This is my second time at Cafe Mason and it will be my last. Three of us went there tonight because of the location -- right around the corner from the Curran Theater. The food was awful -- cold, stale french fries that had obviously been frozen and were thawed and cooked maybe 30 minutes before it hit my plate. They were chewy and cold. How do you screw up a grilled cheese sandwich? Burn the bread and don't use good cheese. Pumpkin soup -- lumpy and barely warm. No seasoning, no taste. The one thing I did enjoy was the Rocket Salad -- arugula, almonds, sliced apple. But it arrived with no dressing on it at all, so we had to ask the waiter, who acted like he didn't understand what we were requesting. As for service, just ridiculous. The waiter was frazzled, disinterested, didn't know the soup of the day, etc. Waited 15 minutes for the check, then finally asked the bus boy and the hostess before we finally got it. It was just a very disappointing experience and we won't go there again. It's apparent that locals don't go there because they know -- it's a tourist trap because of the good location. Stay away. read more

The smoked salmon eggs Benedict just changed my life! Lol... fresh OJ is on point! I will be back here tomorrow! This place is a must! read more

Fair prices for a wide range of Benedicts, and those who read my reviews often know how I love Benedicts! Today I opted for the Irish Benedict ($13), which uses corn beef hash instead of Canadian bacon and was quite happy - excellent Hollandaise and even the hash wasn't excessively salty! (I went to the gym last night, so it's ok.) still, I'm glad I opted for the fruit rather than home fries - not only healthier, but beautiful, widely assorted, and all perfectly ripe. I was impressed by the size of my fresh squeezed OJ given its $4 price; larger than anticipated. Service was friendly but not annoyingly chipper which I appreciate in the morning. Decor is comfortable and pleasant. All-around a nice place for breakfast. read more

Our plane arrived late on our vay cay to SF. After catching the last BART to Union Square it was well past midnight. We were hungry, weary travelers and the Cafe Mason sign was a beacon in the cold streets of the Tenderloin district. This place is open 24/7. We were seated promptly. Place was packed for a late Sunday night/Monday morning. Couple in the booth behind us needed to get a room. Wife and I ordered the Croque Monsieur and the Croque Madame. Seemed to take forever, but we were tired and hungry. Monsieur was a fairly standard ham and cheese sandwich on french toast. Madame was same thing with an egg on top. Fairly satisfying diner fare for 35isch. Dodging the panhandlers on the way back to the hotel was a whole other story... read more

I know plenty of places in Paris that I can go to at 3 AM and order some moules frites. Unfortunately, San Francisco ain't Paris, BUT there's one place in town where I can get my fix. That place would be Cafe Mason. If you look carefully at their appetizers, you'll see a Clams and Mussels plate, which is what I usually order along with a side of French Fries and a large dish of mayonnaise. Delicious. The seafood is fresh and cooked perfectly and the fries arrive hot, crisp and perfect for dipping into my mountain of mayonnaise. I know I know. How Belgian of me, right? Well that stuff is friggen' good, and I'm impressed that they actually serve high-quality food at late night hours. How cool is that? Some of my friends complain about the higher prices at Cafe Mason, but I reply to them, "You get what you pay for.". I'm used to overpaying for everything ever since I've lived in San Narciso, so the prices at downtown eateries don't even shock me anymore. Service is friendly, good-looking, and very Eastern European. They used to have a jukebox near the south exit that had a large number of jazz albums on it. I used to put in a few greenbacks to hear some Mingus, Coltrane, and Ron Carter. Ah, those were the days. Sadly, the jukebox has been removed, but the food quality and the service still remain top-shelf. I may still be one week away from Paris, mon cheri, but at least there's Cafe Mason to hold me over until then. read more

We stayed at the king George which is right next door to this cafe. I have to say, I stayed away because of the mediocre reviews. Our last day in SF we thought what the heck, our flight leaves in a few hours and it seemed like the easiest choice. I had the silver dollar meal which consisted of 8 small Pecan pancakes, 2 egg, hash browns, and sausage! It was a lot of food! It was amazing! My wife had a club again huge portions! Really good food. We will definitely take friends there when we return! read more

