Caffe Trieste
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 6:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 6:30 a.m.-12:00 a.m.
Sun 7:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. - 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: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Wi-Fi: Free
- Good for: Breakfast
193 reviews
Neighborhood: Union Square
"I go here for lunch on occasion cause i work around the corner and i love it. They changed chefs not too long ago and somethings were a…" read more »
48 Reviews for Caffe Trieste
I was directed to Trieste one night when trying to find something (still) open in Sausalito...which is apparently hard to do after about 8pm.
Needless to say, I couldn't go wrong and have since been back twice. There is just something really appealing about this spot...its got a good atmosphere, great food, large selection of said food, fresh selection of said food, good beers on tap...and is generally a good place to go at any time of day. Breakfast, check. Pizza, check. Sandwhiches, check. Salads, check. Bakery, check. Gelato, check.
Definately an oasis in a town filled with tourist-heavy eats.
Breakfast sandwiches took a little long but they were delightful, as was the fresh squeezed from one of those Zumex machines OJ. Little tables or little counter... don't plan on spreading out here! Very Euro feeling which is nice once in a while.
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Because I am writing this review and not my companions who both thought their drinks were too strong and bitter (vanilla latte and americano with vanilla) I am bestowing the three stars and not two. However they are lucky b/c service basically sucked.
I got an iced mocha and it was pretty darn good, taking into account the fact that they used a powder for the chocolate (yikes). This place would most likely flounder in Seattle, but I guess in the small hamlet of Sausalito it is able to somehow make it. I would say, "Shape up or Ship Out Trieste." Or better yet I'll try and convince my Seattle favs to open an outpost in the Bay Area when I move...;)
I've been passing this place for two years. Thought it was just a corner coffee house. Not true. A small and very intimate restaurant with an extensive chalk board menu.
I had a glass of wine here with a new acquaintence this evening. Cozy little tables. Lots of intimate one-on-one conversations. I felt the World was being reordered and changed in each of those little conversations.
My World was. I felt it with each sip of wine. Things would never be the same. What was black & white will now be a VIVID RED. A whole new direction. Screaming down a tunnel!
All over an inexpensive, but good glass of wine at Caffe Trieste!
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Just like the original, this place rocks. The coffee is spot on, even when they are busy, they get the milk spot on, not to foamy and not scalding hot.
I come here after my bike rides and relax after many many miles on the saddle just to watch other cyclists go by and check out their bikes. Their Menu is a little larger than the one in North Beach so you can have a pizza with your panini.
Needs more bike parking.
Really cute, very "Sausalito" cafe... lots of characters, lots of interesting conversation... or vain, vapid, self absorbed conversation, but that is the spectrum of human life. The menu is pricey, but the orange juice is one of those INCREDIBLY AWESOME ITALIAN OJ MAKING MACHINES, uses the whole orange. It is awesome. I have met for business, pleasure, and always had a nice old time here.
Plus more because you are likely to meet a friendly pup on most occasions.
A couple of years ago, I thought this was some of the best coffee around, but now I am spoiled by the fresh-roasted & ground beans from which my espresso is extracted at home. No, you can't come over, it's mine! I actually prefer Trieste when it's raining and the crowd is a bit more 'salty local' than the yuppie cyclist crowds found there on sunny days. Hey now, I'm of the capacity to BE a yuppie cyclist at any moment. I'm just sayin'.
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Love the coffee here. Food is good too!
I like to eat and relax outside. Sometime a cup of coffee and a walk in the area is perfect to ease into the evening.
A happy mixture of locals and tourists, but mostly the former as this is just a bit before the trap(s)!
Coffee/sandwiches are great, but the dimming of the light (ritual ?) doesn't seem to have any pattern to it.
Parking could be messy on busy days, especially given the boat-owners don't want you to park in their always empty lots next door.
Not much of people-watching opportunity here given the distance from the galleries, but it still beats the dimmed lights.
If you go in a large group (more than 3) you will find it hard to find enough seats unless you don't mind sitting in different corners.
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I walk past the Caffe Trieste in SF every single day without batting a delicate eyelash, because, well, I get my coffee at Delessio's.
After a long and grueling bike ride that started in the Mission and headed down Folsom to Embarcadero, around through the Marina, up and over several hills, along Crissy Field, up and over the bridge, and down many hills to Sausalito, I rode into town like Jesse James, ready to get a Caprese sandwich and avoid the somewhat long arm of the law.
I didn't expect the bread to be so...greasy, and after a ride like that, you feel like a grade-A piece of shit stuffing your face with some oily food. But good god man, was it delicious. Fresh, juicy mozzarella drenched in olive oil with tomatoes and basil. This sandwich was dying to meet my intestinal linings. Trust me, it did. Top it off with a cold Fat Tire and you've got yourself a guaranteed, certifiable good time that will definitely make up for drowning in a sea of yuppies and Euro tourists.
