“My mom and sister are coming to the city for breakfast, where should we go?”
“Stacks.”
Excellent. One question, one answer. No fuss. No reservation. It was a Monday (New Year’s Eve), so none of the hip brunch-y places in North Beach near my place were going to be open. And, apparently, my knowledge of City breakfast places outside my brunch neighborhood is slim. So, Stacks it was.
Bloody Mary with bacon. Mother was pleased.
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So you’re in the Richmond. And you want breakfast. And you don’t want to wait in line for an hour on Clement. Enter: Ashley’s.
I love this place. It’s a small cafe, order at the counter, (wo)manned by two nice ladies. They have wireless. And coffee. And fresh-squeezed orange juice from one of those fancy machines. And home-made, organic pastries and breakfast snacks. And onigiri. It’s like Japanese/breakfast fusion that was made just for me. Love.
Inside Ashley’s Cafe
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Or tasty. Hi. I went to Spain. I’ve been stumbling over life trying to catch up with writing and other things I love. But I haven’t had time to sort my pictures, collect my thoughts, etc. So here — something shiny for you to look at in the meantime. I’ll be back soon… 🙂
French toast from Park Tavern’s brunch, North Beach.
Update: Cafe Divine is now closed. 🙁
Welcome to North Beach. We have lots of food to eat here.
If you’re looking for breakfast or brunch (or lunch or dinner), we have Cafe Divine. It’s pretty amazing. Also, their website has lots of over-saturated photos of people grinning hugely. A must-see.
Three egg scramble: Italian sausage, bell peppers, scallions, mozzarella. And the delicious biscuit. (and potatoes)
Let’s talk breakfast/brunch. I love brunch. It’s just such a happy meal*. Cafe Divine is pretty accurately named, as far as I’m concerned. Can I start with homemade chive and cheddar biscuits? I seriously wake up on the weekend and have to bargain myself out of getting one of these every day. Slap some jam on that puppy and your day is pretty seriously guaranteed to be amazing. And you’ll totally be ready for a nap afterward.
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Dude*. Commonwealth.
I keep hearing about this place. It’s at 29th and Telegraph in Oakland, and it’s a pub/cafe-type place that my friends like to go for Sunday brunch. And it’s awesome. I finally went today and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
From the adorable pair at the bar speaking in their British accents (which I hope were real) to the decidedly British/Aussie (hence the name Commonwealth) fare and beverages (beans and toast, “cuppa” tea), this place was A) uber-cute, and B) good. We three ladies ordered three dishes and shared. And the light was fabulous so my photos look money. See?
French toast with “Golden” syrup. You know you want it.
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Otaez is a Mexican restaurant (with full bar, as noted on their site) with two locations: Oakland and Alameda. My family had Sunday brunch at the Alameda location a couple weeks ago and had a decent experience. Because we only had brunch, however, I’m not qualified to comment on the diversity of their menu or the speediness of their standard service, since we only received minimal buffet-style waitress visits. Therefore, I write only of the Otaez brunch buffet.
Mexican brunch buffet is all the rage in my little life at the moment. Never have I had so many Mexican Sunday brunches as I have in the last couple months (note: I’ve only had about four). See my El Torito review for further notes on this fact. Because El Torito is actually the only other restaurant where I have experienced the Mex brunch buffet, it’s hard not to compare one to the other. And if I had to choose, I’d choose El Torito….
El Torito is a chain restaurant – it’s true. I try to stay away from reviewing chain restaurants as a rule, but eventually I end up at one and I just want to blog about it. And after patronizing El Torito’s Sunday Brunch for a second time, I think it’s time something was put into writing.
There are almost 60 El Torito’s all around California and one or two in Arizona and Oregon. It’s an established chain; there isn’t a whole lot of mystery lying in wait behind those sandblasted doors. But being a chain doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality is low or that it is not authentic – it really just means that it’s consistent among the different locations. Or at least that’s what it’s supposed to mean. And even though I can’t comment specifically on the consistency (I’ve only been to the San Leandro and Foster City locations), I can say the food is good. More specifically, the Sunday brunch is excellent….