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Museum food has improved immensely over the years. I've had a number of excellent lunches at the de Young Café. The roasted salmon on a bed of lentils was particularly good recently. The salmon fillet was flavorful and tender with a crispy finish, and the lentils and bits of carrot, tomato, and cucumber were dressed with a perfect vinaigrette. The service is friendly and efficient.

An update, 9/30/22, to the review posted 3 months ago: Today we had a chicken-potato salad and a wonderful chocolate chip cookie, and strong tasty iced teas. Everything was delicious. *** Previous review: We've had some nice meals at the de Young and the Legion of Honor, but our latest was so disappointing. We ordered a salmon dinner and a bowl of corn chowder. Both dishes were bland and featureless. Sad, because we normally consider a meal and a glass or two of wine a lovely part of the museum experience. We'll try again and hopefully have a better experience next time.

SF. Only got dessert - chocolate dacquoise - and it was good! Outdoor seating was lovely.

Went recently for lunch. The chicken Caesar was very ordinary and overpriced. The beef stew was amazing. I certainly wish I could get the recipe. I feel that the cafe is overpriced and I wish that more people could experience it. The staff is very professional.

Had the macchiato with oat milk and extra shot of espresso. Very delicious, smooth and strong. A bit pricey for $8 but it's at a museum. They're working on bringing bags of McLaughlin Coffee in for sale because right now, they have their own special blend made for them.

Nice cafe with a view, indoor and outdoor door seating, plenty of wait staff and free refill for tea! Good range of salads, sandwiches, hour and cold drinks. And if you want just a hard boiled egg, you can find it here too. Sure the prices are steep here, but which museum with captive audience don't do that? So if you want to economise, being a packed lunch to have on the beautiful lawns and seats then come in here for refillable teas.

Fantastic cafe in the midst of a museum. They always fresh ingredients for their dishes (the ones pre-made in the plastic containers are not as good, so select from the freshly made menu). I have had their soup of the day - always amazing. the flatbread is excellent. If it's not too cold, definitely sit outside in the sculpture garden - love the space!

Nice atmosphere. The menu options seemed plentiful. I attended during a field trip with a sizable crowd which made waiting times a bit excessive. Fortunately, I was pulled from line and serviced at another register. Thanks to the staff for THAT. I placed an order for braised coconut short rib. It was delicious 😋. I'd return for lunch definitely. Perfect date spot. Didn't realize until our departure but the Lobster Roll truck was parked on the outskirts of the parking lot. Not so great reviews but just an alternative option

Beautiful food. The warm melty Reuben was on fresh sourdough rye, served with a nicely dressed green salad. The salmon-lentil plate was prettily composed and perfectly dressed with a mustard vinaigrette. We shared a pecan tart. This airy cafeteria looks out to gardens and other buildings.

This is a fun pitstop if you’re visiting the museum or just on a walk in the park and need the place to relax and grab a coffee or lunch item. Sit outside on their patio, or eat inside. They have a good selection of desserts and hot beverages, as well as cold. Their pricing is a little high.

I had a latte oatmeal and pecan pie. My son had the strawberry cream cake and everything was tasty and fresh, only thing is that it’s a bit pricey

A bit pricey, but the meals I’ve had there are worth it. I believe the menu is revolving so may be hard to give a recommendation on what to get. Recently I’ve gotten the Berber Chicken Salad and it was worth it (great flavor and they didn’t skimp on the chicken!!) Service was SO FAST! Could hardly believe how quickly our food came out despite waiting in a bit of a line. Additionally, sitting outside makes for a superb experience. Love seeing the statues with my meal.

Big queues for lunch, counter service and really overpriced foods. But it was good, that’s the point. Salmon was well cooked and with really tasty sides. I would recommend it for a lunch after or before visiting the museum if it’s saving you some time!

Nice and peaceful place to stop by after walking through de young museum . The price is a bit higher than other cafeteria places. There re Ginko trees outside, must be wonderful view in fall.

Merry “Merrycyclist”

Beautiful food. The warm melty Reuben was on fresh sourdough rye, served with a nicely dressed green salad. The salmon-lentil plate was prettily composed and perfectly dressed with a mustard vinaigrette. We shared a pecan tart. This airy cafeteria looks out to gardens and other buildings.

