Alana’s Cafe

Love to come here when visiting my son and grandkids. Amazing menu, old house with lots of charm. Friendly helpful servers.

I like the ambiance. I like the food. And until today I had always received exceptional service.
I asked for the order of 2 eggs. I wanted my eggs over easy with a side of chicken apple sausage and an order of the French toast. That’s exactly how I worded it.
Apparently I just ordered the eggs as a side dish and not the 2 egg menu option.
The food runner was quick in offering to add a side of potatoes to complete my plate but I just said no. My 5 month old baby was on the verge of fussiness and so I just needed to eat and get out without further delays.
I acknowledge that I made the mistake of not being crystal clear with what I ordered. But I also didn’t order just a side of eggs. So when the server finally came to find out what happened and to tell me she got me what I ordered but that she could have it changed, the «mommy switch» went off and I scolded her like I would a child and corrected her future mistakes. I wasn’t overly rude, I simply said, «in the future you might want to ask your customers to clarify what they want before putting in their order. I wouldn’t ever order just a side of eggs so you shouldn’t assume that that was all I wanted.»
She froze with that critique and walked away. No apology and never to be seen again.
I would have liked a water. I would have liked a refill on my coffee. I would have liked to receive some sort of service. The table directly next to us was brought an order of coffee but she chose to ignore us completely until she dropped the check off at the table with out a word.
Mistakes happen. People get busy and misunderstandings occur. When you work in the service industry, you have to know when to just say sorry and fix it by making the rest of the experience a pleasant one. It sounds like lately, a lot of patrons have been having customer service issues. The owners really should look into what’s causing the dissatisfaction.

I love Alana’s. It has it’s own culture and special vibe. It’s located in a beautiful old house with a lovely lawn and landscaping. We’ve been coming to Alana’s for nearly 18 years, and it has consistently been a charming and enjoyable brunch or lunch place. This is where I bring people from out of town for a little taste of California living. The food’s good, too!

We happened upon this Café while looking for a breakfast spot on Father’s Day. We put our name in & told there was about a 25 minute wait. After 10 mins, our table was ready! We really enjoyed the scrambles & kids loved the fresh fruit and coffee cake. While they were obviously busy, we were pleased with the service & food. We were on our way out in only 1 hour, even with the wait for a table. Plenty of time to make it to our other scheduled activities!

This was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. The huevos rancheros was perfectly balanced, and the server was very kind. Even though my sister didn’t like her oatmeal pancakes, they cooked us, for no charge, French toast instead. My favorite thing is that out of around 10 or so breakfast stops, this was the only one that got over medium eggs correct. If you like your eggs a certain way, you should definitely try this place. It deserves the 5 stars.

The food was good but not amazing. We had fast and friendly service. Coffee was horrible, bring your own. I saw people bring their own coffee and I thought they must have eaten here before. I would give this place 3.5 stars but because of all the Unilocaler hate I gave them 4 stars. We got here at 9 am on Sat and place was not busy. By the time we left at 10 am there were still plenty of tables.

Man I really wanted to like this place so that it could be my new brunch spot, but as my ratings states, to me it was A-​OK.
Came in on a Sat morning and guess we came at the right time, because there was a spot on the deck that was open for 2 and we snagged it right away. Then the groups started filling up the lawn as they waited for tables so it seems this is the place to be.
I went with the Swedish oatmeal pancakes because it seems like that’s what everyone recommended, with the lingonberries on the side. To me it was alright, I guess it was healthier than normal pancakes, but it was exactly what you would expect it to be. Oatmeal in pancake form. They are pretty big though which was nice, was able to save half of it for a 2^nd meal later on.
Not sure what happened, but our food was also super delayed coming out. Didn’t get any reason, just assurances from our waitress that it was coming and then an apology after ward for the slowness. Not too big of a deal though.

The newer staff sucks! I miss the good ol folks that used to work here. Sunday brunch was like a painful barely a smile sneeze in your food type of experience. It took the host 20min to clean a table for 2 while we stood there. Too bad!

