Cafe Leila

While we were in Northern CA this weekend we met up with one of my greatest college friends for breakfast. She suggested we meet at Cafe Leila where they have breakfast but don't draw the crowds that are common for Sunday morning breakfast.

Cafe Leila is located on San Pablo which is a mixed shop street common to the city of Berkeley. While the street can be pretty crowded the cafe is an island of its own. It even has a free parking lot! The cafe is actually quite big despite the small looking front room. It goes back and back with a huge outdoor patio that we may have enjoyed on a warmer day.

The cafe was comfortable and had a smattering of customers - if everyone was concentrated in a small space it would've been crowded.

We ordered the Alex Breakfast and the California Omelet.  The Alex breakfast came with two eggs any style, bacon, toast, potatoes and fruit. The omelet came with an omelet (obviously) filled with tomatoes and avocado, cheese and garlic; toast, potatoes and cantaloupe.

The omelet was good with a good amount of filling. The potatoes had a nice "baked potato" feel served with green onions and sour cream.  The toast was ample and the coffee was hot.  The Alex breakfast also looked pretty good with an ample helping of fruit.

The conversation flowed and the cafe staff didn't mind us sitting around as long as we pleased.  I wish I could make this place my local coffee shop--but it's a little bit of a drive.

And FYI, Fry was not at the cafe.

Cafe Leila
1724 San Pablo Ave
Berkeley, CA 94702

La Note

While we were in Berkeley this weekend, we spent a lot of time eating at local restaurants. It was fun to find new places and rely on the reviews of yelpers as we searched for places to eat near our hotel that weren't names we recognized. On Saturday morning, we headed to a late breakfast.  We searched the reviews and landed on La Note.

We were pretty worried that it would be a long wait because breakfast on the weekends is a very popular meal - even for people who aren't on vacation. The restaurant is also pretty close to the college and we worried that for some reason parents would be in town taking their poor college kids to breakfast.  There were also a lot of Ducks milling around town (and breakfast did them good, seriously 59 - 17?).  We parked in a 1 hr spot and bit our nails for the 5 minutes before we were surprisingly seated inside.  The restaurant is loud but comfortable.

Did I mention that this weekend it was cold? I could pick up a breeze each time the door opened but the roving waiters kept me warm with refreshes of coffee every few minutes.

La Note is a French restaurant. I was drawn to several items on the menu - and the size of the chocolate croissants were super tempting but I resisted.  I ordered a ham and cheese omelet that came with potatoes and toast.  My husband ordered the cinnamon brioche french toast with lavender and orange syrup.

The omelet I had was the fluffiest I have ever had. It used Swiss cheese and lots of ham and was incredibly flavorful.  The potatoes came with whole cloves of roasted garlic. The fresh jam on the table made me eat all my toast. The french toast also looked good and even though it didn't come with anything but an orange slice, it was plenty of food.

If there is a lot of hype for this restaurant, it's well warranted. The prices are a little high for breakfast but the food is different than you would get at other restaurants. The use of French ingredients to build well-known dishes is fun and different. Every dish I saw around me looked delicious. The tomatoes that are featured on the menu looked like something that I'd like to try another time.  Next time?

La Note
2377 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94704