Philz Coffee — Restaurant in San Francisco

Australians (and Italians) - avoid. In my opinion, if you like ristretto shots or espresso, Australian or Italian espresso-based coffees, Philz is not the place for you. They do not do espresso (of any sort), long blacks, lattes, cappuccinos, or anything resembling actual coffee.

Asking Philz to produce decent tasting coffee is like asking a fish to climb a tree. It's not coffee, it's something else. If you like whatever it is that Philz is serving, and by the glowing reviews here, it seems many do, more power to you. It's just not coffee.

Upon entering the store, you get the strong vibe they really believe they are the bees knees and far too cool to serve plebs. I can tolerate some hubris if there is skill, decent beans well roasted, with a skillfully made and memorable espresso at the end. Philz has none of these qualities.

First you have to work out you don't order and pay and then wait for a coffee like any normal place, but instead you have to wait. I had to watch others for a few minutes to work this out because there are two separate areas to wait, and it's not clear if there's a line or how people are called up. At this point, I'm still not clear on how this works.

You have to wait in area #2 for a barista to deign to notice you. They are far too busy preparing someone else's drinks to serve anyone, and it seems like a lot of trouble to the barista to actually serve you when it's beyond time. There are passive aggressive signs everywhere warning you to not hassle the staff as they will call you when they're ready. Eventually, they do.

I asked for an espresso, which is my go to when figuring out a) can I trust a new place near where I work to make my 3-5 coffees a day and thus become my go-to recommend place to friends and clients? b) what do the beans and roast taste like? I drink a lot of coffee and life's too short to tolerate bad beans or a terrible roast or a button presser instead of a barista c) can they make a decent coffee in a style that has literally nowhere to hide? In short, 0-3 with Philz.

The "barista" told me straight up they don't do espresso, and made me feel like that I was stupid and wrong to ask for one. After I experienced their coffee, it was ultra clear they don't know SFA about coffee let alone espresso.

Some considerable time later after placing your order, your "barista" will have passed lukewarm water over some flavored grinds, and you'll get a weak "coffee" that tastes of sadness and regret. Really, to my palate, it's soft, weak, no stringent or acidic notes, at least 300 ml of luke warm flavored water. There are obvious hints of the flavoring. I went for the Jacob's Wonderbar, and although they promised a dark roast with a hint of nuts and chocolate, the only real notes I could perceive was like it was a weak Nescafe Blend 43 you might get from a vending machine with a backwash of carob or dark chocolate. I saw the grinds, so it wasn't Nescafe Blend 43, but you still get the picture. I can understand if you don't like acidic dark blends or stringent / aromatic coffee why this might appeal to some, but it seemed like it was a lot of water for not much coffee.

At this point, you need to work out where to stand to be called up to pay for this cup of something that is not coffee. This is by far the easiest step, but suffice to say, I didn't finish my cup. After I returned to my desk, I had a push button espresso from the machine at work and that was easily 1000% better than what I poured down the sink.

If you like coffee, skilled baristas, or just like being treated as a human by your barista, go literally anywhere else. Just terrible. I will...

Note:This review went quickly from a 3 to a 1 because some nasty persons attitude that has degraded the service at this location overall.

I’ve been a loyal customer of this Philz Coffee for a long time, a loyal customer to this location for weeks if not months so to speak and I’m disappointed by the dramatic decline in service quality recently. When I first started coming here, the team was attentive, efficient, and welcoming—truly a joy to interact with. Sadly, those days seem to be gone.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a troubling pattern: the staff is often distracted by personal conversations, resulting in forgotten items on mobile orders and an alarming lack of professionalism. For instance, pastries are frequently missed, and when mistakes are pointed out, they’re met with dismissive attitudes.

My most recent visit was the final straw. My mobile order was supposed to be ready, but when I arrived, the staff seemed confused and unprepared. I politely pointed out that they were standing around chatting instead of addressing orders, and the barista’s response was shockingly unprofessional. After finally receiving my coffee, I discovered it was poorly made—rushed, bitter, and completely incorrect. When I brought this to the cashier’s attention, a staff member, who I suspect might be the manager, escalated the situation instead of resolving it.

This individual’s confrontational behavior is unacceptable in any customer-facing role. He got in my face, argued with me, and sarcastically encouraged me to “leave a review.” Well, here it is. The consistent disregard for customer experience, coupled with an unprofessional attitude, has completely ruined what was once my favorite coffee spot.

To management: I hope you seriously reevaluate the team dynamic at this location. No one should get into a customers face because the customer called them out for socializing too much, especially when he’s kindly explaining the situation. The quality of service has completely collapsed, and it’s driving loyal customers away. Until changes are made, I will no longer be visiting this Philz.

In the end I went Cafe Reveille where people were grateful for customers, while busy made time to say hi and happy Thanksgiving. Not be nasty and miserable...

I've never been a fan of coffee and whenever I did get coffee I would fill it with cream and sugar until the flavor of the coffee was masked. I went on a variant of the paleo diet though and started working red bull out of my system but still wanted caffeine. Before I went on the diet I found I liked Philz with a little cream and sugar. I could tell there was something beneath the cream and sugar though and that coffee can have a very good, very distinct flavor and not suck. I also liked coffee with cream and sugar from places like Blue Bottle, Ritual, 4 Barrel etc... but it was Philz that shone like a beacon in the darkest of nights when I needed to go completely black for the diet.

I rarely get cups of coffee from here any more so this is mainly a rating on their roasts. I started off with Ambrosia as a cup made by them and it's, well, the nectar of the gods. I use a coffee press when I'm in the office or at home though so they recommended Jakob's Wonderbar Brew to me and it is what converted me to the dark side. This coffee has so many flavors, some subtle, some in your face, that really made me realize coffee is more than just burned water. Scalding hot it's got this insta-wakeup bitterness to it but as it cools down more and more flavors come out and by the time it's easy to chug without burning anything but not cold enough to want to toss it in the microwave for a few seconds it has this nutty, earthy, rich flavor with absolutely no bitterness and puts me in a place, some sort of meditative state, that only tea has been able do to me before. Today I picked up a pound of Julie's to see how that fares in the coffee press since that was the other blend they recommended to me.

In conclusion, drink Philz. Only Philz. There is no coffee but Philz and it is the one...