I have been coming to Alana’s for years now and like most mothers on Mother’s Day, I wanted to be spoiled and not cook. I asked my husband to take our family to Alana’s for brunch. We waited an hour for our table and when the menus arrived, what a HUGE surprise.
They had a «Mother’s Day Menu» and they had raised the prices on all their regular dishes. Huevos Rancheros on «normal» days are $ 12.30 but somehow they thought it would be great to raise the price to $ 17.00?!
Their oatmeal pancakes which are regularly $ 10.10, they had raised it to $ 15?!
I’m sorry if I’m wrong here but I have always heard of retail stores and restaurants running «special offers» on Mother’s Day but never had I seen such a distasteful idea.
Alana’s new exactly how to take advantage of families on a very special day.
Never stepping in there again.

Solid brunch location — OK, but not fantastic.
This RWC location is a little bit funky. It is located in a cute little house which is actually a little bit difficult to get to if you aren’t coming straight from Main Street. After a little detour and walking around the fence, we finally reached the restaurant. There is plenty of outdoor and indoor seating.
Personally, I think the menu is a little bit limited. It had great sweet and savory options — with scrambles, breakfast specials, and pancakes/​french toast. On the flip side, it had a more substantial lunch menu as well with additional salads and sandwiches. The beef (no pun intended) that my fellow diners had was that the breakfast menu didn’t really have that much meat. No sides of bacon. The omelettes and scrambles were not particularly meat heavy (Eg. sausage, ham, bacon). And when we did get our food, everyone was pleased, but not super blown away.
Another strange thing about this restaurant is that they don’t have to-​go boxes? Not sure I understand the rationale behind this… is it more of a personal choice (environmental?) or they just don’t want to buy take-​out boxes? Either way, sending people out with paper plates and aluminum foil is probably not ideal for most diners.

Cute house, but not very clean.
Food good — 6.5 out of 10. Service not so. A 3 out of 10. Had to ask for everything– coffee, water, check, refill of coffee. They don’t seem to have bussers which is an issue. They need a body to clear plates, refill water, refill coffee. Server was overwhelmed and is clearly not an experienced server.

Sunday brunch:
After a 30 minute wait (well worth it)
We ordered the best buckwheat pancakes in the entire world with real maple syrup and my friend ordered Eggs Benedict. The reason we did not give it five stars is the hollandaise sauce was very very bland with no lemony vinegar cayenne pepper flavor at all. Like out of a can.
Highly recommend the place in any case.

Super cute décor! Eating at Alana’s is literally like eating at Alana’s house. The whole restaurant is basically a home with a backyard. It’s like being out in the countryside except Downtown Redwood City is a block away.
I got the Farmer’s Garden. The mixture of all the different ingredients worked well together. It wasn’t amazing but it was a solid brunch spot.
Get the coffee cake though! That was delicious!
They have a little parking lot on the side but it’s easy to miss since there’s only a one aisle exit/​entrance and it’s pretty small. There’s plenty of parking around downtown Redwood City nearby too.

I am a highly visual person and crave good ambiance. Alana’s is the cutest historic home converted to restaurant with a gorgeous outdoor garden space. There is so much original character still in the home that it really felt like going to an old family friends home for brunch.
We some how lucked out with no wait for a party of 5 on a Saturday at 9am… but by the time we were leaving there were some parties mingling in the garden waiting for tables #earlybirdsdontwaitfortables.
The service was fantastic and fast, not a coffee cup or glass of water went unfilled on the table and the food came out quickly. I went with the Mediterranean scramble. The eggs were done so nicely; fluffy and soft… pretty much perfect for how I like my eggs. This scramble had a good amount of veg in it too with artichoke hearts, sun-​dried tomatoes and basil and prosciutto and provolone for a bit more protein.
Really nice place to start the day.

