Cafe Sebastian

Nice candlelit and overhead it interior, (needs a little help), but with wooden tables, a nice feeling.2 sided simple but varied and interesting menu.4 of us had:Warm, soft spongy focaccia with an enriched butter spread;Spreadable tuna tartare with thin toasted bread slices, artfully done and delicious;Medjool dates stuffed, great flavors;Short ribs, onions, potatoes with a coconut something and greens, also delicious;Best crab cake;Mushrooms Au proive, also fabulous.We were full and very satisfied.Service was very professional and helpful.

I was excited to try this place out for dinner after seeing the San Francisco Chronicle article. I think the food was fine for fine dining and service was exceptional, but there were no impressionable dishes which made the high prices difficult to swallow.The Space: Dimly lit with medium level music that you can talk over at a normal/slightly raised voice. It's a fairly intimate space with tables somewhat close to each other. It's adjacent to the fire department so you may see red flashes through the white see-through curtains whenever a fire truck drives in/out.Location: free street parking after 6 pm. I enjoyed walking through the Transamerica Redwood Park - that was a beautiful gem I never knew existed in the city.Service: Will was a great server who was friendly, helpful with recommendations, and always kept the water glasses topped off even after checking us out.Food:1. Foccacia - $14. good portion size. A little too salty if you spread too thickly on the thin ends of the bread.2. Pommes Anna Dinner - $18. Very small portion size and I felt lacked the presentation factor. It kind of looks like rocks stacked you might find at a park...3. Cacio Pepe Tortellini - $22. Tasty, but much smaller than I was expecting.4. Octopus - $26. Good presentation. I think the last few inches of the octopus were too tough to where the knife just bounced off it. Not sure if that's normal.5. Crab Cake - $34. Great - no fishy flavor here6. Short Rib - $44. Tender and full of flavorWe had about half of the crab cake and short rib left at the end for the three of us, so I probably would have cut out the octopus, cacio, and pommes.I enjoyed the dishware and utensils. On reflection, most restaurants of this caliber would introduce the dish and explain what each of the sauces were when serving and how you might eat it. We just kind of ate blindly (maybe should have kept a menu).I was disappointed there was a surprise 8% service charge on the receipt that I don't believe was disclosed on the menu nor explained what it goes to. It was confusing that the tips suggested on the website (if you scan the QR code to pay) had a middle suggestion of 12%, which suggests that the service charge goes to tip (12% recommended tip + 8% = 20%)?I enjoyed the dinner but don't think I'd recommend since there weren't any outstanding dishes to justify the prices, even taking in consideration it's downtown location.

Great to have a cafe in FiDi that's actually open on the weekends! Prices are high but as expected for central SF. Spacious, clean, modern environment. The food was surprisingly good- classics done really well. the scrambled eggs stood out in particular - super fluffy and delicate flavor. The restaurant also has shaved ice and ice cream, which I definitely want to try next time!

TLDR:Have been back several times since, and each time I have a better experience. There are still some areas to improve, which is understandable in their first months of operation, but this has truly become a neighborhood staple for us. Note that sometimes they host events and may close at certain times of the day / week that only get posted on a piece of paper on their door. ------FOOD:Some items are on the pricier side (e.g. $7 decaf coffee) but overall it's reasonably priced for Jackson Square. The Half chicken is still too salty and the scone I tried was more like a light muffin than a dense, buttery scone, but overall food here is very good. This dining experience is more refined than your typical, casual neighborhood spot. TOP RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Market salad (lunch)2. Bacon & Eggs (breakfast)3. CS Breakfast Sandwich (this is more like a slider, but the house-made sausage is incredibly well spiced and thick, so this still feels like a substantive dish even if small)OTHER GOOD BITES:1. Brown Butter Cookie (perfect for people who love huge paper thin cookies with dark chocolate and sea salt )2. Blueberry Scone (more like a muffin than a scone, but when it's fresh out of the oven it's still divine)3. Half Chicken (it's definitely still too salty for me, but otherwise, this is super tender and has so much flavor; pair it with salad to balance out the salt)------SERVICE / AMBIANCE:* The ambiance is fantastic -- the best of all the cafes in the area and the seating is comfortable. * Service is quick and kind, and the manager has been especially great to us. * The big rub is that they don't have wifi here so it's not the perfect place to get work done unless you're ok to hotspot.* It's a very large space inside with lots of tables so plenty of seating and probably no need to make a reservation, though I have seen them fill up for lunch so you can also book online just in case.