Lori Adams

This is a fun pitstop if you’re visiting the museum or just on a walk in the park and need the place to relax and grab a coffee or lunch item. Sit outside on their patio, or eat inside. They have a good selection of desserts and hot beverages, as well as cold. Their pricing is a little high.

michal sadovnic

I had a latte oatmeal and pecan pie. My son had the strawberry cream cake and everything was tasty and fresh, only thing is that it’s a bit pricey

Emily Andrew

A bit pricey, but the meals I’ve had there are worth it. I believe the menu is revolving so may be hard to give a recommendation on what to get. Recently I’ve gotten the Berber Chicken Salad and it was worth it (great flavor and they didn’t skimp on the chicken!!) Service was SO FAST! Could hardly believe how quickly our food came out despite waiting in a bit of a line. Additionally, sitting outside makes for a superb experience. Love seeing the statues with my meal.

Stepan

Big queues for lunch, counter service and really overpriced foods. But it was good, that’s the point. Salmon was well cooked and with really tasty sides. I would recommend it for a lunch after or before visiting the museum if it’s saving you some time!

Thuy Ngan Le

Nice and peaceful place to stop by after walking through de young museum . The price is a bit higher than other cafeteria places. There re Ginko trees outside, must be wonderful view in fall.

Food was pretty good but can be quite expensive for what it is. The cafe is conveniently located inside the museum for those who plan to spend a whole day there. Would recommend but the menu changes so you may want to check before going

Once Love Twice

Food was pretty good but can be quite expensive for what it is. The cafe is conveniently located inside the museum for those who plan to spend a whole day there. Would recommend but the menu changes so you may want to check before going

The food was good but expensive... Our table was dirty and nobody came to clean it. Although, there was quite of vegetarian options. I don't know if I would come back, but it's not that bad except for the price.

For a cafe inside a museum they have a pretty good variety of fresh food options that cater to most diets. Prices are fair for San Francisco. I was excited to see they has hibiscus tea, but then disappointed that it was sweet without any mention.

First a warning to visitors who don’t know the de Young Cafe system: in addition to their pricey menu you will be charged a surcharge which is a percentage to pay for their health insurance. Foreign visitors of course will also be surprised by the additional sales tax. I asked the cashier girl why the tax was so high and she still would not disclose the health insurance surcharge until I read my receipt - not very professional. It felt like she had intentions to deceive the customer. In terms of their food: it is just so so. I had a pre-made turkey sandwich. The french bread they used was tough at the least. Instead of lettuce they used shredded cabbage. I suppose it prevents the sandwich from getting soggy. I didn’t have the chance to try anything else because they were getting ready to close. Service was average. Most workers were not that into the job.

Price gougey but nice place to sit. Member discount would be nice. If you want lunch, just walk south to 9th st or irving and go to a restaurant. Paid $7 for a hot chocolate made with milk (good) and chocolate sauce (corn syrup, not so good). Decided against $5.75 for a can of san Pellegrino limonada. De Young does offer a $1.50 hot water for bring your own tea bag (probably not boiling hot though). I'll do that next time. I wonder if the prices are meant to scare away locals from spending too much time there. Legion of Honor seemed to be better quality. I expected a similar drink menu.

The prices are usurious. $7 for a latte, $10 for a small cake- then add taxes. Lovely outlook. Large dining area. Rather obnoxious person on the till who treated everyone as though they were holding him up or failing to follow instructions- there were scarcely any customers at 3.20 so perhaps he wanted an early finish?

Wish I had eaten outside the de Young after leaving. I was really hoping it would be like the cafe at east coast museums but it wasn’t.

Crowded, a bit noisy, part of the serving area was closed, food ok, overpriced. Smallish selection. Other museum cafes across the country are larger, more inviting and offer more choices. Bottom line: ok…but…

Very expensive for what you get. Each of our entrees was $26. The pastrami sandwich special was toasted but not heated long enough for the cheese to melt, the chile verde stew could have used more veggies (there was exactly one piece of potato and only a couple carrots but fresh red micro peppers were amazing and more of them would be good too!). With two nonalcoholic drinks and no other items our lunch was almost $100!

