Sacramento at Dwight


Average Overall Rating:

(4 out of 5)

Average Coffee Refill Rating:

(4 out of 5)

(2 out of 5)

Review by: blahblah on 1/2/2011

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This is a response to the review discussing the cook's sweat; as a professional and a cook, I can assure you, this IS the ingredient that guarantees the wonderful Flavor and Texture to this cuisine! Mmmmmmmmmmm sooooo good. The pancakes are my favorite and, in 20 years, I've never gotten sick eating there.

Award Nomination: Best Breakfast Ever

Review #21724Review by: berlinslum on 10/17/2007

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This place is so good that I hardly ever go elsewhere for breakfast. Once you taste the potatoes, you know everything is going to be fine. And sure enough, it is.

Review #11661Review by: Lenny on 10/17/2007

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First of all, the service. I was a regular at Homemade in the 90's but I moved to the East Coast for a while in 2000. Back in 2004, I was visiting Berkeley and I went down to HM to see if it had changed. I sat down at the counter, the waitress eyed me and asked "the regular"? Sure enough, in a few minutes I was digging into a plate of the best pancakes I have ever tasted. Enough said.

Everything at Homemade is excellent but the pancakes are the best I have ever had the good fortune to eat, and I have consumed a LOT of pancakes. Refilling your own coffee rules, no waiting for a busy waitress when you could already be sipping your fourth cup.

All in all, I can not recommend this restaurant highly enough. As for those who claim to have received bad service, I can't help but wondering whether the fault lies with the diner and not the staff. You reap what you sow, as they say.

Award Nomination: Best Breakfast Ever

Review #11655Review by: SQUIDCAKES on 3/5/2007

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I've been eating there since 1979 plus worked there for a number of years back in the 80's & 90's. I have read the other reviews on this site & others and want to offer the following "insights": Okay, yes, the service can border on surly at times but that's THE CHARM of the Homemade. I suppose if you are too young or culinarily inexperienced to have had the pleasure of being playfully insulted by your waitperson that will be lost on you. Perhaps it's an acquired taste. Without a doubt, the entire staff is committed to serving you the best possible meal as efficiently as possible and given the size constraints of this tiny gem, they do one hell of a job. Everything from the self-service coffee/water refills to the dynamic seating policy of “table-sharing” is geared towards optimizing the dining experience and making the customer feel at “home”. Everything they serve is made from the freshest, highest quality ingredients available for the price. The pancakes, waffles & French toast are delicious. The matzo brie is killer and of course, the Homefry Heaven is legendary. Nowhere else can you get a coffeecake that satisfies like the Homemade's.
Go there (and anywhere else for that matter) with a good attitude and a sense of humor and hey, be grateful you don't have to shop, cook and clean up after yourself! Tip well and you might be invited back. The thousands of regular customers that consider the Homemade Café their kitchen-away-from-home are right on the money.
Lastly but not "leastly": In my experience those that are critical of the service are probably too high-maintenance or "entitled" to dine out successfully anyway. Some expectations are better imposed on oneself before going "public" with them.


Award Nomination: Best Breakfast Ever

Review #9792Review by: breakfastisbest on 9/26/2006

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this place is average. the food is pretty good, and i like that you can get deals with the frequent eater cards and stuff. my main issue is the wait staff. they are rude and obnoxious. and i'm not a fan of the self serve coffee at all.
fresh squeezed orange juice does come in a container. a juice company juices it that morning and drops it at the restaurant. anybody who has ever worked in a restaurant knows that.

Award Nomination: Worst Service

Review #8573Review by: kamilah36 on 8/27/2006

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The food is just okay. But the service was so bad it made the food worst. I asked for a new fork because there was food on my fork the server seemed to get irritated when bring me a new fork the second folk was dirty as well, I asked another server and she was ruder when replacing the dirty silverware, No one dared apologized. I was this close of walking out but since I had waited so long to eat I stayed. The person that took my order was nice but other then that the place is dirty and the service is bad. On top of that my order was messed up! I would never return to this eating establishment again!!!

