I love Kate's kitchen! They have very affordable, delish brunch (that is all I ever go there for) but the lunch looks yummy too. I highly recommend the French Toast Orgy. It is so big it's a good idea to split it w/someone OR have them box up half of it for you to take home or give to a homeless person as you walk home/catch the bus/walk to your car. The parking isn't bad but it is easily accessible by public transit (close to the Church St. muni station & bus lines). You will likely wait on a typical weekend but there is a list you can write your name on & it gives you lots of time to read a book or visit w/your friends while you wait. I think I've typically waited 20 minutes plus for a table for 2, not bad really. They are really nice & have great service when I've been there. I can't wait to go back again!! read more

This place is great. I keep hearing of long lines but have yet to really wait more than 10 minutes. The food is great and inexpensive. The service is awfully friendly. read more

Kate's Kitchen - Hush Puppy - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Yum, this menu is more than a couple steps above the greasy spoon. Sure, it's pricey, but you're paying for sweet service and tastier bites. Everything tastes fresh (and it is?). I especially love the pancakes with strawbs, bananas, and lemon curd (who needs syrup?!). Seriously, try the lemon curd. Sick name, I know, but it's great. The fried potatoes are delicious too - not overly oily, nice and crunchy. The wait can be killer if you go on the weekends because you'll usually hit the hungover crowd. Otherwise, it's not too much of an issue if you pick the right hour to dine. Cash only, and you might need more than the 20 you just pulled from the nearby ATM. read more

One bite of Kate's pumpkin pancake and I knew I had found THE place for a tasty pit stop on a brisk morning motobike ride. I fired up the twin-V, flew out of the bat cave and then grabbed a sweet and knowledgeable local. We rode through the chilly winter air into a bright sun warming the hills above Hayes Valley. She said there are other places that are "decent" choices too as we watched the food hit the table only minutes after we ordered. Yada, yada is what I started to hear as I bit into a light yet dense, moist yet airy, cake from the griddle covered in honey butter and real maple syrup. No need to hear about other spots; this one is super. I was carried off into the legend of Paul Bunyan and the Blue Ox! That cake was gone faster than you downshift a fixie. Oh, the corned beef. Cubes of fatty and stringy goodness. This is a real corned beef hash, not the typical mash you'll find in most diners. My vegetarian companion insisted I give it a try. I could tell she was conjuring up memories from years ago -- it's that kind of flavor combination. The carrots had a subtle sweet taste that can only come from freshness, while the onions and peppers were softened yet retained their bite and crispiness. Potatoes were hot, soft and with skins. Big portions. My only complaint is that the front door is far, far away from the mountains. Heh, and the solution to the giant art (long cypher) on the wall should be easy if you own a cell phone. It's text messaging format. 4u = for you, 1DR=wonder, etc.. read more

I just had brunch at Kate's and still, 2 hours later, can't decide if I liked it. On weekends I go out to eat with my friends after running. This morning, we did 16 miles, so we had worked up enough of an appetite to sample a good portion of the menu. One of my friends got Kafka's scramble (veggies and eggs), while the other basically ordered 5 side dishes and mixed them together on one plate. The waiter looked at him strangely, but was accommodating of his bizarre tastes. I got the corned beef hash. and some hush puppies. My friends seemed to enjoy their meals, but the hash was definitely not what I was hoping for. I like my hash to be chopped up pretty well -- this was SUPER chunky, with some hunks of corned beef that were maybe 1" cubes. That's a pretty big cube of meat if you think about it. The hush puppies were delicious, mostly because of the (apparently legendary) pooh butter. I would almost consider getting 3 orders of these and making a meal of them, but I'm pretty sure my stomach would hate me later. We had to wait a little bit, but that seems to be pretty standard for any decent brunch place on the weekends. Service was pretty good, though the waiter said he could bring us some orange juice outside while we waited for a table and never followed through. The whole experience was very reminiscent of the Pork Store Cafe, which, oddly enough, is about a mile up the same street. I'm sure that there are some dishes that this place does better than Pork Store, but certainly not what I had. Bonus points for the woman standing outside her house down the block cheering me on as I parallel parked in a tiny space. She totally made my day. A tip for first-time patrons of Kate's Kitchen, courtesy of my friend Matt: "You want to maintain a good rapport with the woman in the projects who knows where you parked your car." read more

