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Brenda's French Soul Food
Categories: Restaurants Cajun/Creole Restaurants Breakfast & Brunch Restaurants Soul Food Cajun/Creole, Breakfast & Brunch, Soul Food [Edit]
652 Polk St(between Turk St & Eddy St)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Tenderloin
(415) 345-8100
- Hours:
Mon-Tue 8 am - 3 pm
Wed-Sat 8 am - 10 pm
Sun 8 am - 8 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Breakfast, Brunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
2756 reviews for Brenda's French Soul Food
Review Highlights
-
"Their watermelon iced tea is delicious as well." In 287 reviews -
"I can't wait to go back for their beignet flight." In 295 reviews -
"The shrimp and grits were especially wonderful." In 258 reviews
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- A Yelpy Insight: Vegetarians go nuts for this spot. See more places they like.
2755 reviews in English
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Review from Vera W.
WORTH THE WAIT. And, the wait isn't even that long if you go at the right time. I love this place. First of all, I love soul food. Second of all, this place rocks my socks off. I love the atmosphere, very casual. Of course, I came here for the crab beignets that are on the 7x7 List. Well, I decided to order the beignet flight because I thought, might as well try all the beignets. Annnnd, I can see why the crab beignet is the favorite one. It is amazingly delicious and flavorful. So so so good! There were also the normal beignet (tastes like a cake-y doughtnut), a chocolate beignet (meh) and an apple pie filling beignet (meh again, but I'm biased because I don't like apple pie). The savory one beat out the sweet ones, by far. I also had the watermelon iced tea--which is refillable! I didn't know that, and when the waitress kept coming over to refill, I was just so happy. I liked the ice tea!
I would definitely come back to try the other dishes. Everything here looks soooo good. And, the serving sizes are beyond large. -
Review from Jessalyn C.
La Jolla, CA
5/25/2012 1 Check-in Here
I'm not sure how much value this review can add to a place with 2753 reviews and counting.
-Love the watermelon tea
-Love the shrimp and grits (shrimp cooked perfectly, carmelized onions, slight sweetness/tang in the sauce, bacon!, and porridge-y grits)
-Love shrimp&oyster po-boy (although next time I'd probably just get shrimp or try the catfish, especially right after eating at swan oyster.. yes, we had two lunches)
-Love the interior walls and decor
-Love being able to take Monday off and come in with very little wait! -
Review from Sofie Z.
San Francisco, CA
5/23/2012
Yumm!!!
Get the shrimp and grits and the banana pancakes! Coffee is delish as well.
Solid service and reasonable prices.
Make sure you hit the gym the day after:-) -
Review from Erica T.
I came the day of the Asian Heritage Street Celebration. Thank god it wasn't busy and they sat us right away. Go early! 9:30am is a good time to go without having to wait, but if you go there 10-20 mins after, the wait gets long.
I ordered the following:
Crawfish Beignets 2.75 each
Spiced with cayenne, scallions & cheddar: SOO GOOD! It was the best item I got that day. It was spicy and you could taste the crawfish. The dough on the beignet was also pretty awesome. Eat it all, I was sad that I didn't get to finish the ONE that I ordered.
Grits was good.
They forgot to give me my biscuit and it was also a bit overcooked which made it really dry. It was darker than the biscuit on the table next to me. Again, I am sad.
Creole Seafood Frittata $12.95
Crawfish, Shrimo, Ansoulle sausages, and cheddar: Hrm, I expected this to be pretty awesome, but I was disappointed. The smell was way off, as if something wasn't fresh or fully cooked. My bf said it smelled like mold. I realized that the shrimp was the thing that made the dish smell and taste bad.
Hangtown Fry $11: This was really good. The oysters was cooked perfectly and it didn't give off a bad seafood smell like mine.
I wish I could give this place more stars, but for the dish I got, I had to dock two stars. It was just bad BAD. My bf's dish and the beignets was really good.Listed in: Breakfast/brunch and…
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Review from Margie S.
San Diego, CA
5/22/2012 1 Check-in Here
4 words: Crawfish Beignets, 'nuff said
After having dined here before on a previous trip. We decided that the crawfish beignets alone was worth the visit again. Although they serve up other delicious soul food flavors, it really doesn't justify a 1hr+ wait for brunch, no place does really...
