Doug's Place — Restaurant in Castro Valley

To be clear the food is great and there's at least 2 waiters working there that are absolutely outstanding at their job. Now for the bad. When you are the only decent breakfast restaurant in town you are going to be busy and most of the time they can't handle it. The cashiers are the Achilles heel of the place and not very good at what they do. They are slow, lack customer service skills, and force customers to work through frustration to pay for their meal. The food is good but you will work for it in frustration and personal space. You will feel crammed in, will bump into people constantly, will need to move to make way for other people or wait staff. If personal space is important to you or a pet peeve this is not the place for you. You won't be relaxed at any point of your time inside the place. I don't blame this on the restaurant however, they're doing the best they can with the space they have. To sum it up the food is great, the experience is irritating, and the front end cashier staff are not very good at all with handling the chaos. Being a person that wants to relax when I have a meal I only dare to eat here once or twice a year. But if you like chaos and action while you eat this is the place for you. The food really is the best breakfast in...

Doug's place is a little hole in the wall in a busy shopping plaza in Castro Valley. I tried to call ahead and make a reservation for a group of 4 for a Sunday morning but was told they only take reservations for large groups. They said that there is usually not more than a 5 minute wait. Which was not true, we had to wait 20 minutes. Once we were seated, my chair and my side of the table were covered in syrup from the previous people sitting there. I had to go get some damp paper towels from the bathroom and clean it myself (after it had gotten all over my arms and legs). The waitress was quick to take our orders but it took over 30 minutes to receive our food which is absurd. By that point, between the wait for the table and ordering etc., we had been there for over an hour and still had gotten no food. The food was decent. Okay waffle and I got a side of curly fries which I really enjoyed. A table next to us had actually received their food, took a couple bites, and left because they thought the food was disgusting. The entire restaurant is loud and busy with zero ambiance or decor so don't come here expecting a relaxing meal. Overall, I won't come back here. There's so many brunch places in the bay so don't waste...

The omelettes are outstanding, easily the best I've had anywhere. The Doug's Omelette is my favorite, but every one I've tried has been excellent. The ingredients are fresh and flavorful-- big chunks of real avocado, mushrooms, and tomato, and they don't skimp on the cheese. Plus, they allow substitutions if you're feeling picky or indecisive. They're awesome like that. And, whatever you choose, the results are so, so tasty. I've never been a huge omelette fan, but this place made me a believer.

Their omelettes are so good that, even though I've been here more than a dozen times, I can't speak for the other items on their menu. I tried a waffle w/ strawberries and whipped cream once, and it was okay -- nothing to write home about. I'd guess that savory items are more their specialty.

Service is good. Polite and helpful without being overbearing. Decor is definitely "old-school diner". The sign out front says it was established in 1978, & the ambience inside bears that out. But it's relaxed and clean (enough). Plus, you can get your food "to go", which is always a...