Dusty Buns Bistro

I used to get the dusty buns sandwich with their pesto sauce when they were at SOMA Streat Food Park. It was so tasty! The chicken and the pesto are very flavorful.

I love this hamburger joint! Very casual, local, grass-​fed beef, no antibiotics, juicy, and downright delicious. I am very particular about the meat I eat and this place hits the mark. The buns are really good too. The combination makes it one of the best burgers I’ve ever had and the price is reasonable too for the quality of food you are getting. I’m looking forward to my next visit.

This place felt strange somehow I believe since I came at an off hour with few patrons… what lured me in? The parking lot. In the city I like a spacious parking lot — and during this off hour three were a few open although their lot in the first place is small. As I approach one of two doors is held open with a heavy «L» shaped bracket. The other door is closed and the «L» shape bracket that normally holds that door open looked as though it was an accident waiting to happen when some tipsy person walks in or out. As I walk in everything looks clean and contemporary but I am immediately drawn to the the big brick oven. I learn that it once put out pizzas but sadly it is of limited use these days. Food is fine just like at the food park but just a dollar more expensive perhaps. Service was friendly. Well worth an extra dollar for a chance at a parking spot and a comfortable place to sit. If your on a date, taker here here. Splurge. Pay that extra dollar — she will know you care.

I RARELY write bad reviews… I prefer not to. I’m really not trying to ruin anyones day, that is of course, unless you valiantly ruin mine.
$ 17 later my tri tip sandwich comes out. The meat is raw inside… and I like a mean medium rare steak but this was not right. Smeared on one corner was some mayo or some sort of sauce, there were about 5 little pieces of wilted arugula and it looked a mess. I took one bite but couldn’t chew the meat, because it was so raw. chewy…my stomach turned. I picked up a piece of the tri tip to confirm. TOTALLY raw. Not hot. Thinking that it’s probably a bad idea to eat this.
DONE.
Thank you to this place for the refund, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that a restaurant would let that sandwich come out like that. Dusty Buns you should be ashamed of yourselves.

I’ve been here once and will not be returning. No wonder it’s desolate on a Sunday afternoon.
$ 10+ sandwiches that were not worth it. They were cool temp and salty. When I say cool, I mean it seemed as if someone tried to reheat the sandwiches’ meats in a microwave and failed to reach the warm/​hot temp. The buns for the sandwiches were soft but BLAND… like straight-from-a-grocery-store’s-burger-buns-bag bland. The sandwiches were burger-​sized but were very much undeserving of the «gourmet burger» price. They were also messy to eat.
— Tri tip sandwich’s one slice of meat tasted ok — just ok — but so not worth $ 10.
— Dusty Buns sandwich was so salty. The sauce was gelatinous as if it was sitting on the meat for a while.
Dear Source, why did you have to close down and Dusty Buns take your place?

Here’s an update. Dusty Buns contacted me (I’m guessing via GrubHub) and were really apologetic about the Mac and Cheese. They agreed it should never have gone out like that, and committed to doing better in the future.
I believe they were truly sincere and committed to changing. They refunded our entire order, which was very generous.
I can say with confidence that they are committed to a good product, and to improving, learning from mistakes — and also committed to providing good customer service, which they did. They made this right, and then some.
They invited me to give them another try, and I’m sure I will sometime in the future.

Rusty Buns?
Nah, too worn down.
Lusty Buns?
Too raunchay.
Musty Buns?
Just yuck.
Oh. Oh I know…
Dusty Buns!
Let’s go with that.
Really though it starts with the bread here, folks — treat yoself and yoteeth and yotongue to each bite of these buns.
DUSTY BUN and TRI– both had awes flavor & texture. Only snafu was I clicked «Rare», typed «Maximum Rare», the receipt printed «Rare»… aaaand the tri tip was between medium-​well & well done. Otherwise dope. DUSTY PALMER is skippable.

I didnt care for their soup. But someone else might
But their tri tip melt and pesto blt smackeddd!
Delish. When i took back the soup, the girl offered me something else and i asked for her fave (pesto blt).
Awesome come back
Came to try something new and delish
1^st time here was success.
5* sevice

I had the «veg out» and it was really good! We shared potatoes, those were gone in about two seconds. Everything tasted fresh and the portions were good (some veggie sandwiches/​burgers have too much of one thing which makes it not so great). Nothing totally out-​of-​this-​world amazing, but a good, solid burger/​sandwich and fries. The girl working behind the counter was super nice, too.

This place is freaking awesome. Staff and owners are super friendly. We came in for a quick burger not expecting much and we were blown away. If you’re in the area stop by.
I suggest the bistro burger. FYI — I think all the food is made in house

3.5 stars.
Disclaimer: Ordered my Dusty Bun through Über Eats. There’s a Cyber Monday special for $ 5 today so if you’re reading this and haven’t gotten lunch yet, this isn’t a bad choice!
The Dusty Bun is usually $ 9 at the shop so I definitely felt like I got a good deal. The buns are soft, and the grilled chicken was flavorful. I liked that it came with a side of cooked veggies too. The burger itself veered towards spartan. Literally just buns plus meat, so if you’re all about having fresh greens in your sandwich, then this isn’t your joint.