This time we smartened up, we put our order in for beignets to go, walked around the corner to Philz and came back to to our piping hot beignets waiting for us in a to-go bag. We were right, the beignets did not let us down and more importantly we had the joy of watching other diners waiting in line suffer while we enjoyed our beignets right in front of them.
Check out pics of Brenda's and our other reviews here: http://www.facebook.co... and don't forget to LIKE FOODSTRUCK on fb! -
Review from Jamie T.
Saratoga, CA
5/17/2012 1 Check-in Here
Simply put, I wish Brenda was my grandma. I know I'll probably be 15lbs heavier if this were true, but her food is absolutely amazing.
First off, I've heard that this place has a long wait, but we came early (6:15pm) so it worked out very well. We wrote our name on the chalk board and were instantly seated.
Secondly, get the Watermelon Iced Tea. I'll say it again: get the Watermelon Iced Tea. It's only $2.75 and you get FREE REFILLS.
The three of us shared three entrees:
1. BFC - There was nothing wrong with the fried chicken, but what really stood out was Mac N Cheese that came along with it. I don't even want to think about how many sticks of butter went into that thing, but I can tell you that it simply melts in your mouth, and it gives you that "Oh-face" going on (you know what I'm talking about).
2. BBQ Pork Ribs - For those of you who are unsure of what to order, I would recommend this. Cheaper than the BFC, and much tastier in my opinion. The pork ribs were amazing. It was so soft I didn't need a knife to get the meat. This was a very impressive dish, and the southern flavors really nicely with the BBQ aspect of the meal. Seal of approval.
3. Catfish Po'Boy - Another great dish from Brenda. I don't know how you do it Brenda, but your chipotle rémoulade sauce that smothered the fried catfish was seriously to die for. Buttery, tangy, and salty - a very dangerious but delicious combination I must say. Although I thought the catfish was a little undercooked, my friends thought this was the best dish out of the three. I would definitely recommend this.
All the amazing food here made me wish I were a professional food critic, hence my first yelp post. On top of this, we all went home to watch Pixar's Ratatouillle for more French delights. Overall, it was a great experience and I will definitely be coming here again. -
Review from M H.
San Francisco, CA
5/25/2012
We've been here for brunch and dinners and like the food. This review is on the service that night from that one waitress. 2 of us showed up for dinner on Thursday night. Got there before 9 pm and got a rather unwelcoming look from the waitress while we waited to be seated.
We were told to sit in the small tables in the cramped portion of the restaurant. She refused our request for a table on the half filled side of the restaurant that had more space. I suppose she beleived that the convenience of the Restaurant superceeds its paying patrons..... We left and went somewhere that actually welcomed us. -
Review from summer r.
San Francisco, CA
Damn Brenda, I ran all the way from the Civic Center Bart station just for you (and 3 others who were sorta impatiently waiting for me. hah!) But guuuurl, you've got your crawfish beignets down. Seriously so fulfilling and so flavorful. I ordered the beignet flight and all were equally satisfying, and had to be enjoyed throughout the day because the crawfish got me full.
Now if we weren't rushed for time and I weren't sweating from the quick run, I'd be down to stay a while and enjoy almost everything else on the menu. But I'll be back. Save a seat for me. -
Review from Franda L.
Anaheim, CA
5/24/2012
Sometimes I find myself drooling at the thought of those Crawfish Beignets. Hot, chewy, creamy, cheesy. OoOoOoOo! Lawd have mercy. This was our first eatery stop when we got into the city. Endured an 1hr+ wait to get into this place but it was sooo worth it. Shrimp n' Grits are heaven!
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Review from Saterah M.
Los Angeles, CA
5/15/2012 1 Check-in Here
Brenda has soul!
If they have those sweet potato pancakes, get them and ask for some extra syrup to take home and bathe in!
The shrimp and grits were great! I don't know what she does to create that sweet tomato and bacon gravy, but it's amazing on those cheesy silky grits. The biscuits are larger than Hollywood celebrity implants and a lot softer!
Whatever you order, get a side of ham. That is the sweetest, smokiest, slice of lovin' I've ever had. I love this place and plan on stopping back by when I'm in town again.
Wear comfy shoes, because she attracts quite a crowd and you may be standing on Polk St. for a lil while, but it is TOTALLY worth it! -
Review from Cara K.