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You know what makes me laugh? I'm pretty sure the people of Sausalito think they have the only Caffe Trieste on the planet. They don't know that there are some dirty, grungy, far more bohemian Cafe Triestes across the bridge in "the city," all sporting that same Italian-flag color scheme on their awnings. Get this: it's a franchise! EEK!
Regardless, THIS Caffe Trieste is 100% Sausalito. Awesomely peaceful and charming. Good food. Good drinks. Great sidewalk dining. Great weather...
Oh, okay... They can't take credit for the weather. But every business in Sausalito gets an extra star in my book, just for their Sausalito weather. Because I likely visited you on a day when the sun was shining, and therefore I was in that much better of a mood, and therefore I was that much more generous with my stars.
But good LORD, Caffe Trieste: you are SLOW. I know the pace of life is probably a lot slower out here in the 'burbs, but I really don't want to GROW OLD AND DIE waiting for my salad. I'd like to live, so I can get back to my office and finish my crappy workday.
'K?
Thanks.
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I love love love this cafe. Although it's a chain, the Sausailto Trieste doesn't feel like one and is very charming in its own way. Plenty of outdoor seating means excellent people watching in the am and in the pm if it's warm enough. I'm not sure if they still do this, but they used to have live musicians on Friday and Saturday nights, kind of bohemian cool if you know what I mean. Great pizzas and salad, and a pretty yummy mocha as well. Delicioso!
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Fun place to grab food after a long bike ride or just a latte and watch all the world go by in a hurry. I love the proscuitto pizza and the meatball hoagie (just not on the same visit)
The staff can be a bit slow and lines can get long on weekends but they are working hard and the food is good. Always different artwork on the walls and interesting people to look at while you wait.
Oh yeah, it helps when you bus your own table when you finish for the next person.
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From the sidewalk tables of Caffe Trieste in Sausalito, small packs of disheveled cyclists, gossiping locals, and a smattering of tourists basked in the sunlight, sipped cappuccinos, and watched docksider-donning sailors ready their yachts for a Sunday cruise.
Caffe Trieste is better known for its historic North Beach location, replete with 1950s-era photographs harkening back to a time when Papa Gianni gathered his family 'round to belt out Funiculi' Funicula' and Francis Ford Coppola hammered out The Godfather on a typewriter in the back corner. The Sausalito outpost carries little beatnik nostalgia across the bay, but the tricolore awning reminds customers that it is authentic Italian coffee that Trieste does best.
And customers would do well to remember that. Breakfast fare includes mediocre pastries, inconsistent scrambles, and disappointing breakfast sandwiches. On this particular Sunday, a bagel with lox and cream cheese arrived sans lox, and an English muffin ordered with egg, cheese, and bacon was delivered with a sausage patty substitute. The fruit bowl was the safest bet, although anyone with an aversion to melons should take heed: mixed fruit on this occasion consisted of cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon intermingled with a few chunks of pineapple---no berries in sight.
Nevertheless, it was the sun that shone this day at Trieste, and the quiet views of the harbor from the outdoor tables (despite the parking lot in the foreground) quickly tempered any lingering disappointment over the meal. The location of the caf, several blocks removed from the main tourist strip, offers a relaxing retreat from the vapid commercialism that has sullied the historic waterfront. Caffe Trieste remains the best place in Sausalito to grab a latte, read the paper, and count the bicycles rolling by.
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Great three-cheese pizza, good wine, good music sung by two jolly locals, and good atmosphere. It was cozy and inviting, and pulled us in off the street with the open windows and people mulling around. This was the only place hoping in Sausalito last Saturday night.
I was here last night attending an acoustic jazz concert by Sony Holland http://www.sonyholland... We arrived a little early to have a bite before the concert which began at 7. It was already completely crowded inside though there was one table left. A pretty good menu in which I ordered the spinach quiche and my friend hand the pasta. The food was good, the desserts of which we tried three different ones were also good, especially the tirimasu. Basically you order at the counter and the food is brought to you. The service friendly and quick and a nice cozy place. Being a small place with many patrons it does tend to be a bit loud at times. The music, of course was fantastic and great sound. All in all a wonderful evening and will be having many more there I'm sure.
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This cafe is my favorite. We always order the Perfection Panini with prociutto, mozzerella, basil and tomato + chicken soup. Recently they started serving breakfast. I had the Bridgeway scramble and it was excellent! They have free wireless Internet and some live Jazz on the weekend evenings. The place can get very crowded but somehow I've always been able to find a place to sit. I've tried their other cafes in San Francisco but they don't have the same great food selection as Sausalito.
Again, if I could this would get a firm B+ and not a B, but I am really working hard on limiting my number of 5 star reviews.
