Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery

I am a speciality’s fan and have tried them at innumerous locations. But this one is really disappointing. They have an ongoing thing of spoiling my salads. On three occasions my salad has been with very limited toppings. Its just full of lettuce.
I hate the idea of paying $ 9 for chopped lettuce. I wish they follow the salad recipe as all other specialty’s.

I was at this place today and ordered a Cobb salad with no bacon, no mayo, and no cheese. I specifically asked them to make sure I get the avocado. The girl who took my order was nice enough who took my order correctly and even repeated it to me twice before I paid. I was handed a buzzer which I am not even sure why because then she asked my name and said they will call my name when my sandwich is ready. First of all I waited for what seemed like an eternity for my sandwich and they weren’t even that busy. Then I saw my sandwich sitting at the window and no one went to the window to look at the tag and call my name. So, I Walked up, checked the tag to make sure it was my sandwich, and picked it up. When I sat down I realized there was bacon in there. I went back to the last behind the window who made my sandwich and told her it had bacon and showed her my ticket that clearly stated NO BACON! She looked at it and didn’t even apologize or seem to feel bad. She took the plate without a word and then I said I paid for extra pickle, so she shoved this little container which contained the pickles over the counter to the other side where my sandwich with bacon lay. I waited again and this time picked it up again brought it over to devour it because I was starving! Well, guess what? She had just pulled the bacon off and I knew this because there were chunks of bacon left behind. And, there was NO avocado! I mean WTF? I was obviously upset by then. I mean what if I was allergic to bacon? They would be in big trouble! I took the sandwich to the girl at the counter and they apologized. I needed up getting a salad instead because by then I did not trust the woman behind the counter. They reimbursed me and I got the salad on the house, but I mean come on people! Get your s**t together! There were also other people who came and waited way too long for a measly sandwich. I’ve always liked this place because its convenient, but I would rather drive further and go somewhere else. The worst part about this whole ordeal was the lady’s attitude and her clear demonstration for lack of care for other or her job. She should just stay home and do everyone a favor!

Really great sandwiches and good coffee. Want to come more often to sample the entire menu as the three I have tried were all great.

I have been eating at this Specialty’s for a while now and I must say this location has gone way downhill. I usually order at times when they aren’t busy, online, and consistently either get an incorrect order or they don’t make it at all until I show up for pickup. Food quality has also dropped to average at best. Wouldn’t eat here but there are no other options!
Get it together.

Nice bakery, especially if you’re staying at one of the nearby hotels. Nice assortment of pastries, oatmeal, yogurt, coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Steel cut oatmeal is great!

The location is a bit tough to find. It’s on the first floor of a larger building in a parking lot.
I was exciting to come here for breakfast with all the great reviews. When I left, not so excited. The turkey and cheese croissant was not freshly prepared like several other bakery’s/cafes do it. This is why my croissant was lukewarm. The turkey and cheese did come in good balanced ratios. There really wasn’t much special about this place though. Maybe my rating/​review will be updated here when I come here more often, as it is very close to work.

Specialty’s is always good — superb sandwiches, soups, salads, and, of course, COOKIES! So glad that the pecan tea cookies are back in season :)
We regularly order catering from this particular Specialty’s for work and we’ve always had really great experiences. They are prompt and deliver the food/​have the food ready for pickup early or on time. The workers are always in a good mood and super nice to the customers.
My only thing is that this store is so small that it’s not really nice to actually eat much there… there’s a bit of counter space and some patio tables, but it’s so squished and small that I never want to stay there to eat.
Restaurant-​size aside, Specialty’s is great — come eat here!!!

The salads are usually fine. Veggie sandwich is always packed to the limit and tasty, but this location ALWAYS over bakes the cookies. I usually don’t let myself get one, so when I do I want it to be delicious. Theirs are almost always too hard or burnt on the bottom. Yet I keep trying :/

This place is a.) delicious, b.) located on the first floor of my building, and c.) comes equipped with an online ordering system that allows detailed customization of items for pickup or delivery – all at your convenience.
This is a dangerous relationship I’m starting here.

The cookies are as good as they get! Sandwiches mediocre.

What’s going on with the cookies?! This was my 5^th shot at hoping to not get burnt cookies. I’ve been a long time customer as my co-​workers and I always make this our go-​to place. It’s got a great selection of salads, sandwiches and soups. I just don’t know what’s the deal with the hard as rock cookies. I have always loved their soft cookies so I don’t know if the recipe changed or if they’re just over baking them. So sorry for the 2 stars but it totally ruined my lunch to find a burnt cookie.
I will say that overall the staff is super friendly and nice. I would give them all the 5 stars.

Pleasant staff, quality food and coffee equals a great place to have a great lunch.
I recommend the turkey pesto, delicious

Cookies!!! COOKIES!!!
They have other food too, apparently. I should try some one day.