This was good, not great. If you’re planning to stop by here on a weekend, you *might* have to wait. We got lucky since a table cleared up in about 12 minutes.
The restaurant looks cute especially given how it’s situated in an old house, but the service could really be better. My friend never got her orange juice and they still included it in the bill (we had to point it out and get it rectified). Also, our waitress seemed a bit overworked and frustrated but I’m guessing she was just having a busy day.
I ordered the Huevos Rancheros and my friend ordered the Alaskan style omelette. We both really enjoyed our meal. Our coffees were nice too. Three stars — mostly because of service.

SHORT VERSION:
–Check-​in on Unilocal and get 10% off your bill
–Food 2 stars. Bland and not fresh. Had more potatoes than eggs. «Better» items would be the MEDITERRANEAN SCRAMBLE and OATMEAL PANCAKES.
–Service 1 star. Horrible, slow, inconsistent, unprofessional.
LONG VERSION:
This place is absolutely adorable. It has the vibe of a bed and breakfast; the restaurant is basically a cute house with a front yard and an art gallery as a neighbor. I came here with my family, I don’t remember exactly how many people, but there were at least 8 of us. We had to wait a while since we had a large group which was fine because we were able to go to the art gallery. Honestly, I had high hopes for this place based on Unilocal reviews as well as the bomb looking pics, but left very disappointed. There’s a check-​in offer for 10% off your bill, so do take advantage!
FOOD 2 STARS
I ordered the MEDITERRANEAN SCRAMBLE based on the photos, and it was underwhelming. It was more like a plate of potatoes with a side of egg scramble. The ingredients were not fresh, and the dish lacked flavor. Out of all the dishes that my family got, mine was one of the better dishes. My brother got the FLORENTINE SCRAMBLE, which was my 2^nd pick. I was imagining big chunks of sausage, but they’re like little sausage crumbles that you can barely see or taste. If you have a sweet tooth, the OATMEAL PANCAKES were above average. They have a nice oatmeal-​y texture to them. I got the coffee cake for my bread option based on the waiter’s recommendation. It was dry and not good. Hard pass.
SERVICE 1 STAR
AGH. This is where it got really bad. I hate accounting for service in my reviews, but sometimes you just can’t look the other way.
–Service was ridiculously slow. Waters were not filled, requests took over 15 min
–Some of the drinks we ordered never came even after reminding the waiter 2x, but we were charged for them
–Coffee did not come with cream or sugar. We had to ask for cream and sugar and by the time it arrived, the coffee was lukewarm
–Nobody bothered to tell us that they ran out of both scones and coffee cake for a few of the plates until they were missing from the plate of food that was being served (Why did they run out of scones and coffee cake? It was 11:30am)
–For the people that didn’t get their scone and coffee cake, the waiter was going to bring them some toast. Except the toast never came!
–Toast that did come for the people that chose toast to begin with did not come with butter. Nobody checked on us after we got our food to see if we needed anything, needed to ask for it, and of course, waited so long to get it
–Charged us for drinks we ordered but never received. The waiter also did not put in our 10% off for the Unilocal check-​in offer
–When I talked to the waiter about the bill, he argued with me that I did receive those drinks, but finally gave in and said he would change our bill
–When we got the bill back with the drink and check-​in offer deductions, we found that he added a mandatory charge for gratuity which was not there before!!! I understand we had a big group, and it would have been fine if it stated clearly on the menu that this would be a charge which it was not. Actually, it would have been fine if the first bill we got had the charge on it. But it seems like he was pissed that he had to deduct some drinks that we never got and the 10% Unilocal check-​in offer so he decided to add the gratuity charge on the bill! Or he forgot the first time, but either way it was inconsistent
–I saw multiple waiters and waitresses making out with each other in the restaurant while working. Totally unprofessional!
Overall, there is a huge lack of consistency and professionalism in terms of service, and the food was nothing great. We were definitely annoyed throughout the meal, and pissed when we left. Never again. *inserts angry red face emoji*

