Cafe Europa Reviews

I live around the corner and kept walking pas this place .. but walked in tonight with a girlfriend and had a great meal. Menu is germanic/easter European oriented with the top dinners would could think of. My friend had the shank which she said was nicely spiced with with a huge portion over sauerkraut. she licked the plate clean so it must have been good. I had the home made pork sausage with mashed potato (real potatos!) and red sauerkraut. I was amazed that pork sausage can be made on the dry side without the grease I extected. As a sauerkraut lover .. I was disappointed with the sauerkraut since it was close to tasteless. But you could ie for the real honest to god mashed potatoes. Nice atmosphere with an excellent wait staff. I'd go again to taste more of the dishes I remember from 3 years in Stuttgart. Dot

Happened on this by chance while walking the streets of San Francisco looking for a place to eat. Just fantastic. Warm and cozy. (NoTv!!!) We had borsch, dumplings with a delicious mushroom sauce. Savory stroganoff with homemade noodles. Just a marvelous find. Sat there listening to the family at the next table speaking Russian. The owner was warm and attentive.

Found this place on yelp. Cute, quite little place with amazing food! Really took me back to Europe.

This is a gem in San Francisco. The food is Eastern European and every dish we have ever had is delicious. From the cabbage rolls (my favorite) to the goulash to the schnitzel to the stroganoff - - - everything is great. They have one of the best Caesar salads in town. The Pierogis (get a mixture of both kinds) are wonderful. They have a good selection of beer and wine. The owner if from Belarus and is the one who usually waits on you. He is always fun to talk to.

We went for dinner when I was recently visiting San Francisco - my host lives nearby and he really likes the restaurant. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I just found it to be average. No complaints, but nothing to greatly praise either. And it was a bit offputting that we were there on a Friday evening, and the restaurant was more than half empty - it was around 6:00, so perhaps we were too early.

I liked the food (pierogi and Herring), but mostly the kind service and the cozy ambiance. Truly recommend if you are in the neighborhood.

This was a great find. A small, cozy restaurant with good Central- and Eastern European food, such as Hungarian goulash and veal, chicken or pork schnitzel. The menu is not large, but sufficient. There is a good selection of imported beers and local and imported wines. The service.was fast and friendly. I had the pork schnitzel, which was perfectly prepared and served with fried potatoes and sauerkraut. For dessert, I ordered the poppyseed roll, which was delicious.

We were happy to find this little restaurant serving authentic eastern European dishes. Parking was a challenge, and we circled the side streets for about 20 minutes before finding a spot. Glad we did not give up, as the food was delicious and the atmosphere very pleasant.

Our family of three just ate at Cafe Europa. Excellent experience for all! We share fresh potato latkas with sour cream and mushroom sauce, a pork schnitzel, and Hungarian Goulash. All dishes were excellent. The schnitzel came with smoky sauerkraut (amazing). For desert we shared a napoleon cake slice with cream. All dishes cooked traditionally and you can tell with great care too. Great ambiance and the service was very helpful and kind. This restaurant has a comfortable, homely feel. They take reservations. Put it on your list!

Visited here based on previous reviews and was bitterly dissapointed with the food, pricing and service. Food was average and at best luke warm. My European parents were less than impressed with their meals as they were hoping for something traditional. Our waitress lacked any waitressing service skills and was dressed like a street walker. For what we ordered we expected to pay a lot less than what the bill total was. Would not recommend under any circumstances. Expected alot more.

This is a great place, with Russian, Hungarian, Polish, and German influence. Their Schnitzels are probably the best in town. I've also enjoyed their Beef Stroganoff and Goulash. Plus some excellent beers from Europe and Russia. Normally I'm not fond sauerkraut, but their version was very good. Interesting people run Cafe Europa, and have some eclectic records stacked on the turntable.

A trio of burly men are in a corner glumly discussing politics. A couple wanting to get serious is doing it with some serious food. A family is introducing the younger members to their food. They're going about it the right way - the food is great. A cabbage in broth soup dosed with dill. Wiener schnitzel with a heavenly mushroom sauce. Pierogies done right all kinds of ways. But why no wines of the region?

What an excellent meal and the service was perfect. The cabbage rolls are the best I've ever had. Everyone in our group of 6 loved their meals. Great food, an excellent selection of adult beverages, the ambiance is warm and cozy. We are looking forward to going back.

Cafe Europa is the kind of neighborhood restaurant that abounds all over Europe. It is your home away from home and like Cheers - everyone knows your name. After one visit there the owner recognized me and made me and my guests feel extremely welcome. The food really is home cooked comfort food. It is straight forward and unpretentious. On the first visit I had a fantastic Bigos (Polish hunter stew). It was the real deal and I know because I cook this dish myself. Other dishes ordered were the schnitzel, and a Hungarian goulash that was beautifully seasoned with paprika. In short we enjoyed everything. The deserts are also homemade and excellent (really liked the apple struedel). Wine and beer listings are fairly priced and they have some unusual items too like the Honey Beer which was wonderfully refreshing. They are busy all the time so reservations are strongly recommended. There was a time not all that long ago when San Francisco abounded with restaurants of middle European origin (Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Russian). That is no longer the case and Cafe Europa wisely has covered a broad spectrum of offerings on their menu. Daily specials are worth trying (last visit they had home made bratwurst sausages). Priyatnovo Appetit!

We ordered pirogi, mushroom soup ,salmon and schnitzel.Everything is delicious. Price is reasonable. Service is excellent. Definitely will try it again.

Eastern Europe cuisine done to perfection. Home sweet home atmosphere with great food and terrific serrvice. Every time I go to SF prefr to go for the snitzels and cabbage rolls and many more.

