Cafe de Casa — Restaurant in San Francisco

San Francisco has its great Brazilian rodizio-type churrascarias, all-you-can-eat steakhouses like Espetus and Fogo de Chão. But what never seems to last in this city are more typical Brazilian restaurants. We fondly remember places that lasted a while, like Canto do Brasil and Minas, and others that were evanescent, like the late, lamented Brazilian Restaurant Brewing on 17th Street west of Mission.

Café de Casa is a different type of Brazilian eatery. If you have ever visited Rio de Janeiro, you will recall the lanchonetes, essentially snack bars, that seem to exist on every corner of Zona Sul beach communities, like Copacabana and Ipanema. These places are good for a quick stop to enjoy a vitamina (milkshake), acaí na tigela, a sandwich, or some other typical Brazilian snack like coxinha (a deep-fried croquette), kibe (a Lebanese-Brazilian specialty), and pão de queijo (cheese bread). Lanchonetes, though, are not the restaurants you go to for a full lunch or dinner.

Café de Casa has limited hours, from 8 AM to 7 PM, except on Sundays when it closes at 5 PM. During our visit here, they had only one printed menu for the entire restaurant, along with a large menu wallboard. You must order your food at the counter and pay immediately and one of the cooks in the back part of the restaurant brings the order to your table. Time from ordering to serving was reasonably quick. Although Café de Casa has a plethora of waitstaff, this restaurant is set up so that there is minimal interaction with the waiters. My friends and I speak Portuguese and we could not tell you whether the waitstaff is from Brazil, the U.S., or somewhere else.

While Café de Casa does offer a few entrees, for example, I had Escondidinho de Camarão, shrimp served in a ramekin and baked in a rich cheese sauce, which seemed authentic, along with a small salad and rice, your expectations should be more along the lines of a lanchonete, rather than a sit-down restaurant. That said, Café de Casa does offer limited indoor and outdoor seating, although much of their business seems geared toward takeout and delivery, a skill finely honed by many eateries during the pandemic.

My two supper companions selected items like you would in one of those corner snack bars in Copacabana and were generally satisfied. However, the pão de queijo one of my friends ordered was disappointing. While they do not serve caipirinhas, the Brazilian national cocktail, or even imported Brazilian beers, like Bohemia, they do offer tropical juices, canned guaraná, and espresso beverages. I ordered a café mocha, and...

Beautiful, clean cafe offering made-to-order drinks from the coffee bar and foods from the kitchen.

The cafe walls is have some healthy plants and colorful packaged items that stand out against the white walls. The interior has bright lighting. There's outdoor seating, and different kinds of indoor seating. The windows offer views of the streetcars, while the couch area is more comfortable. There are also just some regular chairs and tables.

I ordered a cup of hot chocolate, which cost $4.25. I brought my number sign to the worst table in the cafe, next to the hallway leading to the kitchen and restroom. Still, it wasn't bad place to be. Not many people actually used the restroom, and the employees didn't go to the kitchen very frequently, because most people were having drinks. The drink had a thick layer of whipped cream, which insulated the hot chocolate. It took a long time to cool, so I recommend getting something else. People seemed to be enjoying the sandwiches and coffees.

Overall, I recommend trying this cafe out. The items are reasonably priced and it's a calming place to be. It's a nice oasis to rest for a while if your day has been busy. There's also free WiFi if you want to get...

A relaxed Brazilian cafe that has a broad menu catering to a variety of tastes (meat, vegetarian, etc.) and a variety of pastries such as coxinha, empanadas, esfirra (chicken or beef) which are a nice light snack or combined with a few other items a light lunch. If you are more hungry the lunches (including the parmigiana chicken (Brazilian style)) should satisfy most people. There are sandwiches, salads, pasteis, and fresh juices and coffees.

The desserts are well worth trying including the rosca de coco (coconut bread) and the pelado cake (with yucca and coconut).

We enjoyed Cafe De Casa and went back several times to try as many items as we could. Staff were generally friendly and were happy to answer questions (and help with pronunciation). We'll be back next...