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Est. 1979 as part of San Francisco Zen Center, this restaurant offers vegetarian dining with view: the windows on the side frame a sweeping view of the Bay, Marina, Golden Gate Bridge, and the Marin Headlands. Thirty-foot ceiling, contemporary paintings, and redwood sculptures decorate the interior. International menu with choices like avocado sushi rolls, tofu skewers, curry, polenta, chocolate mousse, and sorbet desserts. Also operates Greens-To-Go take away counter. Open Tue-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm, Tue-Thu 5:30pm-9:00pm, Fri-Sun 5:00pm-9:00pm, Sat-Sun 10:30am-2:30pm.
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Landmark Building A, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd (at Marina District), San Francisco, California, USA, 94123
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- Wheelchair accessible
- Accepts credit cards
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Last update on 19 Mar 2024 by villain
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106 Reviews
First Review by aaronsk
Unk
Points +1283
Second-Hand Review (for my wife) - Edit
Two facts to begin:
Read more- My "wife" of 25 years is not veg*n
- When she was diagnosed as terminally ill, Greens is where she wanted to go.
I couldn't call it her "last meal" wish, but it was the one place she wanted to revisit before departing. Some part of this desire stemmed from good memories of meals eaten here in the past. She also loves the setting. But, in the end, it is all about the food for her.
We have always gone on Saturday evenings for the prix fixe meals. She enjoys the variety and the fact that the food is "richer" than many vegetarian places offer.
As others have noted, it is something of a compromise for vegans, since few dishes are vegan "as is", though, sometimes, modifications are possible - less so on the prix fixe menu.
Service has always been impeccable, including prompt seating at the hour of the reservation.
For my "wife", five cows. From me, "yes dear, five cows".
Pros: Location and view, Service
Cons: A little sparse on the vegan offerings
Guest
diva
Points +71
Not a good place for vegans - Edit
This restaurant is good if you are a vegetarian and do not mine overpaying for food. It is in a very pretty location. The menu does not cater to vegans and they are not as accommodating as they could be. They said you could call ahead and they will make sure that there is something suitable for a vegan, but it doesn't seem worth it when there are places that will feed me without that hassle.
Read morePros: Location
Cons: Not enough vegan options, Price
Guest
steveveg
Points +3211
Always a delight - Edit
I recently had lunch at Greens. It was a delightful experience as always. I had a Moroccan Chick Pea soup, the stir fry as entree and for dessert the strawberry rhubarb crisp, but with page mandarin sorbet substituted for the vanilla sorbet. All the items were well prepared and tasty. Most items on the menu could be made vegan. The ambiance was very pleasant. If you want to take out from Greens to Go, you should do it early. Even though they are open until 4 or 5 PM,they make everything beforehand, so will likely have run out well before closing.
Read morePros: most items can be made vegan, great food, pleasant dining
Cons: take out runs out of items early
Guest
gracep
Points +96
Unbelievable - Edit
I cannot figure out why anyone would give this restaurant a bad review. I went there twice when I was in CA last year and without exaggeration, it was the best restaurant food I've ever had in my life. None of my family is vegetarian, and even they couldn't get enough of it. I'm also surprised people said it didn't accommodate vegans well. In my experience, the servers were nothing short of amazing (always checking if things were okay, refilling our drinks, providing detailed responses to questions we asked about the dishes) and in both of my experiences at the restaurant, they never had any problem giving advice about what was vegan and what wasn't.
Read moreI wish I could give details of exactly what I ate there, but it was a while ago and I only remember little bits of it. One thing was plate with pita bread, olives, hummous, and a spiced tomato dip. It was delicious, and the same attention to detail that I felt was reflected in the excellent service was strongly reflected in the presentation of the food. The hummous came with cracked coriander seeds and the spices of the tomato dip just really made the dish "pop." Another dish I had was I think a fresh spring roll dish with tofu, vegetables and herbs, which came with an Asian mushroom salad and a nutty sauce. It was really good, and I was just sad that the portion size wasn't bigger (it was really quite small, but it was an entree as far as I know). I can't recall what dessert was the first time we went there, but on the second night it was a crumble/crisp with berries, I think, and vanilla soy ice cream. It was truly delicious and as a diehard vanilla fan, I was pleased that the creamy ice cream had real vanilla flavour. The two nights of food we had there haven't been forgotten by me, and they have become the yardstick by which I judge restaurant meals. None have compared since.
