Address: 11740 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530-1786
Hours: 7:30am – 2:30pm daily
Parking: off-street lot
Visited: May 2, 2010, 9am
Nestled in the elegant “Del Norte Place” adjacent to the Uncle Wong’s debacle of last Saturday, Anna’s Place is proof that San Pablo Ave does have friendly, hidden gems if you’re willing to give them a shot.
Anna’s is a small restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch with a Korean twist but mostly American gist. Like any restaurant with Asian underpinnings, Anna’s has 80 menu options that the staff know by number. Amongst the laundry list of options are burritos, omelets, ‘scrams’, gyros, pita sandwiches, hot sandwich plates and the not-so-PC ‘oriental corner’ section of the menu. The owners are clearly Korean (and like Greek eats?) because of the traditional Bibimbap that receives excellent reviews on Yelp.
We entered early on Sunday morning in search of a new brunch option and found what may be the cheeriest staff in the East Bay: we were immediately welcomed and told we could sit wherever we’d like; menus quickly followed. A cheery waitress arrived after we’d made it through the various epicurean continents: Emily chose the teriyaki beef breakfast burrito with home fries and coffee, Dave picked a spicy pork scram with hash browns and wheat toast. The meats in both the entrees were staples of the Asian side of their menu mixed into the American brunch format. Almost all of the breakfast dishes contained zucchini, clearly a house preference, and all the veggies were fresh, being sliced and diced and prepped for later use in the back as we waited.
The décor could be described as motel-continental-breakfast-area-chic, complete with mauve laminate cabinets, gray floor tile, stock art and a plate hanging on the wall that is also a clock. The fake grapes hanging from ceiling didn’t exactly say “authentic winery”, but it who’s keeping score? Below the Napa portion of the dining room hung a large flat-screen TV that played motocross on this particular morning. As we glanced around the room we noticed Anna’s also enjoys a snappy to-go business with a number of customers coming and going.
After flavorful coffee and average orange juice was delivered, Dave’s wheat toast came out, and we immediately knew Anna understands brunch; the toast was pre-buttered. We ate that as we waited for the entrees, which followed several minutes later.
The full entrees arrived on large plates: Emily’s burrito (essentially a ‘scram’ rolled in a tortilla) came wrapped in foil with a heap of home fries on the side; Dave’s scram was a large mix of veggies, eggs and spicy pork next to crispy golden hash browns. The waitress brought over Tabasco without asking, another good sign. The food was excellent – the meats harbored the tasty tang of Asian cuisine, the eggs cooked well. While usually not one of Dave’s favorites, their home fries were a winner – no grease, not overcooked.
If one criticism could be leveled, it seemed to us that Anna’s has a single grill man which lead to food coming out in waves, not all at once for a particular table. That’s a small hiccup for a place that clearly puts care into their food and serves a unique product. Eighteen dollars for this quality of food was a real bargain. Thanks for brunch Anna’s, you’ve restored our hope that “Del Norte Place” isn’t a total food wasteland, and will see you again very soon.
Final cost: $17.89, plus tip
Sounds really good. Been meaning to try it for a long time—now it’s a must! Good humor review!
Glad you’re back, I missed you!