We went to de Young Cafe to have some lunch after strolling around, we ordered their hotdog and pulled pork sandwich. The flavours of the food were delicious however, for the portion of the food, it was overpriced. We did not order any drinks with our meal, as the food alone was around $40-$50 in total.

GIGI GRIFFIN

Very expensive for what you get. Each of our entrees was $26. The pastrami sandwich special was toasted but not heated long enough for the cheese to melt, the chile verde stew could have used more veggies (there was exactly one piece of potato and only a couple carrots but fresh red micro peppers were amazing and more of them would be good too!). With two nonalcoholic drinks and no other items our lunch was almost $100!

Marecon Ureta

We went to de Young Cafe to have some lunch after strolling around, we ordered their hotdog and pulled pork sandwich. The flavours of the food were delicious however, for the portion of the food, it was overpriced. We did not order any drinks with our meal, as the food alone was around $40-$50 in total.

Recalling what has happened (minor, miscellaneous information may not be vaguely described or recalled. Please take this seriously): Been there multiple times with the family, thought it would be nice to go visit with some friends. I don't know who it was, but one of the guys (an older Caucasian male) denied one of my buds a cup of water. Basically, we were going to go buy some food, and as we're deciding, an older gentlemen pops up behind us and asks us what is it we want. We took a while to decide that we did not know, so, we chose to say we don't know, y'know, so that the older male could give us some time. He promptly replied with a dense and not-so-nice comment of something in-between the lines of "Oh so, you're not going to buy anything". Well that was rude and unsettling. We decided not to hold a grudge and to leave the cafe with the utmost politeness as we should (we decided not to eat there as the food options were fine, however they were very expensive - exhibit A: diet coke costing 4.50 - while a diet coke at the food truck area not even a 3 minute walk away costed 2.50). As we were leaving, my friend decided to go and get a cup of water from the free water station, because he was thirsty from walking around the museum without drinking water. He got a cup and was around almost halfway done filling the cup when suddenly, the older male popped up behind him and said, in an unkind tone, "Water is for paying customers only". Well, my friend's cup was filled pretty much halfway up, so he said "my bad" and just stopped. The older male made some kind of rude gesture as in "what the heck". Look, de Young museum cafe, I am not making a hateful review or slandering your cafe in ANY way. I am just stating what has happened and clearly, it was an unpleasant experience. Other than this distasteful experience, the atmosphere was pretty nice and calm. Thank you for reading and I hope you take this into consideration. Stay well and safe!

DBZ FEIN

Recalling what has happened (minor, miscellaneous information may not be vaguely described or recalled. Please take this seriously): Been there multiple times with the family, thought it would be nice to go visit with some friends. I don't know who it was, but one of the guys (an older Caucasian male) denied one of my buds a cup of water. Basically, we were going to go buy some food, and as we're deciding, an older gentlemen pops up behind us and asks us what is it we want. We took a while to decide that we did not know, so, we chose to say we don't know, y'know, so that the older male could give us some time. He promptly replied with a dense and not-so-nice comment of something in-between the lines of "Oh so, you're not going to buy anything". Well that was rude and unsettling. We decided not to hold a grudge and to leave the cafe with the utmost politeness as we should (we decided not to eat there as the food options were fine, however they were very expensive - exhibit A: diet coke costing 4.50 - while a diet coke at the food truck area not even a 3 minute walk away costed 2.50). As we were leaving, my friend decided to go and get a cup of water from the free water station, because he was thirsty from walking around the museum without drinking water. He got a cup and was around almost halfway done filling the cup when suddenly, the older male popped up behind him and said, in an unkind tone, "Water is for paying customers only". Well, my friend's cup was filled pretty much halfway up, so he said "my bad" and just stopped. The older male made some kind of rude gesture as in "what the heck". Look, de Young museum cafe, I am not making a hateful review or slandering your cafe in ANY way. I am just stating what has happened and clearly, it was an unpleasant experience. Other than this distasteful experience, the atmosphere was pretty nice and calm. Thank you for reading and I hope you take this into consideration. Stay well and safe!

Im generally reluctant to write bad reviews but the pricing is just ridiculous and greedy to a point I have not seen anywhere before. Airports are cheaper.

The cafe isn’t worth it. We ordered 2 dishes. The meat and fish were cooked correctly but all the vegetables were not cooked at all. We ended up leaving half of our plates because we couldn’t eat all the big chunks of raw veggies. It’s very disappointing, especially since the menu is quite pricey.

