Workshop Cafe

On my journey of work-​friendly café exploration, Workshop Café is probably one of the best for entrepreneurs, self-​employed, or start-​ups. The vicinity is HUGE! It literally can seat about 200 people. They have different size workspaces ranging from small conference rooms, big tables, couches, to benches. You log in through an app and you can even order your drink at your seat and they will bring it out to you. How convenient!
In general, this is a very invigorating place to work and get motivated since it is right in the Financial District and everyone at the café is working their butts off! A plus is that they use Stumptown Coffee in all of their drinks. One negative would probably be that it can get very crowded and loud sometimes. The small conference rooms need reservations ahead.

Love bringing my laptop here and getting some work done! Super cool concept– you pay a small fee per hour to work here. Great for free-​lancers and startups who want to be in a social fun environment instead of at home. You can order food and drinks through text and don’t even have to get up! Very fast wifi and meeting rooms also available. Great location too.

When you need a place to get work done without feeling guilty about taking up space. I’ve done phone interviews here, worked on resumes, worked on work. The hot cereal is delicious. Nice servers. It’s a great concept.
Improvements: Add more snack choices.

I stopped in here briefly to finish up a project, and I ended up cranking it out in less than an hour, which I fully attribute to the shared work space vibe of this café unlike that of any coffee shop in the Financial District.
You technically have to pay to sit at a table and work, which is so Bay Area, but it’s worth it. It’s quieter than you’d expect, (but not too quiet), and there’s plenty of table-​top space to get your work done, outlets galore, and endless cups of coffee. Go here to finish up that one thing you’ve been struggling to cross off your to-​do list.

I’ve hunkered down at Workshop Café several times to work on projects and meet deadlines. The space is large and is consistent with the neo-​industrial vibe taking over SF. In short, for $ 2/​hr, you can select a workstation by a strip of outlets and get some quality, focused work done. Not an ideal space for those who work in silence, the café also gets flack for charging patrons to sit. I find that this pushes visitors to actually work rather than sip on lattes and chat. The app used inside is a little clunky (why a strange web app over a mobile app?) but it allows you to order food to your workstation (prices are reasonable for FiDi) and to communicate with others in the store. I dig these features. I have never had trouble getting a seat, and if the hourly rate puts you off, the very front of the café includes a small number of free seats.

Work Space: As a workspace it’s decent. Better than being at a loud coffee shop. Specially if you are working on a project and have to be there for a few hours. It’s also really good if you need to have a private space for meetings… Overall its a good place to work at… thats if all you need is a desk space and to be in a quiet setting.
The reason why I am giving it 2 stars is because we are paying for an hourly rate to be there and it would be nice if you guys can keep things clean around there specially in the restrooms. It’s so unsanitary, smells and most of the time in the afternoon your basic restroom needs (toilet paper, paper towels or soap) aren’t even available… which makes me think that your kitchen is even worst…
Your food could be better but no judgement there, you guys are a co-​working space not an actual café or restaurant… I wish you could provide more options or try to improve since sometimes we spend hours there and it would be SO convenient if the service was good…
Staff: Nice people but really poor service.

Being the third person in line I thought that this would be a quick cup of coffee as I had planned. I listened for 12 minutes as the lady behind the counter took this guys phone number email and a bunch of small talk before she got enough dirty looks to move on. I then ordered a latte and she started to tell me how it’s made and compared it to Starbucks for 5 mins. I finally cut her off and asked for just a coffee just to shut her up. I then waited 7 minutes for a coffee as their were 4 other employees who waited around doing nothing, one was on a laptop. If you have three hours to kill and want mediocre coffee this place would be perfect for you. I wouldn’t go back to this place if they offered me free coffee for a year.

Workshop Café is a good place to hang out for a few hour and get work done. As the name suggests, everyone here comes to this shop to work first and the «café» part seems secondary. They do have good options for coffee and food. It can get a bit crowded during peak hours. They charge $ 2 — $ 3/​hour for using their formal work space area, however they have a free front lounge section with high tables and bar stools. The bar stools can get somewhat uncomfortable after seating for a longer period of time. The paid section though has more comfortable chairs and power sockets for charging your electronic devices. As a first time user, you get the first 10 hours for free in the formal work space area. Overall, the shop is ideal to check-​in and get some solid few hours of work done.

