RichmondSFBlog reader Paulo alerted me to a new cafe in the neighborhood last week. I stopped in on Saturday to check out Café Coco, located on the corner of 6th Avenue and Geary.
Some of you may remember a medical uniform business that used to occupy the corner space. But when you walk in the remodeled cafe, it will quickly be a distant memory. The cafe is spacious with two inviting rooms, and boasts a colorful menu of beverages, sandwiches, salads, bagels and breakfast pastries.
I chatted with owner Kamal Sulieman, whose background is in retail construction. He said for years he’s been building cafes, always wanting to open his own. Café Coco started out as another construction project and as it came to completion, the original owner asked if Kamal wanted to take it over. He jumped at the chance.
Café Coco is a family run business, named for Kamal’s youngest daughter, Christine. When I dropped in, the whole family was there helping out, including his wife Nisrin.
The cafe has only been open a few days (“A soft launch” said Kamal), but is already offering up a full menu of creative sandwiches, espresso drinks and pastries. Kamal has a chef on staff, Megan, who “is an expert sandwich maker”.
Kamal’s favorite sandwich is the Zola – mozzarella, tomato, basil and balsamic vinaigrette on ciabatta bread ($6.99). The Diderot also sounds tasty – grilled ham with gruyere, pickled jalapenos and mustard on a ciabatta ($6.99). The Rabelais also gets my taste buds excited – salami, arugula, olive puree, pesto, prosciutto, and swiss on ciabatta ($6.99).
If you’re looking for lighter fare, try one of the salads on the menu – quinoa, spring mix, arugula and even a fresh corn salad just to name a few. All of them are just $5.
Pastries are fresh every morning, or check in the basket on the counter for day-old pastries that are just $1. If bagels are your thing, there’s plenty of variety and toppings to choose from including smoked salmon, hummus and chevre cheese.
Kamal’s warm handiwork can be seen around the cafe. He installed a faux fireplace to keep things toasty, and every cafe tabletop was handcrafted from reclaimed Alaskan pine. The cafe also offers free WiFi and will soon have a large screen television up on the wall.
Kamal and his family have lived in the Bay Area for 22 years and are excited to be opening their first business. They picked a great corner location with bus stops on both sides of the cafe.
Café Coco is open daily from 6am until 8pm. Stop in to welcome them to the neighborhood and if you drink or eat, leave us a comment to let us know how it was!
Sarah B.
Just looking at the menu already has me drooling!
Maybe I should see a doctor about that….
Thanks for reporting about this new cafe! I’ve been on the bus past it twice since they opened and it looks great. Welcome to the neighborhood, Cafe Coco!
Oh wow, they have vegan options!?!? That is really hard to come by in the Richmond District. Bagels with vegan cream cheese and veggie sandwiches! Very, very cool. I will definitely be swinging by and telling all my veg friends in the area, as well. Thanks for posting!
Anytime a medical uniform shop is replaced with a cafe, I think it’s good for the neighborhood!
Yay! So happy to see the arrival of a nice cafe on Geary.
Awesome – not in my immediate vicinity but happy to see a place like that open up. I hope they do OK.
Does that mean the cops won’t be going to Javaholics anymore?
All sounds promising — until I got to the part about the t.v. Really? Wish they would reconsider. Looks like he spent lots of thought and time to make that place unique (I like the carvings on the backs of the chairs, and the colorful menu board). Please, no t.v.
Mehan – i agree about the TV. Unless it’s only used on specific date/time to show a sporting event or something like that, otherwise just having a TV in the background is noise pollution.
i am SOOOOO going there and getting a BALZAC sandwich with extra meat!
*giggle giggle
Wow! This looks great. Can’t wait to try it. And what a great location.
Kinda pricey coffee. They don’t have 18oz or larger size coffee/latte’s and so far does NOT offer frequent buyer offer ie. STAMPT app. Hopefully they will read this…probably will try their sandwiches one day! 🙂 Sounds tasty!
I am so incredibly excited about the vegan options as well! Finally a place that sells bagels with non-dairy cream cheese in the Richmond! Can’t wait to try the sandwiches, too!
It’ll certainly make it a nicer place to wait for the bus than it was in the uniform nook days. Actually, I have a recommendation: the 38 stop does not have a NextBus display. He should put one in the window (could be done eg with a cheap Android tablet). Not only will the people who are waiting for the bus appreciate it, but if they know the bus is (at least) eight minutes away, well, that’s just enough time for a coffee and a croissant…
NexMuni and Muni Alerts already do that on phones. I would not want to put a tablet in the window of my shop; It might make it a day before someone stole or attempted to steal the device, regardless if it was a low-end tablet.
Thank you all for your comments and nice whishes, We will consider all your comments in here to Improve our self to make this place usefull for our community. My manager and I decided to hire and train new to the business people to give young generation to have a Job. We hope every one understand that and they are improving day by day with the guide of my two profisional Managers Dallas and Megan, Thanks All
We wish u all the best in ur Cafe Coco and God bless u and ur family too
CONGRATULATION…….
INSHALLAAA ALL THE BEST FOR YOU AND ALL THE FAMILY .
CONGRATULATION…….We wish u all the best
It is amazing . Congratulations….All the best . We all wish you the success :May , Sirina,, Zaid , Omar and Rand . God bless your place.
Thanks for the tip. I had the Rabelais yesterday, and it was delicious. They’re still working out the kinks, e.g. there was literally no one else there but the four employees and my sandwich took about 15 minutes. But it was good and they’ll find their groove, I’m sure. Welcome, Coco.
Thank you for posting this. I can’t wait to check it out.
I am sure that this Cafe’ is going to be a success. Congratulation Kamal and Nesrin, you guys have worked so hard on this project, great accomplishment. I wish you all the luck. I can’t wait to come and try your delicious food. God Bless You and Your Family.