The only bad thing I have to say about the restaurant is that, since we all know how much better being vegan is for us and for the environment, I wish they made more of an effort to move toward veganism or at least tried make 50% of the menu vegan. Although, as I said, they are helpful about what is vegan and there's consistently vegan choices, a huge amount of what's served there does include cheese and many things include butter. It's possible at this time to make modern, trendy cuisine that is also vegan, and I think they should do so. Their chefs are obviously quite skilled, and I think they could do a good job of it.
Pros: Best food ever, Good staff, Beautiful setting
Cons: Hard to get a table, Fairly pricey, Not vegan
Guest
werve
Points +40
Great Food & Ambience - Edit
Greens is a tradition for us whenever we're in SFO, Never disappoints.
Read moreGuest
cheryl_downes
Points +73
Great View - Edit
My first vegan meal in San Francisco. Good choice.
Read moreGuest
·X·
Points +28517
Greens Restaurant - Edit
We made reservations for brunch at Greens, and I will say that if you like to dine with nice views, by all means make a reservation. Because we made a reservation, we were given one of the nice seats along the windows facing the bay/bridge. While there isn't much for a vegan on the breakfast menu, maybe two items, I fell in love with my order which was the Mesquite Grilled Brochettes. It came with potatoes, summer squash, peppers, white corn, red onions, cherry tomatoes and Hodo Soy tofu with chimichurri served with Massa Organics brown and red rice with Mexican cabbage slaw - I can't articulate how good it was but I will say the tofu in this dish was amazing (and I'm not a huge fan of tofu). The veggies were all also cooked perfectly and the chimichurri sauce was quite good. They also have a grab and go cafe up front of the building, so if you're not in the mood to sit and eat, by all means, go to the cafe counter they have more vegan options there (sandwiches, etc.). 4.5 cows.
Read moreGuest
happycowgirl
Points +6198
Acceptable - Edit
The views are amazing. Excellent location. The tables are nicely spaced so that you're not right on top of each other. The food was good, but I was expecting it to be great. The prices were high.
Read moreI'm glad I went once, but I would only come back to this restaurant again if I lived here. As a tourist, there are so many other wonderful veg*n options around that Greens falls lower on the list.
Guest
teafour2
Points +221
Excellent service and great vegan/veg food - Edit
Ate an evening meal here in Sept 2010. We made bookings and were very glad we did, as there was a bit of a queue waiting for tables when we got there. We were seated pretty quick and although some dishes were already labeled vegan, our waitress was very knowledgeable and happy to tailor other dishes for us. The food came quickly, and was beautifully presented and very tasty. It seems like rather a trendy, posh place, but we didn't feel out of place sitting in our cargos and t shirts. It's reasonably expensive (£15, $25 per meal) but the food is worth it. Two tips 1) it's a bit of a trek if you walk, so get a cab or bus and 2) if you book in advance try to get a window seat - it has lovely views over the bay.
Read moreGuest
Stevie
Points +11765
Greens, San Francisco - Edit
I had dinner here last night. Firstly the views of the bay and Golden Gate bridge are magnificent.
Read moreComments made that this place has limted choice for those of a vegan persuasion are nonsense. I asked the waitress what is vegan friendly and she was very helpful and knowledgeable about the content of each dish. Nearly all of the dishes on the menu either are or could be done vegan friendly.
I went for the curry lentil soup to start and this was a good choice. I was spoiled for choice for mains so I closed my eyes and stuck my finger on the menu at random. I ended up having the linguine which while it wasn't unpleasant, it wasn't as nice as the soup.
