Sutter Cafe

Excellent Friendly Customer Service Customizable sandwiches TamalesSaladsFruitMakes for a great small pick me up spot in downtown.

My favorite is the egg salad sandwich! But they have alot of other really good options too. Really nice staff and their other snack selections are good

Sutter Café is a small coffee/sandwich shop in the basement of the Sutter-Stockton parking garage. This place is hidden inside and unless you go looking for it there is no way that you will run into this place or spot it from the road. It's accessible from the Sutter street entrance next to E&O Kitchen and Bar. After passing by it many times I finally decided to give it a try.I saw a big sign for chicken tamales ($3.50) so I decided to get one to-go. As expected it was cash only. The short review would be that the chicken tamale was crap. It was a tiny bite sized over steamed masa that enclosed literally a minuscule amount of chicken. It did not even come with any sauce to help slide this down.I don't know what I'm missing but this was one overpriced crappy tamale that I have no intention of ever getting again. Some of the reviews here have praised these tamales to the high heavens. I'm not one of them. I'd rather go to Tropisueno or any of the Taqueria's in the hood (Tenderloin) and get decent tamale instead.

The lady made a warm breakfast croissant for me, fresh eggs. Shes really sweet and the cafe is easy, located inside sutter-stockton garage building near the elevator.

Who would think to come to the Sutter Stockton Garage for a homemade tamale? I was on my way back from a medical appointment at 450 Sutter when I decided to stop here based on the little sandwich board on the sidewalk. I quickly looked at the Yelp app and found that people do indeed come to what looks like a little sandwich and candy shop right across from the elevators (photo: http://bit.ly/12cdY0c). And why? Because the owner, a quiet, charming woman named Holly Li, married a Mexican-Chinese man and learned to make tamales from her sister-in-law while living for years in Mexico City. Her tamales caught the appetite of a 7x7 food writer (photo: http://bit.ly/14EnpYh), and now she's developing a cult following through the Yelp gravevine.A sign perched precariously in the corner atop a stack of phone books heralds her Chicken Tamales with a quote from 7x7: "A perfect ratio of masa to shredded chicken and olives" for $2.75 each (photo: http://bit.ly/13exIa8). OK then, two please as I expected them to be small for that price. They are and come steamed in their corn husks (photo: http://bit.ly/14hBz2W). Peeling them off gingerly given the heat, they are perfectly molded with the masa thick and almost gelatinous and with a generous filling of spicy chicken, chopped jalapenos and olives (photo: http://bit.ly/12y6a7X). She came back with a squeeze bottle of siracha gave an even greater kick to every bite. They are definitely delicious and made me want some enchiladas and refried beans on the side. Two more please.FOOD - 4 stars...homemade tamales with panache and flavor and you don't have to take the 14AMBIANCE - 2.5 stars...looks and feels like an office building businessSERVICE - 4.5 stars...Holly is great and steadfastTOTAL - 4 stars...you don't have to park here to get a satisfying tamale

Great cafe within the building for the numerous (probably hundreds) of businesses. Prices are reasonable and they have a huge variety of snacks, made to order sandwiches, etc. you can get everything from fresh coffee to pesto turkey sandwiches, to ice cream and snack bars. The staff is friendly and very fast, so it's the perfect place to pick something up on the go. They also have fresh salads and fruit, when trying to be healthy!I just ordered a sandwich online (via yelp) yesterday and it was ready for pickup in 5 minutes! Definitely an efficient working cafe.

Nice person, Jenny, at the Cafe. Daily soup options, basic sandwiches and small bakery items. What you need or want on a quick simple lunch. Generous portions for soup, I had the Clam Chowder and it was great. Lots of clams! Worth a visit.Tamales are small and fresh. Very good.

Absolutely love the lady (owner) who makes the soup of the day, different everyday!!! She is not only a fantastic cook, but will always greet u with a smile & that motherly spirit. She always heaps on a generous amount of content of soup! I love that it's a different soup everyday, so far I've tried: Minestrone & Beef/Vegetable soup! Looking forward to trying more!!! Can't wait to try the tamales, too! another reason to run an errand in downtown, now ;)

I've been here a handful of times when I get that craving for tamales on lunch. So this review is for the tamales only. Suffer Cafe is located in the lobby of the parking garage which threw me the first time I visited on my tamale hunt. It's all the way towards the back where the elevators, keep walking past the shoe shop and the florist. The cafe is right across from the elevators. Once inside, the menus are posted behind the counter. They offer coffee, espresso and other beverages, as well as sandwiches. I only have eyes for the tamales, which are $3 a piece. They are served hot and wrapped in a corn husk with no sauce. The tamales are filled with shredded chicken, black olives, and jalapeños. The are decent and satisfy my craving for a tamale and a cheap lunch. Nothing incredible, but somehow just what I want.

The place is small (located inside a building, next to the elevators for the Sutter Stockton garage), but it's stocked with a HUGE variety of food items: coffees, canned drinks, sandwiches, salads, pastries, bagged snacks, and candy by the pound. The store owner, Holly Li, is super friendly and sweet, offering to reheat food items and carefully packaging to go orders.http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/eYTJwqW-bJ2iUNk7wrqh8Q?select=iBgplgA0wUDC470U1U_Opghttp://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/eYTJwqW-bJ2iUNk7wrqh8Q?select=JJkQBNtnhZ2hCn8DNXgetQhttp://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/eYTJwqW-bJ2iUNk7wrqh8Q?select=lhXaK6CU14FmlOT5qcBSbghttp://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/eYTJwqW-bJ2iUNk7wrqh8Q?select=L_ud6nZ8vAFZ1o6MmgFnLwSorry the fuzzy pictures are from my cellphone camera.7x7 magazine awarded it best tamales in 2007. The shop has a little card next to the chicken tamales to remind customers about it. In my opinion, that award was overrated. Perhaps the magazine was trying to increase business at this shop, which is usually empty. I think that the magazine's staff should try La Palma Mexicatessen on 24th St, or other places in Oakland, to learn what really good tamales are like.http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/eYTJwqW-bJ2iUNk7wrqh8Q?select=Uo8qMdQlW-eg7nyeOEaTEgI ordered 2 tamales ($2.25 each). These are half the size of normal tamales, the chicken filling is tasty but the dough around it is a little too dense and dry. Maybe the batch I got was no good, I don't know. Definitely not the best tamales in the bay area.http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/eYTJwqW-bJ2iUNk7wrqh8Q?select=y04wmH7AHy3gD8AOp_GdMgOn another visit I got an egg salad sandwich and a can of mango drink - mango flavor of drink was excellent, but I found a piece of egg shell inside the sandwich. *sad face*http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/eYTJwqW-bJ2iUNk7wrqh8Q?select=MgSsozAts-Wz0qkB84TGlgThe place is lovely, it has a few tables to sit, service is very nice, and you do get a great variety of food options. So even with the flaws I found, I'd rate it 3 stars.