I met up with a friend for lunch today since I had a good experience with coworkers a couple weeks prior. We each decided to get the lemongrass chicken rice bowl since it was the special of the day. When we received our bowls, we were shocked at how little the portion size was! The bowl itself was already small, and the contents inside were barely half filled; I could see the bottom of my bowl! The one green vegetable was even bigger than total amount of chicken in the bowl. We thought maybe the quality of the food would make up for the deficient portion size; nope! The almost nonexistent chicken tasted like mall food court grilled chicken and the rice tasted bland. The lady offered us "sweet and sour sauce" which tasted more like lemongrass sauce, better yet, watered down fish sauce lemongrass sauce if it should be called that at all. For $12 plus tax this bowl was a joke and we definitely left hungry. Would I return back? Possibly to give the place another chance, but I will definitely consider all other local food options first. read more

Franklin Templeton Cafe - Pathetic portion and very bland "lemongrass chicken" rice bowl. - Cafes Near Me - San Mateo, California

Came last week for marvelous omelette and loved it Anxiously waiting to do encore b4 dr appointment 2day Unfortunately missed breakfast but enjoyed awesome burger with sweet potatoes fries Really great service as it was cooked to order The cappuccino was delicious read more

Franklin Templeton Cafe has now expanded and doubled the size of the cafe. The new east side of the cafe now operates with an auto-pay system through cashier-less kiosks and self-checkout stations --even offering ApplePay! Breakfast and lunch is served between 7am-2pm in a chic and modern-styled dining space. For lunch, they offer the daily burgers and performance bowls to the seasonal grill and table options. I came by on their first day of opening and opted for the steak and frites. The meal was tasty and fulfilling with everything under $10. read more

Franklin Templeton Cafe - Bavette Steak with Truffle Parmesan Frites. - Cafes Near Me - San Mateo, California

The menu changes daily, it's great! I worked near Franklin Templeton so the short walk was also nice. http://franklintempletonsm.cafebonappetit.com/cafe/park-place-cafe/ read more

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Open to the public. Brekkie (cook to order) or breakfast bar with decent options. Peet's coffee. Lunch usually offers two lightly creative items, with sides. Good quality, nothing to rave about. Wood-fired pizza, pasta bar/taco bar/whatever bar ...varies. Good value. PLENTY of tables, and decent sized outdoor patio adjacent. read more

Update (April 2019): Added new East side of cafe, doubling seating and servicing capacity, with state-of-the-art order management system (order from any of 3 kiosks and watch "keno boards" or receive text when your order is ready). Also offers high-end barista station (at much lower prices than Starbucks or Peet's). New decor has a much more modern look, with plenty of "soft seating" and TV monitors. "Old"/West side continues to offer great variety of lunch options, though the Grille and Seasonal stations have moved to the new/East side, along with new Performance Bowl and Melt stations. Year-ago review: Bon Appetite (also serve Tesla, Google, etc.) handles the food service at this excellent corporate cafe. Wide variety of offerings and quality ingredients. Not a fancy restaurant, but it's very hard to beat the quality-price ratio (subsized) if you're in the area. Safely factor of frequent guests from the San Mateo PD and Kaiser health center represent a nice bonus. read more

Leave it to Sodexho to mess up a salad. Or a burrito. Or a stir-fry. Or chili. Seriously, this is a nice looking cafe, at a $500B+ investment firm. You'd think they would try not to poison the execs, and maybe even branch out a bit. The menu hasn't changed in 5 years, and everything they make has this weird metallic aftertaste. The same industrial chicken is used in everything. It's this or $11 at Whole Foods across the street. I hate market hours. read more

I like this place a lot. I work across the street, so it is an easy convenient place for lunch. The people preparing the food are super nice, and the food is great. A lot cheaper than lunch at Whole Foods. They have some super deals some days. And delicious veggies. The chicken quesidilia is bomb. So is the Aztec Chicken Salad, and lots of other stuff too! read more

Since they raised the prices, the portions have gotten a lot smaller. The grill and pizza are where it's at.