San Francisco, CA
My friend & I came here on a Tuesday, right before noon and there was no line! We got seated right away and got our food within 10 minutes of ordering. I hate waiting for food so this was definitely a great and quick experience.
I ordered the Hangtown Fry with hash and biscuit and a watermelon ice tea. At first I thought the iced tea was weird, but it actually tastes really good. My omelette with fried oysters & green onion was amazing! And the biscuit is to-die-for. Everything I had was great and I'm pretty impressed with this spot. I should've tried it a long time ago but never got the chance. Now i know why my friends keep raving about it.
The only thing I didn't like is the neighborhood it's in, and the parking, of course. But the restaurant itself deserves 5 stars. -
Review from Kevin J.
Brenda is serving up some mean soul food here at this local hot-spot in SF. The wait was incredible, seeing as how we had such a large party and a few late comers, but the food was WELL worth the price of admission. Beignets, beignets, beignets!!! EVERYONE at the table was expecting little tasty bites of sweet and savory selections having grabbed 3 flights to taste each morsel. None of us knew we were going to get softball size delectables. Wow! I mean these things were HUGE and we were right to grab each flavor as they were all wonderful. Granted the plain beignet was a bit dull after having all of the other 3 flavors, but still worth it with Brenda's strawberry preserves on the table in front of us.
I opted out of the huge meal knowing that I was going to get a taste of everyone's meal. the biscuits are to die for, so I ordered that and their country sausage gravy. Good stuff, but probably not the most flavorful I've experienced... probably why it's not a staple on their menu. The fried green tomatoes were a nice touch the specials of the day. The eggs benedicts were flowing throughout the restaurant with fluffy white eggs and creamy centers surfacing all over the table. Brenda is not shy of her sauce - let me just say that.
I believe everyone quickly forgot about the wait and had a pleasant time drinking mimosas and sipping coffee while staring at soon-to-be-empty plates. thanks for doing us right Brenda! -
Review from Mississippi R.
Santa Clara, CA
5/19/2012
I have been on a search for real true authentic Creole and Southern Country food since I moved to CA and I can honestly say I found only one and sadly it closed many years ago. I had newfound hope however after reading the reviews about Brenda's. I read the reviews and even did research using articles about her and her place in various magazines and websites. I was even more convinced that I had found what I needed after finding out that she like me is Creole. That meant I had to go.
Last Saturday night I went there for dinner with my lady and proceeded to be thoroughly disappointed. We ordered the grilled oysters with their "tchopitoulas" sauce and crawfish beignets as an appetizer. Our main dishes were shrimp and grits and the oyster poboy.
The oyster dish was ok but it was nothing special and in my opinion was overpriced at 2.75 each. The crawfish beignet was ok but too cheesey in my opinion. Same with the other dishes we had. The maque choux was the worse part of the meal as it was not even close to how it is traditionally made. Heck my lady's biscuit was even burned. Watermelon iced tea while different was simply iced tea with pieces of watermelon in it and was not overly impressive. Plain sweet tea from Chick Fil A is 1000 times better. Service however was good.
I'm not sure where the majority of reviewers who've given Brenda's such high marks are from but what she does is simply mediocre food. Nothing stood out as being delicious or even remotely close to what I grew up eating or make at home. I'm glad I went there to try the place out but I'm still searching for my goto place. I don't plan on going back to Brenda's and can't recommend as a sure fire spot to hit for Creole/Southern goodness. -
Review from FoodJunkie S.
San Francisco, CA
5/16/2012
If I could give Brenda's 6 stars, I would! Food is amazing. (Just don't think about the butter and fat that's in it.) Service was ok and fast.
Only caution is the LONG, LONG wait. So strategize and try to go when everyone else isn't doing brunch/lunch. If you must, have a little bit of something to prepare for the long wait. Also, bring quarters for the parking meters. Parking can be tough. -
Review from Sam E.
North Hollywood, CA
5/16/2012
Located right on the edge of the Civic Center district, Brenda's was completely worth the trip. The place itself is nice and bright, and the servers were all attentive and friendly.
We started with the beignet flight (apple-, chocolate-, and crawfish-stuffed beignets along with a plain one) which could have been a meal all unto itself. To stop there would have been a travesty, as the food was superb. Everything on the menu looked great, and the specials board made deciding what to get even harder. I ended up getting the eggs Benedict with pulled pork special, which comes served on top of one of their killer homemade biscuits. It was probably one of the best things I've ever had!
