Mendocino Farms
Sandwich shop · Financial District ·
Creative gourmet sandwiches, soups & salads with local ingredients
Creative gourmet sandwiches, soups & salads with local ingredients
"As hard as your company tries to make your office habitable, you’re still surrounded by a bunch of glowing screens and people making water cooler conversation, even though the only water cooler around is on a Dilbert poster. So for lunch, it’s nice to go somewhere that actually feels like you’d want to hang out there. Mendocino Farms is a place on the corner of California and Montgomery that’s just that. Besides the big, open, blue and white space, the food here is mostly salads and sandwiches - all of which are light enough to keep you on your toes when you’re back in the office trying to dodge people talking about the weather. In particular, we like the pork belly banh mi." - taylor abrams, jess basser sanders, will kamensky
"This is the first SF outpost of this LA-based mini chain. It’s bright and open on the inside, so if your morning isn’t going great, sitting here with a friend and splitting a sandwich could save your afternoon - we like the pork belly banh mi. It’s a counter service place that potentially requires interacting with multiple people and tablets to order, but the line moves relatively quickly for a work lunch stop in the FiDi. Sit here or get your food to go so you can get back to valuing real estate by the amount of wall plugs relative to height off the ground, or however it’s done." - Will Kamensky
"Mendocino Farms, the Southern California sandwich chain, is opening a roomy 5,882-square-foot San Francisco location at 465 California Street in the Financial District." - Caleb Pershan
"I found the new San Francisco Mendocino Farms, located in the historic Merchants Exchange building at 465 California Street, to be the chain’s largest restaurant to date and a real homecoming: the founders grew up in Northern California and the concept and name nod to local farms and food culture. Interiors by Valerio Architects create a FiDi-friendly space right on the cable car line, and a prominent black-and-white photo of co‑founder Mario Del Pero’s great‑great‑grandfather’s butcher shop (the Del Pero family later operated a meat‑processing plant in Marysville) adds emotional resonance. The location is open now for lunch and early evening dinner with breakfast coming later, currently 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday–Friday, and the menu features Mendo favorites such as the “not so fried” Mary’s chicken sandwich, which delivers fried-style crunch on roasted chicken via crispy breadcrumbs; the owners are also expanding in NorCal with recently opened sites in Campbell, San Jose, and San Mateo and forthcoming outposts in Sacramento, San Ramon, and Palo Alto." - Caleb Pershan
"Debuting its menu of sandwiches and salads on August 9 at the Merchant’s Exchange building (465 California Street), Mendocino Farms — the increasingly prolific Los Angeles–based chain — is opening its fourth Northern California location (joining San Mateo, Campbell, and San Jose). Founders Ellen Chen and Mario Del Pero, both natives of the area, are bringing a restaurant inspired by local mainstays like Bakesale Betty and Tartine back home; Del Pero’s great-great-grandfather even ran a butcher shop just blocks away at the turn of the century. At 5,882 square feet, this will be the largest location to date, with a second kitchen dedicated solely to catering and delivery, and it will be the first Mendocino Farms to offer breakfast, grab-and-go salads, and local coffee from Santa Cruz’s Verve Coffee. Where the Los Angeles restaurants are known for sleek design with plants, chalkboards, marble, and colorful accents, the San Francisco outpost—designed by Valerio Architects—will go for an “old world aesthetic” of marble, brass, smoky mirrors, communal tables, banquettes, and an outdoor seating area. It will be open 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with breakfast launching in the coming weeks." - Ellen Fort