I eat at the Franklin Templeton Cafe every weekday, and I am never disappointed with my meal. It's always at least good, and often great! I am a particular fan of their salmon, their flatbreads, and their flank steak dishes. Hard to go wrong. Service is quick and so is checkout. They make your dish right in front of you. There are enough options in the daily rotation to make a quick and confident choice, but not so many as to be daunting. There are consistent options too, such as hamburgers, quesadillas, paninis, pizza, and salads. As for downsides or areas for improvement, sauce selection is pretty much exclusively limited to soy sauce, ketchup, and hot sauce. This is not so bad as the meals are usually well seasoned and sauced. The complimentary self-serve water in the cafeteria area is always infused with fruits or vegetables, which is sometimes refreshing, but there is no plain water unless you buy it bottled. Dine-in trays sometimes have wash water on them when you go to pick them up, or flakes of suspicious material, so I put them back one out of three or four times. If reusing dishes is a worry, you can get any meal to go. Overall a healthy, tasty, and affordable experience with an excitingly curated variance each day. read more

This place is very close to my office, so I eat here frequently. The food options are great for the price - I'm assuming it's subsidized by Franklin Templeton, but they'll let anyone eat here for the discounted price, which is awesome! I got a peach-stuffed pork loin the other day for $7! It was wonderful. The menu is different everyday, and you can sign up to get email updates so they will email you the menu each day. Awesome place to eat! read more

Franklin Templeton Cafe - Cafes Near Me - San Mateo, California

Go here for lunch. Recommend getting: any of the hot plates. I discovered this little hidden gem and like to go here for quiet relaxation away from co-workers. You'll find a balanced meal for a great price. read more

This place is INCREDIBLE. I used to eat at Whole Foods, across the street, but the salad bar was expensive and the lines were long. I started eating at FTI after a friend recommended it to me, and there is no looking back. The food is great. It all tastes super fresh. Plus, the special are incredible. read more

I previously reviewed this cafe but long before the recent change in the chef and kitchen staff. The quality of food here can be uneven depending on which dishes you order. But I would recommend giving the cafe a try if you're in the area. Not many people know about it, as it's tucked away in the FTI office complex. I would agree with one of the recent reviews mentioning how the new chef puts 'WAY TOO MUCH SALT' on the dishes. It's not a consistent problem, but the pork adobo on rice dish that I enjoyed a few weeks ago certainly suffered from this issue. After the meal, when I placed my fingers against the carotid artery running along my neck, I swear I could feel the blood being pumped through my vessels at a higher level of pressure. Afterwards, to alleviate the fear that I was about to suffer a stroke at any minute, I gulped down a potassium pill followed by a banana just to be safe. On the other hand, a co-worker of mine, 'Jaycee,' recently had a freshly made risotto dish prepared at the grill section, and he could not stop raving about it. He praised the skill with which the new executive chef was able to make the 'flavors of lemongrass and chili dance on [his] tongue' and declared that 'the pinch of chili gives this dish a level of heat that is simply...perfetto.' According to Jaycee, Sodexo, the company contracted by FTI to provide cafeteria service, recently hired this chef (M. Tong, I think, is his name) from a topflight Vietnamese fusion restaurant in SF. To be honest, as Jaycee was saying this, I wasn't quite sure whether he was being ironic with his effusive compliments, but based on the way that he licked his glistening lips after the meal, I can only conclude that his praise was genuine. read more

$3.50 hamburgers. Aztec chicken salad is good. They have a different special every day. 5 stars when you consider it is in a corporate plaza. read more

The food is amazing here and very reasonably priced! I wish I discovered this place a few years ago! Look for Martha, the chef, she will cook you up some great food! read more

New Chef likes to put WAY TOO MUCH SALT on the dishes... We want Mario back... Super Mario where are you??

Cafeteria style food. Went here last Friday, where they had an option for an outdoor BBQ - $8. On this particular day it was Mexican themed. Choice of two meats (chicken, steak, or fish ceviche), rice, beans, slaw salad, fruit, and various Mexican cookies. Lunch was served in a to-go container by the staff, while the fresca drink was self serve. Good value for the price, but the food was nothing particularly memorable--just OK. Would go back only on Fridays...for the BBQ. Place was pretty empty so it's a great place to spend a lazy Friday lunch with a friend. ;) read more