Cute spot and setting for what it’s worth.
Food? Sub par
We ordered the California scramble and 2 poached eggs with a side of roasted potatoes, fruit, and wheat toast.
It was a heaping portion of 3 eggs and plenty of veggies and cheese, but the flavor was just mediocre.
–The waitress did recommend us having the wheat pancakes next time
Service? Excellent, warm, and welcoming

Absolutely cute spot for brunch, weekday or weekend! But if you were to come on the weekend, highly advise to come early! It could be a wait and parking is meh! If you are waiting, there’s a nice little courtyard with benches where you can wait or they have this small art gallery where you can roam around.
This is like a home transformed into a restaurant and it’s super cute. You’re like eating in a bedroom-​like or you’re in the living room or the dining area. The staff are friendly and nice. I’ve brought a few friends here and they loved it.
My favorite dish is the Swedish oatmeal pancakes. I’m not a pancake person, but this was yummy. I love the texture of it and with lingonberries on top? MMMMM. I love their scones as well, always freshly baked and they have different flavors depending on the day. Their scrambles are good and it’s a pretty good portion. I’ve ordered sides chicken sausages (2) and ham and eggs. Nothing special, but small portions to match with the pancakes if you’re sharing with a friend, but don’t want to order two large dish.
My friend was a little disappointed with the cappuccino, it didn’t taste strong enough or good. The earl grey was good for me with cream and honey. Can’t go wrong here! I’ve been here several times now.

Cute, historical house feel, friendly staff, and a great meal! I came here on a friend’s recommendation for brunch and was not disappointed. Try the scramble!

Service was poor. Waited half an hour to be seated despite reservation and had bad communication with servers who kept telling us to wait for 5 more minutes.
Glassware was dirty and had lipstick stains. We had to send it back. Food was okay, but not worth the price. Overall, just average experience.

Really cool location. The restaurant is an old Victorian home converted into a food establishment, and all the tables are set up in the old rooms of the house (living room, kitchen, dining room, etc.) My favorite part is that instead of having toast on the side, they also give you the option of getting a coffee cake or a scone at no extra charge. They sell their jams as well in case you want to bring some home with you.

Cute place for a leisurely, hefty breakfast or brunch. The Alaskan scramble is tasty. Quirky décor/​eat at your grandma’s-styled.

Great atmosphere. Get there early it fills up fast. Friendly staff. The outside patio is nice. On cold days the inside is always warm. The scrambles are delicious as well as the coffee cakes. Resonably priced for the location. The parking is a bit small but parking is available next door.

Quaint setting. Polite staff. Food? Not very good. No value.
The famed raisin focaccia French Toast was a total miss. It was quite dense, barely moist. There was no evidence it was even in a custard mixture before it hit the grill. The chicken apple sausages were served cold and pricey given the size.
I don’t think we got our money’s worth.
2 cups of coffee
2 side orders of chicken apple sausage
1 side order of potatoes
1 order French Toast
tax
tip (17%)
$ 33.67

Obsessed with their oatmeal pancakes. Hands down my favorite breakfast. Only reason I gave them 4 stars is because a couple of times they haven’t cooked the pancakes correctly but they are always willing to remake them.

My caesar salad tasted like dirty socks. I don’t think this was even a caesar salad. I am not even sure if this was edible. I regret going here. Also it smells like feet inside. It was one of the worst place I have ever been to.

The most memorable part about Alana’s that will keep me coming back is the environment. The food is incredible, classic brunch done right, don’t get me wrong, but the backyard seating area is a great hidden gem right outside the heart of downtown Redwood City. Their Bloody Mary is delicious! The oatmeal is just ok — the menu description made it sound better than it was — but everything else was perfect. The scones are as good as they claim, especially with a spread of jam and a sip of latte — definitely will be back

The service was great, and the outdoor seating offers a great atmosphere for dining. I went here for brunch with my boyfriend on a Saturday and it was fairly busy, so you might need to wait for a table. It’s very quaint and has a comfortable, homey feel to it.
I got the eggs benedict, and it was good! We also ordered the oatmeal, which we ended up not being able to finish, but it was really good too… All in all, it was a good dining experience. :-) I’d definitely go back again.
P. S. They have their own parking lot! But, the parking lot is also very, very easy to miss — the driveway is fairly small, and we missed it the first time we drove past.

