Norman's Grill — Restaurant in Castro Valley

After driving this place for years we decided to see what it was all about. The reviews seemed worth going to and seeing what the constant activity was about, but overall I was not underwelmed. The three of us had breakfast. Two poached egg and one Belgian waffle dishes of which at the beginning I have to say most of the items plated seemed to have been pre-cooked for the sake of speed. The hash browns I had were obviously bagged shredded or shredded potatoes that sat in water for a bit because the outside that was lightly browned did not hide the fact that the inside was mush. My salmon bits under the poached eggs was over cooked and is not a recommendation. Another noted point was the odd tasting salt on the table. I have never used more then 3 shakes of salt on anything but I found myself tasting the salt from my hand and figuring out I used about 10 shakes ofaomething that tasted like sodium free or lite salt. Something I would have not ever asked for. By now you can tell that my experience was not worth my returning but I probably would have because of the old time decore, local restaurant feeling that has a mixed age and ethnicity, mellow vibe to it. What will stop me from returning was the unapologetic act of having my partner splashed with hot a coffee refill. She jerked her hand back so quick after a tall pour splashed coffee onto her forearm rubbing it off with her other hand as to not to make a sceen, but I saw it. I left a 10% tip and a bold printed explanation that "the bus boy splashed coffee on her" and on my way out our waitress said "Have a good day" and my response was that "I left a note on the receipt you should read". Looking directly at me she responded with the same response as if she could care less as to what it had to say. I choose to not make a manager issue but rather just not go there again nor recommend...

Not bad for an old diner, but it's definitely going to eventually be bought out because I think only nostalgic older Castro Valley residents enjoy this place. Give it another 20 years at best.

I know that the morning country potatoes are cooked with leftover baked potatoes from the night before for efficiency and I have no issue with that, but I would've liked them made crispy. The ones my mom and I got were very soft, with hardly any browning as if they were reheated on the pan for less than 30 seconds and made it obvious they were from the night before.

I ordered the salmon Benedict and my mom was able to smell the fishy smell as soon as the server put it down...(not a good sign for fish product) My salmon Benedict was pretty much salmon jerky on an English muffin with fake hollandaise sauce that had no flavor. Save yourself some $$$ and don't be deceived when you read "salmon".

Fortunately, the soft toast, English muffins, and the orange juice were good. I don't want to go back but my old timer mom insists we try their lunch menu but needless to say I as a 30 something did not enjoy their cuisine.

I'm fine not trying this...

I hate how Yelp rates Norman's as only 3.5. We almost didn't go there because of the low ratings, but I'm glad we did! I had the California Benedict and my better half had the Huevos Rancheros, and we both REALLY liked our food! We got there around 12:30pm on a Saturday and there were only two tables open. We were told to sit wherever we wanted, and they got our drink order in right away. It took a little time before they took our food order, but we expected that because of how busy they were. The food came out in less time than we had waited to place the order and it was excellent! We will definitely be going there again in the future!

The only downside is the location has a small parking lot. There was only one spot in the back open when we pulled in, but if you go and it looks busy, just be warned about the parking situation. It's not an especially large restaurant, but it really...