Just go. Say yes, to trying it. It's worth it...believe me. Three words "French Toast Orgy." Yes, it was as good as it sounds. The pictures on here are pretty accurate, the waitress was really nice, not to mention...pretty cute. Food was great. Coffee, was suprisingly, pretty decent. You know...when you see the lady come out with a pot of coffee to fill your ceramic cup at a restaraunt, you aren't really expecting much for flavor, but it was pretty great. Good meal. Good price. Nice area [lower haight]. Thank you, to Kate, and your kitchen. Try it out. read more

The potatoes LOOKED amazing but tasted so strange. My party decided it must have been because they were frozen or something because they were distinctly undercooked. The meat in my dish was severely under-seasoned and tasted like complete mush (I got some egg/pork dish). Pretty much everyone else I was with said their food was "ok" or "BLAH" The service sucked. The girl who took our order repeated it back wrong several times. Then the person who ordered first at our table received his food last.... twenty minutes after the rest of us. Don't go here, there are so many better places to eat in SF. read more

NOM NOM NOM! So, it is early and on our way to Mavericks in Half Moon Bay, but food was required or the fainting would begin. As my friends are a bit picky, we needed a variety of food, inexpensive and MANY options for the ever beloved pancake. As the competition was at 8am we decided to try out Kate's Kitchen as it is near where I live, but have not yet tried it. I have seen it many times on my way to other places and yet never had the opportunity. What I had noticed was that on weekends there was a line out the door which, as you know, is a good thing when it comes to restaurants. Anyway, here is the breakdown: Cost: under $13 per person Decor: cozy in a trailer park kind of way Service: Prompt and memorable Coffee: typical, but good Pancakes: LOTS! Ok, let's get on to the pancakes, shall we? Menus are provided, but the more tasty breakfast treats are listed on a chalkboard. It is a bit hard to read, but it ensures you know what you are ordering. Most of the listings are the pancake options which are wheat, corn meal and oatmeal. As for toppings, you can have banana with almonds, fresh fruit, Nutella and a few other I can quite remember. We selected corn meal pancakes ($5) with no toppings and oatmeal topped with banana, almonds and light powdered sugar($7). I know many of you are looking to cut back on white flower so I ordered corn meal pancakes which are smokey, firm and without the usual guilt. I refrained from toppings, but was quite happy with the syrup since it came separately and help me not over do it and drown my cakes. I guess you can say I am watching my non-girl like figure. Moving on to the oatmeal pancakes, I have to say I was VERY impressed. They were filling, smooth and really had a great flavor. I would have to say that I will be ordering oatmeal pancakes from now one or at least when available. The toppings were impressive as they did not skimp on the bananas or the almonds. So, in summary I will be going to Kate's Kitchen more often and will have to try a the biscuits and omelets as they looked quite tasty. read more

The pancakes here are a MUST! Don't forget to ask your server for the fruit preserves that come on the side. They're homemade and taste DIVINE! My favorite is the blueberry, but the preserves also come in strawberry, peach, apricot, and some spicy (jalepeno?) flavor that was actually kind of gross. The pancakes themselves come in very unique flavors, and the menu changes fairly often. Kind of pricey at around $8-$9 for two specialty pancakes, but they're decently sized. I also tried the hush puppies and was not impressed. They tasted of old canola/corn oil. Our entire table shared an order of hush puppies, and no one went back for seconds. Stick with the pancakes. Oh, and remember this place is CASH ONLY. read more

Are you a French Toast lover, that wants to spice things up a bit? Try their French Toast Orgy! Imagine French Toast topped with yogurt, fruit and granola. It's decadent and delicious. Kate's is also extremely affordable and has a relaxed casual atmosphere. Get out of your breakfast rut and check out Kate's! read more

I don't know if there's a reason to come here other than the french toast orgy, but that's a pretty damn good reason. Kate's is a pretty good spot for brunch. Service is good, it's decently sized and it's not too expensive. Actually, I probably would have only given Kate's 3 stars because some of the stuff I had there wasn't that great, but the french toast orgy had to bump it up a star. Imagine this: You take a loaf of french bread, slice it up, turn it into french toast. Lay down a foundation of these french toast slices on a plate, pile on a huge load of fresh fruit, dump a whole glob of sweet and tart yogurt on top of that, cover the whole creation with a layer of granola, and then serve it with a side of maple syrup. That's your french toast orgy. It probably tastes better than it sounds. I think the best thing about it is that you end up eating a whole lot, but a lot of it was fruit and yogurt and granola, so you don't feel too heavy afterwards. Good stuff. I may have to head over here again soon. read more

