The Sunny Side Cafe: Smile in the Morning

Brunch is my favorite meal of the day, and the concept of having breakfast for lunch has always made me smile. I guess I'm just a lover of breakfast foods and thought it was a genius idea to serve breakfast all day. I mean, I love cereal and milk, and can practically eat it anytime in the day. This also goes for flapjacks, omelettes, hash browns, waffles, and more.

Maybe that's why I adore the Sunny Side Cafe, a quaint little shop a block away from the UC Berkeley campus. The idea of serving breakfast all day is not the only thing that is attractive about this restaurant, the quality of the food is also something worth waking up early for. The cafe has an assortment of breakfast food that is promising enough for anyone to be satisfied with his/her selection.


The infamous Alameda can be seen as a gigantic mess, but at least it's tasty and enjoyable (photo seen above). This meal includes pretty much many favorite breakfast foods in one ensemble, including 2 slices of french toast, 2 eggs over easy, canadian bacon (ham), garlic-roasted tomatoes, and some unique hollandaise sauce and balsamic vinegar. This meal is a mouthful to eat and be ready to grab a box and take some home with you unless you're a beast. :)


If you're not a big fan of messy and massive breakfast cakes like the Alameda, then wraps can also be quite satisfying and tasty at this little cafe. This gigantic breakfast burrito, filled with scrambled eggs, homefries, black beans in a tomato tortilla topped with salsa, not only is easy to eat, but also is a healthy alternative. (photo shown on right)

Most brunch places have one or two eggs benedict; the Sunny Side Cafe has four types of benedicts, including the classic grilled ham. The wildcat, solano, and tilden benedicts (photo shown below) all feature two distinct ingredients that are not normally found in eggs benedict, including sauteed mushrooms, garlic-roasted tomatoes, baby spinach, and herbs. All egg dishes, unless noted, include a choice of toast (whole-wheat, sourdough, rye), English muffin, or freshly baked muffin and a choice of homefries, garlic-roasted tomatoes, or fruit cup.

Other dishes that can be found in the cafe include pancakes, parfaits and granola, scrambles, pigs-in-a-blanket with a chicken apple sausage substitute, and many more typical breakfast foods.

Like many of the restaurants I've been to in Berkeley, the Sunny Side Cafe has much character. They have their own unique ingredient -- the garlic roasted tomatoes. The flavor of the tomatoes enhance the taste of most dishes; however, in comparison to the tomatoes I've tasted at La Note (a French brunch place in Downtown Berkeley), it doesn't seem as special. Seating may be an issue, but fortunately most people come and go quickly enough that the wait tends to not be long. Nevertheless, the portions at this place are fair and filling for the price. It's a charming little shop that is great for dates and small gatherings.

Locations:

1499 Solano Avenue, Albany, CA Yelp Review

2136 Oxford Street, Berkeley, CA Yelp Review