A generous friend who works in the building behind here gifted me a couple breakfast items on Christmas eve. I put the two items in Ziploc bags and reheated them in the toaster oven for two consecutive breakfasts. Without any description or the pastry names, I pulled up their online menu to identify them after eating them. I started with the jalapeno, cheddar, and scallion scone (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=X-YOUznBE3DAs2mnM34fqw). The flavors were subtle as I made out scallion and cheddar. The other one I tried was the blueberry and cream cheese scone (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=st8sx3vN3IBmZffxzlK8OQ). This was surprising to me as the blueberries were obvious but the flavor was only slightly sweet.A few weeks later, I found a Tuesday afternoon to stop here to have lunch. Walking in, I saw this sign (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=K4zhze83FnGmhLM2NusEfg) and found a two-top table to the left. I did a little homework before coming so I already knew what I'd have for lunch. I started with the Broccoli Cheddar Soup (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=0&select=rmVJnij8EgeOiNTUPfzVSw), ; this came with a focaccia Frico crouton. The presentation is impressive and the soup flavor paired well with that cheesy cracker. I also ordered the Tortellini En Brodo (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=0&select=26FjPPFnx2QyrpkblmgQAA) described as Fontina fondue, gala apple, and French onion consomme. The star of this show was the consomme which had a clean yet deep flavor without being overly salty. The most impressive thing about both orders was the presentation. In both cases, the server brought a dry and empty cup and plate respectively and, using small carafes, poured the soup and broth to their serving vessel. This is consistent with the chef's likely fine dining background where presentation is just as important as the taste and smell. Finishing both of these, I was not overly full yet satisfied. Though I enjoyed my meal, a $40.00 two-course lunch is not in my habit nor budget for a daily routine, for special occasions probably okay.I also bought a couple more items from their bakery to go. I tried the brown butter, sea salt, chocolate chip cookie (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=0&select=_Znwj-b9fanMhac8uaTzaQ) a few days later and, like most everything that I ate, this was not overly sweet. If you like chewy cookies, you'll like this as the chocolate does not dominate the cookie flavor itself. I also got the the triple chocolate fudge brownie (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=0&select=VOBWL9GfR-G52oSsoAAIZA); not wanting to get my sugar levels too high evenings, I had half for dinner dessert and the other half for breakfast the next morning. Again, this was not overly sweet and the texture was smooth. The surprise for me was, after biting off about a third of it, the bites had chocolate chips. I will get this again.Thanks to Lauren M, who took my order, both my dine-in and the pastries to go afterwards. There were two other people (a guy and a gal) who brought my food and removed my empty plates and bowls. I hoped to try their separate dessert/sweets stand, but, due to a special event that day, they were not open. It's not a everyday lunch spot for me but I would return in entertaining someone or if in the neighborhood and craving something on their menu.

I've heard all the new hype about this cafe, and overall I was not disappointed. The environment is pretty fancy and elegant for your normal cafe setting. The servers are very nice and sometimes sound fancy and a little robotic, however they were always able help. The food was also really good, they had some expected cafe foods like sandwiches and pastries, but they also had more exquisite dishes as well. As recommended from others, I tried their French Dip Sandwich, which was actually really good, they poured out the soup right in front of you, all the ingredients taste fresh and authentic. My worth it winner was their Broccoli Cheddar Soup, a common dish but definitely the best I've had. They also have a cool dessert bar attached to the cafe.

I tried Cafe Sebastian for the third time and this time for dinner, and I am still very positively impressed! The warm focaccia is perfectly soft and tasty, the tortellini are hand made to perfection, the mussels are served in a delicious sauce that pairs very well with the focaccia and the short ribs bourguignon was an excellent main dish! We ended the dinner with delicious and refreshing gelato with pistachio that I would recommend . The service was friendly and very helpful and the dinner ambience is cozy and romantic.

My colleague and I stopped by Cafe Sebastian the Friday right after their opening. The staff were very welcoming. We thoroughly enjoyed the Sage cider, which was quite comforting like a nourishing broth. Definitely a unique warm beverage to warm you up on a foggy San Francisco day. I also had a croissant.

Salad was delish make sure to get the vinaigrette dressing! Felt a bit overpriced, my reason for 4 stars

Beautiful cafe just recently opened and is part of the $1 Billion revamp of the iconic Transamerica Pyramid.Cafe Sebastian is an all-day restaurant. Currently only the casual cafe is operating, but soon the 1st floor space will also host a Japanese shaved ice shop called Madlab, and an upscale Italian-Japanese restaurant called Ama. On the day of our visit, the floor manager was really congenial. He welcomed us and handed us the menus and informed us to order via the bar code. We sat down and admired the beautiful interior with the open kitchen concept. Our coffee drinks soon arrived. We noted that the temperature was just lukewarm, not piping hot which is how we like our coffee drinks.Our pastries were chocolate babka and a spiced honey and apricot danish, both of which we asked to be warmed up. The babka came first. While it was tasty I was a little disappointed at the thin slice. For the price I was expecting a mini loaf. Then we waited quite a while and the danish still hasn't come, so I got up to ask the counter clerk. Apparent it was missed, and she apologized for the mishap and immediately started to prepare the pastry. The danish was good, but the delay took away the enjoyment of it.Perhaps they are still experiencing a bit of start-up blues and the staff still need more training. I hope they will get better. I like to come back and try the shaved ice and the Italian-Japanese cuisine.