I still have a lot more photos to post from our northern California trip, but I also wanted to start on one of the many restaurant reviews I also have planned. On our first morning in Palo Alto we quickly searched for a restaurant that we could walk to for breakfast. My wife found Hobee’s in the Town & Country Shopping Center just across El Camino Real from Stanford University. From the front of the restaurant it appears to be very small and most tables I could see were filled. In actuality all you can see from the front is a small room but there is a much larger room in the back, which is where we were seated.

Cal Browns

In one quick glance at the menu I knew exactly what I was getting. I don’t eat omelets or eggs, so I was immediately drawn to the section of special hashbrowns. There I found a listing of six different loaded hashbrown offerings. I went with the Cal Browns, which are topped with chicken apple sausage, mushrooms, tomato, green peppers, Tomato-Basil sauce, Parmesan, Jack and Cheddar cheese ($7.95). You can optionally have the special hashbrowns topped with an egg for an additional $1.50. The hashbrowns are “country-style” chunks and not shredded, but that actually works better with all the toppings that were served with it. I loved this dish and wish that more restaurants would offer something similar.

The Pruneyard Ommie

My wife went with the Pruneyard Ommie, which was stuffed with turkey bacon, mushrooms, spinach, red onion, Swiss cheese and topped with Sundried Tomato pesto ($9.75). Though I did not try a bite, I’m told it too was very good. All omelets are served with a choice of their world-famous blueberry coffeecake, toast, or hashbrowns. Wisely she chose the blueberry coffeecake, which was just as awesome as it sounds. It came served warm with a monstrous scoop of butter on top. Though many items at Hobee’s are geared towards a healthy crowd, this is not one of those items. However I would not recommend skipping it.

Blueberry Coffeecake

Our service was quick and friendly. The food was great. I would definitely not hesitate to visit again, or to try one of their seven other locations, if I were to travel back to the San Francisco Bay area again in the future.