Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery

I’ve decided that I can’t continue supporting this business. There is another Specialty’s nearby and they will be getting my business. I only came in for a treat, and the cashier was totally rude. He was screaming at the customer ahead of me, and I was worried about what I was going to get. The first words to me was «what?» like what did you order? Afterwards, he made several bad mistakes after I politely told him he made an error. He said something in Spanish to me (and mind you I speak Spanish) and called me a bad name in Spanish is uncalled for. The rest of the staff laughed at him (and they weren’t helping as they were trying to stay away because he continued to be rude to me). I’m sorry. I’ve told the manager several times that this customer service is uncalled for. The customer is always right (even if they are a-​holes) but really, why be so rude. I give this place negative 5 stars. Please stay away and businesses, please go to the other Specialty’s. At least they’re are civil.

Tried this chain today for the first time with an old friend. Had the Tomato Bisque Soup and chocolate chunk cookie. Both were delicious as well as the butter crossiant. I’d give another star if they had not forgot my foccicia roll. Other than that the cookie was to die for!

Always delicious peanut butter cookie!

I have never had a better turkey and cranberry sand. I now live in Napa and you would think there would be a great sand place but no… I miss Specialties!

The first time I ordered over the phone it was for a business lunch. When I called at 10:00 AM they were out of three items on their sandwich menu. We requested our delivery at noon so apparently the location on Battery, about a block away, was out as well because one would assume they would share. We ordered for six people and they were ON TIME! What I ordered wasn’t really that great, at best mediocre, so I decided to stick to cookies for years.
Recently I’ve walked in to have something for breakfast a few times and the wait time was fine at about ten minutes. I really don’t mind waiting even if it is a mediocre breakfast. Today however, since this location is about a ten minute walk from my desk I decided to order from the website. Good idea right?!
Wrong!
After completing my order on the website (because they don’t yet have an app.) my receipt said my order will be ready in TWENTY minutes. Really?! +20 minutes to make a breakfast sandwich? Are you kidding me? They obviously don’t need my business.

A very nice place for a quick stop just for grab a coffee or to stay for a while and talk to friends. The coffee is good (Inteligentsia is always good) and no complains with the service. I particularly enjoy places where the background music is cool but calm. I stayed for a while to have coffee while reading the news and was very comfortable.

— Friendly staff
— Good Sandwiches (As a European this food comes more close to what I am used to)
— Cookies are the best
— Coffee is ok, but if you like StarBucks this is pretty much the same.

I really like the concept of computer ordered food. More efficient means cheaper, higher quality food, right?
Two things left me disgruntled. Both based around the computer.
First, I bought the $ 5 soup and it was tiny, when the computer made it look big. Instant buyer’s remorse when it came (see picture). If I’m going to enter my own order, I want a decent bit of soup.
Second, I ordered a quiche for lunch. Show up to pickup food and am told its not available for lunch. If its not available for lunch, why didn’t the computer know? Computer did have the money though, so mow it was going to be a pain to get it back. They gave me a drink as a consolation prize, but that doesn’t help fill my hungry belly.
Tl;dr — computerized ordering could be cool, but must be implemented proper

Specialty’s has great food and delightful staff members. I went in today a little verklempt with several printed out menus with spur of the moment lunch orders of 8 people who were at our offices for a meeting. I’m not usually the lunch-​getter, but I AM an accommodating person who is happy to help. A young man (receipt says Angel) graciously offered to take all of the papers I was fumbling around with and enter in the orders while I picked out drinks and chips. He repeated everything back to me (and didn’t miss a beat) and he even instructed the kitchen to write the names of the sandwiches on the parchment paper wrapping. I told him that I was so sorry that I didn’t have cash to tip him (I only had a corporate card and there was no space to write in a tip, to which he responded «no worries, we are just happy to help». He was so sweet and genuine. Also, shout out to Cameron who I want to team up with an teach a grocery-​bagging seminar and go on a worldwide tour together. He double bagged my order and bagged it like Tetris. I used to work at Safeway and I was a bagging Casanova, to put it humbly, so I have so much respect for people who take pride in their jobs like that and show that they really care about what they are doing.
Sandwiches and salads were a hit. Can’t wait to go back.
My only qualm is that there is no space on the cc receipt to write in a tip. I came with a corporate card and no cash so I couldn’t show my appreciation to the employees who helped me.

Quality sandwiches, quality ingredients. I wasn’t as impressed with my cookie. Good for a quick bite, on the pricey side for a non sit-​down restaurant, but then again, it’s FiDi.
THE WAIT: At 12:30pm on a Thursday, there was a constant line of a few people at the register — not much of a wait to order. But we couldn’t get a table right away for 4 of us. AboutWe noticed a group leaving their table outside (luckily one with an umbrella) and went to claim it.
COST: $ 13.20 total for my cookie + sandwich.
* Peanut Butter Cookie — 3.5 stars
pic:
I love how thick and rich these are. However, they weren’t as soft as I’d hoped. It definitely crumbles when you break off a piece, rather than bending ripping slowly like a really good, chewy cookie. I still enjoyed this, but for all the hype, I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to order this like I did.
* Turkey Bacon Apple Brie sandwich — 4 stars
pic:
Really nice! I was expecting fresh apple slices (like in a salad) but they are actually cooked, like you’d expect in an apple pie. This was definitely a large serving size. The turkey came in thick slices, and the bacon was super crunchy and savory.
By the way, my friend got a salad and it was HUGE. It came in a giant pile on a plate and it seemed like eating it was like playing Jenga as it could’ve topped over at any minute. Good to know if you’re extra hungry, though my sandwich did a great job of filling me up.

This place is okay, except that they wouldn’t put my sandwich on a roll. I asked for their cranberry sandwich, but instead of sliced bread — could they put it on a roll. The answer was a firm ‘no’, and I was disappointed with the bread.
Despite the sandwich experience, the cookies are really good. All about the cookies. Search for a sandwich elsewhere, though.