Just fine. Nothing special at all. I would certainly never wait in line for this place. Basic breakfast done, well, basically. read more

This place is on my hit list when I visit, simply because they have the best corned beef hash on the planet! Don't be fooled about other places that claim to have good house made hash, this place offer big chunks of tender corrned beef w/ tasty homefries and your choice of egg any style w/ toast. They have some fresh juices as well; the veggie one has zucchini, broccoli, among other misc. tasties that is good for you as well!! ;) You can either try their gluten free biscuit or cheese, green onion biscuit. Gluten free pancakes as well!! Cash only & open til 2:45 pm. read more

Bad Sunday brunch strikes again! Alright, it wasn't BAD, but I would say 'meh.' Won't be returning. Wait was short for us when we came in around 1240 this Sunday because a number of people didn't have their full parties. My boyfriend and I were seated within 20 minutes of arrival. After being seated with our menus, no a single person acknowledged us for a good 20 minutes. What the heck!? Why seat us if you don't have servers ready to help us order? Nothing on the menu sounded that great to us, but we settled on corn beef and hash and the farmer's breakfast...both with cheddar and green onion biscuits. I also ordered the hushpuppies because I was intrigued and didn't know if we'd make it back. The were served with honey butter and dusted with sugar but very bland. They were dressed up to be sweet but were not flavorful. The first thing we noted about the food was NOTHING IS SEASONED. It's one of those places were they expect you to load up your seasonings. What? Put some salt and pepper on my eggs, please. The most flavorful thing about our meal was my juice. The blueberry, strawberry and apple blend was great. Recommend. Nothing on our plates was memorable. The home fries were soft and not crispy at all, the biscuits lacking in any sign or taste of cheddar. At the end the waiter handed us the wrong receipt that clearly wasn't for our table. A $12 bill for a two-person meal? Come on. Were you even looking? We had to flag him down to get him to notice. Slow service. Meh food. read more

Kate's Kitchen has been on my list to try for ages and today I was finally able to scratch it off the list. Let me preface by saying that I ordered wrong. I was going to get the cornmeal pancakes but then I changed my mind at the last minute and ordered the biscuits and veg gravy. It was "okay" but nothing I would order again. I will go back to try the pancakes soon. The fellow behind me ordered a heaping bowl of oatmeal with fruit and it looked scrumptious. I will say the service was amazing as our waitress was very sweet and attentive. The fresh squeezed OJ is a big win. Don't forget...cash only! read more

Do yourself a favor and don't, just don't, get the French toast orgy. Or get it and give the leftovers to a homeless guy outside. If you don't end up with any leftovers then question yourself and go to a gym or something. I felt like I am committing a crime when they brought that "huge" plate. You can easily fill 3 people with that amount of food. Regardless, it was pretty good and I'll be back at Kate's Kitchen to explore more of the menu. read more

Great service, good breakfast. We lucked out and got a table right away on a Saturday morning. The waitress was fantastic and even re-seated us at a bigger table when the rest of our party arrived. They were on it with the coffee - I never saw the bottom of that cup. read more

Yummy!!! The food looked so good when it came out & it tasted just as well :) The restaurant was cute & there are a lot of good choices to choose from. Also, the potatoes & veggies that the meal comes with is also delicious to have. If you order your meal with biscuits & gravy, it comes with a lott of gravy & you can dip those potatoes in it! Very filling meal :D read more

Kate's Kitchen - Eggs benedict with smoked salmon :O So good!!! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I went to Kate's kitchen on a Saturday for brunch. We had to wait 15 minutes (party of 2) to be seated which is fine for San Francisco. The place is cute. I got the Lauren's special which really isn't nothing special, it's just a burger. I might go again to try their pancakes or French toasts. Pro tip: They have a Groupon for dinner! read more

Great breakfast place. Some unusual combinations, solid traditional plates, veggie options, and good variety. The tables can be a little cramped, but not too much. Service is quick and the staff is busy but friendly and helpful. A popular spot, so plan on a wait (the wait usually passes pretty quickly, though). And the fryer is fixed, so they have hush puppies again! read more

Cute little place for breakfast. Everything was delicious. There was a group of 7 and we all tried something different. Their French toast is to die for! Service was great. Will definitely come back in our next visit to San Francisco read more

