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Categories: American (New), American (Traditional), Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
1314 S Mary AveMon-Fri. 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sat. 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 8:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Chili's® Grill & Bar is as bold and flavorful as the food it serves. The energetic, fun atmosphere makes it the perfect spot for a... more »
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I came here for Saturday brunch with a group of friends. The line was short. We got to the register before I could decide what I wanted to order. I finally settled on the grilled portobello sandwich after going through the list of specials about 10 times. They had a long list and everything sounded tasty! My sandwich had grilled portobello mushrooms, red and green roasted peppers, onions, baby spinach, and pesto on two slices herb focaccia bread and came with a small pasta salad on the side. That was some great stuff!
I also tried a bite of my friend's spinach eggs benedict with hollandaise on top of a crispy buttermilk biscuit, and it was delicious as well.
Minus one star because I kept getting faint whiffs of garbage at our table. Not sure if it was coming from the kitchen or outside of the restaurant. :-/
Only reviewing breakfast. Good...not great.
Pros:
+ Giant portions! My meal was easily good for two. I am of course speaking of two regular portions. The fatty in me COULD eat the whole thing, but I didn't want to go there.
+ "Healthy"-ish bfast food. The omelet is made with one whole egg and 3 egg whites. I didn't miss the yolks at all! Comes with grilled potatoes. Both tasted pretty good and eating them didn't make me feel so heavy and sluggish.
+ Friendly service. The only service is ordering at the counter and they bring your food to you, but the staff was especially nice. They recommend tipping 5-7% and it's evenly split among all staff.
Cons:
- Omelets and scrambles don't come with meat!! It actually kinda frustrated me! (haha) So you have to order it on the side, which can add an extra $3 to your $7 omelet.
- The website makes this place look fancy, but it's pretty much a diner.
- Coffee is too weak...perhaps made to the taste of the typical demographic served here (translation: made for old people).
Bottom line: If I'm going to a breakfast thing in Sunnyvale or Mountain View I might come back...unless I find something better!
Craving breakfast out led us here...
Hmmm...let' see. Had the spinach omelette. Was just ok, not great, greasy. And the cream cheese in the omelette? Not doing that again.
Didn't like having to order a $3.75 side order of breakfast meat. I like my omelettes like my kitchen sinks...just through it all in there!
Didn't like the little black hair I found underneath my pancake... eewww
Coffee was meh.
Service was good.
The place was PACKED! Just remember, this isn't the breakfast place you go to with your buddies after a night out. Age range definitely skewed to the high 60s and beyond, at least the morning we were there...
3.5 stars seems right, so must bump up to four. Went here on a late Sunday morning with my wife. The restaurant was pretty full, and the ambient noise level was way up there (which was perfect for us, as our six month old can sometimes be fussy. Not a problem in the this place, as the surrounding noise drowned him out). The wait time was rather reasonable and the staff friendly. I had the Italian style omelette. I'd say 3.5 stars (I liked the veggies a lot). My wife, however, had the pumpkin pancakes. WOW! Those were absolutely delicious (though skip the cranberry topping, and just use a little butter instead). Would definitely come back.
I went there the other morning - I've been there a few times what I loved the other day was their biscuit - I'm still thinking about it that's why I would write a review.
I like going here, the only thing that bugs me is how you order when you come in - I just find that not how I want to go and probably why I don't go there unless invited.
The best Chicken Almond salad, enough for two. Fresh and full of tasty vegies. Very friendly staff, fast service. Homemade blue cheese dressing. Wonderful place to get a huge healthy salad.
Nice place for breakfast. The dinner specials can also be good. I come here a couple of times a month for breakfast. They have a nice range of breakfast standards, plus a couple of weekly specials. Coffee refills are free, and you can have a nice table to yourself to spread out your newspapers or whatever. If you're not really hungry you can have a muffin.
I occasionally eat lunch or dinner here. The Mexican Salad is off the hook (order the 1/2; the whole is too big). Some of the dinner specials are good (if a little pricey), some are a little over-seasoned. But it's nice to have a place where you can eat real food in a casual environment and not be rushed.
