Piner Cafe — Restaurant in Santa Rosa

Delicious food! We had been driving for 3 hours before getting there and were ready for some good food; and here it was. We started with clam chowder. Being a Friday, it was the soup de jour. Usually I expect and get potato soup, but this was really real clam chowder. Large pieces of clams, some in every bite and the "broth" was warm and seasoned rather well. I like mine with a touch more pepper than the average person. So once I had added that, the chowder was perfect. I was actually sad when I finished and thought of ordering another bowl, when my main meal arrive. I ordered the steak sandwich with potato salad. It arrived with a large amount (enough for two people) of a mustards flavored salad and loads of celery pieces. It was wonderful! The crunch was fabulous. The only thing I'd change would be to add some pickle juice or relish. I love a pickly mustard potato salad. The steak was thick and a perfect medium rare. Lettuce, tomato, and onions on a French roll. Steak was actually big enough to cover all the bread. Yummy 😋 My companion had steak and eggs. Eggs were a perfect sunnyside up. The steak was another perfect medium rare. He did not even need to salt or pepper. I think my favorite food item was my tea. It was real iced tea (not from a mix). I had 2 refills! The wait staff were very pleasant. If our waitress didn't something, there was someone else there shouting out the answer. We were there for a late lunch. It was not busy and service was bountiful. We were greeted sweetly and there was a full house of smiles 😃 There is a small parking lot and street parking. Don't let the building fool you. It looks like a whitewashed old brick building that used to hold some other business, but inside it's a great kitchen with good diner style food and...

I had the worst experience I can remember at this restaurant today I had arranged to meet five family members here for breakfast. I had traveled at least 800 miles to be with them there. When we arrived, the place was hopping and the waitresses were very busy. I was greeted by a friendly young lady who put our name and part number on a list. Our turn came and the girl started to sweat us. Another older lady came by and snapped at the young lady not to seat us yet because our entire party was not there yet. I explained that everyone was just five minutes out and that I would love to be seated and allowed to order coffee while we waited. The older lady said No, I am not seating anyone whose entire party is not here. I will only set you when everyone gets here. I was quite surprised and taken aback. I was discussing the situation with my husband and telling him I would not be coming back to this place, when the older lady came up behind me and asked me if I was talking to her. I told her no. I was conversing with my husband. But that I would not be returning to this place in the future. She then told me that if that was the case I should go now. I did not need any urging and tuned on my heel and walked out. Our party of seven headed over to Sam's Play and Eat where we got fabulous service , great portions and and enjoyable meal. Our family had a great time together and we left more than a twenty percent tip. We will definitely plan future family breakfasts there as opposed to Piners which we will never set foot in again. Did I mention that Piners had been recommended to us by a friend of the manager of Piners. She was absolutely mortified that her family was treated this...

The Piner Cafe has always been a good spot to grab breakfast on the weekend if you don't mind waiting. They are extremely popular.

I have had a great experience every time I've been in except the last time. There was not one thing I can put my finger on but it was all just a bit off. Just a bunch of small things that all added up.

It started when we walked in and hadn't been acknowledge for a while but been seen, multiple times. Then finally was told that there was a sign up sheet... outside. No pen or pencil. Finally got on the list, only waited about 10 minutes for a table, not bad.

Our server came buy and brought our coffee then took our order. The menus looked old and have prices crossed out and written with pen. The food wasn't as good as it use to be, it came out luke warm, the portions were a bit smaller, the coffee was a bit weaker... So I guess it was more than one thing that I could put my finger on. When our food came out, it was almost tossed on the table. The knife for my chicken fried steak landed in the gravy.

Just everything was a bit off. It sounds as if I'm nit picking but these are things that should be addressed. The menus look as if they are printed on site (or home printer) so there's no excuse for menus to be in a state of disrepair.

As I said, I have always had a pleasant experience here so I did give them four stars and I'm sure we'll give them another go.

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