The best part of this place is that all the food is made fresh daily.
Get:
All the sandwiches small in stature but very tasty.
— My personal favorite is their Original «Dusty Bun» sandwich is a chicken sandwich.
— The Tritip is my second favorite.
Okay:
Soup of the day — Always been tasty, great for the cold days.
Avoid:
The bistro fries — They are just seared fingerling potatoes, and i’m a shoestring fries guy myself. Not bad, just rather have deep fried fries with my sandwiches, and they don’t deep fry stuff here.

I had the grilled cheese with bacon and in their signature buns. It had white cheddar cheese with really crisp and perfectly cooked bacon with his fruit (not sure what it was) that wasn’t too sweet but really added a nice crunch and texture to the sandwich. My sandwich was $ 9 and I feel it was expensive for the portion size because it wasn’t really feeling and I needed to grab a snack afterwards to feel filled up.
It was pretty greasy but also quite tasty. I’d come back but probably wouldn’t get this dish again. I’d like to try one of their other dishes like the Dusty Buns Burger.
It was really nice hipster ambience with an indoor and outdoor seating and was also pretty spacious. They have heaters for their outdoor seatings incase it gets cold.

They offer a few different styled burgers and gives you an option to have add-​ons such as egg, bacon, avocado etc. I got their eggman with added bacon. The burgers got great flavor, very juicy meat and the egg worked really well with the whole burger itself. I kind of regret adding bacon on it, but the burger ended being a little too salty for my liking. The burger also ended looking very oily and greasy as well. My friends got the Dusty burger and that one looked really good. It had a lot of pieces of chicken so the meat-​to-​bread ratios was higher than average burgers.
We also got an order of their bistro fries and I highly recommend it. They were like large size potato wedges but they were baked rather than deep fried. It also came with ‘honey ketchup’ that was not like ordinary ketchup. It had a little spicy flavor to it and we ended up dipping it with our burgers as well.

Dusty Bun — ³⁄₅
La Grilled cheese — ⁴⁄₅. With sweet plums
(Loaded) Bistro fries, added cheese and bacon brah — ²⁄₅
Mac a la cheese — ³⁄₅
Dulce bun — ²⁄₅ deez buns were dry
Dusty bread pudding — ⁴⁄₅
Overall, «I am a fan»

Came here this morning because I was so intrigued by the name, «dusty buns». Lol. Went in and asked for the menu and the Asian guy at the front was very friendly. I browsed the menu for a few mins and told the cashier I wanted the Brie melt and black tea with orange juice. This place has sandwiches, soups, and desserts.
There was nobody else there and they were barely opening up so i gave them time to heat up the oven. The manager– I think, came out and recognized me from where I worked and I was really shocked! He delivered my food outside and we had a brief conversation. The customer service is outstanding. Need to try and eat there cause I got it to go.
Got home and tried the sandwich, the cheese goes great with the peaches! Creamy and sweet! They did pack on the pesto, so that was my least favorite. I will def come back and try something new!

After multiple trips, I’m convinced. This spot serves up one of the most legit burgers (under $ 10!) in the city. They finally started toasting their buns a bit and that really brought everything together. The patty is super juicy and flavorful, made on the spot, and the fresh greens and light condiments really let that flavor shine. The service is outstanding and every time I leave, the cooks ask how my food was. Plenty of other sandwich options and interesting sides.
Disclaimer: I get my burger with no mushrooms so your mileage may vary.

Dusty buns sound dirty. Physical dirt, not euphemistic dirt. Not to worry though – the «dirt» is actually a hearty handful of flour on super soft, supple buns.
…that sounds even dirtier.
Well, since I’m on the topic of buns, these buns remind me a lot of Costco dinner rolls, except leveled up in terms of pliability. So sooooft.
First, CHECK IN ON Unilocal = 15% off your order. And sign up for their rewards program because it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, the system crashed when I visited, so I didn’t get any points :(
(Update: I left feedback about the rewards program issue, and they got back to me 2 weeks later saying they could retroactively credit me. How considerate!)
Second, steak done right should be eaten steak eaten alone. I got the $ 9 Tri Tip Melt: blacked tri tip with fresno chili sauce, aged white cheddar, oyster shroom. All I can comment on is the texture of the meat (read: chewy) because any flavor was overpowered by the salty sauce and bite of the cheddar. Also, since the steak doesn’t break up into chunks like a patty, you end up eating all your steak in the first few bites, which means you’re left with just those dusty buns as the remainder :(Overall, I wasn’t a big fan of this sandwich because it was too salty and rich – I might request no mayo on the buns. Also, arugula, gah!
Third, they do fried egg in a sandwich like a boss. My friend got their Eggman Sandwich: Marshall’s honey smoked ham, aged white cheddar, local fried egg. Ooey gooey egg yolk = yes.
Fourth, brie in harmony. The boyfriend got their $ 9 Brie Melt: California double cream brie, market fruit, almond pesto, bacon. Salty bacon + creamy brie + pickled pears + subtle pesto = yes.
My friend ordered a side of $ 5 Snap Veg Fries: seared local veggies (sugar snap peas and zucchini slivers), roasted garlic, and garlic yogurt (which totally looks like ranch… which is why I didn’t eat it, augh!). Not bad, but damn they should rebrand those peas as string peas. Talk about a tough time.
Recommendation? Anything. But if you get the tri-​tip, eat the meat separately from the bread. The sum is not greater than the parts.

