Oceanview Diner — Restaurant in Berkeley

I ordered the potato pancakes, blueberry pecan cream scone (flavors seem to change sometimes), a buttermilk waffle, a plain bagel with cream cheese and a caffe mocha.

The potato pancakes were served with apple sauce and sour cream and were delicious. The outside was wonderfully crisp, and the interior was slightly moist with the egg. Some of the best potato pancakes I've had.

The scone was also amazing and among the finest I've tasted. The blueberries and pecans went very nicely together. It was baked with a little granulated sugar on top, and was sweet and tasty enough that it needed no additions. It is not surprising that they started selling the scone mix.

The waffle was only decent. It was crisp around the outside, just like I like it, but most of the rest of it was soft. The flavor and consistency of the batter were good. I really appreciate that they use real maple syrup, without having to request it or pay for more (it was $1 for extra syrup, but I thought there was plenty). However I prefer whipped butter melting in the middle of the waffle, as opposed to the patties on the side that Bette's serves. The order came with a few slices of strawberry and banana, which was a nice touch.

The bagel and cream cheese were fine, nothing special. Adding the jam that was available on the table (maybe blackberry?) took it up a notch.

The caffe mocha was quite tasty, served in a pint glass with steamed milk and cocoa powder on top. The scent of the cocoa powder fills your nostrils as you sip, giving a wonderful chocolaty experience. The coffee/chocolate mix was good, just the right amount of sweetness. I liked the steamed milk in place of whipped cream, though I prefer a thin layer of dense steamed milk, as opposed to the taller, more sparse layer seen here. The pint glass stayed pretty hot, even as the drink began to cool, so maybe a mug would be easier to drink.

The service was good; prompt and attentive. Bette's has rather standard diner decor, though the giant soccer balls hanging in the front are a fun addition. I ate there at 11:00 on a Tuesday, and there was no wait. As I was leaving a little after 12:00, a line had developed however.

Overall I thought Bette's was very good and would recommend it as one of the best places to get brunch...

Delicious food, fun retro atmosphere, but no view of the ocean - it's on a city street. We found the restaurant on google maps when seeing traffic backed up headed for the Oakland-SF bridge, and thought it would be a breakfast place on the SF Bay since it was called "Oceanview." We didn't look at the map as much as the great reviews and short distance from the highway. Didn't want to add time to our trip, and this was only a few blocks. Not super close, but close enough. Found metered street parking close by between noon and 1 pm. We were there less than an hour. So why call it "Oceanview?" Something to do with two areas of town, one named "Oceanview," and I forget the other, claimed a combined name to avoid being incorporated into another city according to someone at Bette's while we were there. No idea if that's true. According to their website, Bette's opened in 1982. It looks like it opened between 1952-62 and the original decor remained. Check out the vintage cabinet photo. Lot of attention to details, great conversation starters. Entrance has transom windows above doors, cracked for a breeze (see photo). The place was packed elbow to elbow almost, but we had quick service. Specials included poached eggs over English muffins with bacon and a lemon herb sauce plus potatoes - very good eggs, sauce (my preference is toastier muffins, but the eggs soaked into them just fine.) My husband loved their fish sandwich. (photo of both) Bought a cute postcard and the pancake cookbook. Would go back even without the ocean view. It was on a street with lots of cute shops that we had no time to visit. Google maps sent us along the water to avoid the traffic backup, a real plus driving by the water, and then it routed us back when the road went no farther and we were well on our way. So we still had a great water view, including a cool model tall ship (photo)...

After a delicious breakfast (even with egg shells in the omelette), our bill came to be $87. We left $100 on the table which included a $12 tip for the server who identified herself as an owner. On the way out the self identified owner runs up to me yelling with all the restaurants attention on me! “YOU FORGOT TO PAY” I was shocked and preceded tell her that the hundred dollars was on the table and informed her that came to both EAT and PAY! The self identified owner goes on to tell me what people usually do and how people usually pay. I told her she should never do that to her customers and take a second look before publicly embarrassing an African-American customer yelling “YOU FORGOT TO PAY”. When I get to my car I realize I’m leaving a $12 tip for a woman who accosted me saying “you forgot to pay”. No self identified owner deserves a tip when accusing a customer of “forgetting to pay” especially when I came to this restaurant to PAY and EAT. I’m not sure if it’s common for the customers to forget to pay but I have never dined out and “forgot to pay” not to mentioned we were the only two female black customers in the restaurant (with the addition of the black cook who I’ve been seeing the 30years I’ve been dining here). When I was gathering my change. The woman asked is she could talk to me outside and I told her no. She didn’t like that I refused to speak with her outside and she yelled again with everyone spectating to “never come back”. I don’t deserve to be accused, and I don’t deserve to be yelled at in a place where I’m spending my hard earned money. I will not patronize this business again! It’s unfortunate that this was our experience, it was my friends first time and she’s from New York! I’m...