I'm thinking I shouldn't have come in on the busiest night of the year when all other New Year's Eve party goers would wander the streets for food. Their menus did warn the patrons of higher prices due to the holiday. They also set a minimum $10 charge per person. The most ridiculous thing I saw on the menu was a serving of onion rings for $11! Absurd. Things our table ordered: Turkey Club - This was your basic run of the mill over toasted diner club sandwich. We substituted onions rings for fries with a $2 surcharge. The meek 4 small onion rings we received were good. Fish & Chips - The fish was decent. Fries were stale We were expecting tartar sauce, but the waitress said they don't even have it in the back. Ever. That is odd. Tuna Melt - Came with stale fries, too. The sandwich itself was what a diner tuna melt should be...mayonnaise-y and greasy. The bill came out to be a little over $50 with tax and gratuity included. Steep for mediocre food, in my opinion. I'd like to chalk it up to the busy rush of people; but if they had the insight to raise their food prices on NYE, they should have planned a better method to push quality food out too. read more

Ordered the Pork loin roast and linguine gamberi. Both were delicious and literally a step away from the hotel that we are staying at. The food was great and we took it to go but the portion size for the amount was lacking. Location says 24 hours but looks like they open at 6am. The service wasn't as bad as some of the reviews state, but we did take it to go. read more

I was initially hesitant to visit, given the reviews, but I'm glad I did, and will be back. I ordered the shrimp and crab melt, which came on a croissant, with fries; it was, frankly scrumptious. Service was efficient and cheerful. Solid place to stop in at 2am. read more

Craving coffee and dessert after a walking tour. Decided to come into Mason Diner and was pleasantly surprised. The coffee was very flavorful and my pecan tort was delicious. Usually pecan torts are overly sweet but this was delightful. My wife had the tiramisu and she thought it was delicious. May probably stop in the morning for breakfast. read more

Came here for brunch and only did so because Dottie's True Blue Cafe had a line so long you'd think Elvis was resurrected and threw a concert there for free. Judging from the menu, it would appear that Cafe Mason specialized in Eggs Benedict and much to my delight because I'm a fervent Eggs Benedict fan. I ordered the Eggs Sardou (Shrimp and Crab). Our order came promptly and the service was good. However, I couldn't help but notice a funky smell that bring to mind a strong oceanic, metallic, sour-like odor that could only be described along the lines of "Fishy." At first I dismissed it as possibly the smell on one of my companion's breath, who's sitting across the table from me...who is now quite befuddled at me staring at him while making a disgruntled face whenever he spoke...alas, and much to my relief, it was not his but the Eggs Sardou that I quite regretted ordering... read more

Slow customer service. The food here is overpriced for the (lack of) quality. Home potatoes are crap, it's like they ran out. See the pic of the potatoes yourself. read more

Cafe Mason - Actual serving size. This is crap on a plate. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

Well, it's confirmed. I still wouldn't come here before 1AM, but this is the place for a little quiet time and contemplation before you wave your date into the endless night. On a random weekday an intense rock band came in, a few couples, a girl who didn't remember her date's name, all to enjoy a nice conversation, some good enough food, sexy decor, and a mood. The crab cake was nicely done, the accompanying salad was fresh and crisp, salad dressing homemade. That's pretty good if you think about it. read more

I'm giving this place 5 stars because it is what it is. Downtown, convenient, open 24 hours, clean, welcoming, feels safe, good people watching, and a HUGE menu of decent quality food with better ingredients than your standard diner.All sandwiches come with a nice green salad if you choose, and they give you a lot of food. I always like to order the tuna melt here - a generous amount of chunky tuna on sourdough with nice slices of tomato. Soulful at night after a party or in the afternoon if you're walking home tired. The veggie sandwich is also great though - good quality thick slices of wheat bread with yummy cheese and roasted veggies. The staff are all pleasant and the service is generally good unless they just got slammed by a tourbus which does happen due to the location. Nevertheless whoever is behind this place knows about running an all night diner and also is good at keeping quality decent. Their massive menu is a little strange - I can't imagine everything on it is great, but I could be wrong - but the sandwiches are all very good in my experience and I've got a couple of veggie friends who have sworn by their pasta. Cafe Mason is totally reliable and for a place that's open 24 hours it has a nice welcoming atmosphere and the people who work here don't seem to hate it. It's in a really busy area of the City so enjoy the show while you're here. read more