Oh my gosh, talk about a totally underwhelming food experience. I landed in SF and immediately looked for a nice café to enjoy breakfast, sip an espresso and do a little work. The reviews here were so good, but I was totally misled.
I got the egg and cheddar breakfast sandwich. Blah. The egg was clearly poured from a box mix and it was dry (it was probably microwaved). The bread was okay, but overall the sandwich was a notch up from horrible. I would have done better with a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin.
The espresso (americano) wasn’t bad.
The atmosphere was very much like airport or mall culture. Very transient, I actually felt uncomfortable hanging out and eating my meal there.
I’d recommend you keep Unilocaling, unless business-​park-​cafeteria food is your thing.

If you’re looking for the Burger King/​McDonalds of the office park — look no further. I’ll admit, the food here isn’t neccessarily bad, but it is generally overpriced. The baked goods should be calmly avoided as their ‘speciality’ — note the pun — is oil… and lots of it.
The soups should be, variously, avoided.
All in all, if you can’t make your way to the limited options that are around south city, you should go here.

I felt like treating myself for breakfast instead of Genentech food, so I went across B82/​84 parking lot to Specialty’s! There were a lot of baked goods to choose from. I got the veggie quiche and pumpkin walnut muffin.
I like quiches and veggies, but this mini veggie quiche was really salty… I think there was too much cheese packed in that tiny quiche. The size was about the palm of my hand. The pumpkin walnut muffin was good though. It was sweet and fragrant. Taste like pumpkin pie in a muffin. :P The price of quiche was $ 2.79 and pumpkin muffin was $ 2.39. Not too bad…
Friendly staff and quick service. I will be back to try other baked goods in the future!

Specialty’s is a great place for breakfast and lunch. I usually go for breakfast since they have Intelligentsia coffee… yum! Their breakfast sandwiches are very good (they season their eggs), but they are way too big. If they were half the size I would get them more often. Now, I usually get the veggie mini quiche instead, which is a bit greasy, but pretty good.
For lunch they have a great assortment of sandwiches, soup, and salad. I really like the Chairman sandwich.
The staff is always friendly and the food comes out fairly quickly.

I order from Specialty’s sometimes for lunch since it’s right under my building. Maybe I’ve had it too much or I’m getting sick of it, but Specialty’s is just ok to me. It’s fine for the occasional convenient lunch, but I would never go out of my way to come here.
The best part of the sandwiches is probably the bread. I kinda like the focaccia since it’s saltiness blends well with the pretty regular sandwich ingredients. The breakfast sandwiches are probably the best value, but I’m not the biggest fan of the eggs. Their texture is strangely spongy.
The cookies here are pretty huge and filling. I definitely like the slightly chewy texture, and they have a good variety of flavors. I’d probably like them more if I never had cookies from better bakeries like B Patisserie. It’s still fine for the office, but I would never drive over here on a non work day.

Gateway Boulevard doesn’t offer much to eat with the exception of the Genentech Café and Specialties located at the Nimbus Data/​HPSM building. Specialties offers everything from sandwiches, to soups, salads, and plenty of baked goods. All the food here is kind of pricey, but it all tastes super good. I usually get the salads here, my favorite being the spicy Thai peanut salad. By default, the spicy Thai peanut salad comes with cabbage… so if you don’t like cabbage you are allowed to switch out the type of greens at no extra cost (which is super cool). Other cool tips about this place is that they sell day old baked goods at a discounted price as well. So, if you’ve been eyeing a particular cookie or muffin but didn’t want to pay full price… then you can always try your luck the next day to see if it might be at the bottom ‘discount bin’.
The staff here are super nice, upbeat, and friendly… and if you come here often enough, they’ll know you by your name and ask if you’re going to have the «usual.» Lines can be kind of long, especially during lunch time… so either come here before the mad rush of lunch-​goers at noon –or– order ahead of time online! I never knew about the online ordering system until I went with one of my friends here… while I waited in line to order, she had her order all ready and bagged up for her pick up!
While this place is kind of pricey (as mentioned earlier), I think the winning point for this Specialty’s location is the good customer service… and for that this location gets a 4 stars rating in my books. :)

This place smells like freshly baked cookies!
My sissy told us about this place since it’s near her work. I havent dined there, but we always place our orders online. Their menu has a good variety of sandwiches, salads, and even cookies. This place is good for any of the three meals of the day/​night!
Sandwiches like the classic roast turkey and tuna sandwich are a good $ 6, while specialty sandwiches are about $ 8. What I really like about this place is that you can customize your sandwiches to your preference.
I’ve had their turkey cranberry sandwich with everything except onions and pickles on wheat bread. They really pack the sandwich with the righr amount of turkey and veggies, and their cranberry sauce has a nice consistency and isnt runny or goopy. Nommz.
I’ve also tried their ham&cheese quiche and their three cheese quiche. Sad to say, I wasn’t a fan of these. If you really like that strong cheese taste however, you might like these better than I did.
Their cookies are goooood. The black and white one is sweet and stays consistent in texture and depth. Mmmmm.
Picking up your order here is pretty neat. When they finish packing it, they place a sticker with your name and info on the sticker and you can actually go and pick it up yourself. They place it on the shelf nearest the door. Double check to see if it’s your order though, some people get mixed up orders.
Overall, an interesting place for sandwiches :].