San Francisco Panini — Restaurant in Kitchener

I was really looking forward to this sandwich shop opening. I felt that given this building being within 3 minutes walking distance of thousands of residents, many of which frequently go out to grab lunch, that this could be a very successful spot. I've written a very detailed honest review of my experience, I hope management reads this.

When I walked in, I immediately noticed how cramped the space was. There were only 5 customers in the building, yet we're blocking the door because the layout of the cafe puts the cash registers near the door, and the interior is a bit awkward on that side. I also noticed that there was nowhere to sit, since the majority of the space was taken up by the kitchen & storage, this wasn't too bad because there is seating upstairs.

When I placed my order, I noticed that there is a menu video board with all the menu items. I found it strange that the boards frequently flickered between the cold menu and the hot menu, rather than staying consistent. This made placing my order a bit annoying as the menu board kept changing while I was talking to the cashier.

Once my order was placed, I looked around for seating, I noticed there was a staircase without any signage around it. I asked the cashier if there was seating upstairs, and they said yes so I went up. I thought it was a missed opportunity that there wasn't any signage around the staircase. I think that there will be many people looking to eat in the restaurant that might get confused at this and get their order to go instead. I also thought that the upstairs seating area was a bit sloppy, just basic office tables and chairs put together. There was no atmosphere of any kind, I think it's a significant missed opportunity. It's not built to convince people to stay and eat. I don't think I would ever want to take a date or a friend there to go out for lunch. There's no music, there's no interesting paintings or art or things to look at.

Skipping to the food part, I got home and opened up my order. First thing I notice is that all I got was a small brown paper bag. The bag isn't branded, there's no condiments in the bag, there's no napkins in the bag. It may cost a bit more to have branded bags, but it really should pay off for marketing purposes. A branded bag would draw attention, people would be curious about where I got the food from after seeing a bag that's decorated with the logo's colours. I think that especially as a new shop, more attention should be paid to marketing.

Finally, I see my sandwich. I ordered a hot meatball sandwich. The first thing I noticed is how small the sandwich was. Two small sandwich halves. I understand we're not selling Subs here, but these sandwiches need to be bigger. I counted 4 meatball pieces in my sandwich. I also got pissed off when I noticed that the center of the sandwich didn't have meatball pieces, but instead had more tomato sauce filling. The taste of the sandwich was just ok. The first thought that came to my mind was that I could make a tastier, bigger sandwich at home for a third or even a quarter of the price that I paid here. I have uploaded a picture of the sandwich I received here (the second half of the sandwich). You'll immediately see how small this thing is. I feel that for the price, this place should at a bare minimum be making their own bread or buying from a local bakery rather than the tiny storebought bread they gave me. I also think that this place should be cooking meatballs from scratch. It's very cheap and lazy that they're buying premade meatballs from some restaurant supply company rather than taking the time and effort to make a fresh product.

I feel that in this present state, this business has completely squandered their opportunity to capitalize on the fact that this building sits dead center in a spot where thousands live and go out for lunch in. I was really looking forward to having a local sandwich shop to visit once a week, but sadly this place is incredibly far below the standard set by the other restaurants that sit around the...

There aren’t a lot of reviews since it’s new. But I still had high hopes.

Went for the first time tonight and everyone was pretty friendly, which was nice. We ordered our food for take out, two hot sandwiches. I asked for mushrooms and onions, my partner did not, he did ask for spice though. This was even read back to us before taking them to “make sure it was right”.

Got home, and he had the mushrooms and onions, and mine was spicy. And they were both cold. We live VERY close so there’s no way that it sat for long. It was also only us and one other couple there, so not at all busy….

I always give restaurants a couple chances so I’ll try again. But this was extremely disappointing, especially for a brand new, basically...

The guy who owns this place is a little bit unhinged and weird. I parked in their empty parking lot (probably like ten spots that are empty daily) and ran across the street to grab a coffee before grabbing a panini to go! i was super excited to try them but when i approached the restaurant the guy started berating me and yelling at me about how it’s my “lucky day” and started taking pictures of me. i ended up not getting a panini because, what the hell lol. anyway, just thought i’d share that super unpleasant experience. maybe do better, don’t scare away customers before they can explain, and your parking lot won’t always be empty! just...