Unassuming cafe/diner that delivers quality food at a reasonable price. Service was fantastic, and the waitstaff was very nice. Variety of cuisines offered on the menu which was complete with some classic SF staples. read more

Cafe Mason - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

My friends and I were having a great night at the city, we got hungry and came across Mason Diner. The menu outside looked appealing so we walked in. We instantly smelled something just extremely disgusting. We were deliberating. "Should we actually eat here?". We noticed how the place was fairly empty. We decided not to judge the place, that there might have been a chance that their food was amazing. They took a while to attend us and sit us down. The menu they gave us had images that were not visually pleasant. We ordered and after waiting brought the food to us. Waiter was friendly by the way. The food was disgusting and not at all worth what we had to pay. We were quite upset especially after they wrote out their own tip and forced us to approve it. After expressing that there dishes were not at all delicious, far from it. We left with a sick stomach and do not recommend at all! read more

The Good: -open 24 hours -decent diner food -cozy atmosphere (if it weren't for a drunk obnoxious Brazilian man) The Bad: -slow service The Ugly: -A drunk obnoxious man acted weird and creepy the whole time and had to be forced to pay by a cop -Lots of cops, not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, just awkward. Really handy when there is a drunk obnoxious man around. I would go back for another late night/early morning San Francisco adventure. Always an interesting time! read more

Mom and I have been here at least 3 times before with good experiences. This past SUNDAY, however... it was the worst service we ever had. Hostess - F, she gave our table to another party without calling my name and all she can say was sorry, She barley spoke any English ....mind you I am not critical but if you are hiring people they should speak fluent English. Service - F, we waited 20 minutes before anyone help us and had to ask the busser to get the waitress not once but twice. When we did get service the waitress did not smile and it was like she did not care what we wanted or helpful. Again she did not speak fluent English. It was another 25 minutes before we got our food. Other customers who sat before us were already done and walking out the door. Food - F, COLD, I was going to ask for another dish but was afraid they might give me another cold plate or take another 25 minutes to serve. I was VERY DISAPPOINTED with the service and most likely not go back. It use to be a great place to go eat but they really need to focus on customer friendly and hire employees who understand English. Again I am not critical like this but it needs to be corrected! read more

Sucks. I'll start by saying that I'm from Jersey so when I see the word diner, they better be bringing their A game. We visited Mason after a flight in from LA and were not impressed at all. It was around 1am and there were about 4 people in the place but we still waited about 15 min for a waiter to take our order. I had the French toast. Pretty basic stuff. Well one out of my two pieces was completely undercooked to the point where egg was running out of the toast! Yum. NOT. After waiting again for about 20 min for someone to check in on us I expressed my concern and the answer I got was a tired "oh, I'm sorry". No offer to resolve anything. 5 min later a bill for my horrible 13.00 French toast and sausage. PLEASE. I can get a better breakfast at mcdonalds. Not coming back here ever again. Two thumbs down. read more

Looks pleasing but not delightful. Coffee was dark and old. Waitress disappeared for like 7 minutes. Ordered a cafe latte - scotching hot! Over medium eggs- well done, well done bacon-burnt. Should I say more. Yes - not busy at all read more