Walk through the door, pick a wooden table, set up your reading material, lap top, or companion neatly on your table, and get in line for some unbelievable minestrone soup, caprese salad, or a spicy soy chai late. I'm here A LOT as a writer, and get some decent work done here.
The place is near enough to the water that you feel like you are sort of outside, but minus the seagulls and the sometimes cold foggy air of the SF Bay. I love that Tireste is open late, which is an absolute plus for late night writers like myself.
Why not a 5? Perhaps it's that I have not yet got into the ritzy-ritz of Sausalito culture? Honestly, I miss my dirty dirt days of writing next to drug addicts and punk rockers in LA. But-- if that's not a problem for you, you might just give this place and it's mellow energy a 5.
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I can't say this place is great, but it's not bad either.
It's a good place to hang out and talk with friends, but the food is mediocre as well as the staff.
The Coffee isn't that great either.
Went there for breakfast one morning while driving through Sausalito. The Eggs Benedict are awesome! We also had some fresh squeezed orange juice.
While sitting there and looking around, the crowd there was pretty much a yuppy crowd.
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Best coffee around...hands down!! This place epitomizes Sausalito...casual, comfortable and surprisingly NOT pretentious..
5 reasons why Caffe Trieste is a must stop on your bike ride to Tiburon or Mill Valley:
1. Wood-fired oven pizza
2. Mean coffee
3. Cute biker guys in tight biker shorts (Hello, Lance Armstrong!)
4. Gelato
5. Sexy biker guys in very fitted biker pants (Hello, Lance Armstrong again!)
Nuf said.
HOLY F&*K WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE TELL ME ABOUT SAUSALITO? I am, er, a little annoyed that I didn't get the memo whereby young, professional SF types can move across the Bay and have PANORAMIC VIEWS of the whole bay and alcatraz and boats and shit and see families with cute kids and doggies and pumpkins on their porches and it would cost the same as my Dive in the Castro? Next time, keep me in the loop and be handsomely rewarded.
(deep breath)
AND WHY didn't someone tell me this place has bomb ass pizza and salads and shit. I spent a good 20 minutes arguing about take out places with large party of football watchers on Sunday (i.e. too drunk to drive back across the Bay so let's have dinner here), and they WON and then I was so totally embarrassed when the food was tres tres good. Sorry Caffe Trieste for just thinking you were all about freaking coffee and shit.
I mean SHIT, send me the memos people.
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Do you:
- Spend your weekends attached to your bike?
- Feel more comfortable in lycra than street clothes?
- Enjoy walking like a duck through lines while ordering food?
- Love the ride across GGB down to Sausalito/Tiburon?
Then Caffe Trieste is a great place for you.
Sit outside and watch people, cars and people on fancy road bikes. If you're one of those people on a fancy road bike, this is a great place to stop and refuel. I guarantee you won't be the only lycra-jersey-cleated shoe person there.
Oh, the brunch and coffee are nice too.
We had good mozzarella pesto chicken pizza on a lazy Sunday. Plenty of seats despite the never-ending line at the register.
The food is okay, but it's the location, the crowd, and the scenary that makes it great. Take a little walk down to the boat slips past all the sail boats for beautiful view of the bay.
Bring plenty of quarter for the 3-hour meters that are enforced 7-days a week. 25 cents get you 20 minutes.
For a cheap sandwich place in Sausalito, definitely go here. The sandwiches aren't overpriced although its right next to the water. Its a good lunch place if you are out to see .....the Bay Model?
Someone needs to write a song about this place.
When I wandered past this spot by myself last weekend, 'Sittin on the dock of the bay' just sprang to mind but I know this place could make a refresher on the SF music scene for sure....
I drank a latte, ate a scone, and just sat in the beauty of the atmosphere of this place and not to mention the scenery -
And I was reminded that beauty is all around the bay and its so funny how living in SF sometimes jades us in forgetting that...
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Go here.
Order drink.
Go outside on sidewalk and consume.
Count the number of Hybrid cars that drive by in a span of 10 minutes.
Enjoy the sunlight shining on your face.
Love this Caffe.
If you visit Sausalito or just go here on the week you MUST stop, have a drink of your choice and enjoy this piece of Sausalito.
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Cute and comfortable cafe outside of the city, across the bay. I have only tried the coffee here, but the pizzas salads and soups look good. The staff is friendly and the dining area is small - you may need lucky timing to get a table. But if you do get a table, you may not want to move, since you can sit and watch the passers-by on their parade towards downtown Sausalito.
This is my favorite destination in Sausalito. It's a totally different vibe in Sausalito versus the City. It's laid back and not touristy. It's far enough away from all the tourist draws of Sausalito.
Have a Prosciutto pizza and a beer. Perfect after a bike ride across the Golden Gate in to Sausalito. Nice place to hang out and people watch...