Love this space! Perfect place to work, and the coffee was good as well. Wifi is fast and I really like the layout of the coffee shop — comfy booths, plenty of outlets, very spacious. FiDi is a little out of my way but I’ll definitely come back here lots. Also at some point during the 3 hours I was sitting here with my laptop they played SchoolBoy Q, which is definitely a plus in my book. Taking off one star just because I find the whole check-​in system kind of finnicky.

This might have been the worst customer service I’ve received in San Francisco. On one occasion, there were at least six people working the bar but not a single person came up to help me until I called out a couple minutes later. While waiting for my drink, and off-​duty employee came in and asked for a drink. The staff behind the counter immediately stopped making my drink and instead made the drink for the employee although I was standing at the counter at the time.
At first, Workshop seems like a novel idea. It offers a place to do work in the Financial District, a place where space is always at a premium. After some time, I realized it’s just another way to charge extra money. The set up is fairly cheap and even the meeting rooms aren’t very good for the price. If you need to meet in the FiDi, I recommend finding a real conference room that you can book for about the same price.

What a cool place to get some work done. Good coffee, friendly service. But what sets this place apart is the emphasis on a useful workspace.
For a small hourly fee, you get desk space, plenty of electric outlets, and most important: fast, consistent Wi-​Fi. You can even order food and drinks from your table. Pretty cool.

This place is terrible
I ordered a latte and a bagel
I went to the non workspace place to sit, whereby didn’t have to pay to sit.
The workspace was empty, the regular place was small and packed. You have to pay to sit in the «workspace». I wasn’t told this till after I ordered my latte and bagel.
Someone else grabbed my bagel so inward stuck in this dump for an extra 15min. It was freezing, they had then door open.
Overall experience was a 1 star
If they opened up the «workspace» to is non paying type of people. Then it would be a lot better.
Not going back regardless.

Free-​ish Wifi
Strong Coffee
Friendly Staff
A little on the pricey side, but its a cool concept. Its a nice space to get work done for a few hours if you don’t mind paying a few bucks and hour to be there. To me, if I can be more productive in a few hours and pay a couple of bucks an hour than if I were to work at home for free, then I consider that to be money well spent!
Even though my «hot cereal» wasn’t the greatest (tasted super floral/​/​borderline tasted like the smell of fresh laundry??) it was nice that the guys working there made a me a new one with no complaints! :)
If you haven’t tried it yet, definitely check it out! Plus, your first 10 hours are free

Definitely down with the vibe here. I go to coffee shops to do work all the time and so I was super surprised when my friend told me about this place and I hadn’t heard of it. Guess I just don’t frequent the FIDI very often.
If you want a bite to eat, coffee, or beer and to get some work done on the computer this is your spot. They have plug ins galore and super fast internet. Didn’t try any of the food but they had Stone IPA so that was good enough for me!
Will be back if I’m in the area for sure.

Come to workshop café’ if you are just walking in a cold evening and you don’t know where to go; or if you want a quiet place to work with your pc. Please don’t order the espresso, trust me. It is like geting a kick in your mouth. It just taste like burnt manure. I m feeling sorry for all the italian espresso.

Interesting concept. You rent a workspace in a coffee shop with some great coffee!
It’s pretty big and I loved my mocha.
Btw, there’s no small M L. Only one size !

Cocky and rude wait staff. I picked up my latte a minute late and the «barista» scoffed at me when I asked to confirm if it was my drink: «uh, yeah, duh» was his response. Sorry baby Napoleon.
Beware the barista who looks barely above 15. He hasn’t made it through his teenage years yet.