I've been here before, but just for coffee and it was fine. Second time back, not so much. My husband and I went in for lunch after a show nearby. Convenient and good looking menu, we thought. Also happy because it wasn't busy at all. Just a few tables were occupied. We ordered from their list of "house made pasta", the Pappardelle Bolognese. Sounds great right? (Side note...Bolognese is a traditional Italian sauce made from tomato, garlic, fresh herbs, wine and ground meat, such as beef, veal or pork. A touch of cream if desired). So we order. While my food was tasty, my husbands pasta dish was WAY salty, and just didn't taste like Bolognese. We decided we needed to say something. A long time passed and our server finally came to check in with us. We very nicely told her the pasta was very salty and that we were not happy with it. She sternly replied with, "oh its made with soy sauce, and there is no added salt...its an acquired taste." We looked at each other speechless....."REALLY LADY?!?! That's what you tell your customers?" First of all, soy sauce does NOT belong in Bolognese, and second, if your customer doesn't like something, you do everything to remedy the situation, while not taking hits at their taste buds. Things just got more weird after that. she brought a menu over for him to choose something else (we still had an appetite after all), but did not return to take a new order. It took walking over to her and telling her, "sorry but we are just going to pay for what we had and go." She did get her 20% tip, an we left laughing in amazement over the whole experience. If you do visit Cafe Mason, do so with your guard up. read more

One star for the nice waitresses. Second star for the dinner we had here which was to die for! Yummy steak sandwiches. I hate to be the person to post negative reviews but our recent visit this morning ticked us off a bit. When I ordered I specified my eggs poached over hard. My mom also added she wanted her eggs scrambled over hard. First plate we received on the table was the pancakes which were served cold, even towards the center. Then we received my Benedict. When you poked the egg they pooled my plate with yolk, which even I understand poached hard is cooked through to the center. Same happened with the huevos rancheros. Once I returned my $16 meal, I was given a new plate of food, after everyone at the table was done eating and was now paying the bill. I get it. But for all our meals to not be cooked properly, I feel like the problem could've just been that it was understaffed and/or the cooking thoroughly was being rushed. Good dinner. But would not recommend for breakfast. read more

What can I say? It's open late... Watch for: * Tranny hookers carbo-loading before a night on the streets in the 'Loin. * SFPD coming in on their break for coffee and a meal. * Club-heads spilling into/ out of Ruby Skye. * A waiter/ waitress. One server for 15 different tables? Come on... read more

Regretful decision to have our first lunch here during my SF vacation. I don't like writing bad reviews, especially when the staff was nice, but the food was bad. Crabcake..... too much batter not enough crab. Only one with a bunch of greens. Shrimp and linguini...bland, watery sauce with small shrimps that tasted like they were thawed from the freezer. Also, the menu said "Tiger Prawns" but these were itty bitty shrimps. Philly sandwich with fries....so/so. I thought they were ok but bf said it tasted flavorless. They drew us in with their menu outside and "everything home made" signs but I could've made all of these dishes better at home myself. Sorry but never again will I eat here again. read more

Not a bad place to find yourself after an alcohol-soaked evening, and seemingly a step up - at least in local character - from next door Lori's Diner. You're going to find your standard diner fare here, but it's all done pretty well, and the people watching in the late hours is somewhat priceless ("Hey Ruby Skye is getting boring, let's go eat, brau!"). Me, I had a pretty tasty shrimp and crab melt that hit the spot quite nicely. I wouldn't go out of my way to be at Cafe Mason, but you could do worse. read more

This place filled me with rage on New Year's Eve. I'd think a special occasion night would be your chance to put your best foot forward as a business, but apparently Cafe Mason decided to go down the crapper. Here's what happened: like everyone else in Union Square, at 130am on New Year's Eve I was looking for a place to eat and ready to settle for anything. Cafe Mason's menu informed us that there was a $10/person minimum for NYE, which was perfectly understandable. What provoked my ire was that they marked up the prices on everything A LOT. $10.95 for onion rings. $14.95 for eggs. $10 for a milkshake. So instead of getting a few normally-priced things to make my $10 minimum, I got one. To add insult to injury, what we got was not that good. The portion of french fries was stingy. One of my companions ordered a croque monsieur sandwich, which arrived cold and soggy and generally inedible. They seemed to serve well on NYE for drunken teenagers in prom clothes, fresh from vomiting at the curb. For me, even if everything else they did was fantastic the rest of the year, this kind of predatory behavior on a holiday would ensure I never went back. read more

