Coffee Shop Review - Café Roma

Among the many fantastic coffee shops in San Francisco’s North Beach one that I think often goes overlooked is Café Roma. Café Roma was pretty much across the street from where I used to live, so it was definitely a regular stop for me. It’s actually quite similar to Café Vittoria in Boston in some ways, definitely as far as décor. It’s the same sort of set up as well; with the focus being on espresso, pastries and gelato.

Café Roma didn’t really have any special drinks in the same was as Café Greco down the street, but they were pretty consistent with high quality drinks. I will definitely stop by here when I’ll be in San Francisco soon, and I’ll be sure to update this review if their standards have fallen off, or if it turns out that the place is better than I remember it.

Note: they do sell Italian wine, which is a nice touch in my opinion, and they have some pretty hard to find selections as well.

One thing that I like about Café Roma that sets it apart from Café Greco is that they serve some basic breakfast as well, specifically a type of sandwich made with chopped egg. Is it fancy? No, it’s definitely not as good or special as what you can get at Mama’s down the street (or at Café Divine, or even at La Boulange right across from Roma, which now that I think about totally deserves its own review, even if it’s just for the soup bowl sized latte’s that they serve), but it’s a staple and it can hit the spot when you don’t want to make a big production out of breakfast. 

Overall though I’m not sure that I would tell someone to go out of their way to go to Café Roma, however if someone was in the neighborhood and just wanted a quick cup of coffee or shot of espresso or latte it is definitely hard to beat.