My husband and I frequent this place often since we live in the neighboorhood. I love their specials, specifically the cherry french toast and the holiday pumpkin pancakes that they have out currently. Their orange juice is fresh squeezed and it is an overall comfortable atmosphere. I don't like thier hot chocolate though, it is not chocolatey enough for me. Oh, I also recommend the eggs benedict, they are served on a biscuit instead of an english muffin, very tasty!
I love Country Gourmet. I was shocked to see it only had 3.5 stars. My family has gone here dozens of times over the years, both for lunch and dinner, and have always enjoyed it. At lunch, I always get one of the sandwiches -- usually the hot veggie one -- and they're flat-out delicious. At dinner, I often get one of the specials, and they're delicious too. I like the set-up, where you order at a counter, then seat yourself and wait for the food to be delivered. You grab your own water, though they will come by to refill it. It's very casual and laid-back, but the food really does trend toward the "gourmet" side. It's nice to get that quality of food without having to dress up, spend a ton of money, or commit to a long, formal meal.
This place is very disorganized. We came here on a busy Sunday afternoon for lunch. The restaurant's online Lunch and Dinner Menu says "Lunch items served from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m." When we arrived at 1 p.m., only brunch items and cold sandwiches were being served.
This is a limited service restaurant, so we placed our order and paid the check at the front counter. We got coffee and seated ourselves. As time passed, we wondered when our food would appear. My boyfriend went to the counter, and was told that we "should have checked in with the hostess before being seated." Nobody told us that.
My boyfriend went to the hostess's podium, but she was nowhere to be found. He waited several minutes for her to appear. The hostess finally returned, and we were checked in.
The food arrived, brought to us by a waitress who appeared to be over-worked. We asked for catsup, and she abruptly turned and walked away before we could ask for butter. When she returned, we did ask for and receive the butter.
At about this time, a large party of extended family members was seated directly behind us. This party contained six very small children (!). Almost immediately, one of the children began crying loudly. This restaurant is already very noisy, so we picked up our plates and moved to the other side of the restaurant.
The waitress noticed immediately. She came over and told us, "You should have let the hostess know before changing tables." It is interesting that the staff noticed this immediately, but nobody noticed when we had seated ourselves and were waiting for food. Nobody thought to tell us we needed to check-in with the hostess in order to receive food. Despite this, I went over to the hostess and told her about our change of table.
On the positive side, the coffee is good here. The food was OK, but not good. The whole grain pancakes were a bit overdone. My boyfriend said the fruit salad tasted as if it had been pre-packaged.
The restaurant is noisy. Normal conversation is difficult.
I think this restaurant needs more employees. There appear to be too few people to operate the restaurant properly.
The place is very disorganized. It seems like the restaurant's workers expect the customer to know the service routine in advance, before the customer comes into the restaurant. This was my first time here, and I do not plan to return.
Been coming here for years w/ the fam for sunday brunches.
The restaurant: semi-self-service. You order at the front, they bring you your food and some silveware, and you get your own water/coffee. Some people might not like getting their own things, but I could care less. I come here for the food.
Brunch, brunch, brunch: I'm a fan. The spinach eggs benedict is one of my favorite items on the menu. The biscuit is flavorful, and the spinach barely cancels out the artery-clogging hollandaise sauce. Their grilled homestyle potatoes are seasoned well, and served with most of their breakfast dishes. I always eat all the potatoes, regardless of how full I am. On mother's day they hand out home-made chocolate covered strawberries.
Dinner: Solid dinner offerings, w/ wine and beer pairings. They have a pretty tasty burger from Niman Ranch. My mom has been addicted to their Mexican Salads for YEARS. Last weekend, we accidentally ended up going there for both Mother's Day brunch and dinner and it took a lot of work on my part to dissuade her from getting the salad at both meals. Avoid their cold pastrami sandwich though, blech.
The devil's in the details.
I was at this restaurant to have coffee with someone and decided to have a Mexican salad, to go. This should be good, I thought.
Well, when I got to my destination, I found I had been given no fork or napkin. I don't know if they forgot to give me one or if they don't, as a practice, include one, but IMO, it should've been included.
Given the absence of a utensil, I had to leave my destination and go to another eatery to get a utensil. Big hassle and very awkward but I just wasn't willing to eat my salad with my bare hands.
