Bottles & bites

There is a new sandwich spot in the neighborhood and I was excited to finally try it out. I went during lunch when it was busy and ordered the Eat Aliano and Al’s Special. I think there might have been a mix up, since the sandwich I received had avocado and did not seem to match the Eat Aliano. Both sandwiches were a bit light on the meat and not as toasty as I had hoped, even though I asked for them toasted. They were also a little messy in how they were put together. What stood out to me the most though was the food handling. The person making sandwiches kept their gloves on when moving to the register and touching the card machine. While I was relieved no one paid with cash at that moment, it still felt unsanitary and took away from my experience. I really wanted to love this place since it is new to the neighborhood, but overall it left me a little underwhelmed. Hopefully with time they will smooth out these details, because the menu has potential.

Absolutely phenomenal store!!!. We tried the chopped cheese and it was to die for!!! Perfectly seasoned, juicy, and honestly one of the best I’ve ever had. And as an Arab I have to say the chicken shawarma tasted like something straight from back home... The flavors were authentic and the spices were spot-on On top of the amazing food, the customer service was exceptional! The owner is incredibly kind and welcoming, and you can tell he truly cares about his customers!!! If you want delicious food with warm, genuine hospitality this place is an absolute gem. Highly recommend!!!

We recently tried Bottles and Bites, and wow — the shawarma sandwiches were the best we’ve ever had! Everything was fresh, flavorful, and perfectly made. You can really taste the quality in every bite. The owner, Ala, is incredibly friendly and welcoming — he truly makes you feel at home. It’s so nice to see a new local spot run by someone who cares this much about great food and great service. If you haven’t been yet, you’re missing out. We’ll definitely be back again and again!

⸻ We stopped by Bottles and Bites and tried their shawarma sandwich—it was absolutely amazing! The flavor was authentic, perfectly seasoned, and honestly the best shawarma we’ve had in a long time. The bread was fresh, the portion was generous, and everything tasted spot on. Definitely worth a visit if you’re craving something delicious!

Purchased the chopped cheese and I don’t know why there was so much hype around it, meat quality was average and the entire sandwich was just messy and not worth $20+. Honestly a 2/10. Also purchased a tiny chocolate bar at the register with no price and it was $15. Straight up scam. Save your money and goto Big Apple Pizza n Grill for the best chopped cheese in the city.

Best breakfast sandwich in cow hallow/ the marina. This is the new spot we needed! Vibes are good and it’s a great place to pick up last minute wine, beer or hard kombucha

I just went and got a sandwich. The man was friendly but made my sandwich with his bare hands. Digging out the turkey, touching all the toppings with his bare hands. When I asked him if he should be wearing gloves he said they don't have gloves that fit his hands. I smiled and bought the sandwich but im sorry I can't eat this. After making the sandwich he proceeded to touch the register and things. He said he washed his hands but this just feels unsanitary.. and all the toppings lettuce, pickles, onions he just dug his hands it. Im repulsed. Wasted of 13 dollars:(

Cool place, friendly employees and tasty sandwiches. A good combination.

Incredible service, incredible bites-I got the shawarma and it was excellent, im about to go back for the breakfast burritos shout out to Al who runs everything and more-what a legend!!

My boyfriend and I were in the area looking for food on a Tuesday afternoon. We looked inside and was immediately greeted by the workers. The place was very clean and organized. They provided great service and had a lot of sandwich options alongside snacks and drinks! We got the Al's Special and Eat-aliano. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. The workers were very kind and polite. The store just opened two days ago. Let's put these guys on the map!

Unfortunately very disappointing. I was excited to try the chopped cheese, which everyone seems to get here, and was let down immediately. The price for this sandwich is absurd ($20). I'm aware things are expensive in San Francisco, but this is honestly just crazy. Their other items were much more reasonably priced. The chopped cheese was the messiest thing I've ever eaten, definitely best eaten in privacy... It immediately fell apart when you picked it up and was a bit of a disaster. I could've excused this, but it had very little flavor and left a lot to the imagination. The bread was stale and hard to bite. Despite the food, the staff were very, very nice. All big smiles and extremely friendly.