Food experience: overpaid for a latte. Said latte tasted like pure creamer. I'm not picky, but it was awful. Customer service experience: I warmly thanked the staff whom brought me my order. My thanks were returned with a dismissal grunt. Uh, what? I guess I didn't "hate it," but this place pretty much sucks. I enjoyed the museum and surrounding area though.

Food tastes fine! Service is excellent! Too bad overall it's not a great experience. The portions are tiny for the astronomical prices. 3 people in our group, we ate one dish each and had one non-alcoholic drink each... $120 without tip. Plus, it is so loud both indoors and outdoors that we could barely hear each other talking.

Dont bother going here. Overpriced and not tasty. Ordered cappucino - it was not strong Almond croissant - YUCK ! Full of Jam and shit

Abysmal cafe. They need to work on their vegetarian and vegan offerings. It’s 2025, we don’t need a salad to be the only thing we’re offering vegetarians in a major metropolitan area. Be better. The service was fine, nothing special. The atmosphere was good, pretty architecture and plentiful seating inside and out.

Edit: DeYoung replied to me! But instead of saying, "We hope it helps you to know that we source the best ingredients possible, so that could be the high prices you see. We promote healthy eating habits by portioning food by calorie, which is why our quesadilla is the size of your palm. And our staff eat free and receive a 1 hour meal break specifically because it really is a food desert," they just told me "We love good reviews, and just appreciate our bad reviews so we can be better. But you have no insight, stop talking." I could be wrong... But something is fishy: 1. The area is a food desert. There are no other options. 2. The food is overpriced because it might be a 3rd party company desperate to afford rent. 3. The workers have no passion, which tells me that they dont get to eat the museum food for free, and there is not enough time to go and get some good food within 30 minutes. L Museum

Had a terrible experience here for lunch. It was very busy so when we had waited a half hour for our food we thought it was just because of the holiday lunch rush. After 45 minutes it turned out they had lost the ticket with our order on it, which caused all kinds of confusion. Thankfully we had a digital receipt listing what we ordered. They kept taking my phone back into the kitchen so that the powers that be could put our order together. I thought it would have been nice to offer a refund or a token of apology but it was too busy for that. Sadly the food did not make up for the wait; however, the atmosphere is lovely especially when you can sit in the garden. And of course the museum itself is fantastic.

Don't Bother with This Cafe! My recent visit to this cafe left me thoroughly disappointed. I ordered the quiche and salad, and while the taste was acceptable, the portion size was incredibly meager, especially considering the hefty $27 price tag. I was still hungry after finishing my "meal," which felt like a complete rip-off. While the service and ambiance were okay, the real issue here is the exorbitant pricing. Save your money and dine elsewhere.

I’ve never eaten such a small and expensive pastry, even though I’m from Switzerland. $9 for this! The cappuccino was also very pricey. It wasn’t cozy either—more like a cafeteria atmosphere, and you had to stand in line to order. Overall, not really worth it. The lunch menu is somewhat more reasonably priced in comparison.

The cafe at the de young is a nice spot but way overpriced. Dishes are $22 - $25 for counter service. I paid $28 for a pulled pork sandwich after tax, SF Healthy and. Tip. Definitely not worth the money. The cafe also does not give a discount to members. Other museums do.

It's a museum cafe which means they can serve mediocre food and over charge because it's a captive audience in a nice location. I ordered the "Al's" Chicago Beef Sandwich. $18.50. It was smaller than a 6inch Subway and 1/3rd as tasty. I don't mind small but for over $20 with tip it better taste good. Also ordered a latte which basically tasted like 100% milk 0% coffee. Add another $10 for this "glass of milk". I should have walked out of the park. My mistake. Hopefully I'll remember next time.

Chess By Lauren

Don't Bother with This Cafe! My recent visit to this cafe left me thoroughly disappointed. I ordered the quiche and salad, and while the taste was acceptable, the portion size was incredibly meager, especially considering the hefty $27 price tag. I was still hungry after finishing my "meal," which felt like a complete rip-off. While the service and ambiance were okay, the real issue here is the exorbitant pricing. Save your money and dine elsewhere.