Expect to wait for a bit, as they don't take reservations, but it is well worth the wait. It's easier for smaller groups to get seated, so keep that in mind. -
Review from James L.
5/14/2012 1 photo
At the suggestion of a friend, found my way here as my last food stop before heading back to So Cal. This was a great way to wrap up my trip and a reminder that SF food is simply one of a kind.
Thinking that the wait would be ridiculous for Mother's Day, it actually wasn't that bad. Got there at 8:45 and was seated around 9:10 (party of 2, and I guess a wave of customers were just leaving).
I tried the flight of beignets which is basically like a fried donut with goodies inside. I the flight comes with 4 and I would rank them like so:
1- plain
2- crawfish
3- apple
4- chocolate - this one just didn't do it for me...
I got the sandwich that looks like it's dipped in egg, fried and topped with melted cheese. I can't say the name but it's on the menu if you looked. It reminded me of a ham croissant sandwich if it was deep fried? The french fries that came with it were great, cooked perfectly, and the cut was exactly how I like it. The pickled watermelon was a nice touch.
The start of the meal was probably the catfish eggs benedict. You can actually appreciate the taste of the catfish, and the biscuit is just a great mixture of fluffy and crisp. Hollandaise... mmm! I would get this again in a heartbeat. These came with their potatoes which were just alright.
The only regret: not getting a dish that had grits in it. I felt like every table either got a benedict or the grits... I will make sure to add that to my list when I am back in table. It definitely is going to get a spot on my food itinerary in the future! -
Review from Carpe D.
San Francisco, CA
5/16/2012
I really dislike to wait for my food, but I must say that this time it is worth it. I had the tartine and it was really great. Forgot what my husband had, but he was quite happy too.
The space is cute, and the menu is super creative.
I am removing a star for the service. Our waitress didn't even asked us how things were going when she did for the table NEXT to us and behind us. I wanted some sour creme on the side, but it's as if she purposefully avoided to look at me every time I tried to get her attention... We were not given a chance to order other drinks, as the check was shoved on our face and our plates removed the minute there was no food left on the table, and new utensiles placed in front of us. Not such a good feeling. I don't care how good your food is, if your staff sucks, it doesn't matter much to me. -
Review from Stephanie C.
San Francisco, CA
I'm the type of person that if I don't eat or drink coffee by a certain point in the morning/afternoon, I get extremely cranky. The thought of waiting for over an hour and a half for brunch at Brenda's sounded excruciatingly painful but being up for an brunch adventure, I decided to suck it up and go.
The boyfriend and I arrived at Brenda's around 12:30 and luckily we were seated about 30 minutes later...SCORE! Be prepared to wait for awhile, especially during peak brunch hours, because it definitely gets crowded. There is a board that you can put your name on and counter seating is first-come-first -serve.
Specials are listed on the boards outside and the afternoon we went, they were offering a Catfish Eggs Benedict, which my boyfriend ordered. I ordered the Eggs Florentine and we also shared the flight of the beignets (plain, chocolate, apple, and crawfish). The beignets had to be my favorite part of the meal and I highly recommend them! My favorites were the plain and crawfish beignets. The plain was covered in powdered sugar and was light and sweet; the crawfish beignet was sprinkled with paprika and it was very spicy and savory.
We both loved our benedicts but I'd have to say the catfish benedict was the best out of the two. The catfish was crispy and light, perfectly fried. Both benedicts were made on biscuits and came with a side of potatoes. I thought the biscuits were a little dry. The hollandaise sauce was great - creamy and just a bit spicy. If you are really hungry, I'd recommend these! It was way too much food for me, though.
Service was fast and efficient. Our server was kind and always made sure we had everything we needed. She convinced us to get the flight of beignets and I'm glad she did because we got to try a little bit of everything.
I really enjoyed brunch at Brenda's and will definitely go back, especially for those beignets! ;)Listed in: You're going…, Brunch!
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Review from Nikki L.
San Francisco, CA
Their Watermelon Iced Tea was so refreshing and crisp! My favorite thing here! I came here for breakfast on a Wednesday morning so there was no wait. The service was decent.
