Avenues San Francisco — Restaurant in San Francisco

Nice location and outside sitting area. However I can't quite understand what's up with one of the baristas. When I first visited a few weeks ago, I ordered an oatmilk latte and have been 'suggested' to get single shot instead of double, because according to that one barista, their double it stronger than double and that he/they "can't deal with it". Well, okay. Appreciated the suggestion and got single. But single was too mellow actually; I mean tasted like single. So maybe don't give suggestions if you are the one who is a little peculiar with your coffee choice? And then visited another time a couple weeks later. The same barista attended. I order 2 quad shot oat milk lattes. I had to say "quad shot" 4 times. The other barista got it, and said it back to him from the back of the bar, yet that one couldn't get it. And instead orderer 2 matchas for me. LMAO. I said I did not say matcha. He told me it's my accent and that he's American; doesn't get it. I did not take it as insult. But yeah, I have an accent but hopefully not that heavy to turn 'Quad Shot' into 'Matcha'. Anyway. I said it was not match, it was QUAD SHOT OAT MILK LATTE. And 2! He still did not get it. HAHA! Then the other one came from the back side and thankfully said it again. Then guess what happened? We got 1 latte with oat milk, 1 latte with REGULAR MILK. And both had completely different amounts of coffee. Go figure. I literally saw him bringing a non-plant based milk box. I know the plant based milk brands in the market; that was not a plant based milk box. But did not want to accuse him just because of the shape of the milk box as I haven't seen the label. I noticed it once I had sipped my coffee once I was far away, at the beach level. I was too lazy to go back. Also was a little frustrated that probably I will have to deal with the same thing again. And it will end up being my fault cause I had an accent, haha. I just think maybe this guy can make an effort to remain sober/awake during work hours or something. I was not allergic to regular milk. But this could have been fatal for someone else. Gonna go again this week. I am just curious what's gonna...

[Update: May 2022] Revisited Avenues SF and had a great experience. Flat white was delicious, spam and egg musubi was tasty; service was very friendly. Still a big fan!

[Original: Sep 2021] I'm used to the mediocre, overpriced coffee shop breakfast sandwiches that Avenues' breakfast club took me by surprise. Fresh avo and nicely cooked egg, the portion was generous and the bread was delicious (they are from Rosalind Bakery). I can't really point to one big difference, but it feels authentic and made with care. They brew Verve coffee which is another plus and I have heard great things about their musubis.

There are three coffee shops in this one small corner on Taraval and after trying them all, Avenues is my favorite. This is an owner-run shop, which explains why it feels warmer, more personable, less transactional. I was siting outside and some regulars started to gather and talked to each other (and their dogs!). The synergy was...

I ordered a 12oz oat latte, but I think the barista used a 16oz cup, and filled it to the BRIM with oat milk (the picture is after i drank some). Obviously the ratio was completely off since 12oz only comes with one shot of espresso and it just tasted like bitter milk. I had to force myself to take a couple more sips before tossing it.

I hope the baristas get proper training and feedback, since this could’ve been a decent coffee without all that milk added in after.

Update: Since I can’t respond I wanted to add that I ordered online, which charges an extra $1.50 to upgrade to a 16oz (which I did not choose) which implies the default is 12oz. Maybe the size is hard to see for baristas through the online ordering system, but if that had a double shot, the drink still had far far too much oat milk for a...