Specialty's Café & Bakery

This is a very modern Specialty's location compared to other ones in the area. As soon as you walk in, you're greeted with a station of iPads in the middle of the restaurant. Attached are credit card scanners so you can easily place your order without dealing with lines or cashiers. Can you say 21st century and beyond?

I wish I used this feature because I spent a long time waiting for my order due to a mix-up where they gave me the wrong buzzer. However, the staff was kind in making sure I got my salad right away.

Southwestern Chicken Salad...nothing to write home about, especially with so many other salad options in this area. The lettuce was a bit wilted and I was confused by the addition of chickpeas.

Stick with their soup (chicken tortilla w/ herb bread) and cookies (oatmeal wheat germ chocolate FTW!).

I might take advantage of their lounge area to read while I have my lunch break. I hope the location on New Montgomery gets a modern upgrade like this store.

The 4 stars is for the convenience. This location is the first store you see when you get up from BART. They are open at 630 AM too! I've ordered breakfast croissants and they were good. I also like their chocolate chip morning bun.

Service is fast for early morning so I'm in and out in a jiffy. On the other hand, the Starbucks across the street is painfully slow - even when they are fully staffed.

It was a nice place to get a dessert snack. I got stuck around the FIDI because father needed to visit Fidelity. The cinnamon roll was good and another day with a Pellegrino lemonade. Near the muni station.

What can I say? I enjoyed my solo cookie so much that my office just ordered a whole two boxes. I enjoyed it even more knowing I could stuff my face with three.
The only reason for the mark down is that it's a little expensive ... but we're in San Francisco, so that's to be expected.
Cookies included oatmeal and raisin, choc chip, and loads of nutty goodness. My god they are just so good.

I may be a little biased because this Specialty's location is inside of the building I work in, but it's great. There are actually two parts to this bakery - one down the steps on the way to the Montgomery street Muni station and one above ground (combined with a Peets coffee, with a more limited menu). All of the staff are nice and helpful, and the baked goods and coffees are always good.

Some of my favorite cookies are the dark chocolate with walnuts, milk chocolate chip and the cranberry cream cheese croissant.

One of the reasons I frequent Speciality's so often is for their half priced day old baked goods. Although I regularly pay full price for certain items, it is nice to spend a little less on great tasting cookies, etc. every so often. Go in the morning when they have the freshest day old options and you will not be disappointed.

My go-to for any breakfast cravings. It's conveniently located right outside of the Montgomery Bart Station (and Muni), so you'll smell the fresh goods coming out.

Their pastries and cookies are yummy. Breakfast sandwiches are solid (they've added some garlic to it). Overall great experience!

Beware of the line during commute rush hours. Especially in the morning, people are there to grab their coffee!

Wow, look at the bonus Specialty's added to my cinnamon bun - a big piece of plastic! Thanks, Specialty's! I thought you guys were on the up and up, but apparently you're not immune the San Francisco restaurant syndrome "Let's put shit in people's food and see who dies."

This is really too bad. Specialty's, in my experience, has been very good, but the truth is they're just like your typical SF food vendors, right up there with the shoddy 65-score Chinese restaurants.

UPDATE. *Said in Unsolved Mysteries Robert Stack voice": The cookies are now just over $3.00. AND they got smaller--less chunkier. The thing is, I DON'T CARE. I will still pay for it. They still taste the same and they still give me that warm feeling in my crotch. The only difference is that I can now eat the cookie in one sitting whereas before the cookie was just too sweet and big and chunky to finish all at once.

OR, maybe the cookies are the same size but it's just that my hands and mouth got fatter.

Halloween is over and all the gooey chocolate chips must have been given away from this store. So I come to Specialty's usually for their cookies and it seems that their wheat germ chocolate chip cookie has morphed.

The cookie that I had today was quite awful. First of all, it was cold. And it's not a day old cookie either. It's a fresh one. And the chocolate used to melt which makes the cookie very gooey and amazing is now small little chips that dot the cookie and the wheat germ tasted stale. Gee, for that type of cookie, I can get that anywhere. Why would I want to buy this from you Specialty?

I am so disappointed. You are not getting a 1 star because at least I like my sandwich.

The baked goods and food are quite tasty.

You know what's not tasty? Ordering something online they're completely out of (really, should a person be able to order something they don't have???) and then finding out that because you ordered online, they can't refund. Why couldn't you just contact me and say "Oh hey, we're out of that?" No, instead you wait til I get there and hand me one of the 2 items I ordered, then tell me you have no scones. When I decline a replacement, you have to go ask someone how to refund for the scone.

Here's where it gets REALLY good.

You come back and tell me you can't refund because I 'ordered online' and 'corporate has to refund'.

GREAT! How fantastic!

I won't order from this location again - likely never from another Specialty's again, because the ONLY way I ever order from Specialty's is online. If your website can't process orders for something you're out of (meaning, DON'T ALLOW PEOPLE TO ORDER CRAP YOU DON'T HAVE) then you should be able to provide a refund. That is basic customer service 101.

UPDATE: Just got an email from their customer service saying they 'hadn't charged me' for the scone. Really? Why does my bank say you did?

WOW. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!

Learn how to treat people appropriately.

I'm so glad that this business is expanding and they have expanded their store size! Way to go! They now offer spacious, modern seating and Peet's coffee! They have Wi-Fi and with the whole setting of mdoernized spacious, comfy seats, I can be here for hours! Too bad I have to work around this area and this spot closes in the evening when I get off!

My new discovery that I like about them, is their piping hot soup! Not only do they make their baking goods scrumptious, their soup is tasty as well! I do recommend their Red Lentil with Sausage soup. It is so yummy!

Their morning breakfast Quiche is delicious as well!

I am a huge fan on the majority of their delectable food items!