Mendocino Farms — Restaurant in San Francisco

Updated Review: Great restaurant but the experience is fundamentally broken. Lines are out the door for ordering in store. Online ordering system doesn't work... 2 different people came by at a certain point to ask me for my name and where I placed the order. Mendo uses 3 different ordering platforms so there seems to be a lot of operational confusion as a result (Caviar, their own website and Revel).

I placed an online order at 11:12am and selected a 12pm pickup time. I arrived at the restaurant at 11:55 and saw 20+ people waiting back by the bathrooms. The staff would bring out orders one by one, it honestly felt like maybe one every 5-7 minutes. They wouldn't call out names of the order so everyone would try to huddle around and get a view of the receipt stapled on the bag. Caviar drivers were also waiting this section and this is where the drink dispenser (water, lemonade etc) and bathroom access is so the back section was extremely chaotic.

Around 12:30 (still waiting) I realized I was going probably going to be late for a 1pm meeting so I tried to figure out how I could cancel my order and get a refund. I tried calling the phone number from my spot in the back section while waiting so I did not lose access or line of site to the bags being brought out. As expected, it was impossible to get to anyone on the phone. There is also a register towards the back for processing the online orders ( I think) but this too had a line of 15-20 people so I didn't have a chance to talk to anyone at the counter. I spoke to 2 employees who were shuttling orders and asked if they could help me figure out the refund... eventually one of them took my name and info down and told me I could leave. I wrote in on their website to confirm that my order has been refunded but I have not received any indication of it being completed at this point (2:23pm at time of writing this).

I left Mendo around 12:50 and popped into a falafel joint up the street and had a pretty good lunch after my 1pm meeting ended.

The trouble is that Mendo has the impossible burger and taco salad, which is very good. I really don't WANT to go back to them after the experience I (and about 40-50 other people) had. I like the food. Its very good. Figure out your operations please? I want to...

Everything is so healthy but truly outstandingly delicious! (I am not one who ever orders healthy food.)

The "Not So Fried Chicken" sandwich is a must! It's number one under the "Foodie Favorites." It has incredibly tender and juicy chicken breast pieces that are not too thin nor too thick. The fantastic combination of flavors and textures in it are comprised of herb aioli, a signature slaw (very special), tomato slices, pickled red onions (if you choose) & their Mendo Krispies on a toasted ciabatta bun.

I asked what the incredible Mendo Krispies were, and the employee said that he didn't know, but he thought that they were fried polenta.

It comes with little side containers of a remoulade (in which I dipped all of the last pieces of chicken) and Chipotle BBQ sauce (which I didn't use).

The sandwiches (and salads that I saw others eating) are very large. (You can judge yourself from my photos.) It's funny that the two grown men that I was with (who had even worked out that morning) could only eat half of their sandwiches, but I ate every bite of mine. You CAN order a "half sandwich & soup or side," though. They have really fantastic pasta salad, slaw, and other options and ask you if you'd like to sample. The aforementioned were so wonderful that I want the recipe.

Their soda is made with real sugar, and the homemade lemonade was so fresh that I definitely had refills.

They also have vegan, gluten-free options & organic milk. There are also craft beers and local wines.

The line to order moves quickly, since they have two employees entering your orders on computer screens. They're tilted for you to see all of your choices, and you don't feel rushed. All of the employees are so nice.

They have "order ahead & pick up quickly" so organized. (Check out my photos.) You'll also see how clean & bright the restaurant is. As the sign says, "EAT...

Food is good but need to step up customer service.

I ordered on DoorDash and got a reasonable ETA so I started walking to the store. This was lunch time. When I got to the store, ETA jumped twice so then I had to wait 40 minutes to get a salad. I asked them if they can expedite it, they said no. I asked them to cancel and they said I have to wait 15 minutes.

Obviously DoorDash needs to do better but a couple recommendations that the store can take to improve:

Stop taking orders if you are out of capacity, especially for pick up at peak time. People walk to the store instead of waiting at home. I don’t check my phone every minute to see whether the ETA increases or not. I get an ETA and I walk. It’s a very bad experience that ETA increases significantly when you are already waiting in the store.

Show some empathy and be kind to your customer. Lunch time is very tight for most people working in the city. I understand it’s taking longer to prepare the food and the least you could do is to help me cancel order right away so I can stop waiting and go somewhere else. Btw if I cancel on my end, I do not get a refund. All I got was “sorry there’s nothing I can do”.

The other thing you could do is to route my order to the in store purchase queue which seems to have a shorter wait and start preparing my food right away instead of telling me I have to wait another 40 minutes. No way you are asking your customer to wait 40 minutes for a salad in a supposed to be “fast” food restaurant.

Let me know how you think of my...