After escaping to the east coast (New York City, Jersey, & Philly), I returned to my roots and visited my hometown of San Francisco just a few weeks later. This is where I visited a small hole-in-the-wall deli that gives you a taste of New York and is none other than "Bottles & Bites". Located on Union St (and adjacent to Octavia St) in the heart of the Marina District (my old stomping grounds as a kid), this place has been serving up a variety of sandwiches, salads, breakfast options, coffee, smoothies, and much more dating back to mid-2025. Even on their menu flyer, they are dubbed "A New York Bodega with a San Francisco TOUCH & LOVE". I came here during the afternoon on Saturday 11/15/2025 at around 2:45pm. Since it was the tail-end of the lunch rush, I was able to walk right up and place my order. Keep in mind that this place is quite small and can accommodate seating for a maximum of 6 customers. However, there are a couple of outdoor tables and chairs on the more comfortable San Francisco days. They do have quite a bit of sealed drinks, snacks, and even a ton of non-food items; much like what you'd find in an actual New York bodega. The hours are quite reasonable as they are open Mon-Thu from 7am-9pm, Fri-Sat from 7am-11pm, and Sunday from 8am-8pm. Since I was starving, I decided to go with one of their fully loaded sandwiches, the "Eat-aliano". This consisted of mortadella, Italian salami, prosciutto, provolone cheese, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions. Since I was in the city, I had to go with sourdough as my bread of choice. My lady ordered their "Chicken Caesar Wrap" as her meal. Within 5 minutes, my sandwich and her wrap is brought out to us. I will say that portions are quite huge but the real winner is the bread. It was made to perfection while all the meats & veggies were packed in nicely. The only drawback is that this was a bit pricey (at nearly $18) but you are in a popular touristy area of San Francisco. I will say that "Bottles & Bites" has a lot going for it; a huge variety of menu options to choose from as well as prime location in the Marina District. Since they just opened only 4 months prior to my visit here, we will see if they can withstand the test of time and be here for the long haul. With above average customer service, delicious sandwiches that left me feeling full and happy, I am giving this small business a respectable four-star rating.

It's really late on Halloween night and me and my girl were bar hopping in SF! We stopped in to get sandwiches because the signs in the windows said they were famous! Think like a bodega but better! Lots of sandwich options and tons of drink choices like a mix of a gas station and bodega minus the gas! The sandwiches were expensive but HUGE! Check out bottles & bites!

I was so excited about this place but was slightly disappointed. The sandwiches themselves didn't have enough meat or fixings in them. I got chipotle mayo in mine which was really good, however, nothing else about the sandwich stood out. On the other hand, the place was really clean, the staff was nice and they had a great drink/chip selection. I will be coming back to try again, but overall I was a bit disappointed because I feel that it was hyped up on social media.

I saw an instagram foodie check Bottles & Bites out and it looked really good. I stopped in and ordered the same item that inspired my visit, the B&B Classic - 2 eggs, bacon or sausage, cheese.with chipotle aioli and garlic sauce. It was tasty and a meal itself. I also tried the cheesesteak sandwich. It was good but like a fellow Yelper mentioned, the $19 price tag seemed a little steep. The service was great and very friendly.

Had a great experience here! It is expensive ($19 for a chopped cheese!), but my partner and I split one sandwich which they kindly put on two separate trays for us. The menu is a good size and there are 4 bar seats inside with two outdoor tables. There is a fun array of snacks and drinks for purchase and it is a clean place with kind employees.

Newish neighborhood sandwich spot. Call ahead if you don't want to wait. I always get the eataliano. Very tasty.

I was excited to try this place because I saw Festus Ezeli's post. However, I was disappointed with the overall experience. For starters, my Breakfast Burrito wasn't grilled (pics below), like one often sees at other eateries. I thought maybe this was normal, but when I looked at their IG, I saw the wraps were grilled and an influencer's post showed her Breakfast Burrito was grilled. I ended up taking it home and grilling it myself. I also had to add salt since it tasted like none was added to the mixings. We ordered our food for pickup since we were running errands in the neighborhood, but when we went inside, there was no pick-up line. You had to wait along with the other patrons who were making fresh orders. I think it would be helpful to have a separate pick-up line like other eateries do, since that food is ready to go. Making those pick-up orders wait in the same line will only guarantee lukewarm or cold food if it's really busy. Once we got to the cashier, she was handed a finished sandwich by the cook for another customer. She tried calling out said order, but the music inside was so loud, the patron didn't hear the callout - and this person was inside, maybe 10-15ft away. The cashier went outside, then inside before finally tracking her down. This is telling because the store itself is not very big. It's comparable to an intimate cafe, size-wise. Playing music is fine, but if patrons inside can't even hear their order - forcing the cashier to walk around, which in-turn delays all the people in line, then it's probably too loud. Even the people standing around waiting were shouting at each other just to conversate. I'd like to try their other sandwiches, but my first experience was a let down, unfortunately. Hopefully they polish things up, because I'd like to give them another visit and update my rating.