We had the Beignet Flight and the Grillades & Grits. The flight consisted of four beignets (plain, chocolate, granny smith apple, and crawfish). The beignets here are heavy and doughy. My favorite was the chocolate! Gooey, melty deliciousness in the center of a fried ball of dough. Yum. The crawfish beignet was very tasty and flavorful but slightly fishy. The apple one tasted like an apple pie. The plain left much to be desired, but add a bit of the strawberry compote and you've got something.
The Grillades & Grits is described as beef cutlets braised in a spicy creole gravy, served with grits & two eggs any style. The sauce was flavorful with many spices. It was definitely needed to accompany the plain grits.
This was a decent breakfast for $30. Very heavy though. I would return but I think for lunch or dinner instead! -
Review from Ashley L.
Came here for brunch on a Saturday morning after it was highly recommended by a girlfriend.
Walk in, put your name on the chalkboard list with the number of people in your party. Then be patient! We had a party of 6 and waited a little under an hour to be seated, which seems quick as the standard wait here is longer. Brenda's food was so good for my soul, so bad for my diet. Very satisfying. The service here was a bit unfriendly, but it was attentive.
**Beignet flight--- (Original/Chocolate/Apple/Crawfish) These are huge and very hearty. Good for sharing. The crawfish beignets are savory, creamy and rich with a dusting of paprika seasoning on top. The others are dusted with powdered sugar on top and are very sweet. The apple was my favorite.
** Gumbo--- Huge chunks of chicken, sausage and okra. Simple and good. I really liked it.
** Shrimp n Grits--- So savory, creamy and flavorful. Topped with mildly spicy tomato-bacon sauce and melted cheese. Melt in your mouth delicious.
** Croque Monsieur--- Baked ham and gruyère topped with béchamel sauce on sourdough. This was too rich and salty for my taste.
Try their homemade strawberry jam, its delicious! -
Review from Maya S.
5/7/2012
Butter makes everything better. From the grits to the biscuits to the saucy filling of the crawfish beignets, there's a lot of butter in Brenda's food.
I tried the crawfish beignets, shrimp & grits, and the fried catfish eggs benedict during Sunday brunch. Each dish was executed perfectly. I can easily overlook the fact that my dining experience (55 min.) was shorter than how long I waited to get into the restaurant (1 hr, 10 min.) considering how friggin good the food is here. The crawfish beignets were like big ol' piroshkis with hunks of mudbug meat. The shrimp & grits was a plate of cheesy homeyness with acidic bits of tomato and sweet shrimp. The benedict had a beautifully poached egg and some tasty crunchy catfish atop a buttery biscuit.
My only notes would be that because of the butter, the grits aren't your traditional kind. I actually prefer grits less buttery with dashes of tabasco. Also, the shrimp & grits plate can become a little monotonous because of the cheesiness and the grits. But I found it difficult to finish the plate anyways so you'll likely have leftovers for later. Also, I tried the sweet watermelon house tea which simply, didn't knock my socks off.
Tips:
- Come on a Sunday bc meters are free. However, I hear starting next year, meters will start running on Sundays so hurry up and get to Brenda's now!!
- If you're driving to Brenda's, drive by the restaurant. Even though there's tons of people waiting outside, I noticed there were vacant spots right in front that drivers overlooked.
- Put your name on the board and then walk over to Van Ness to get some Philz while you wait.
- The entire Brenda's experience was just over 2 hours for my bf and me. If you're going to Brenda's you'll need to block out that much time in your day, maybe 3-4 hours for bigger groups.
- Make a friend in the area. If you're planning on going to Brenda's, ask your friend to put your name on the board ahead of time and by the time you get to Brenda's, your anticipated wait time will be shortened or completely eliminated. -
Review from Katie S.
5/9/2012
The croque monsieur is hands down one of the best things I have EVER consumed. The first bite was mind-blowing.
Service was also very quick.
But I must insist they serve the mac & cheese during lunch and not only dinner! I will be back to try that, as well as a po' boy.
I now understand the hype around Brenda's. -
Review from j d.
San Francisco, CA
5/23/2012
Came here at 2pm on a sunday and there was no wait.
Everything we tried was very unique: crawfish beignet, watermelon iced tea, grits, and a more traditional breakfast item.
I think they're all worth trying once, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come back, esp. given the long wait at regular hours. -
Review from Janice W.
