Cafe Flore

Café Flore
2298 Market Street – San Francisco
415-621-8579

One of the great Castro landmark eateries that has long offered organic, vegetarian and even vegan menu selections to the health conscious residents of the area, but with cache and a unique list of distinctions including a large outdoor patio protected by glass walls and space heaters, a great selection of coffee and tea specialties, great baked goods and superb people watching and eavesdropping. They are part self serve and part table service and it works well considering how busy they almost always are. They have an extensive menu for such a small kitchen and they emphasize healthy, organic selections in everything they offer. The burger is good quality beef although they don’t label it Niman Ranch, thank God! The patty was about 6 oz. and cooked to order and served on a toasted, dense artisan bun with generous slices of good, fresh tomato, onion and chopped lettuce. A Dijon style mayonnaise is spread on the bun and it is a good solid burger. The cheese was perfectly melted white cheddar and they offer pretty standard condiments and it makes for a great experience on their patio on a beautiful warm, clear day.

Café Flore doesn’t serve fries, instead partnering the burger with your choice of soup or salad. The salad is more of the chopped lettuce with the blandest dressing I’ve ever tasted and that was applied so sparingly I had to use my imagination to taste it. Their soups on the other hand are housemade, hearty and robust and are a great value and addition to the burger. It seems to always come back to the seductive and sensual outdoor patio and great people watching at this dynamic outdoor café, but the burger is a good quality, well prepared addition to the burger bible.