlier...I'd be sweatin' mashed potatoes right at this moment!
Yesway to Bluejay.
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I always get eggs benedict over crabcakes here. Down-to-earth, mellow crowd. Somewhat popular with hung over partiers on weekend mornings. At that time the service is understandably slow, but the staff is still fairly nice.
I LOVE Grits and they have some and Hot Links!! AWESOME!!!
So we went on a Sun LATE morning and there was NO wait, mind you it was overcast and we sat out in the back deck and a bit chilly but it was cool! Service was alright, not bad, the food was very good and relatively quick! The biscuits and gravy were good too!! Will go back!!!
I was reading San Francisco Magazine's review on Bluejay and saw that they gave it 3-1/2 to 4 stars, so decided to recommend this place to friends for us to give it a try. Let's just say everyone wanted to kill me by the end of the night. I don't know if we came in late, or if we came in a group they just couldn't handle, but no one was satisfied with their orders except for maybe a couple. I think I enjoyed my dish only because I chose the place and wanted everyone to share the same joy with me, but in reality my fried chicken was dry and the mashed potatoes weren't all that appealing. I guess it's really a hit or miss place. Try at your own risk.
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Now this review is a tough one. On the one hand, the crab cakes and sweet potato fries were excellent appetizers, small but well-sized to share among our party of five, and my entree of rice, spicy beans (yum) and andouille sausage satiated my hunger quite agreeably. Add to that a pleasant no-frills atmosphere and friendly waitstaff, and you ought to have the perfect saturday night dinner scenario.
However, at least on this particular saturday night the experience left us less than completely satisfied. First, the restaurant was understaffed and as a result we spent an interminable amount of time waiting for our food to arrive. Second, one of our entrees (pork chop) was so salty that our friend couldn't finish it. That was a real bummer especially in contrast to the rest of our dishes.
I'll conclude by saying that this is really a 3.5 star review and that I'd be perfectly happy to return to eat here again, hopefully with a more completely satisfying result.
Oh yeah, and big ups to the gentleman who moved his smaller group to the bar so that we could take his table. A grand gesture that in and of itself deserves five stars!
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Reminds me of southern cajun type food...hmm
The layout of this cafe is a bit different with the bar in the middle, but if you have a small party it doesn't matter. Standouts in my mind were the fried chicken, crab & potato cakes, cornbread, pork chops, and fish dishes.
Hard to park on nights.
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I went to dinner here alone on a Friday night. Plenty of space at the bar. I had a couple of beers and a burger with collards. I took the pineapple upsidedown cake home and ate it for breakfast. Everything was good and the service was great. This is my new "go to" spot for something to eat in the neighborhood.
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3.5 stars. While the service was excellent and the soju bloody marys delicious, I didn't really care for the poached eggs with biscuits and gravy I got. I probably made a wrong menu choice but the vegetarian gravy tasted pretty much like cream of mushroom soup. The bleu cheese and bacon scramble my friend got was better and the home fries were good though.
I liked the layout of the place, the mural on the wall and there was no wait when we got there. I'd be willing to go back and try something else.
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My favorite comfort food diner. In. the world. ever.
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I gave them 4 star because of the overall experience, but I would give them a 3 1/2 star for their food. My friends & I had the fried chicken, burger & the bread pudding.
I was very tempted to get the crab cakes but we were going to see a show after so I didn't want to be overfed. First they bring a complementary corn muffin with butter, it was the right consistency, savory & sweetness but the only thing was it was cold other wise it would of been great starter.
Fried Chicken with corn meal crust was very good, it wasn't greasy at all and well season. Although the sides was a bit bland, I had the collar greens which was underseason and no much flavor to it. My friend had the potato mash as an side which was great, creamy with out all the butter taste. The fried chicken also came with a biscuit not good, they should of serve the corn muffin instead.
My other friend had the burger which I did not taste but he said it was very good.
The we also order the bread pudding for dessert, the taste was there but it was a bit dry so we spoon over a couple table spoon of coffee and it made it so much better.
The drink of the night was 2 dollar beer so it was great for all of us.
We had 3 entree, 1 dessert and 5 beers and it came up to be $60 with tip included.
There is absolutely no better way to end a long day at work than to go to Blue Jay, order m e some fried chicken and drink $2 beers at my favorite neighborhood restaurant.
The mac and cheese is dreamworthy.
I crave the fried chicken fortnightly.
The Pomegranite crush is thirst quenching.
Service is always cheery, friendly and welcoming.
Did I mention that their fried chicken is good?