5/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
I guess I came here with high expectations, but I was seriously expecting better.
The service was great/attentive, and my watermelon iced tea was constantly refilled. It was just the food that wasn't quite satisfactory.
Amazingly, we were seated for dinner time right away. My boyfriend actually joked after dinner that maybe people rave about this place so much because they had to wait longer for seating, thus making them hungrier... Anyway, here's what we ordered:
Oyster Flight - I actually liked this dish the most. The oysters were juicy and fresh, and the seasonings were different, but complimented it well. A bit pricey at $8.75 for three oysters, but eh, whatever.
Crawfish Beignets - I can honestly say that these were what I was looking forward to the most. I love love love crawfish, and when I saw the pictures of the crawfish beignets here, I knew I had to have them. Beautifully presented as they were, my disappointment came after the first bite. It tasted nothing like I imagined (this is my fault, but just sayin'), and as another reviewer said, they basically tasted like an upscale hot pocket.
BFC - Brenda's fried chicken. I thought this dish was OKAY. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it wasn't horrible either. Just meh.
Shrimp Po-Boy - this was probably the second highlight of our dinner, after the oysters. The shrimp was super fresh and the breading wasn't overwhelming - plus the chipotle sauce they had over the shrimp was delicious. I was too full to finish the po-boy, but if I were to come here again, this would probably be the only thing I would order.
Overall, not a bad place to try out, but definitely not at the top of my list for food. -
Review from Michael R.
Vallejo, CA
Updated - 5/14/2012
After the gathering of the Thieves and assassins guild, came back to Brendas,
I ordered the Chicken fried steak.
And ended up licking my fingers from the taste of Mashed potatoes.
And how could I forget the greens?!?! The special is totally worth it. I love you, Brenda!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/7/2012
Dear Brenda, Who are you and Why do you make me want to talk in a French
creole accent like Gambit… Read more »
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Review from Bella M.
San Francisco, CA
5/20/2012
I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting from Brenda's - but I walked away feeling I didn't get French NOR soul food, but some weird California bastardization of "soul" food. Fortunately we were a party of two and no one wanted the two remaining seats at the bar, so our wait was close to nil even though there was a long line that spilled out onto the street. I debated between the crawfish beignets and the pork belly grits, but in the end the pork belly won out (probably for the better, as some reviewers described the "beignets" as being more like hollowed out cornbread than fluffy donuts... No thanks!) The pork belly was spectacular. It was crisp on the bottom and pull apart soft in the middle, with a softish skin on top. It would've been even greater if the skin were crunchy. The grits were okay, but the spicy onion relish and cheese helped it all go down easy. My bf had the bacon and egg tartine and unfortunately the best part of his meal were the potatoes. The scramble eggs looked curiously pale, and he said the cheese and bread were bland.
Based on the glowing reviews I expected more. But I think it's misleading to call this restaurant "French" soul food. -
Review from Ha N.
5/1/2012
My favorite place for brunch in the city.
Must gets:
Flight of beignets or really just an order of the crawfish beignets... It's like the best crawfish "hot pocket" ever, it's seriously bursting with flavor in every bite.
Watermelon ice tea: trust me, you're going to need a tall glass of this refreshing drink after waiting in that super long line.
Oyster Po'Boy: ridiculously good, perfectly seasoned and deep fried (I had you at deep fried, huh?)
Pulled pork eggs benedict: enough said
and most importantly, the carbs, the hash and creamy biscuits, so good. The only downside is the size of this place and the crazy long lines, but no worries the watermelon ice tea will restore your good humor. -
Review from Linda W.
San Francisco, CA
5/22/2012
Brenda's watermelon ice tea is so refreshing i have to have a cup or two.. or three whenever i dine here. I really like their beignets thats a must. I usually get the hangtown fry is i go for breakfast. But for lunch i strongly recommend the fried chicken! Their spice mix is amazing.
I can't wait to come back. I am never disappointed when i eat here. :) -
Review from Kathleen N.
San Jose, CA
4/29/2012 1 Check-in Here
Place is always PACKED. My friend and I decided to order to-go to bypass the ridiculous wait. We took our food and drove over to Golden Gate Park to get our grub on, picnic-style! Our stash included the Hangtown Fry, a brunchy sandwich of some sort, the Beignet Flight, and the highly raved Sweet Watermelon Tea.