Cafe Europa was a last minute choice I made while we drove by it. It was a cold and foggy night in San Francisco's Richmond district and the place called out to me with distant memories and the cities in Germany and Austria and suddenly my mouth waters at the various choices they MIGHT have. Greated politely by the waiter from Belarus, if memory serves me. The menu was so intriguing we immediately decides we each would have a diffirent dish, so as to share each others: Beef Stroganoff - Schnitzel - and Sausage all served with sourkraut- the portions were humongous and my Pork Schnitzel overflowed my plate. Yummy left overs for the next dy as we traded entrees. If you get nostalgic when it gets cold...go there.

Having just returned home from another epic trip to Europe, my wife and I are not ready to let go of the best cuisine on the planet. Not if we can help it. Glad we found Cafe Europa tucked away in SF. Owned and operated by Eastern Europeans, the glowing reviews of the friendly staff, terrific location, and most importantly the authentic cuisine - were spot on. Not knowing the menu beforehand, we ordered our favorites: pickled herring, pierogis, and goulash. Amazingly delicious! Accessible from every direction in the Bay Area, we endured the 90 minute drive thru heavy traffic from 26 miles away! Yes. We were determined to check CE out and we were not disappointed. We’ll be back to try the rest of the menu. Please do consider preparing schweinshaxe. It’s near impossible to find in the Bay Area. Highly recommend this spot. Check it out.

Cafe Europa was such a disappointment for us. We arrived on a Tuesday at 6.30pm for dinner We sat in the one window seat looking out on a very dead and neglected window box. We were in the middle of a Califoria heat wave but the windows were firmly closed and despite there being space outside there were no tables. That's a shame because it was a beautiful evening to sit outside. One other couple was in the restaurant. We ordered lamb shank ( the house special) ,they did not have any and dumplings. We ordered homemade apple strudel ..they did not have any. The waiter brought sausages which we did not order. He took it back to the kitchen but when the bill came it was still charged he apologised and took it off but the whole experience was much less than we expected perhaps we were just unlucky..sorry.

This place had schnitzel that truly brought me back to Vienna! So good! There beer selection is pretty good too. Wish they had a few more non pork options but for the pure pork lover it's heaven. I recommend asking about the menu. The server knew his food very well.

Noticed this place in our former neighborhood. Went today for the first time, and will definitely go back. Have to make sure that the rest of the menu is as good as what we tried so far (cabbage rolls, pork schnitzel, poppy seed cake ;-) I love this type of food on a foggy SF night, and the dishes reminded me of my Mama's and Baba's home-cooked meals. The staff was very friendly and welcoming, and we were pleasantly surprised when they brought us a complimentary glass of demi-sec wine with our dessert. The music from the Elac hifi stackable turntable also created a nice ambiance. We're fans!

We were there at the end of August and craving for some Polish or Eastern European food...All was tasty and so fresh.We had Herrings with onions and cornishons so delicious,white sausage with potatoes and stuffed cabbige,as side we ordered cucumber salad with cream...Their bread was fantastic one of the best one that we ever had....Good selection of beers....staropraven and okocim...bit pricey but very nice especially after traveling around USA and wanting something more homely....lovely waiter speaking little Polish and gorgeously playing piano... Family with kids from London

We were visiting from the carolinas and were looking from something different. Great pierogis. We had potato pierogis, stuffed cabbage, beef stroganoff and cucumber salad. All were superb. Service was great. Atmosphere is good. Showing a little age. Overall pricing, quality and quantity were great. A must try.

Wow! We stumbled upon this place by accident and could not have been happier. It was all delicious! The decor is relaxing, the service is excellent, and the food doesn't disappoint. My wife is Russian and it is hard to meet her expectations with this type of cuisine and we can say that the food exceeded our expectations! Highly recommend that you give this place a try. It is one of those places where anything you order will be good because they do everything with quality.

Located on California between 5th & 6th Ave, Cafe Europa serves Eastern? Central? European dishes. Goulash, shintzel, borscht , herring, chicken paprikash, bratwurst, pierogi, blintzes, poppy seed roll, ... The food is very good, and the portions are large. It's worth thinking about ordering a couple of appetizer or side dishes and sharing a main dish. We ordered (there were 4 of us 4 people): Mushroom soup (praised by those who ate it); the cucumber salad (cucumber in a buttermilk-dill dressing, very nice), herring, braised lamb shank, chicken paprikash, pork schnitzel (served with sauerkraut and potatoes), bratwurst (same sides), followed by an order of poppyseed roll and an order of chocolate cake. The main courses provided sustenance for the next day as well. Ordering from the soup/salad/appetizer selections offers a chance for a much lighter meal, should anyone on a diet be in your party. The food was very much what it should be - traditional, carefully and competently prepared. Good selection of beers from central/eastern Europe, and a good wine list (my one criticism - no wines from eastern Europe on the wine list). I tried a special beer - made with honey - with the starters. distinct honey flavor, not sweet. Services is casually efficient and friendly. Cafe Europa serves well as a neighborhood eating place. Worth a stop.

We had a family get together for lunch here. I had the ghoulash and it was perfect; very tender beef in a succulent red gravy! Also tasted the pierogies which were tasty but so so small! Service a bit shaky but worth a visit for the food.

Can’t say enough positive things about this spot. Small and intimate with a wonderful personable and very friendly owner. The goulash was spectacular - as good as you will find in Warsaw and an adequately generous portion - accompanied by mouth watering potato dumplings. The pork schnitzel accompanied by roasted potatoes and an excellent fresh sauerkraut was perfect. The owner offered us a lattke with fresh sour cream on the side. The frothy and flavorful dunked draft beer is hard to find in SF. And to top it off a fantastic napoleon cake. We’ll be back and bringing our friends to partake in this little slice of Europe.