Neighbor David has been spending a lot of time lately at the the new Cafe St. Jorge on Mission Street near Cortland. Cafe St. Jorge has been open for just a month, but Neighbor David writes to tell us why he thinks it’s a new neighborhood treasure:

SF has a pretty unique coffee culture: there are at least four major artisanal coffee-roasters in the city, and several more in the bay area overall. Except for Bernal Heights, many SF ‘hoods have almost as many coffee shops as they do traditional restaurants. Happily, Bernal can now bump up the count by one, with the addition of Cafe St. Jorge at Mission & Kingston Streets (in the space previously occupied by “The Nervous Dog”).

I’m an indie software developer, and like many indies, coffee shops are my de-facto office(s). I’ve been coming to Cafe St. Jorge since just after its opening on July 8th, and it has quickly become my go-to hangout.

Cafe St. Jorge is kind of  non-traditional for an SF coffee bar. Unlike the industrial loft space of SightGlass in SOMA or the tightly packed, hipster-occupied Ritual on Valencia, Cafe St. Jorge is open, light, and airy, with a nice mix of music that isn’t blaring or jarring. Owner Andrea de Francisco has decked Cafe St. Jorge out in white and blues that evoke the seaside esthetic of the Azores.

The coffee is from Stumptown roasters, so it’s got a different profile that most SF roasts (lighter and sweeter) but the real kicker here is the food: Andrea has put together a unique menu of pastries, salads, charcuterie, and sandwiches, all with a Portuguese inflection geared toward bringing you a little slice of the Azores here in SF.

The pastries range from various Portuguese inspired cookies and other sweets, to coffee-cakes/muffins/cookies (many of which are vegan and/or gluten-free). They’re all great and a little too easy to eat a lot of.  The cheese/charcuterie board is really delicious, and it’s more than enough for 2 people.

My favorite however is a sandwich she calls the “Tosta Mista,” which is a panini-pressed grilled cheese with ham that is irresistibly good.  There’s even more on the menu, including a wide range of smoothies, fruit juices, and other goodies.  They’ve put in for the beer/wine license too, so soon it’ll be a great evening hang-out spot as well.

In its short life, Cafe St. Jorge has already caught on with indie devs like me, as well as moms with kids, and more. The bottom line: it’s nice space, really friendly staff/vibe, awesome food, and best of all it’s right here in Bernal.

PHOTOS: Neighbor David Spector