Where SUR came from
SUR Cafe Mediterranean brought something the Financial District was missing — honest, soulful food rooted in Mediterranean and Turkish tradition. This is how it started, and why it stuck.
SUR Cafe Mediterranean | Our Story
A gap worth filling
The Financial District had no shortage of lunch options — just not good ones. SUR opened on Market Street to offer something different: Mediterranean and Turkish food made with real care, not a formula.
Where the food comes from
Gyro bowls, sucuk eggs, fried halloumi, a Turkish breakfast spread — everything halal, not as a label but as part of how the kitchen has always cooked.
The baklava case
Walk in and the display case does a lot of the talking — pistachio baklava, simit, Turkish delight, pastries made the slow way. The café side of SUR is as serious as the kitchen.
San Francisco took notice
San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development selected SUR for its small business grant program to help revitalize downtown storefronts. SUR was already doing exactly that.
A spot you come back to
Early guests put it simply: fresh food, warm people, a welcome addition to the neighborhood. SUR has become the kind of place that turns a weekday lunch into something worth looking forward to.