Casual, yet non-generic is the perfect description for this hole-in-the-wall brunch place. The orange-flavored french toast is killer. Wow. Could my description BE any more detailed? read more

I used to go here a lot when I lived down the street. I was initially attracted to it, because there's always a crowd of people outside the tiny establishment on weekends for brunch. I will say that I think it's over-hyped. The meals are OK, but not much more. The thing that stands out about Kate's is their portion sizes, which are ginormous -- honestly, too huge for single servings. The place itself hasn't been updated in a long time and lives up to its hole-in-the-wall image, but in terms of food, I think Kate's could do a lot better. In hindsight, I realize I went to Kate's more out of convenience than anything else...now that I'm no longer in the neighborhood, I never find myself there or craving to go. read more

This place was pretty decent. I had the uniform California sandwich or grilled chicken and avocado. The sandwich was tasty--no complaints. I am absolutely dying for their ginger ale, though. It's made in-house, of real ginger, and quite on the spicy side. This is nothing like canned ginger ale, so be prepared for a completely different taste. Go against convention and get something different on the menu. I am not a San Franny resident, but if I were and lived in the Haight area, I would attempt to buy their ginger ale by the bottle. read more

Cheap for a reason, it is crappy food. I walked in starving, took a few bites and lost all appetite. The pancakes tastes more like corn bread, the potatoes on my friends dish were burnt and so where their eggs. Nothing really stood out as good, well maybe the fresh squeezed OJ but that's always good if fresh. Their homemade Ginger Ale was AWFUL! Ambiance is plain, cramped but fine for the lower haight crowd... Cash only really cheap. Spend $2-$4 bucks more and get a real good meal. read more

Going out to breakfast on the weekends is the best, especially if there's no wait time. Get to Kate's before 10:30 and you shouldn't have a problem. Otherwise, the brunch crowd starts up and you'll be poking around the Walgreen's next door for an hour until they finally call your group. I don't drink coffee, but my breakfast buddy claims that Kate's has the best house drip in the city. Their fresh-squeezed orange juice is excellent as well. Though Kate's is super popular, I feel like the food is just okay. Breakfast buddy would kill me if he knew I just wrote that, but it's true. As far as breakfast goes, everything's pretty standard, meaning it's good, but I'm not screaming from the mountaintops about it. I do give them a nod for serving crispy bacon rather than grisly strips of fat. That I like. The grilled cheese sandwich with tomato and basil is definitely underwhelming. I order it a lot anyway because it tastes just as good as anything else at Kate's: just okay. Make sure you stop by the ATM on the way over because Kate's is a cash-only joint. I learned this the hard way the first time I came here with breakfast buddy, who conveniently had forgotten his wallet at home. And the next two times after that. Shady. read more

Went here for brunch this wknd after seeing the crazy awesome reviews for their French toast orgy. So you can guess what I got :) My friend got the vegetable scramble which was excellent. My FTO was def good but WAY too much food. I stuffed myself trying to finish half of it, and the kid at a table next to me ended up taking his home. (I wouldn't really recommend that seeing as granola really doesn't keep well once mixed with honey and yogurt, but maybe that's just me). The stand out was their coffee - chickoree blend that made me think of camping so strongly my friend and I made plans to ge next week. Ending review: Go. Now. Enjoy. read more

This was the first place I heard that I had to try in SF. The food was good, but I I think I was expecting more waffle house style food (more butter, grease and less teeth). I did my best to finish off pancakes, eggs biscuit and coffee and didn't come anywhere close to finishing. The portions were crazy! But I guess if you walk and bike everywhere you can eat a huge breakfast. I like the staff and the diversity of people in the place...I could have used a bit more elbow room but the people didn't look like they might injury me if I accidentally bumped them, which I'm sure I did. read more

Having eaten at Kate's Kitchen twice now, I'm definitely a fan, and will be coming back. While weekend brunch may be a bit hectic, showing up at or around 10 (which isn't that hard, really), guarantees a short wait time for a small party. During my first visit, I had the big guy breakfast, and fancying myself a larger-than-average-human-male, I was nearly bested by the enormous pancakes, the pile of eggs, home fries and a role that came to my table. If I didn't eat fast, I would have left with a doggie bag. This morning I had the corned beef hash, which may very well be the best this city has to offer. While everyone claims that their X is the best in town, I will vouch for Kate's hash as the new standard bearer for this particular dish. Food is affordable, servers are attentive, kind (dare I say stylish), and they keep your mug full of hot coffee. read more