This place makes me want to break out into song and dance and perform pagan worship ceremonies to the holiness that is their namesake dusty buns. These pillowy mounds of gluten goodness tempt my every waking moment. «I could stop by Dusty Buns» I say to myself daily on the way home, salivating at the thought of delicately crisp edges and warm fluffy centers. «I haven’t gone since… yesterday!» So dangerous. So delicious. I can’t stop myself.
The signature Dusty Bun sandwich is the bomb — I don’t know what they do to that chicken but dayum if that isn’t the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever had. Salty, sweet, tangy, spicy, crisp, and juicy! Flavor explosions left right and center. My brain can not compute the awesomeness that is this creation. The tri tip (meat and mushroom nirvana) and grilled cheese (with strawberries?!) are also top notch drugs. Also can we mention the «fries» (aka hunky hunks of potato bathed in crack sauce and perfectly fried)?! Out of control! And they put their heavenly buns into the dessert menu too! Bread pudding?! Chocolate stuffed dolce bun!!! One of everything please!
What takes this place truly over the top is how FRIENDLY the guys who work here are. All smiles, down to chat, chill, talk about food and really get to know you. They are just so nice! The food comes out fast, there’s never been a crowd (for now knock knock), and I always leave wanting to go back ASAP.
Thank you for bestowing this bun-​derful establishment upon my neighborhood. Please stay a while i.e. forever.

Dem buns.
And, I’m not talking about Kim’s greasy buns, Amber’s injected buns, or Nicki’s implanted buns. Well, let’s hope those fake buns don’t shift. Lopsided buns in tight lululemons are so not the business.
What I’m talking about is Dusty Buns…100% real, fluffy soft buns.
Taking over the old Source location, Dusty Bun Bistro opened on Monday. This is their second brick and mortar location (first one is in Fresno:
). They also have a Dusty Bun food truck in both cities.
Dusty Bun Bistro serves sandwiches ($ 9), burgers ($ 9), soup (?), salad (?), mac & cheese ($ 5), and their healthy take on fries ($ 5). What makes them unique is they bake their own buns for their sandwiches and burgers. Prices are reasonable for SF; and per Unilocal pics, $ 1 more than their SF truck and $ 2 more than their Fresno location.
Seeing how everything in SF is getting ridiculously small with increasing prices, I thought the sammies and burgers would be a little larger than sliders, so we ordered three to share with an order of the bistro fries:
*Bistro Burger w/​organic cheese & market fixings ($ 9)
*Eggman w/​local fried egg, aged white cheddar & gilroy linguica ($ 9)
*Brie Melt w/​almond pesto & apples ($ 9)
*Bistro Fries: seared fingerling potatoes w/​garlic crispies ($ 5)
Don’t over order like we did because the sammies and burgers are regular size and filling. You can’t have a good sammie without good bread and you can’t have good pasta dish without good noodles right? The housemade buns were carblicious. They were toasted on the griddle with some butter so you get a wonderful bite of slightly caramelized crunch and fluffy softness.
Of the three sandwiches/​burger we ordered, the Eggman was my fav. Mmmm, lightly oozy egg (could have been cooked less) with a savory, lightly spicy sausage AND melty cheese. The Bistro Burger was a second fav. The beef patty was cooked medium and had a fresh, crumbly texture (definitely not from the freezer). I thought the Brie Melt was lacking substance and bland because the buns took over. It needed a salty layer like bacon. No need to feel guilty about eating their Bistro Fries because they’re seared on the griddle and not fried. They’re served with their housemade ketchup which was had a good zing.
The staff was super nice and efficient. We were in and done eating in less than 30 minutes. A man who I think was Dusty himself personally delivered our order and checked up on us even though everything is self-​service. Awesome touch.
The dining area is vibrant with yellows and greens, and very kid-​friendly. The dog-​friendly outdoor patio has a cool graffiti wall mural of the restaurant’s name. There were two cute furbabies outside; too bad we didn’t have time to go home and grab Tater Tot. There’s plenty of free parking in the area and 3 – 4 reserved spaces in front for customers.
Can’t wait to come back for dem bun wrapped sausages with oozy yolk. No pun intended…