The Hangtown Fry consisted of crisp oysters, bacon, & scallions. It was OK... in general I'm not a fan of steamed egg and this reminded me of it. And the oysters were not "crisp" whatsoever so they just added to the mushy-ness. I was done and over it halfway through. The watermelon tea was also just OK...I tasted fresh watermelon juices, water, and no sign of tea. I'm a true melon fan, and definitely a tea fan; but this missed the mark.
My friend enjoyed her sandwich but didn't find it memorable. And given how filling the food is, she was only able to sample one of her beignets. She thought it was OK, too. They looked pretty dense and doughy (aren't they supposed to be light and fluffy?).
Overall, I felt a little letdown since I absolutely love southern comfort food. Perhaps brunch time is just not for me and I should check them out for dinner. I could really go for some fried chicken!Listed in: Comfort Food
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Review from Veasna H.
5/8/2012
If I could just review them on the Crawfish Beignets and Creole Bloody Mary, it would have been 5 stars!!! I like spicy, and both satisfied me on that front. The Beignets were warm and dusted with enough creole pixie dust that you could have flown off your seat! The crawfish and cheese combo inside oozed out as you dug your fork in. So flavorful...that fish CRAY!!! Don't lose the green onions on top, they add to the flavor blast! The bloody mary was also amazing, if I was with my heavy drinker friend, i might have had seconds!!!
The rest of the food was okay. I got the Pork Belly special, and I thought the pork was a little tough, and the skin on didn't really help the situation. The bed of cheddar grits it was placed on was good. Could have done without the relish. I had some of my friends Catfish benedict...it was good. I think I need to try that for myself, a whole order. The biscuits were huge, but flavor wise just okay. Not as good as the biscuits at Iron Side.
Overall I had a pleasant brunch here. The food I had was good, and there was so much more on the menu, I will definitely be back! -
Review from Talia G.
Crawfish and Apple and Chocolate, Oh My!
Your Guide to a Successful Brenda's Brunch:
Step 1: Get excited. Very excited.
Step 2: Put your name on the list and be prepared for a 30-45 minute wait. This really isn't long when you compare it to other brunch places around the city.
Step 3: ORDER THE BEIGNET FLIGHT. The crawfish is ahhhmazing, the chocolate is decadent, the apple tastes like pie, and the plain...well, I don't actually know, I didn't try it.
Step 4: Order an entree with a biscuit and grits. Rave about how amazing it is. Eat off your friends plates as they eat off yours. Finish 1/3rd of the entree because you just can't eat anymore. Take the rest home. Enter into hard core food coma for the next several hours.
Successful Brunch Complete.
My Meal Breakdown:
* Beignet Flight ($9.50). See Step 3 above for my beignet descriptions. For reference, they're pretty large - about the size of my fist.
* The Egg and Bacon Tartine ($9.50). My favorite of our non-beignet dishes. The tomato relish on top was sweet, savory, and delicious. Comes with your choice of grits or home fries. Both are fantastic, though I think it's more rare to find good grits than good home fries.
* Creole Seafood and Sausage Frittata Special ($12.50). Covered in cheese. filled with shrimp and other seafood, and served with a biscuit in addition to grits. As I've said, the biscuit and grits were AMAZING. Best I've ever had. Granted, I haven't eaten that much soul food in my life.
* Fried Green Tomato and Bacon Benedict Special ($12.50), also served with grits or potatoes. Delicious, but prepare yourself for crazy rich hollandaise.
Mmmm I can't wait to come back!Listed in: Badass Brunches
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Review from Jackie S.
5/7/2012 4 photos
I miss New Orleans with all of the incredible soul food! Brenda's is a good alternative if one cannot travel to NOLA. Compared to NOLA food, Brenda's is a lot healthier - less cream/rich flavors and less salty.
Crawfish beignets were pretty good. The crawfish stuffing was tasty. We noticed that the dough for the beignets was denser compared to beignets in NOLA, so that was a minus.
The sweet potato dumplings were delicious. I added crawfish and shrimp for an additional cost. I thought there could have been more dumplings since this dish seemed a little costly with the added seafood.
The shrimps and grits was a recommendation from the waitress. If you like cheese, this dish is perfect for you.