Kate's Kitchen was the best way to refuel after Bay to Breakers. The wait is short. The staff was very accomidating and attentive. I will definitely come back here. Kate's is very cozy and homey. Great for breakfast. read more

My friend lives right down the street so usually about 5 of us come here for breakfast when we are in an extremely hungover state, and I've been here about 4 times-- so I keep coming back for a reason right?! I have never had a bad experience, except for the time when my boyfriends breakfast looked way bomber than mine (you know those times you order something then when all the food comes out, you wish you had gotten someone else's.. I hate that!) But regardless, everything I have eaten there is quite delicious. SO I guess my advice would be this: if you're hungover, and are looking for some very satisfying food (and don't really care about much personal interaction with your waitress because it IS a very busy place) than this place is where it's at. read more

Ridiculously tasty food, good pricing -- definitely good value for dollar. Feels like a good breakfast spot should. I hope their coffee is always that strong. The down side is that the tables are packed in, so it can feel a lot more crowded than a normal restaurant, and that also means that the service might not be great. If you're there at peak times, it's not going to be as enjoyable as at a more laid-back hour, but I don't know if that would stop me from going. read more

This place is great! Aside from the longish wait (nothing, however, compared to some other places), I have very few complaints. The food is great! The biscuits and gravy are artery-clogging amazing. The cornmeal pancakes are the perfect blend of sweet and savory, and they usually have some vegetarian scramble with a ton of great veggies. Also, the prices are unbeatable. It's like I am ordering breakfast anywhere else besides San Francisco. The coffee is kind so-so though...strangely salty. Oh and no booze. read more

Ah, the french toast orgy. I was duly warned, but had to try. After seeing a mountain of fruit and french toast pass, I decided to order the french toast on the side, in hopes of preventing a soggy mess with the yogurt. Which was delicious (and not too expensive!). I had a fresh veggie drink to go with, and I was set. Friendly staff, and locals brought us so we knew to bring cash and come early. Great breakfast place! read more

Santa gave us an early Christmas present today. Since +90% of San Franciscans don't live here, we we're pleasantly surprised to get seated with no wait (a new record). The staff and food we're delicious. Their house speciality is the jelly and green onion and cheddar biscuits. Highly recommend getting two. Also didn't hurt that I negotiated the price down. There was the random crazy guy that tried to sit down at our table, but I chalk that up to San Francisco living. read more

Amazing and tasteful experience at Kate's kitchen! We ordered French toast orgie and the best one is a bacon and cheddar pancake! Definitely would go back there again read more

Kate's Kitchen - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

Update: they take credit cards now. They finally made it to the 2000s. Food is great. Love the place, love it more now.

Decent breakfast and coffee....but I'll risk offending the sacrosanct breakfast institution that is Kate's Kitchen...because as a big fan of breakfast potatoes I am consistently disappointed by the mushy potatoes*...So much so that as my place straddles Hayes Valley and the Lower Haight I am more likely to turn toward Hayes Street for my leisurely Sunday brunch than toward the Haight. *Thing is, you don't want to fully cook the potato...you want to make it *tender* and then add it to a hot skillet. I know, I know -- why don't I just stay home and cook myself some breakfast potatoes? Because I'm lazy. read more

The price is right, the food is straight forward & decent. Strong coffee that kept coming was above par. I went for the French toast which met my high french toast standards. though after all the hype i've heard....it wasn't anything groundbreaking. *I was with my friend & her 3 month old, so the place gets massive kudos for going the extra step to accomidate us. it ain't always easy in this city w/ a baby in tow* read more

For a long time, Kate's Kitchen was that place in town "where everyone knows [my] name," to paraphrase the theme from 'Cheers'. When I was working as a waiter at another restaurant, I ate breakfast at Kate's at least twice a week. Always the same order: Farmer's Breakfast, scrambled, whole wheat toast, sub fruit (i.e., fruit instead of potatoes), coffee and water. I didn't even need to order after a while -- it was great. Now, though, when I can usually only go on weekends, the long wait for a table is frustrating, and the consistency of the food seems more variable than it used to be. Basically, Squat & Gobble around the corner wooed me away. Still, Kate's can be great for what it is: a funky (nearly iconic) and inexpensive breakfast place. It's still my girlfriend's favorite local spot. Definitely check it out. read more