Not a place to go I suggest if you are on a tight budget. For the above plus a glass of wine, $40 before gratuity.
Pros: Very vegan veggie friendly, Magnificent views
Cons: Pricey
Guest
HappyPaul
Points +29
Nice experience - Edit
We walked to Greens based on the advice from the Concierge when we asked if there was a nice vegetarian restaurant nearby. (Maybe it's because I was hungry but it sure seemed like a long walk up the hill from Fisherman's Wharf to get there, and some steep steps down to the restaurant itself -- not quite the quick walk to which she alluded. But the walk back was nice; glad we didn't take a cab afer all.) For us, dinner was excellent. We were seated at a window table with a nice view. Our server was quick and polite, and with the fixed-price menu (it was a Saturday), there were only a few choices we had to make. Dinner was creative and delicious, and the dessert was tasty. The prices were high, maybe higher than they could/should have been, but being in vacation-mode I sort of expected that with the location. With several reviews here of people who were disappointed, I have to give them credit for getting it right the night we were there. We had a nice experience at Greens.
Read morePros: fixed-price, creative entrees
Cons: price
Guest
novackofo
Points +89
Snobbish, Poor Quality, Expensive, Small Portions - Edit
I walked into Greens which is a beautiful restaurant at Fort Mason. I was greeted like they were doing me a favor and I should have thanked them for allowing me into the restaurant. So, I sat down and was greeted nicely by the waiter who handed me a menu. I asked him what was his favorite and he looked at me as if i spoke out of turn. So, being a vegan, I chose the wilted Spinach salad and asked him to leave off the cheese and the crouton which he did. I got the salad along with a small glass of OJ which was $5. The salad was great but about half the size you would expect for almost $10. I then was served my entrée which was stir fried vegetables. It tasted and was presented to me like a TV dinner. In fact it tasted like it might have been frozen and they popped it in the microwave. The rice was clumped together and it wasn't especially very good. My lunch with tip was $46. I don't think i will be going back any time soon. It is very expensive for mediocre food that didn't seem all that fresh and very small portions. I gave it two stars because the view was gorgeous and it was a nice day, otherwise the ambiance, the food and the service was worth a one star. My recommendation to the owners is to at least give your customers their money's worth and fresh food for the prices that you charge.
Read morePros: view
Cons: small portions, expensive, terrible food
Guest
iwoof4u
Points +75
Would not return. - Edit
Here is the letter I wrote to Greens following my experience there... no response so I am posting it here:
Read moreWe flew down from Seattle for 2 days for a very special vegan/vegetarian tour of San Francisco - We had all the restaurants picked-out and were so excited to be able to take the time off and experience some of San Francisco's finest dining.
Unfortunately, our experience at Greens left quite a bit to be desired. Our server did not seem particularly knowledgeable about the menu, and had to examine our menus to *attempt* to inform us as to which items were vegan or could be made vegan. He also seemed confused about gluten-free vs. vegan, telling us that the hoisin sauce was not vegan, then returning to say that it was vegan, just not gluten-free.
His descriptions of how another dish, the Sampler could be made vegan by leaving off the cheese left-us feeling like part of the meal would be taken-away, rather than how it could be enhanced in any way.
We did end-up ordering the spring roll starter - which was delicious, and my entrée was the Red Curry and his was the sampler. The Red Curry was inconsistently cooked, with some of the vegetables raw, and others fully-cooked. The Thai Cabbage Slaw was a very unsuccessful marriage to the curry. The Sampler was only mediocre, and certainly felt incomplete made vegan.
Unfortunately, the worst part of the meal was the service. The Server did not check-on us once during our meal, though he made numerous trips to the neighboring tables. Once we were finished eating, we kept waiting for him to come-by and offer-us dessert. I had to flag-down a neighboring waitress to ask her to request our server to come-by. He did not. Of course by this time, dessert was sounding less appetizing. I then flagged the other waitress again to ask her to please deliver our check which was passed-on to our server. Once he delivered our check, he never came-by to pick-up the credit card to allow us to pay. We sat patiently for quite a while, until I finally had to ask the hostess if she could run our credit card. She was very apologetic, and told us that she wished that we had had a better dining experience.