Food was delicious. Have the California omelette. Super yummy! My son had the Swedish crepes! He's a picky eater and he loved them! Arrived at the cafe around 10:30a.m. Wait time was less then 10 minutes. I would give it five stars except I was seated next to a table of younger children who thought it would be cute to start throwing things around and all I got to hear during the entire meal was their parents trying to control them. read more

Really great service, amazingly tasty and diverse dishes, and excellent service. Watching the staff run around during brunch is an impressive exhibition of diligence and speed. Really nice people too!! You won't regret dinner or brekky here read more

I had a taste for a crab sandwich and I've been to this place before and ordered a crab sandwich so I ordered one picked it up pay $16.82 with a five dollar tip walk three blocks back to my car to find out it was a crap and shrimp sandwich. I don't do shrimp allergic but can do crab So I call the restaurant back to tell them that it was shrimp in a crab sandwich hey tried to tell me that that's all they do is crab and shrimp sandwiches I asked for manager and this guy is telling me there's no manager in the restaurant and he barely speaks English this was absolutely not acceptable an unprofessional after being on the phone for 15 minutes I found a parking place and walk back there. Got my refund but their customer service is wracked. For this restaurant to be in the heart of downtown San Francisco I urge you don't eat there. I will never be going to this restaurant again. read more

Awesome Place~ and Awesome Place in San Francisco, Does Come With Impressive Price. But, its all worth it, if you are on business trip~ This is a classic place to dine! Food is classic, you can get egg-white omelette, yogurt salad... but for me? nah~ if I do have to eat breakfast, I am going FULL american... and It was a great experience. Services -- B+ Selections -- A+ Food -- A- Quality -- A Quantity -- A Price -- B+ Convenience -- A+ It is one of the few fine dinner I would recommend in the Bay Area~!! read more

From the outside, it looks like your basic cafe. Nothing special. However, one taste of their food, and you would love them. Came here without knowing anything about this place. Came here with a big group, but we sat down immediately. Had a lot of room and space. And we ordered drinks; a cafe that sells wine and beer, this is my type of place. We had some appetizers. Was declicious. Had quesadillas. Was good. Good dish to have for an appetizer. Had the Café Mason Mixed Green salad too; was good. We had 3 types of pasta dishes, spinach fettuccine with marinara subbed for cream sauce, Linguine Gamberini (Well made pasta dish with seafood), and Raviloi Au Roquefort (Very strong taste but very good). Either way, they were all delicious made. Large mounts. We also had club sandwich. It was good. Good amount. To finish it off, we had deserts as well. The Tiramisu was awesome! Soft and had a gentle taste. Very good. Overall, it was a treat to eat here. Rating: Food: 4 Price: 2 (It is priced high. Then again, SF is pricey. I am willing to pay more for good quality of food than poor quality.) Ambience: 4 (It wasn't too bad for the room and space.) Service: 4 Overall: 4 Will be coming back. Good experience. read more

If one is going to play the part of filthy whore, she needs to know where to get Eats the next morning. Not just some greasy eggs & bake. Not leaden yuck that will make you regret breakfast more than that one night stand you just pulled. If you're in the neighborhood, duck into Mason and order up somethin fine. You want breakfast and it's almost 2? no problem, they know you've had a busy night. Lunch? Gotcha. Dinner? Covered. Dessert? Take your pick Bella, there's much to chose from. What did I get? God, what are you going to COPY me? Loser. I had the Thai Chicken Salad and the Pumpkin Soup. I was shocked & impressed to see this on the menu, and because I myself am shocking & impressive, i thought the Soup & I would get a long famously. We didn't. I was too much competition for it and it folded under the pressure. Starchy and lack-luster, I would skip this one - but don't miss out on the salad. This, I was pleasantly surprised with. Nice, juicy chicken on a bed of baby greens accompanied by tomatoes, mandarins, light vinaigrette and crunchy noodles, this was so what I needed after my scandalous evening. Guys, if you're listening, let me tell you a little secret. Don't be shy, come 'ere. I'm gonna whisper it in your ear just in case your Girl's a hater. Ok, the waitresses here are hot. All of them. If you've got a Lady friend, nonchalantly suggest a Mason Date. Then secretly gaze at the staff. If you're a bachelor, what are you doing still sitting there? Stand-up joint with nice decor and solid food. read more