Sili Si

I’ve never eaten such a small and expensive pastry, even though I’m from Switzerland. $9 for this! The cappuccino was also very pricey. It wasn’t cozy either—more like a cafeteria atmosphere, and you had to stand in line to order. Overall, not really worth it. The lunch menu is somewhat more reasonably priced in comparison.

John Maull

The cafe at the de young is a nice spot but way overpriced. Dishes are $22 - $25 for counter service. I paid $28 for a pulled pork sandwich after tax, SF Healthy and. Tip. Definitely not worth the money. The cafe also does not give a discount to members. Other museums do.

Gregg Tavares

It's a museum cafe which means they can serve mediocre food and over charge because it's a captive audience in a nice location. I ordered the "Al's" Chicago Beef Sandwich. $18.50. It was smaller than a 6inch Subway and 1/3rd as tasty. I don't mind small but for over $20 with tip it better taste good. Also ordered a latte which basically tasted like 100% milk 0% coffee. Add another $10 for this "glass of milk". I should have walked out of the park. My mistake. Hopefully I'll remember next time.

Tea tasted good, got the peach tea. Strawberry shortcake literally taste fake. Strawberries are good but the cream is so stiff and cardboard I paid $20 for this 😭

Nikki

Tea tasted good, got the peach tea. Strawberry shortcake literally taste fake. Strawberries are good but the cream is so stiff and cardboard I paid $20 for this 😭

The security guard turned me away immediately. My only mode of transportation is a Onewheel, which is easily portable and able to be set under a table or seat, and he would not allow me to enter and eat. Truly a great example of people turning away what they don’t understand.

We come here for years and loved the place. Today was the last time. The food choices now are rather questionable, nothing can really be shared any longer. Sandwich and burger? I had a sausage, which died of a cold stroke in a soggy bun and came without mustard, but with raw (?!?!?) sauerkraut for $25? (I’m German and feel personally insulted :-) No fries with chicken any longer. It was probably too popular with the kids. It was taken off the menu to make things more healthy according to the manager… but instead of Pellegrino and multiple juice options, you now have coke, a lot of coke… and all meals seem to come with chips now, in essence THE high end option every chef chooses when he runs out of ideas, or had no ideas in the first place. Or it’s just part of the healthy revamp of the menu. What a shame, this place used to be awesome.

Please do not patronize this Cafe. They are price gouging. Even compared to last year's Bouquets to Art Exhibition. The slice of (cold) quiche for $27 was half the size of last year with soggy pathetic greens out of a bag on the side. I can't believe they are getting away with the prices they charge. $30 for a small-one person-chicken pot pie. $7 for an average cookie. I beg you not to dine here until they reduce their prices and improve the quality they deliver. If the De Young wants people to enjoy art, don't make the experience exclusively for the ultra rich (and by the way, they should demand better too). Provide food trucks or other vendor opportunities for food options. Thumbs down.

What happened! Are only billionaires going to museum cafe? I could not believe the prices for very cheap looking pastries! $9-11 for a small piece! Who is it for. I would understand if it was made by a Michelin star Chef…. How do you justify the prices! I love the atmosphere but could not eat there, simply because it is so heavily overpriced that did not make any sense! Shame on you, the administration of the museum, find better food company and watch the price!

The most expensive sandwich in my life and it wasn’t even decent.. the bread was old and hard, the filling was bland - super disappointing. The cakes are 9-10$ a piece 🫠

It is NOT COOL to feed hidden pieces of meat to a vegetarian. At this restaurant, there were small shredded pieces of chicken in my vegetarian curry. Clearly, the vegetarian curry was served from a larger preparation that had chicken in it. Irresponsible and lazy.

Diane

Please do not patronize this Cafe. They are price gouging. Even compared to last year's Bouquets to Art Exhibition. The slice of (cold) quiche for $27 was half the size of last year with soggy pathetic greens out of a bag on the side. I can't believe they are getting away with the prices they charge. $30 for a small-one person-chicken pot pie. $7 for an average cookie. I beg you not to dine here until they reduce their prices and improve the quality they deliver. If the De Young wants people to enjoy art, don't make the experience exclusively for the ultra rich (and by the way, they should demand better too). Provide food trucks or other vendor opportunities for food options. Thumbs down.