As a New Yorker I highly recommend this place the guys who work there are really awesome and they make sandwiches with love. I had a great conversation with them. What a great place! My wife had the chopped cheese. It's so good and highly recommended too. It's so good and highly recommend it 10/10 and will be back!! Thanks Bottles and bites for all the efforts

Great breakfast sandwich! I got the B&B classic with bacon. The store was also very clean and had a lot of options.

One thing chop cheese lack in the city is meat quality. They are always old, stale, and tastes foul. For the first time I actually found a quality chopped cheese spot. And their Cesar salad wrap was really good too. Customer service was very nice and it is in a very convenient area too. Give it a shot!

There is a new sandwich spot in the neighborhood and I was excited to finally try it out. I went during lunch when it was busy and ordered the Eat Aliano and Al's Special. I think there might have been a mix up, since the sandwich I received had avocado and did not seem to match the Eat Aliano. Both sandwiches were a bit light on the meat and not as toasty as I had hoped, even though I asked for them toasted. They were also a little messy in how they were put together. What stood out to me the most though was the food handling. The person making sandwiches kept their gloves on when moving to the register and touching the card machine. While I was relieved no one paid with cash at that moment, it still felt unsanitary and took away from my experience. I really wanted to love this place since it is new to the neighborhood, but overall it left me a little underwhelmed. Hopefully with time they will smooth out these details, because the menu has potential.

Incredible sandwiches and the owners are so sweet. They saw we were cold and brought me and my friends out hot coco. Love this spot

I was on Union Street yesterday and saw this little corner sandwich shop. Decided on a whim to give them a shot. I initially ordered a Rueben. The lady suggested I tried the corned beef. Personally I did not like it, so I opted for a custom ham and Swiss on sour French roll. The sandwich was perfectly prepared. I have worked professionally in a few jobs where I made sandwiches (Heidi Pies and Bette B Cuisine in the 1970s). But the best part was just how VERY friendly everyone there was to each and every customer. They truly appreciate people. I live in San Mateo, but I will return whenever I am the area.

Their sandwiches are good but they got the order wrong even when I was the only customer in the shop. Not sure how that could even happen. If you run out of ingredients tell us first please.

Been here twice now. Compared to other sandwiches spot nearby, the food isn't as good. Biggest complaint is the bread is tough and chewy making it hard to bite into. Can find better quality sandwiches for the same price.

$20 for a chopped cheese is robbery! Especially when the price was not displayed. The sando was mid. There's a bunch a local delis at a fraction of the price that taste better. I give this place 1-2 years max on this corner.

A great addition to the neighborhood. I had the California and added bacon. The bread is fresh, the bodega is super clean and it was an overall great experience. Will definitely be coming back for the chopped cheese next.

Food, service, and selection are great. Chopped Cheese is "come here just for this" good and the Shawarma grilled wrap is also excellent. Great experience all around; will be back!

We stopped by Bottles and Bites and tried their shawarma sandwich--it was absolutely amazing! The flavor was authentic, perfectly seasoned, and honestly the best shawarma we've had in a long time. The bread was fresh, the portion was generous, and everything tasted spot on. Definitely worth a visit if you're craving something delicious!

I live in the neighborhood and this spot is a great addition to the community! I love their shawarma and chicken caesar wraps (shawarma is a must) and they have a good drink/snack selection. Al and the rest of the staff are always friendly and the space feels clean. Would recommend if you want a family style deli/corner store!

This new spot on Union is a great addition to the neighborhood! They have everything one might need from sandwiches, drinks, snacks, to ice cream and gelato. The owners are super friendly and the place is very clean. Really excited Bottles & Bites is here!