Workshop Café is a great place to study, work, or just hang out, especially in groups! They have tons of tables and some mini conference rooms that can be reserved if you plan on working with other people. On the other hand, you can also work alone in peace because the groups are usually pretty respectful of others. The first 10 hours are free and then it’s $ 2 per hour after as most have stated. Most people pay for the environment but I pay to make sure I get shit done because $ 2 an hour can get expensive quick!
Experience: One of the better places to do work in FiDi. This place is even better than my own office! I have to get up and get my own lattes at work so this place definitely pulls at my very lazy heart strings. The service in general is pretty nice. I do feel like one of the guy’s here mean mugs me /​gives me a hard time but I forget all about it when my yummy latte and everything bagel with egg come.
Food/​Coffee: Both the coffee and food here are delicious! The prices are average which definitely helps offset the hourly sitting rate. Bagel + Egg = $ 3.5 of goodness while the Latte = $ 4. To be clear, the Egg and Cheese Bagel Sandwich isn’t a steamed egg patty with a slice of cheese. They scramble the eggs with cheese (I think cheddar) and plop it in between two toasted buns. The Latte has a decent amount of foam with my perfect cream /​coffee ratio. One of these things keeps me grinding for a good couple hours. If neither tickle your fancy, you’re more than welcome to bring in your own goodies.
Environment: This place must have it’s own breaker with the number of outlets available (that means there’s A LOT of outlets!). There’s a nice mix of programmers, students and young professionals. In my experience, this isn’t a place to talk to your neighbor. The vibe is pretty laid back but people try to be productive here. Not to mention, +1 for having to worry about bums harassing me while I work like at some other coffee shops.
At first, I was completely against going to this style of coffee shop because I didn’t see the value for paying to sit somewhere to work when I can go elsewhere for free. Now, I come here a couple times a week simply because I don’t have to get up for my own coffee plus it forces me to be productive. This place isn’t for everyone but I definitely recommend everyone give them a try.

Came here today and I’m sort of in awe and blown away by this concept. Basically, you pay 2 dollars an hour for a guaranteed spot with outlets in a beautiful and creativity-​inducing environment. With that, you also have the ability to order drinks and food from your phone, which will then be brought to you. Also, you get to network with likeminded people thru the app. I mean this place is basically the coolest hub I’ve ever been to.
The coffee is brewed from Stumptown beans so you know you’re always going to get a good cup. I can’t say too much about the food, I only had a chocolate croissant, but the salmon miso salad was screaming my name. (Next time I promise!) Also you can get popcorn which is weirdly something I always crave when I’m hard at work.
Also, you can get beer and wine (for a surprisingly good price). Although it was a bit too early to add a cold Pranqster to my order, it’s a definite possibility for the future. I mean, what makes reading through academic research papers easier than a tall glass of beer? (Answer: nothing)
While this isn’t a place I’d come to everyday I’ll be missing it whenever I’m in my normal café settings. Workshop, you’ve spoiled me and shown me everything a café COULD BE, now Starbucks just won’t be the same!
Til next time, keep eating keep learning!

Honey Almond Latte. Do it.
* HONEY ICED ALMOND LATTE ($ 5) — 5 STARS:
Honey mixed into 2 shots of Stumptown espresso topped with Barista Califia Almond Milk. I requested this hot but it usually is served iced. It’s slightly sweet and super delicious. I was kinda shocked by the price though — $ 5 — yikes. I love it cold too, and usually ask for this with light honey.
They serve delicious pastries from Pattisserie Philippe as well as a full café menu including salads and sandwiches.
* HAM AND CHEESE CROISSANT ($ 4.50) — 3 STARS:
Overly buttery to the point it’s a bit soggy. Fresh and tasty as would any fresh croissant might be, but I would probably return to try the blueberry brioche or chocolate croissant. Ask for it toasted!
* CHOCOLATE CROISSANT ($ 3.50) — 3.5 STARS:
Decently sized with a decent amount of chocolate but it’s just not my favorite croissant. Better than the ones at La Boulange. Ask for it toasted!
There is some limited free seating but plenty of seating you can rent for $ 2/​hr. It can get pretty crowded especially in the afternoon but it’s almost completely empty in the morning.