Award Nomination: Worst Service

Review #8357Review by: MrBreakfast.com Visitor on 2/6/2006

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I love this place. Used to live nearby and now go there almost every time I am back in town. The service is friendly and casual and you feel welcome even in the midst of the rush. And that despite the rudeness of customers who may have to wait outside on busy days or write mean reviews in this space.... I love the eggs florentine and the omelettes; my daughter loves the coffee cake and the iced mochas. It's a good crowd too--you don't ever feel leery about sharing a table on Sundays.

Award Nomination: Most Comfortable

Review #6734Review by: swaters on 11/1/2005

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The food is all fairly decent, although nothing spectacular. However, I have to say, the service is absolutely atrocious. I ordered "Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice" off the menu, even confirmed verbally that that's what they served, and was given orange juice out of a plastic container. When I complained that it was not fresh squeezed to the manager, she said, "Well, we don't do it on the premises!" She acted like I was crazy and brought me the container to prove to me that it didn't say anywhere on it that it was pasteurized. This was an Odwalla-type brand. She didn't offer me another drink and didn't offer to take it off the tab. She was incredibly offensive and I will never go there again, even though it's only four blocks from my house.

Award Nomination: Worst Service

Review #6172Review by: MrBreakfast.com Visitor on 10/30/2005

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Read the reviews and was looking forward to going. Wasn't blown away. Potatoes were OK but nothing special (La Note's are better). Atmosphere has a nice greasy spoon feel to it though.

Review #6160Review by: stingray on 9/24/2005

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The place has a homey neighborhood cafe feeling and smells great. When it's busy, it seems a little cramped but not uncomfortable. Service is quick and friendly. The food is unpretentious, yet enticing; homefries are dee-licious!

Review #5952Review by: MrBreakfast.com Visitor on 9/1/2005

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I highly recommend the pancakes there. These are real homemade Buttermilk Pancakes. The best I have ever had, hands down. I usually custom order my breakfast:

Order of Pancakes with real butter
Real Maple Syrup xtra 75 cents
2 eggs medium easy
1 small orange juice

I've ordered this twice, and can't recommend it enough. Excellent.

Award Nomination: Best Breakfast Ever

Review #5799Review by: MrBreakfast.com Visitor on 5/10/2004

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This is a posting for people who eat at a restaurant in Berkeley called Homemade Cafe. The cooks are very unsanitary! The cooks don't wash their hands after smoking or using the restaurant. How do i know this? I used to work for these guys a while ago. They smoke weed in the back of the restaurant. The cooks sweat drips in the food while he cooks. I saw it!

Award Nomination: Worst Service

Review #3366Review by: ghorm on 9/12/2002

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This place has something for everyone. I've been there at least once a week since I moved into the neighborhood a few years ago. It's not really a hipster joint and it's not really a hippy place either. It just feels good to be there. You can expect a 30-45 minute wait on weekends, but feel free to pour yourself a cup of coffee while you wait.

Things to try here are the Italian eggs (mushroom-onion-tomato scramble topped with pesto), spinach, mushroom, and feta omelette, and the blueberry pancakes. The basic 2-egg breakfast is great, too: good home fries and fresh salsa round out all the egg dishes.

You fill your own coffee here, and I like that. It's good to stand up once in a while and find out exactly how buzzed you are. The wait staff is friendly but businesslike. You can study the cooks' style from the counter. Mikey flips the order wheel a bird, then gulps some juice from the pitcher with his name written across it before plating some eggs and starting a new batch of home fries. "Order up!" he yells.

The Homemade Café is open from 7-2 pm on weekdays and 8-3 pm on weekends.

Award Nomination: Best Breakfast Ever

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Reviews submitted here are meant to pertain to breakfast only. While Mr Breakfast cannot vouch for the validity of each restaurant review, he feels pretty good vouching for the excellent character of the residents of Berkeley, California - who are primarily responsible for the review(s) you see above for Homemade Cafe.