The Hangout — Restaurant in Pleasant Hill

I've been watching a lot of animal documentaries. It's pretty wild to see what some animals will do to find a partner. This one bird will clean a section of the forest floor. Every time a leaf falls in his section, he freaks out. He flys over to the leaf and picks it up with his mouth to clear it out of his territory. His designated space has to be absolutely spotless so that if a lady bird is impressed, she'll fly over to check out his spot. The male bird isn't done yet though. He then dances for her. He performs this dance in his new clean territory and if the lady bird is impressed, they'll mate. Talk about true love. It made me think, what do I have to offer a potential mate? I'm not that clean and I'm not the best dancer. So when I was on a date at the Hangout, I tried to think of other ways I could impress my date. When our pancakes came out, they had blueberries on top of them. I've always been really good at throwing blueberries high in the air and then catching them in my mouth. So I started doing this in hopes of impressing my date. Maybe it would show her that I have good hand-eyed coordination...or mouth-eyed coordination? It'd also display that I'm a healthy eater. Those are some valuable traits to pass down to a potential offspring. She tried to throw some blueberries in her mouth, but sucked. So clearly my genes had something to offer where her genes were lacking. Or maybe her brain was telling her, why would anyone want to practice such a useless skill -- I've put in a lot of hours. Anyway, I don't know how impressed she was by my blueberry catching abilities, but I enjoyed my time here. The food was...

Opening time on a Monday with a party of 5 is the perfect time to come. The small-ish restaurant didn't take long to become completely full. They are renovating their outside dining area, so I'm sure the wait right now would be longer since inside tables are minimal. Ordering was easy, but the hard part is deciding which dish to try. Crispy Chicken Benedict was my first choice on my first visit. So good! Crispy, tasty, perfectly breaded chicken, on a bed of cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers, and onions was perfect! The potatoes are delish too! Such huge portions, most of us took half our meals home for later! 😉 The coffee was super strong but very good! $4 for a poured, brewed coffee seems a bit much, but I guess considering the area and being in contra costa makes for an expensive cup. Next time, I want to try the Thai tea espresso. The only downside is probably the price, but I'll try it all at least once! Parking is easy on a weekday. I imagine the weekends are quite busy, but it's in a huge shopping center, so it shouldn't be an issue. Service was good. My coffee cup was never empty. Getting boxes, the check, etc was smooth. No issues. Just a heads up, they charge gratuity apparently for parties of 5 and more. I guess that makes some sense since we would be taking up half the table seating inside since the inside seating area is minimal. I recommend giving this place a try! I'm glad the restaurant still lives up to the good reviews I read before coming. We will definitely be back! Also, I got to try their bacon jam from someone else in my party! Highly recommend to put that...

I had high hopes for The Hangout based on the overall 4+ star reviews but, they really missed the mark. It is a clean well lit place with very friendly and possibly over worked staff (trying to keep up) but, at least with what I ordered it was well below average. I ordered the Classic Waffle, with the caramelized banana, 2 eggs and bacon. I generally ask for my waffle well done but, I was so hungry after waiting a half hour to get a table, I forgot. The waffle arrived barely warm and chewy (yuck/darn) there was a piece of sage on top (why?) some unripe strawberries, a few blue berries and some grapes. I would have much happier if the waffle was crispy and the banana was warmer and could have done without the rest of the add-ons. The eggs and bacon were also barely warm and again, they were topped with bits and pieces of what I assume were edible? flowers... Again, why? I really don't think you need to ask to have your food served warm a d crisp but here, I would you suggest you consider doing so. I walked back to use the restroom, as I was curious to see if they actually had a waffle iron and the do so, I am guessing they were rushing to get it out and or they are not waffle fans in the kitchen. I also noticed that there are now heating lights above where the food is staged and a very noticeable draft of cool air blow down the hallway adjacent to the kitchen staging area... This may explain why the food did not arrive warmer than it did. I do not anticipate returning based on...