Brenda's French Soul Food: Southern-inspired brunch classics with bold flavor on Polk Street.
Brenda's French Soul Food in San Francisco offers hearty brunch and American comfort with Southern soul. Guests praise quick, friendly service and standout dishes like pork belly grits, beignets, shrimp and grits, gumbo, greens, and andouille sausage. The menu features favorites like bananas foster French toast and Croque Monsieur, making it a welcoming, dependable spot for flavorful weekend dining.
652 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94102, USA
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Savor classic dishes like beignets, grits, and French toast, available all morning and afternoon.
Enjoy a unique menu blending Cajun/Creole flavors with French culinary techniques, including gumbo and catfish.
Indulge in our famous beignets, offered in plain, apple, chocolate, and savory options like crawfish and crab.
Try our rotating specials and sampler platters, featuring seasonal ingredients and chef-inspired creations.
Grab a quick, affordable breakfast sandwich to go, with deals available after 10 AM.
Overall rating
June Wong
Echo all the great reviews here. Quick service at 10:00 am on a Saturday morning. Pork belly grits were delicious. Nice and hot. Great crisp on the pork. Lots of good cheese and poached egg too. Spicy onion jam was really good. Croque Monsieur and slaw was good. Got the 3 way (plain, apple, chocolate) beignets. My fave was the plain, just because I like a pure beignet, but the chocolate and apple were also good. Good place to go!
Prince
We went on Christmas day, so of course it was super busy, without a reservation the wait was 45 minutes to an hour. Once we sat down, the food came out pretty fast and everything taste too good however it’s hard to appreciate considering the wait. The shrimp and grits were very flavorful however, with the smoothness of the grits, as well as the sauces added, it felt a bit soupy. The crawfish beignets were a little light on the crawfish however, the crab beignet was amazing and full. I’d recommend adding an egg or two or something else to the grits to give it some texture.
Jamie Harris
We had a wonderful breakfast here. The staff was friendly, warm, and on top of everything. Water service was great and I appreciated that they offered half orders for several items. The Bananas Foster French toast was amazing, rich without being too sweet. The andouille sausage was fantastic and full of flavor, and the strawberry jam was truly heavenly. I also had an iced Grandma’s Coffee with black walnut and whipped cream, which was delicious and felt like such a fun treat. We ordered the beignets too. They were a little dense, but the flavor was still very good. Overall, a great breakfast spot with excellent service and food that really stands out. I would definitely go back.
Sovereign
Favorite breakfast and brunch in San Francisco, it's popular for good reasons! My favorite spot everytime I come back stateside, it's the breakfast that gives me life after a 12 hour flight. It's a classic, and it stayed the same throughout the years. Service is nice, place is lovely. The area around is not the safest but it's safe inside. Food is awesome, their homemade watermelon sweet tea is my liquid IV. The beignets are delicious, the grits are buttery, the meat is tender and juicy. Their specials are always worth trying! They also have breakfast sandwiches that are cheap ($5-$6) and good to go, after 10 you get a free sando! The place used to be packed every morning, now it's a little more sparse, things seem to have changed through the pandemic.
AL Cobb
Honestly this place is perfect. I feel like it’s just the right size and that they’ve truly perfected the service speed, style,portions and recipes. I’d almost not want to see them expand it because they do it so well currently. You know how like when you double a recipe sometimes it doesn’t come out quite right (or that could be just me 🤣). Anyways I got the sampler platter which looking back at the menu looks more like it could’ve been the daily special and not always on the menu. The greens were good solid greens like just classic that you could eat continuously. The red beans and rice were definitely a hit my mom and aunt both make them like that. The gumbo is the most authentic gumbo I’ve had outside of my uncles. What do I mean by that? Normally if it has not been made by my uncle (from a line of Prudhommes out of Louisiana I think) the gumbos on the menus I’ve had are usually just a pretty good soup. Theres always something just off about them but this gumbo was heart warming and I could only imagine what the deluxe version tastes like. If I had more time here I would’ve tried it! My husband had the catfish de allemands and I think he said something along the lines of my God almighty when he tried it haha 😂. Safe to say he loved it. It was pretty good. Honestly we were both thrown off by the pecans in the rice but they were good but I’d never have them anywhere else. Only at Brenda’s now can you pecans in my rice I guess. Ok let’s talk about the pillow soft hot beignet that I will dream about as we make our way back to the east coast. Wow it was probably the best no I’m sure thee absolute best one I’ve ever had. I think that’s what princess Tiana’s must have been based off of for sure because they truly were amazing. Overall the staff was friendly and efficient. They were not playing no games with us. If the came over and we weren’t ready they weren’t wasting no time. They quickly said “we’ll give you a few more minutes” and I appreciated that because they were just so many good things to bounce between hence why I got a sampler. But again we didn’t feel rushed or pushed off or like anyone was rude. Everything was efficient well done and felt like a well oiled machine. I hope to make it back one day!