We had been looking forward to eating at Greens for a long time! The night before, we had eaten at Millennium where we had one of the best and most delicious dining experiences ever, and expected more of the same.
Cons: Rude, Staff not knowledgable of vegan items, overpriced
Guest
sunbaby08
Points +66
Disappointing - Edit
My mom had been hearing about this place for several years, so during her trip up to the city this weekend we planned our day around having lunch there. The hosts were very nice and seated us within 5 minutes, but once seated we waited at least 10 minutes for anyone to acknowledge us. We had to ask our server twice for sugar packets (for our tea) and bread, then he came over to tell us that the pizza we ordered would take over 30 minutes and our next choice would take over 20. Finally settled on soup which also took forever. Overall, the food was very mediocre and the service sub-par for such an expensive menu. You're better off going to Millenium if you want to spend a lot of money on fancy vegetarian food. Also, this seemed to be a vegetarian restaurant geared towards the omnivore crowd -- no veggie proteins besides black beans and one dish with tofu, nothing creative or that I hadn't seen before. I was hoping our experience might have been a fluke, but after looking at the reviews on here it seems poor service has been a constant issue. Nice view, but not worth the money...there are too many good vegetarian places in SF to come back here.
Read morePros: nice view, cool decor
Cons: too expensive, poor service
Guest
TRaeCH
Points +384
Certainly Worth Trying - Edit
A friend and I checked out Greens while spending a few days in San Francisco. Yeah, it was somewhat difficult to locate and yes it is a touch pricey. I would say that you get what you pay for. The views are lovely, it is tastefully and respectfully upscale, the staff is helpful and friendly while a great deal of attention is put into design, decor and presentation. For me, the nicest and most unexpected touch was, having ordered tea, being brought a stunning cast iron teapot with a small chinese-style tea cup; really, everything was first class.
Read moreMenus are changed daily to reflect seasonal/fresh/in-stock ingredients which i really respected. The food was delicious and healthy - a portabello burger for my friend and wonderfully cooked kebabs for me (tofu, eggplant and I wish I could remember the rest...).
I'm not exactly sure that I will return to Greens the next time I'm in San Francisco... unless I have a date - no offense to my male friend. The way I see it, I experienced Greens, enjoyed it very much, and can leave it at that. If it grabs your interest, do check it out.
By the way, while it is hard to find, the area around it is a great place to get lost. In the Fort Mason complex there is a huge green space (vis-a-vis Greens it's just up some steep steps) and from there there is a public garden that is something that I will absolutely go back and visit.
Pros: Tea in a cast iron pot!, Day-by-day menus, location/views
Cons: Prices are a touch steep
Guest
VeganTex
Points +215
Greens - Edit
If you're visiting the city and want a great view of the GG bridge, along with a fancy veg*n meal, this is your place. Otherwise, I found the food just okay.
Read moreGuest
craigmc
Points +42271
great views..and food - Edit
i had takeaway lunch, then booked a table.
Read morethere are stunning views, and the food is good. the service was very good, and our waiter was on top form. we had a shared starter, and as we waited for our main we wee given a couple of menu samplers which was a nice touch. both our mains were good, and although pricey i had a good experience. the one way greens couls improve is by stop trying to imitate food from other countries, the food was good and seemed healthy, but as soon as you try a dish based on a recipe from another country it fails. this is quite to end veggie, it should focus on a californian menu and leave indian and chinese dishes to those who do it best. overall i had a good time, and would recommend greens if your in town.
Pros: good food, good service, good views
Cons: price
Guest
mollypitcher
Points +72
I wish it was better - Edit
For all the hype, the food at this place isn't all that great. There are very few vegan options and the it is pretty run of the mill vegetarian fare. I wouldn't recommend it, and since San Francisco has so many wonderful places to eat I'd say you're better off looking for something a little more interesting and vegan friendly.
