Equator Coffees — Restaurant in San Francisco

Beautiful coffee shop by the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge. Nice people, nice atmosphere, nice view, and nice food. My hot chocolate was a good balance of creamy and chocolatey. The quality was good. The whipped cream was also the thick kind that you scoop up… very fancy.

My main and biggest complaint is the pricing, and it’s why this place overall gets a 3-star rating despite all of its categories being 4-star. I get it, it’s a modern coffee spot in a hot location, but I still get to complain about it. My kids-sized hot chocolate was about 4 dollars. Adding whipped cream costed me another 50 cents (which was very unexpected, I don’t think I saw that on the menu). After tip and tax, that ended up between 5.50 and 6 dollars (can’t remember the exact number). Now that’s a lot for a stubby drink that I was able to finish in a few minutes. A lot of places have bigger sizes for cheaper, and that just didn’t feel worth it.

Overall, getting coffee by the bridge is a special experience. If you can’t afford the tourist pricing, get your drink elsewhere and bring it to the Golden Gate...

tl;dr: Stunning view, forgettable everything else. Equator Coffees banks hard on being the only café by the bridge, but offers little beyond the scenery. No food, no flow, no reason to linger.

Equator Coffees near the Golden Gate Bridge has one unbeatable asset: the view. The sweeping vista is postcard-perfect, and for that alone, it draws foot traffic all day long. Unfortunately, it seems that’s all they feel they need to offer.

We stopped by on a Monday around 3pm, quiet hour, minimal crowds, and were still met with an oddly cold, unwelcoming interior. No pastries or snacks on display. Seating felt haphazard and uninspired. And without any signage or clear queue, people just gathered awkwardly near the entrance, unsure what to do next. It didn’t feel like a café. It felt like a half-hearted concession stand with fancy branding.

We left without ordering and found a much more inviting spot after sightseeing. It’s a shame, really. With this location, Equator could be a destination. Instead, it feels like a missed opportunity wrapped in great...

My ham and cheese croissant was given to someone else who ordered a vegetarian one. They took a bite out of it and then there were no more for them to give me one. They also gave me the wrong latte and when I asked about it they told me the milk tastes sweet when you heat the milk right. I swapped with my friend as I hate sweet coffee (we ordered the same drink) which confirmed they gave me the wrong coffee as hers was a regular latte (what I ordered). Requested a refund for my croissant which I didn’t receive and was told that it would be processed by the end of the day. I guess I just have to trust they’ll do it. Definitely didn’t deserve the tip I gave. If I had known I was getting nothing of what I ordered they wouldn’t have gotten a tip from me. I don’t understand tipping before a service is completed because this is the perfect example of this USA tipping system not working....