Outdoor seating is great!!! Very comfortable, and most everywhere was shaded. The food was great (I got a scramble). I would definitely come back again!
We made reservations ahead of time so that helped too!

I’ve eaten at Alana’s three or four times and the food has always been excellent. I tried the Juevos Rancheros for breakfast this time around, and the portion was generous and filling. The service was lightning fast.
The restaurant is located in a small Victorian house built in 1874, and there’s a pretty outdoor dining area on a brick patio. The waitress allowed me to sit on the porch with my dog, which was much appreciated. This is a great place for a weekend brunch or to celebrate an occasion like Mother’s Day (they offer Mimosas, etc.), but come early because the dining area fills up!

Alana’s café was ok. There was nothing bad about it, but there was nothing amazing about it either. The café is located at an old Victorian-​style house, and it has tables outside to sit at, as well. Since, it was a warm morning, we sat outside. I ordered the Florentine scramble and my husband ordered the Berry pancakes. We both agreed that the food was good. Again, nothing out of this world, but still good. The biggest issue was that it was a fairly busy morning and there was only one waitress, so it took a while to get our order taken. That would be the only damper on the meal. But, I would recommend for breakfast or brunch if you are in the Redwood City area.

WAHHHH I LOVE THIS PLACE but the food I’m not sure…
It’s like you’re eating at someone’s house on the countryside. I chose to eat indoors but definitely sitting outside would’ve been great too!
Food: I ordered the French Toast, and honestly I was a bit disappointed. It was dry and chewy, and not at all the texture I was fantasizing of when I saw pictures and read reviews of it. (Wow I am such a food weirdo).
But maybe this was because it was made of focaccia bread, which has that texture to begin with. Makes sense. Just not my cup o tea.
Boyfriend ordered some potato egg thing with a piece of coffee cake. The coffee cake wasn’t that great, pretty dry and flavorless. But he said he enjoyed everything. Keep in mind he had two mimosas so this could have perhaps hindered his otherwise very-​hard-​to-​please palette.
Ambiance: Super casual like you’re literally in your southern neighbor’s house eating their mother’s home cooked meals. Even the take out boxes were not boxes but paper plates covered in tin foil LOL.
Parking: Pretty easy peasy
Service: The waiters we engaged with were all very accommodating and lovely.
I’d come for the experience, not necessarily the knock your socks off food.

I should preface this review by saying this place was solid. Any negative feelings I have are probably mostly due to the lack of bacon. I was at a loss when I couldn’t find it one the menu and at an even greater loss when our gracious server said that they didn’t serve bacon. I feel like that’s pretty much only an acceptable answer in a Halal/​Kosher restaurant, but we’ll move on.
This is a good place for brunch for two. The inside of the house is a little small and the outside is tough to get a spot at peak times. It’s cute, though. I loved the vibe of this place and my wife loves it more. If she were writing this review, it would be more glowing. I just place a high emphasis on choices. I want choices on jelly, I want choices in meats, I want to be able to break up the meals and put them back together however I want. But when none of them involve bacon, I don’t even know where to start.
The food was good. The atmosphere is better. You know yourself. If you don’t care about bacon (you probably stopped reading a while ago), you may find a lot to love. I will probably end up back here at some point, which isn’t a bad thing. It is centrally located in Downtown Redwood City and close to my apartment. Wife like it, so I will be back. Three stars is a very personal rating. I can definitely see why someone else would go more.

