Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. But on the weekends, it's tough for me to drag myself out of the house in the morning to get a bite to eat. So when we do make the effort to go out for breakfast, it had better be good.
I was having trouble sleeping in on Saturday morning, and since Jon and I were already planning to hit the driving range early, I figured we should grab food somewhere while we're out and about. Alana's came to mind because we've driven by it before and I always comment on how cute it is. The restaurant is located in a blue Victorian, broken up into several dining spaces and with a lovely garden/patio in front.
Since it was a bit chilly when we arrived, we opted to dine inside -- at the table-for-two next to the faux fireplace. I ordered a hot chocolate (not water-based -- yay!) and a small stack of the Swedish oatmeal pancakes with bananas on the side. Jon went with the Farmer's Garden plate (homefries, tomatoes, scallions, mushrooms, cheddar and provolone sauteed and topped with two poached eggs). He also got a blueberry-lemon scone, one of three fruit options they had that morning. (The other two were cherry-something and papaya-coconut. I was surprised by that last one, and wasn't sure if I even heard her right.)
The pancakes were delicious! The oats made for a nice texture, but didn't overwhelm the batter or -- what I feared -- make it too dry. It's got a good flavor to it, too, so you don't need much maple syrup. Jon's scone was awesome. It was fresh out of the oven, so it was warm with a crusty top. He approved of his Farmer's Garden dish as well, as evidenced by the clean plate he left behind. The homefries were also a hit. Ideally, I'd like them a tad crispier, but they were perfectly seasoned.
The service was just as impressive as the food and ambiance. The staff was very friendly -- a tough task at 8am on a Saturday!
Since we got to Alana's shortly after they opened, it wasn't too crowded while we were there. But I hear this place gets crazy-crowded on the weekends. While we were in the middle of our breakfast, a man walked in to meet a friend of his who was already seated. "Isn't this place great!" he exclaimed, as he made his way to the table by the window. The friend confirmed that it was. And Jon and I also looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
Alana's Cafe
1020 Main Street
Redwood City, CA
(650) 366-1498
