Homemade Cafe

This place is okay. The coffee was good and the customer service was alright. Maybe stay focus on the customer's needs. more

I have been an HC patron since the mid 1980s. I go to HC for comfort food when I am feeling down/preoccupied. I have found the waiters quite pleasant. Pros: Excellent truly homemade food Cons: Service can be slow when crowded-worth wait more

've been to the Homemade Cafe on several occasions. Today was the last. The restaurant was understandably busy, as it is Labor Day. However, after waiting the half an hour for a table, and ordering our food, we proceeded to sit for the majority of another hour as people who were seated after us were served, had time to eat, had their tables cleared, paid the check and left. We gave ourselves a time frame of 50 minutes of waiting and we would simply leave. The food arrived after 48 minutes. Subsequently, I complained. I quietly and politely explained why I was dissatisfied with the service. I was given the explanation that a take-out order containing several pancakes (I had ordered the pancakes) had dominated the grill, thus pushing back all other pancake related orders. I explained that if I had been informed of this delay, I would have simply changed my order. The response to this was that their is no communication between the front of the restaurant (where take-out orders are placed) and the rest of the kitchen or waitstaff. I explained that I was still unwilling to pay full price for an exceptionally late meal. But that I would accept paying for one meal and trading in my weekday voucher card (Fully stamped, qualifies for one free meal). I was told the card was no good on a holiday (which I knew). The redheaded waitress then threatened to call the police. I shrugged and said: ""Call them"". That was when the older woman said: ""Let him get away with it. If he wants to be like that, but you can't even come here again."" The sentiment that I was banned was echoed by two other waitresses. I shrugged and left, without paying a dime. All they had to do was offer to knock a few dollars off the ticket. Or give me another stamped card to use on a different day. Or accept the stamped card I already had as a show of good faith. Or simply be polite rather than belligerent and rude. It would have saved them some customers. Pros: Good food. Cons: The sevice is awful more

walked in this morning in a great mood to order breakfast to go and looked at the menu, walked to the counter and sat down ready to order. I was told by the old wrinkled lady with the glasses and black hair to go to the front by the register. I asked her ""I can't sit at the counter"" she said no. THIS IS 2009. BY THE WAY, I AM AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN. I will not be spending my money in this place!!! Besides, Joe's Cafe on Sacramento has better service! more

Very crowded place, but it's a good thing since that usually means the place is good. This place is in the area of a friend's neighborhood, and I find it very homey, I like the sandwiches. more

the food is good but seriously if it gets any more casual I would expect to know the people. water is from a sink in the front and the decor is pretty homey and the service is good. it's a place I would eat at often if I lived nearby. more

The staff blends in perfectly with the customers - a cornucopia of fresh, down to earth people joking with the rest of us. The atmosphere is very light, with the morning sunlight accentuated by the smiles which always abound in the room. The Homemade cafe is always busy, but the staff handles the rushes with a precise and timely manner. The omletes are recommended, enormous, and along with a cup of house coffee, a perfect precursor to a Saturday afternoon.\r \r Essentially, the atmosphere alone makes this place. The prices are a little over the typical college budget, but I would certainly recommend this place if you're looking for the essence of Berkeley. more

I have been to homemade cafe a number of times because I love the omelettes hoping that the service will get better every time I go... but it doesn't. The servers look panicked, and they are really bitchy anytime you ask them for something. It's like they hate their jobs and wish you'd go away. One time I was there I was waiting at the counter to pay and I heard a crash behind me I turned around to see what happened and one of the servers had dropped a bottle of ketchup on the floor, then from behind me I hear this very loud ""HELLO!"", ""HELLLLLLO!"". I turned around and one of the servers had finally arrived to take my money and was standing there all mad because I wasn't paying attention to her because of the crash. I decided enough is enough and I was going to just do phone orders to pick up from them so I don't have to deal with the servers, but unfortunately I called today (a Sunday) and I was told by a very rude women that they don't do food orders on the weekends because they don't have time to talk to me!! more

Homemade Cafe's service is appalling--the worst I've ever experienced, anywhere. I arrived, intending to wait for my two friends. I was told by the waitress to pick any table I wanted. It was 7:30 a.m. and the place was not busy. I sat down at a booth and she asked me if I wanted something to drink. I ordered hot tea. After 10 minutes, it never came. I noticed that other people who came in after me were being served. I walked to the counter and asked for my tea. I was told ""Get it yourself--there's a beverage station."" Fine--nobody told me about this previously, but fine. There was hot water but no tea bags. Excuse me, I said, but there are no tea bags at the beverage station. ""We bring them out to you."" It never arrived. Again, I walked up to the counter and asked for a tea bag, this time from the manager. ""We bring it out to you. And by the way, you shouldn't be sitting down until everyone in your party has arrived."" Then why, I asked, did your waitress tell me to pick any table I wanted and to sit down? And why is it taking so long to get a tea bag? ""She's our best waitress,"" said the manager. Need I go on??? Too bad about this. I'd heard the French toast was good but with such lousy service, who would ever get the chance to find out? Don't go there. Pros: free street parking Cons: no service, rude waitresses more

My favorite thing to get here is the Homefry Heaven. I, too, get it everytime I come to Homemade. As far as main dishes go, I really like the Huevos Rancheros, the Chorizo Omelette and the Italian Omelette. They also make great Eggs Benedict. The atmosphere of Homemade can be pretty hectic on the weekends, so go during the week! Also, if you go during the week, you can use your weekday special card and eventually earn a free breakfast item. This used to be my favorite breakfast place when I lived in Emeryville....but I don't go as often as I should anymore. My love to you, Homemade! Pros: food, service, parking Cons: can be crowded, hectic more

The Homemade Cafe is a classic Berkeley Breakfast and Lunch counter place, located at Dwight Way and Sacramento St. Its been in business forever, and still has one of the best offerings of Breakfasts - lots of delicious omlets. This is the type of place that people describe as Berkeley funky. Its not fancy, or pricey. But its not the cheapest place in Berkeley either. The waitresses tend to be the nose-ring and tattoo variety - very friendly and capable of bench-pressing 250 lbs. The Home-Fries are worth writing home about. They always come with the optional generous dollop of sour cream. They are included with most breakfasts, but they can be ordered as a side item - Warning. The Homefrie Heaven side-dish is really a main dish: more than you probably can eat! Although you may have to wait outside for 10 or 15 minutes to get a table on the weekend, its worth the wait - on a sunny day that is. PROS: home-fried potatos CONS: usually a wait for a table, noise level is high. more

I rarely get anything else when I go here. Even if I feel the need for bacon and eggs, it's always with a side of those amazing potaoes. They're just spicy enough, and topped with sour cream and guacamole (or pesto, if you prefer). The wait on weekends can be crazy, so if you can steal away some time during a weekday, it's a little less crowded. The seating is not perfect (sharing booths can be awkward.) The service is efficient. Pros: Homefry Heaven, good quality food Cons: sharing booths, weekend crowds more

Okay, I could do without some of the trendier North Beach knockoffs, and sometimes the wait is longer even than Dottie's cafe, but it's totally worth it for the greasy spoon atmosphere and the comfy booths. Pros: People-watching Cons: Crowded more