Hallie's Diner — Restaurant in Petaluma

I normally avoid going anywhere in downtown Petaluma on the weekends - just too much hit or miss (mostly 'miss' if you factor in traffic & parking).

That having been said, my fiancée and I ventured out ready to take on whatever may come for a rare Saturday excursion to Hallie's for brunch - one of my favorite breakfast spots.

... and everyone is entitled to a miss now and again, but a couple things just didn't set well with me & I'm hoping that someone in a management position sees this & is willing to take some constructive criticism with an open mind.

We were greeted as soon as we walked in the door, and seated immediately since we weren't committed to having a booth. And really, everything went well until we got our food - everything looked perfect, but my toast wasn't ready yet & I was told that it would come out as soon as it was ready. More than half way into my meal it did show up & (my fault) I didn't really bother to look at it until I was ready to eat it. It was burnt, and I do mean burnt. Now I understood why it took so long to get - it was toasting the whole time!

I would have pointed it out to the waitress, but unfortunately no one came to our table to see if everything was okay, or to fill my coffee. Correction on the coffee: a waitress did offer to refill when she dropped off the check. I took that opportunity to point out the shameful toast order & mention that it should have never left the kitchen. She offered to have another order made (really?, I just finished eating), but never offered to deduct anything from the bill for the oversight. I LIKE my eggs with my toast & don't feel like I should have to jump up to find a waitress to correct a problem.

And something else that seriously needs attention - the bathrooms. I'd swear I was in the Men's Room - no seat protectors, and there was brown matter on the base of the toilet, but these bathrooms are non-gender specific.

I give 3 stars because my previous visits have been exceptional and am hopeful that this one visit...

Not the best attitudes from the staff matron. One employee was inappreciably manic about the arrival of a man to the point of disturbing and most certainly took away from the meal that I was having. It was also disturbing how the staff seemed to fall apart because most of the seats were filled. Isn't that what you want? If you cannot handle having a full house then, you may struggle to be successful. The decor presented as if it did not know what to do with itself. Is it a fifties joint? A pleasant, flowery space that brings you to your inner meadow? A place for the emotionally unstable to feel free? This could be, since the mugs resemble what one might use in a "controlled" environment. The food was really good. Came in twenty minutes, why would a waffle and one of the specials take so long??? Eight, guys. Eight. The potatoes were perfect, the pork chops had the best flavor and the eggs were cooked correctly. I have had phantom tastes from this breakfast since! Again though, I tried to compliment and the Matron got all kinds of defensive. There's no pleasing some people. Cost was nominal as far as I am concerned. Travelling the West Coast, I think the prices here were keeping in time with the standard. Parking was odd, though. Watch for this as it may be an issue, especially if you are travelling with the infirm or...

I’ve honestly never been to a bad breakfast spot before. But the food here is absolutely terrible. 14 of us ate here and every single thing except for bacon and eggs were just not good.

The pancakes were the worst I’ve ever had in my life and everyone else at the tables. It was like mush texture and tasted raw. And this was after we ordered 3 full stacks of 3 which is a whopping $12 each too. Like if you just got a box pancake mix from any store it would be so much better.

The meatloaf was not edible. It was like breadcrumbs had a sale and meat is not available.

The apple chicken sausage was so tasteless it was just like eating texture.

The steak and eggs steak was tough and chewy.

Even the whole wheat toast was terrible, I don’t even know how you do that. But they did it.

$230 for our food and mannnn. I wish we went to dennys. It would’ve been so much better.

The service was very good though, that’s the two stars. And the diner itself is cute. But food wise I’ve never been so disappointed in a typical breakfast spot. The craziest part is it’s so busy, I guess because it’s the closest breakfast spot...