H&J's Restaurant — Restaurant in Richmond

Disclaimer: H and J is in their "soft opening" period as I write this review. For those not familiar with the idea, a soft opening is a period before the "official" opening when a restaurant is open, usually for limited hours and with a limited menu, to work out the kinks that are inevitably involved with an entirely new menu and entirely new staff. I'm giving H and J one more start than I would if they'd been open for a few months as the things I'm going to ding are details they want to know about so they can fix them! So most of my comments which would, in other circumstances, be complaints are in this case intended as constructive criticism.

When I was first seated, while the table appeared clean, the staff insisted that it needed to be wiped from the previous patrons. Since I arrived only 20 minutes after they opened, I have to ask: What previous patrons? The ones from yesterday? Why aren't ALL table cleaned pre-opening. MOST restaurants take the time after they close for the day to make their tables completely ready for the next day's opening.

Another thing related to prepping for the daily open: The jam container on the table was nearly empty. Come on people, it's basic restaurant operations to have all condiments full or near full when you open.

While I'm on condiments, I have to say they need to examine their choice for salt and pepper. They serve both in grinders, which I like, but the grinders they've apparently chosen to use aren't intended for refill. They have product labeling (branded), are mostly plastic, and instead of just picking them up and twisting the top, you have to remove a poorly fitting plastic cap, invert the container, then grind. Once done, you feel honor bound to replace the cap. Get real grinders that can be cleaned and refilled!!

OK. On to the food. I had the SoHo omelette: Fresh Spinach, Bacon, and "aged" cheddar. And there were problems. The eggs were well cooked, not overcooked, but I expect omelettes with a bit more fluff. The spinach was tasty, but for use in an omelette. a bit under cooked. It should be cooked enough that cutting your omelette with the edge of a fork works. Not so much in this case. The spinach could have used another 30 seconds before adding to the omelette. As it was, the fork would cut through the top layer of egg, get blocked by the spinach, and thus crush (instead of cut) through the bottom layer of egg. When then forked, the piece would separate bringing a lot of extra spinach along with it, depriving the next bite of spinach!

Even worse, the bacon was crisp, but thrown into the omelette in strips - not chunked up. And it wasn't crisp enough to cut with a fork. As a result, I ended up removing the bacon when I encountered a strip and eating it as if it was a side. It's the details people: Cook the spinach a bit more and break up the bacon! Unless your intent is that your patrons deconstruct your omelette.

On to the potatoes: They serve home fries, and their choices of additions is, I think, good. There were bits of both onion and tomato in there, both contributing a distinct and pleasant tastes. The potatoes need a bit of improvement. The entire potato chunks were soft - no crispy outside that I associate with the best home fries. I'm glad they come with a dollop of sour cream without having to ask.

Homemade buttermilk biscuits: I expect biscuits to one of two varieties: Either flaky or crumbly. These were neither! While tasty, they were more like a dense, non-sweet buttermilk cake than biscuits.

Despite all of the above, I DID enjoy my breakfast. I ate my fill and only ate one of the two biscuits served to me. The second? In my kitchen right now and despite the texture, I plan on eating it for a snack in another hour or tow.

I'll be back to try other dishes, but I think I'll wait until their officially open. Hopefully, I can revise this review to...

I gave this place a 5 star rating because it's outside of the boundaries of San Francisco where they have some great restaurants restaurants. This nice cozy restaurant on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito California, close to Richmond California, offers you the best breakfast imaginable. The place is tidy, well kept, clean, and offers portions large enough to feed an army. But at the same time, the taste and the quality are there.. Do yourself, your loved ones, and any friends a tasty favor: come out to this great family restaurant to have an enjoyable culinary experiece. Your taste buds...

This was the worst breakfast dining experience I've had.... The service was bad the food was overpriced and the actual food was inedible ....I ordered an omelette it was cold and undercooked and there were cold pieces of sausage. It was tasetles and I didn't feel comfortable telling the server because she was gossiping behind the counter with the cook. Ive worked in food service for YEARS and I'm not at all perfect but I won't go to this restaurant again and I...