Dottie's True Blue Cafe

Great little eatery in SF. We went for breakfast and had mixed reviews on their dishes (hence the 4 star). Staff was perfectly kind and on top of everything. We were seated immediately and walked through the menu. Tons of seasonal options and varying menu choices. I ordered the famous pancakes and simple breakfast with eggs, bacon and potatoes. Right from the set down, the potatoes were awesome. They loaded me up on bacon which was nice but I couldn't finish it all. The pancakes were made with buck-wheat, ginger, and cinnamon and it was unlike any pancake I've ever had! I loved it! We also ordered gluten-free pancakes but they weren't half as good. They were bland with little flavor. On top of that, slightly burnt. Our waiter did remove some of the fee with the gf pancakes. I'd definitely go back to try some more from here! Note: I'm not very familiar with SF, but throughout our stay it seemed like we saw the most homelessness on this street... Making getting to and from the restaurant a quickly desired act.

Service was prompt and efficient. The atmosphere was chill and the listening to the blues was a welcome respite from the hecticnesss on the streets. The deco was a step back in time and I appreciated the 1960s deco and skylight. Ordered a pancake (which was huge) and a hot chocolate. The pancake was fluffy and light and the hot chocolate was the right amount of chocolate without being too sweet. Will definitely recommend. Tip: Come during off peak hours. I came after 2pm and there was no queue.

A scrappy little place that serves pretty good food, with good portion sizes. Ordered the frittata, and it was enjoyable. The restaurant gets pretty hot during warm weather, though admittedly I was there during record-setting summer temps. Careful with the bathroom doors; double check that you've locked the door. It's misleading!

After an hour and 15 minute wait in the rain, I think I was expecting to be bowled over by this place. While the baked goods and specials were absolutely delicious, the staff was running around like crazy and didn't have time to give you a quality service experience. We were sat at a communal table for fear of waiting longer than we already had which doesn't facilitate an intimate dining experience with family and friends. I can definitely see the food being a big draw to the reason that people want to come here.

The walk up to the restaurant isn't the best but the place makes you feel comfortable the minute you get in. You immediately realize the history of this place. The food was nice but what you would find in most diners. I got the lamb omlette with the corn bread. It was good but probably a bit expensive at $20!

No matter how you plan ahead to minimize the wait time, chances are you'll run into some interesting characters on your way in. During our half hour wait on a warm, sunny afternoon, a bumbling fellow knocks over a trash bin whilst scrounging for something to munch on. Oh, what a colorful place. While you wait, you can stare at the menu in the doorway and figure out what you want. Once inside, there is a long bar down a narrow path of a jazzy interior with exposed brick walls and black and white photos of some pretty ladies. I especially appreciated the old-fashioned coffee mugs. $4.50 Grilled Chili-Cheddar Corn Bread w/ Jalapeno Jelly: Good corn bread that hits the right semi-sweet, slightly spicy flavors with a slight gritty texture. I would have liked it to be a little less dry, though. $13.75 Three Egg Omelette w/ andouille, chorizo, smoked chicken-apple sausage, smoked whiskey-fennel sausage, avocado, gruyere, bleu cheese: This enormous omelette was loaded with meaty sausage and melted gruyere. It could have been a little more fluffy. $16.95 Smoked Salmon, Caper, Tomato, Scallion and Natural Cream Cheese Scramble: The smoked salmon had a lot more flavor than the sausage omelette. However, the more I dug into this, the saltiness really built up. The portions were rather large. Both came with roasted potatoes. It just struck me that I should have ordered pancakes or something to balance out the high-protein, egg-heavy dishes we had. Perhaps next time I'm in the area, and hopefully on a day with a minimal line. Overall, I would say the quality of the food and variety of dishes is about a 7/10, a pretty decent brunch.

I came here on a Monday at 11:30AM and there was quite a line. I'd recommend waking through Market street since it's a bit safer! It has vintage and jazzy kind of feel, we felt like we were in New York! The cafe starts off with a bakery and the lady is super nice when you walk in. She'll tell you all the baked goods they have. The board on the top shows their daily or weekly specials (I forgot) Now the food part, if you're carrying a menu with you still - DONT. Leave it at the front or you'll get yelled at like we did... They also offer you coffee when you first sir (I believe it's complimentary) We ordered a smoked salmon... lunch plate (it was the only one on the menu). It was pretty good, it came with large chunk of salmon that was pretty dried up. We requested egg white which was an additional $1. The plate was so large that we shared it with 2 people. They recommended getting the dill as the side bread but it tasted like a garlic bread with no garlic. It looked like scramble eggs with salmon chunks and potato pieces. They were kind enough to split it into two. My other friend ordered the avocado, tomato, jalepeno... special. It was too big for her to finish on her own and if she brought it back home it would've ended up soggy. There were a lot of flavors on the single bite and it looked like an omelette. The portions are pretty large for a restaurant in SF. In the end, we ordered a whiskey rum blueberry cake. This we ended up splitting with 3 people. The lady said this was one the most popular items. We loved it! Don't ask for it as "to go" if you want to take a photo, it comes in an aluminum foil. The crust was AMAZING, you could really taste the whiskey. Overall I think it's a little over hyped. I'd come again for the pastries for sure. It was a little upsetting that they included the To Go order under the same bill (higher tax/tip) and it seemed like they were rushing us out. I guess it was pretty crowded.