Vic’s Restaurant, 1107 San Carlos Avenue, San Carlos
On our way up to San Francisco, we stopped at Vic’s for breakfast. Tom used to live in San Carlos and he came here often.
We arrived at 7:20 AM and there were only a couple of customers there, so no problem getting a table. By 9 though it will be packed. As diners go, it is quite big. There are 18 booths, mostly seating four, just three tables and 10 places at the counter.
Coffee and water arrived almost before we took our seats and our order was taken straight away. I ordered oatmeal for $4. I asked what it came with and was told brown sugar and milk. When I asked about fruit, I was shown the choices on the menu. There was one that took my fancy - walnut, cranberries and raisins - for $1.75, so I went for that. The server pointed out that it was $1.75 for each item. Mm… sounds a bit expensive but I went with the walnuts and cranberries. Tom ordered Vic’s scramble with spinach, onions, ground beef and cheese with hash browns - extra crispy requested - with English muffin for $11.75.
Now to look round the place. This is a classy joint - hence the high prices I guess - and it’s reflected in the decor. Lots of paintings on the walls all in matching frames. Near us, high up, were two shelves with assorted bottles, jars and knick knacks. Near the front door is a big sign which says ‘Vic’s dog wall’ and underneath are posted pictures of customer’s dogs - lots of them all noting name and breed.
There was a radio playing quite loudly. It would have been fine if it was music but there was talking as well and that was quite distracting.
The food arrived at 7:30 - that was just 10 minutes after our order was taken so we were impressed. My oatmeal came in a small, deep bowl on a large plate. Also on the plate, along with the spoon, was a small stainless steel jug of milk (but there was more than enough), two stainless steel cups, one with cranberries and one with walnuts and a fairly large plastic container of brown sugar covered in cling film. The walnuts tasted good because they were coated in something. I have one complaint about the sugar - it was stuck together. I had to break it up with my spoon before I could get any out. Oatmeal was good though.
Tom cleared his plate and his verdict was good but the hash browns were nowhere crispy enough.
Now off the to restroom. I’m expecting good things here but I came back disappointed. They were at the end of a long corridor. There were more paintings on the corridor walls but they were exactly the same bland mix with matching frames as in the main restaurant. The restroom itself had no paintings or decoration of any kind on the walls. The only artistic touch was a watering can made out of wood filled with artificial flowers. There were two stalls and one handicapped stall. The place was bright and clean but boring. Also, there was no hot water. Even though I ran the tap for a couple of minutes, the hottest was just barely warm.
Verdict - food OK but every expensive. Our final bill came to $23.11 with coffee and tax.
February 03 2008 02:53 pm | Breakfast Log
