Mercury Cafe has been in business since March 16, 2009. Thirteen years later, we’re still here. No small feat for a little local independent cafe. We’ve seen many changes. We’ve been through many changes. Read below and see what’s happening!
Taking the time to care about food and coffee doesn’t come cheap, but we make every effort to offer this food affordably, and we do our best to keep a selection of items on our menu that are within reach of all pocketbooks.
San Francisco’s Veritable Vegetable provides most of our produce, which they purchase from farms including Jayleaf, Willey Farms, Fratelli Farms, and Las Palmalitas Ranch, all in California. Our deli meats come from San Francisco’s Molinari Brothers and Zoe’s Meats in Santa Rosa. Our dairy products come from Gilt Edge Creamery, also in San Francisco. Our soups, scones, muffins, and pies are made from scratch here in our kitchen. Because so much of our produce is seasonal, we change the menu depending on what’s available.
While coffee cannot be produced locally, we can still be responsible in how we purchase it. We buy only organic, fair-traded coffees from micro roaster De La Paz, located on Mission Street in San Francisco. To keep true to the flavor of these exceptional coffees, we individually prepare each cup, whether it’s drip or espresso.
Of course if you’re in a hurry, we serve French Press coffee every day, especially in the morning.
We make our soups, sandwiches, scones, muffins, and pies by hand, using the freshest ingredients, most of which are organic and produced in California, if not in the Bay Area. We believe in supporting sustainable, local agriculture and local businesses as much as possible. As cliche as this may seem these days, this principle is rooted in the work done at Food First, a local nonprofit food policy institute that has done extensive research on local food systems, industrial agriculture, and trade policies that affect sustainability and hunger throughout the world.
Our produce and fruit comes from San Francisco’s Veritable Vegetable, a wholesale produce company that began as a collective in the early 1970s and concentrates in organic and local produce.
The bread that makes our sandwiches so good is from Acme Bread Company, well known throughout the Bay Area with bakeries in Berkeley and at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.
San Francisco’s Gilt Edge Creamery, family owned since 1908, delivers our milk, cheese, and butter, so it’s always fresh.
Molinari & Sons, a San Franciscan mainstay since 1896, is where we buy our salame. We consider it among the best we’ve ever had.
Zoe’s Meats of Santa Rosa delivers our turkey, bacon, and roast beef. Their meats are locally and sustainably produced. The bacon we serve is nitrite-free and applewood smoked. This stuff is good.
While purchasing local goods might result in slightly higher prices, it also supports a more sustainable local economy, helps protect the environment, and keeps jobs in our community.
Our coffees are either single origin coffees from Four Barrel Coffee, or blends from De La Paz Coffee, and are roasted and delivered to the café weekly. To keep true to the flavor of these exceptional coffees, we individually prepare each cup, whether it’s drip or espresso.
We offer French Press coffee for those in a hurry. This can be ordered in-house or to-go.
We also sell whole bean coffee so if you would rather brew at home or need a perky gift, stop by and see our selection.
Peel Sessions – Blend
Ethiopia Bulga
Ethiopia Qorema
Honey, rose, strawberry
Big City – Blend
Honduras Santa Barbara
Guatemala El Trifinio
Dark chocolate, molasses, peach
Graceland – Blend
Columbia Bruselas
Ethiopian Tolamariam
Caramel, current, tangerine
Four Barrel Espresso Decaf
Red plum, rhubarb, velvety mouthfeel(!)