Read moreOne last thing: the menu isn't very inventive. I know it is one of the pioneers of the vegetarian restaurant world, but I think some updating of their menu might help. For the prices you're paying you ought to be getting something more than average.
Guest
Mimi710
Points +693
good muffin, rude service - Edit
I was wandering around the Marina when I realized I was near this restaurant. So I went to check it out. It was between meal times when I went so they were only doing to go orders. Their to-go menu is full of sandwhiches but they told the people in line in front of me that they didn't have any more sandwhiches... what!? I wasn't looking for a sandwhich because I wasn't that hungry, but still - I found that to be weird. It was somewhere between 2 and 3 pm. I got a yummy vegan muffin and a tea from this place which I enjoyed outside, but the staff there was just kind of rude. On the plus side the muffin was unlike anything I've ever had before. The vegan options on the menu seemed very limited. I would go again in SF if brought along with friends who liked it, but probably wouldn't make the trip out there by myself. Oh yea, it's next to the SFMOMA, so look at some art when you are done.
Read morePros: muffin unlike any other muffin I've had
Cons: rude staff, ran out menu items?
Guest
jamber79
Points +376
one of my faves - Edit
I love this place for the very nice beautiful atmosphere. It's right on the water and it's a great place to go for a fancier meal out. Every time I've been there for dinner it has been extremely busy all the way through closing, so they should probably be open later then they are. Nice decor, great menu. Helpful wait staff.
Read morePros: view, menu
Cons: wait, hours
Guest
atandt
Points +141
requires tactical planning to visit - Edit
my LP guidebook praised this one to the skies. however, i found it hard to locate despite my maps, as it is housed in some barracks-looking building down by the marina (not close to the wharf). i also missed the dining room seating hours for lunch, and had to order quick black bean chili from the takeway bar, so i missed out on an experience i was looking forward to. hopefully you can, with careful planning, manage to get into the dining room & have a chance to experience the view of the water.
Read morePros: well-recommended
Cons: esoteric location, weird biz hours, open-concept
kindlizard
A great invention they have in California to avoid mistakes such as yours are these things called "telephones". Instead of slamming a restaurant for its location or hours, why not take the initiative and call for hours and directions? Seems more reasonable and rational. It may prevent you from making the same mistake constantly throughout your life. You're sure to find places that are closed between lunch and dinner; it isn't uncommon at all.
Read moreGuest
gr8vegan
Points +2357
skip it if you're vegan... well unless you're near - Edit
Not many vegan options, but the waiter was vegan friendly and checked on everything for us. I was expecting a lot more. Its a nice place to find a vegan option, but not a destination.
Read morePros: views
Cons: little vegan food
Guest
baruchadam
Points +438
High end dining - Edit
A high end, high priced experience with a great view and great service. Romantic. The menu was exceedingly interesting and entertaining. Go for it.
Read moreGuest
Deano
Points +123
Greens gave me the blues - Edit
I admit it. I'm a MASSIVE geek. I worked out I'd eaten at 99 veggie/vegan restaurants so I thought I'd go somewhere a bit special for the 100th.... and felt a little let down.
Read moreThere's not much choice for vegans here - and they couldn't provide us with any vegan wine or beer. The food is pretty good but it's too expensive. The best thing is the view of the bay - but I could see that from outside for free.
Pros: upmarket nosh, great view
Cons: not much for vegans, pricey
Guest
aaronsk
Points +35
Snobs? - Edit
A couple of friends and I arrived just before brunch (10:30) on a recent Sunday. After he was looked over head to toe, my friend was told the wait was an hour and a half. I called from outside to verify, and I was told the wait was 20 minutes. I then walked inside to put my name in, and the host told me the wait was 2 hours. Seating was visibly available, so I'm not sure what the problem was. It seemed as if we were being snubbed.
Read morePros: None
Cons: Bad hosts
Guest
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