At each restaurant, I ordered the closest item on the menu to a Denny’s Grand Slam, which consists of a pancake, meat (sausage or bacon), eggs, and toast. Denny’s was chosen as a control group to which the other restaurants were compared, since it is a popular and widely attended local breakfast restaurant among Redwood students.

Lighthouse Cafe 4.5

Upon entering the Lighthouse Cafe in Sausalito, my co-eatitor Ian Lewitz and I were asked if we would like to sit at the counter. Unbeknownst to what exactly this would entail, we obliged.

This proved to be a major benefit to our enjoyment of the restaurant experience. Being able to see and smell the food being prepared before our eyes not only made us hungrier, but also heightened the anticipation of our meal.

What was exceptionally impressive about the Lighthouse Cafe was the quality and quantity of food that came with the combo meal. It came with two big slices of thick toast; home fries; a fruit pancake filled with raspberries, bananas, and blueberries; eggs; and a choice of bacon or sausage.

Although there were many components to the breakfast combo, the individual items did not impede on one another. Rather, they complemented each other to contribute to a divine breakfast experience.

Fred’s Cafe 3.5

Fred’s Cafe is home to perhaps the tastiest pancakes in Marin.

Thin and light yet decadent, these pancakes are distinctly different from those of the other three cafes in this review in that they are more crepe-like.

Although the menu also features several unique items such as the “Millionaire’s Bacon” – thick, glazed, seasoned, and slow roasted slabs of bacon – the pancakes are the main reason that there is always a line out the door.

Despite constantly being crowded, Fred’s provides a cozy atmosphere, even when sitting outside. While the pancakes are phenomenal, they are by far the best food item at Fred’s – quite disappointingly so. Shoved underneath the heaping pancakes were a pile of scrambled eggs and four sausages upon my plate. They were mediocre and were underwhelming in comparison to the pancakes.

The eggs seemed unseasoned, and there were so many of them that they became cold before I had a chance to finish them.

The sausages – chicken apple – were slightly better, but were nothing special and paled in comparison to the pancakes.

The eggs and the sausages weren’t bad by themselves, but they hindered my enjoyment of the pancakes since they obtrusively shared the plate with them. As such, I would recommend sticking only to the pancakes – perhaps try the lemon ricotta pancakes.

Depot Garden Cafe 3

Located in downtown San Rafael, the Depot Garden Cafe is generic in atmosphere and in the food itself. Although the combo meal provided a lot of food, there were no elements that particularly stood out.

The food itself tastes decent, but it seems as though much of it is made with Sysco-grade ingredients. For instance, my co-eatitor ordered a $2.50 mug of hot chocolate (see the previously published Bark hot chocolate review for reference), but it was watery and weak, and it seemed like it was made from a Swiss-Miss hot chocolate mix.

Similarly, the pancakes were decent, but were dense and cakey, much like Denny’s pancakes. The eggs were slightly better, but came in a small portion. The most copious item, the hash browns, were unusually prepared, but were quite good nonetheless. In contrast to traditional grated hash browns, these were shaved in larger chunks.

Despite slightly subpar elements, the meal in general was filling and satisfying. There was plenty of food for a relatively low price.