My friend and I were on a hunt for great fried chicken in the city so we came here after hearing good things. Unfortunately we were a bit disappointed. The fried chicken is not the buttermilk battered kind of fried chicken but the cornmeal/bread crumb kind. The service was fine, I had to ask for drink refills a couple of times. The sides were just okay too, though the greens were significantly better than the ones I had at Hard Knox cafe. The portion size is large, I took home an entire breast of chicken along with a bit of the sides. For fried chicken, Popeyes is still my choice.
Put me in the "want to like it, but just can't" camp. I did have a really excellent meal here several years ago, and the memory of that is what's been bringing me back, but I think I'm about ready to write this place off. Like Sarah K., I have on two occasions come in, sat down, waited to be at least acknowledged by the wait staff, and then gotten up and left. (On one of these occasions, there was only one other table with a customer, and the waitress stood chatting with the cook without even turning around to say "I'll be right there" or "Hello" or, well, anything.)
I'd heard it had gotten better, and the service wasn't awful today, although not that great either. But my eggs were lukewarm, I got no butter for my biscuits (heh -- that sounds like a euphemism, but it's not), and the place was filled with hipster douchebags in ironic sunglasses (strictly speaking, not the establishment's fault, but it made me a little stabby).
It's a shame -- this SHOULD be the perfect neighborhood joint, but it's completely underwhelming.
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Blue Jay has gotten a lot better than before. If I had written this review when they first opened I would have given it negative stars. It was very, very bad.
So, now it is mediocre and in my eyes, has improved. But please keep in mind I am comparing it with when I considered BJ the worst restaurant in the City. Now it is ok.
We ate breakfast there today, it was decent but small portions. The waitress was super nice and attentive, so we tipped her over 20%. She was awesome. We sat in the outside patio.
We have also eaten dinner there a couple of time in the past year and it was good. But I can't remember what I ate and it was only a couple of months ago, so it clearly isn't a memorable place.
Once we went and there was live jazz. It was nice but very loud. Luckily we know sign language so we could communicate, except it was hard to eat and sign at the same time. How to the hearing impaired people do it?
Anyway, we aren't boycotting BJ's anymore, nor do we curse their name. We only go when it is convenient and can't think of anything else. I agree Herbivore is much better, and I am not even vegetarian.
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I agree with Babs review. As a NoPa resident, I try very hard to support my local establishments. I've been here a few times and unfortunately, it leaves much to be desired. Granted, it's close and convenient but I'd much rather venture a bit further to actually have an enjoyable brunch.
The biscuits and gravy are pretty damn delicious (but they don't hold a candle to my grandma's) and the eggs Benedict are better than some places I've been. But everything else (i.e. service, atmosphere) is just plain mediocre.
I may eventually go back and try dinner, but as for brunch, I'd say skip it.
The califlower soup of the day was excellent. The pancakes were good. Everything else was fiine. and the grits sucked ass.
Blue Jay is an average place to get brunch. but no line on Saturday morning = bonus points.
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I had a very mixed experience here, and in all honesty, this is probably a 3.5 star review.
The server was very nice and helpful, although quite slow at times and seemed to hav e lost track of us once or twice. She was very friendly, though, and was more than happy to give her opinions of various items on the menu.
The ambiance of the restaurant was quite pleasant, albeit we were there on a Tuesday night, and I have heard that it can get very loud at other times. It gets a lot of natural light, and has a very cute, home-like decor.
Tuesday night is $2 Pilsner night, which was a big bonus. As for the food, I ordered the Red Snapper with a side of mashed potatoes. The Red Snapper was lightly fried and smothered in spices, but was essentially tasteless. It was a light, soft texture and rather tender, but just lacked any interesting flavor other than spiciness. The mashed potatoes were 'eh'... they were cold, but a nice, thick texture. The cornbread was excellent, but it would have been better served warm. The biscuit was good as well.
I know that all sounds bad. And it was. But I tried some of the dishes that other people got, and some of them were much better. The Mac 'N' Cheese was tasty, but under salted and not as cheesy as one might expect. The fried chicken was quite good. It was not overly breaded, and had an excellent composition of spices on top, with succulent, juicy chicken beneath. A real treat. Similarly, the friend Catfish was terrific. In many ways quite similar to the fried chicken, you could really taste the fish (in a good way), and it was topped with an excellent spicy tartar sauce.
Dessert was also a real treat. We ordered the Strawberry Shortcake and the Apply Pie for the table. The Apple Pie was good, although rather standard, but topped with their fantastic home-made whipped cream. The Strawberry Shortcake was amazing, though. Featuring their home-made biscuits (sweetened this time), as well as their home-made whipped cream, and really fresh sweetened strawberries. Now to be missed.
All in all, a solid experience. I plan on going back, if for nothing else than to have a plate of either the fried chicken or catfish to myself.
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