Ok, I might be biased cuz I worked here for 2 years, but this place serves really good quality food. Everything is made fresh. The menu is very extensive (omelettes, eggs, benedicts (OMG!), pancakes, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, crepes). The best menu selection is between 6am and 5pm. They have a decent beer and wine selection as well. Must Haves: croissant french toast, any of the benedicts, huevos rancheros, chorizo quesadillas, SHRIMP AND CRAB MELT, blueberry blintzes, pasta pescatore. read more

This is my first one star rating but it is well worth it. Me and my girlfriend walked around looking for a restaurant to eat and found this 24 hour cafe open and wished we didn't. We were seated right away but after that it just sucked. It took the waitress almost 15 minutes to even come say a word to us and this place is not big so she saw us. A busboy brought us water and apologized for the wait and said he would go get the waitress. Five minutes later she came and took our order. I might understand if the place was busy but it wasn't. The waitresses were too busy chatting with friends than taking care of their customers. We finally received our food and it sucked as bad as the customer service. This place would receive a negative one star if Yelp would let me. I don't even think I would have liked my Philly Cheesesteak sandwich if I was intoxicated. This place is hot garbage. read more

Wow. Worst service ever. I don't think I've ever written a one-star review for a restaurant. Here's what happened: I ordered an omelette w/no onions, no cheese, + dry toast (toast is included). my friend ordered rye toast. my entree arrived with cheese + buttered toast. my friend's plate came w/wheat toast. when i pointed out that my order had been prepared wrong, our server checked the ticket, confirmed that the order was prepared wrong, and took it back to the kitchen. when i asked her about my friend's wrong toast, she said, "oh, we're out of rye today." would have been nice to know, but oh well. no one refilled our water glasses. other servers kept coming by to take our jelly caddy. when the bill came, we were charged for toast (which was supposed to be included free of charge). we pointed this out to our server + she removed the charge. my friend wanted me to leave zero tip, which i've never done before. i certainly was tempted though. food wasn't good enough to compensate for the terrible service. if you must eat here, bring a sense of humor + lots of patience. read more

Ah... I've been here several times over the last few years and it was okay. But man... they now get a 1 star review for giving me food poisoning from the hollandaise sauce via the eggs florentine yesterday 10-19-10. If you want to be extremely sick for days after eating here, then go! Thanks, but no thanks. I'm still recovering!!! read more

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and this place really did impress me with it's unique dishes. But because it's my favorite meal, I come with an appetite (especially first thing in the morning after giving up on the hour wait at Dottie's) and the portions are pretty small here. With that said, It was delicious. I mean, where else can you get croissant french toast?!?!?!?!? It was a pretty amazing experience. read more

Definitely worth going to. Seated quickly, attentive server, awesome menu choices, food was appetizingly presented, our groups BLT, Mason Special, & French Toast (w/ real maple syrup) were tasty & satisfying. Staying @ the Handlery so we'll definitely be back. read more

Cafe Mason - French toast, Mason Special, & BLT. Delish! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

Stay in at Westin across the street. I was tired of the $40 breakfasts! I found this place just down the block and the food and service are incredible at 1/2 the costs! I definitely recommend read more

Cafe Mason - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

My family and I have eaten here dozens of times while staying in the area to attend theatre productions. At times the wait can be long, especially when arriving in the late morning, but in general we haven't had too much of a wait. The wait staff is always professional and friendly, the place is usually clean despite being packed. The food is consistently very good- we've ordered breakfast and lunch items primarily, and my family and friends have never had a bad meal- from standard eggs and bacon to eggs Benedict to burgers and club sandwiches, everything is tasty and thoughtfully prepared. We will continue to go here as long as we come to the City! read more