I love a great breakfast served with a smile. Add in some secret-​recipe coffee cake and outdoor garden seating, and you have this wonderful place to have your meal.
Food:
Can’t go wrong with the scramblers or omelettes. I’ve also enjoyed the waffle and french toast when I want extra carb-​y goodness. On my most recent visit I chose a two-​egg breakfast, sunny-​side up, with chicken-​apple sausage and rye toast. My friend had the Farmer’s Garden scramble which was a pile of potatoes, veggies, cheese, sausage, and poached eggs. What a great big breakfast. I haven’t tried salads or sandwiches at Alana’s, but if breakfast is representative, then I know it would be great.
Service:
Friendly and fast service. We seated ourselves on the front porch and had a leisurely but efficient breakfast. Hard to get that balance, but we did.
Vibe:
Restored-​Victorian-​cool. This is an easy place to hang out and feed your belly.
Not fussy or formal, it’s like you’re eating at home. But someone else takes care of everything!
Family-​friendly:
Most definitely. Been here many times in multiple familial configurations. Alana’s can handle it all.
Summary:
Enjoy yourself at Alana’s; I recommend brunch, but would be happy to eat there anytime. Kids and adults will enjoy the food here, and you have to get summa that coffee cake!

Came here on our last day in town for brunch with friends, and I am searching for some «con,» but can’t find any.
It is hidden away a bit, in a house beside an art gallery (also in a house.) There is a little free parking right in front, and meters not far. I had huevos rancheros; Sweetie had an egg white omelet. Everything came with super fresh fruit, and they brought more when we asked. The huevos were tasty, as were the potatoes with them, and I enjoyed every bite.
Service was great, prices are reasonable– and there’s a Unilocal check-​in discount. The atmosphere is relaxing and pleasant. A very nice surprise and a great place to hang out with old friends before leaving town.

I remember going here when I was little and loving the food, but I think the atmosphere is the best part.
I went here a couple weekends ago with my friend, and I wasn’t impressed. It was just ok, but nothing great, especially for their prices. I had a scramble (don’t remember the name of it– with sausage, egg, cheese & spinach, their potatoes and a scone. The scone was honestly the highlight of my meal; I could’ve settled for just that and a cup of coffee and saved my pretty pennies for some more flavorful food.
Will I be back anytime soon? Probably not.

As everyone else mentions, it’s in a cool older Victorian house with small rooms, and you get the homey vibe from the whole affair. At the height of the brunch rush, the wait was roughly 30 minutes so that’s good too.
Unfortunately, I didn’t much care for the food. When I was putting my name down, I saw some food go by and it looked and smelled good (in that rustic, homey way you quite often want from brunch). We ordered the Swedish Oatmeal Pancakes and Farmer’s Garden based on recommendations from the waitress. When it came out, again the food looked appetizing. The problem was that the homefries were oversalted and had some bitter dry spice that made the whole dish unpleasant. The toast was unbuttered, which I don’t really like either. The pancakes had an interesting texture due to the oatmeal, but weren’t anything you couldn’t make at home.
So, I guess if you’re stuck for brunch places, you could try it out, but it’s just okay.
EDIT: also note the photo. The «fresh squeezed» orange juice was really fresh poured out of a Tropicana container. Another big minus for me.

I got a traditional breakfast — eggs + rye toast + fruit, which is pretty hard to go wrong with! $ 7.57. Enjoyed their freshly sliced fruit.
Coffee cake was pretty good, but my friends didn’t much so enjoy their meals as much: huevos rancheros had mostly watery refried beans, no red sauce or tomatoes or onions.
4 stars though because the wait wasn’t terrible at 11AM for 3 people on the porch, and my pup was allowed here. WOO.

C’est vraiment mignon ! Le café se trouve dans une maison bleue, réorganisée en restaurant. Le jardin est très jolie et il y fait bon. La carte est complète. Vraiment parfait pour les brunchs. Il y a souvent de l’attente, mais il y a des bancs a l’ombré a l’extérieur. L’attente vaut le coup !