Boudin Bakery Cafe - San Francisc

Boudin is good ... but this place is swarming with tourist. Besides the obvious bread bowl clam chowder, I'd recommend trying the French dip sandwich, ham and cheese croissant, and the dessert waffle. The decor is awesome as well, with various animal-shaped sourdough bread and a window to observe the dough shaping process, it is a good spot to stop for food if you're visiting SF.

We had to go there for the clam chowder during our visit. Just a shame the staff dont understand English!! It took 10 minutes to finally get our right order and it was so difficult to know what to do when you ordered and paid for your food. It turned out you walk round the corner to a serving area. The clam chowder was nice but not worth what you pay for it. Had to be done though but disappointed

Experienced the crowded and busy bakery on Sunday morning for breakfast. The service tried its best to overcome the massive amount of people in the store ready to get some breakfast. We enjoyed the food and seating in the morning sun

Food was good, service not so. Went for early breakfast and building bathrooms were closed forcing patrons to use the filthiest public restrooms in pier 39. Immediate surroundings with many mentally ill homeless people, one semi-naked, other fully naked, another becoming violent and fighting with himself. Very sad situation. Terrible experience. City health, and food safety department should visit this place and surroundings.

We're from the east coast, and we always look forward to getting clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl while visiting our daughter in California. So, as we strolled around Pier 39, we were specifically looking for a restaurant that offered this special lunch. We were delighted to find that many restaurants, and even kiosks, sell this combo. We decided upon Boudin. The bread bowls with clam chowder $11.99 each before taxes/august 31, 2022) were served quickly. The bread bowls themselves were about 6 in diameter, and tasted freshly baked. The clam chowder was okay with chunks of potatoes and the taste of some clams, but very few actual clam pieces. The biggest issue, however, was that the amount of chowder in the not too deep bowl was insufficient given the large amount of bread that was provided. We noticed this to be true for patrons at adjoining tables as well for whom a lot of bread was discarded when they finished their meals). We thought that a solution might be to order more chowder, but chowder by itself wasn't offered on the menu and, even if it was, we were already getting too full to eat more.