As for dessert, we got the sampler beignets - plain, chocolate, and apple. Plain was not good. It was not the same as Café du Monde. The texture was crunchy and doughy. Chocolate was a little too much. I liked apple since it was like eating an apple pie.
The tables are close together, so you can hear your neighbor's conversation. Just a FYI in case you have an intimate conversation.
Dinner was around $50 for two people. -
Review from Shell J.
San Francisco, CA
5/11/2012
Heard of this place for awesome brunch, went to try with friend. Highly recommended.
Sweet Watermelon House Tea tastes really good!! We tried Beignet flight - plain, chocolate, crawfish, granny smith apple. All yummy!! Croque Monsieur is great too.
There're a few other things highly rated here, we saw on other tables. Juicy look, definitely want to try them all some other time.
The interior reminds me of New Orleans. Love it! -
Review from Adena B.
San Francisco, CA
4/29/2012 1 photo
Want my advice? Go for the flight of beignets. If you're in a group, get the biggest piece of the crawfish beignet. Trust me.
Went in for brunch and ordered the special: pork belly with cheese grits and a poached egg, topped with a spicy tomato sauce and scallions. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? It tasted even better.
There's always a painfully long line, but it's just SO worth it. -
Review from Scott E.
San Francisco, CA
5/21/2012
Absolutely awesome. The crawfish beignets are amazing (as are their other beignets), and they have some great specials, like the bananas foster french toast. I'm glad to see the expanded menu includes all of the southern style "benedicts."
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Review from Tina L.
San Francisco, CA
5/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I *heart* soul food. And Brenda's is straight up legit. I've been here twice in the past few months and the wait was never really a problem. Both times our wait times were under 10 minutes.
The Grits = "I die" moments. (It was even better the next morning since I took part of it to go)
Sweet potato dumplings are really light and great for those who don't want a heavy meal.
The staff is really friendly, and the ambiance was really cool (I'm all about the ambiance). Even though our group of friends laughed extremely loudly and made really unfunny jokes related to our classes and the law, no one gave us weird looks or made us feel out of place.
This place is great to hang with friends and cool enough to take your lady love out on a date. And of course, the food is amaze-balls!!!! -
Review from Lucia C.
4/24/2012
The other reviews were right, and I'm going to add to the hype.
Their watermelon ice tea is amazing - I couldn't believe it when I read it, but this is the sheeet (&this isn't even one of those asian drink places!)!
Favorite thing(s) from their menu: chocolate and crawfish filled beignets. Note: they're not as fluffy as Angeline's in Berkeley, but they're filled with YUMMM! genius! :)
Some not so favorite things: Their wait was over an hour long for 3 people on a Sat morning. And it was a pretty sketchy trek to get over here - there were gypsies and a person who thought I was a soldier? I guess it's nice to know I'm not feeble looking! -
Review from Diana L.
San Francisco, CA
4/22/2012
Absolutely delicious!!! I was iffy about the crawfish beignets, but it is absolutely a must order. It's a simply delicious; cheese and crawfish stuffed in a nice dense/ fuffy dough. I ordered the ribs and oh man they were good the meat fell off the bones the sauce was delicious. The portion was good two large ribs with collard greens and Mac and cheese. The Mac and cheese was quite bland and I have never been quite fond of collard green but the ribs were just that good.
We also ordered the shrimp po'boy, it was delicious as well large fried shrimp but still the ribs were still better. I had a ron and Mac and cheese left over so I had it to go and man in the morning my mouth was salivating thinking about the left overs. The best thing of all is that the ribs were just as good the next day.
One word, YUMMMM!!!!!!!!!! -
Review from kim w.
San Francisco, CA
4/24/2012
C'mon.......all hype.
Did I go to the wrong Brenda's everyone says is so bomb? Everything was either covered in oil or butter, and I love clogging my arteries with lard!! but this is too much. beignets??? bleh. They need to try Chinese donuts or Trish's donuts. Best thing here were the biscuits and jam. When I took my leftovers home, which was everything I ordered, the boxes were soaked with oil in minutes. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long to sit, or I would've been more disappointed. -
Review from Joe G.
San Francisco, CA
5/21/2012
Absolutely amazing food. And large portions too! Here's a hint: order small, come often. My friend and I ordered two breakfasts and an order of beignets, neither of us could finish but we wanted to so badly!
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