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By day, it's an easy, breezy little Italian style cafe with a big selection of food, and by night it gets a little fancier and classier. Live music on weekends, sometimes Flemenco on Saturday. The place gets a crowd, they dim the lights and wine is everywhere. The dress code even moves up from "whatever" to "wear the nice belt with your jeans."
The food is a little pricey, more like full service restaurant prices rather than cafe prices, but OH it's good.
I'd go here on a first date, but it's also a nice spot to sit with friends drink coffee, eat creamy pesto tortellini, and listen to jazz, without paying an entrance fee or wearing a 300 dollar jacket.
great place for a beakfast/lunch. loved the location (next to the Marina), the open-air storefront and seating (which they seem to close once the winds pick up) and yes, of course, the food. The orange juice was fresh squeezed right in front. And the pizza was one of the best i have had in a long time - thanks to the fresh herbs and veggies and the wonderful crust. Prices are reasonable, parking is easy to find - and if helps that Trieste is just a little isolated (but not too far) from the over-commercialized and over-gallerized cluster of downtown shops.
Definitely the jewel of Sausalito - and Sausalito is one of the many jewels of the SF Bay Area, to be sure.
I'd recommend coming here any time of day, and you'll have a different experience each time (speaking of weekends here, personally).
Mornings are great, since their coffee is pretty good and their breakfast sandwiches (with little fruit cup on the side) the perfect size. Not too substantial, and they don't leave you wanting more.
Lunchtime and dinner are the best times to try a sandwich or 'le pizze' (the prosciutto is awesome), and if you arrive on the right night, get a little aural enjoyment, also.
The biggest attraction for me, which makes the food and drink that much better, is the fact that it really feels like a small, European cafe. It is the ideal people watching spot, and you'll spot everything from cougars to packs of cyclists to couples of all orientations enjoying the awesome views.
The perfect place for a romantic night out, especially if you want to escape the confines of the city. Gents beware: there are a few hotties pm staff who may provide more eye candy than is ideal during a romantic evening out, so be sure to keep your eyes off foreign jugs and on your date ;)
Caffe Trieste in Sausalito? Yes, Caffe Trieste in Sausalito.
And they have made all the appropriate adjustments for it to fit in the Sauce.
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What a great place for a lazy morning breakfast...sat outside had some tea that was great (which was not in a bag! finally!) in a big white tea cup (im a sucker for those). my husband had a latte which was perfect ( i taste tested it) we also had the pastries which were fresh and satifying. The best part was the atmoshere, lively and fun which is a nice change in marin (uknowwatimsayin!)
update- had the ice mocha mmmmmmmmm goood!
Great coffee.
This place is always crowded but it is fantastic indeed for peopple watching. Great for a weekend if you want to start off your out-of-city excursion here. Coffee starts the day. The paninis are quite good but pricy. That's all I've tried here, also the orange juice is killer.
People watching is the best though, both consumers and bike-rider passbyers.
this is not a sit down restaurant, but the quality of their cafe fare is fine. the real draw in terms of food - cafe trieste in sausalito has a wood fired oven to make their pizza. and it is very good!
the staff there are usually very friendly, and often seriously hottie.
its truly a great place to see live music! they have a variety of bands, 3 nights a week. no. cover. charge. ever.
there is usually wifi running there, you can work for hours, there are plenty of outlets, and you will never be asked to leave or buy more stuff or get some secret password.
there are a plethora of 'regulars' there who run the gamut from broke poets living in their vans, to company owners working from their laptops.
the quality of the espresso drinks depends on how busy they are and who is behind the counter.
i do not own a single piece of lycra, i'm not a yuppie, and i've been to the original trieste in the city.
actually i saw the founder, Papa Gianni (the man who brought espresso to the bay area) in the sausalito location today. this one time i saw him in there, and they made him a cappucino - and he was all like - "now thats how you make a cappucino!" in that reach out and hug you italian style, and the guy behind the counter who made it was all happy, and for a few seconds it seemed like all was well with the world.
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First time at this location. Been to the one in North Shore. For some reason, the espresso tastes a little different at this location. Still sturdy, but lungo in comparison to the N.S. location. Sweet crema, but not too thick. Haven't tried the sandwiches or other desserts. But gotta try it next time. Pleasant doppio cup!
No offense to the Vallejo locaton, but this place kicks its ass. Everyone seems a little friendlier and more relaxed. Had a beer, sat outside, enjoyed the nice weather and a partial view of the dock...
had an adorable breakfast there this morning. good espresso, parking in back (and ample street parking), quick and very friendly service, and a well-rounded cafe menu, lots of tables/chairs, and free wireless. only negative, my eggs were more on the hard boiled rather than the poached side, but still, damn tasty. if you're gonna be in mill valley, go to shoreline coffee shop, but this is a solid bet for a sausalito breakfast/cafe.
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