The salad was good, though, and I probably would eat in at this restaurant as I assume they give you utensils with your meal. Or do they? One can only guess.
It is what it is : a self-serve rest't that has been drawing large lunch crowds since it opened almost 20 yrs ago. For us, it's a "fallback" rest't, where we'll go, when we don't know where else to go, if you know what I mean.
The quality is consistent. The food is always fresh & of a higher quality. Their almond chicken salad is one of the best in the area. Made w chopped almonds & not a lot of mayo, it's always delicious. My husband is addicted to their Mexican salad.
The chef can be quite inventive, esp at dinner. Their lamb sliders are fabulous, their red pepper soup is very tasty, & other "specials " have been very creative For us, this is not a Sat. night rest't, but a "warm old friend" to frequent during the week.
I got breakfast here on a Monday morning craving a healthy omelet and some coffee. The coffee was decent enough, better than most diner's coffee. When I got the spinach omelet it was nothing special , probably the same quality as Denny's , grease and all. The ingredients seemed fresh but the preparation was very dissatisfying to my palate. Too soggy perhaps. My boyfriend got a very basic breakfast. The biscuit was to sweet , scone like he said. The bacon was very soggy and greasy to him. I loved the grilled potatoes, they were the highlight of the meal. The tasted homemade and flavorful, like something Grandma would make from leftover potatoes. The service was super smiley and nice, just as anticipated. I think I have to give this place another chance , few breakfast places impress after one time. The total was 23 bucks , which I thought was a little steep for a place you don't get waited on. maybe I'll have try brunch or lunch for this place to redeem itself.
There are only so many places you can go for American style breakfast, and this is one of my comfort food places while I lived in Sunnyvale.
- portions are large
- free coffee, one of my coffee drinker friends said the coffee here is pretty good. I don't know much about coffee, but it tasted pretty good to me.
- standard American fare, pretty well done job.
So if I roll out of bed on a Sat. morning and feel like some heavier American style breakfast, this is one of the places I will head over to.. =)
Oh, semi-self-serve, so tip is suggested at a lower percentage.
After much hype I decided to take the long trek deep into Sunnyvale to check this place out. Country Gourmet? More like Granny Gourmet! Is there an unspoken rule here that you need to be at least 55 years old to enjoy this place? With the exception of the grandchildren of their many loyal patrons.
Okay, okay... I came here during dinner but I can see by their reviews that breakfast is their forte. Looks like I came during the wrong time! Other than that, the food was unmemorable. Props on their friendly staff! I look forward to giving them another try in the am in stead of the pm.
I agree with many of the reviews... we are local so this is a go-to place on a regular basis.
Their home-made soups are always excellent - be careful some of them are a bit spicy; I like them that way. Never had a bad burger, salad or hot meal. Breakfast/brunch on the weekends is excellent. Never wait more than 5-10 minutes and all of their dishes are great. When I feel like eating whole grain goodness, I check-out their home-made granola with a side of fresh (seasonal) fruit.
This is nearly a self-serve place and they say so. Even the tip recommendation on the table asks for 5 to 7 %. Coffee is good, iced tea is excellent and service is fast. Good food, good service, moderate price... what's not to like?
Great place for a nice brunch with your family. It's definitely a lot of older folks, but that's not a bad thing!! My grandparents love this place, so I love coming with them :)
Everything I've had here was really good, and the servings are huge. Both times I came I got a salad...the last time was the Mexican salad...and it was delicious!!!
3.5 Stars
Had lunch here with a few friends and my sandwich was good.
My friends burger was good too...they offer free-range beef which is good...
it tasted different and my friend wasnt used to it but I thought it was good.
Great selection of sandwiches. I would definitely come here again.
Slightly Bob Evans like atmosphere, but it's super kid friendly, which apparently is our new criteria. Sigh.
We just went here and we both really liked it. I had the pumpkin pancakes with cranberry sauce (so tasty). There was minimal wait, our food came quickly and it was really good. The staff was friendly too. We'll be back.
Tragic, tragic, state of affairs, when one orders a salad, and they get a COLD MESS.
Lunch-not so good. Ordered a sandwich and "Mexican" salad. I guess adding corn, black beans, cheese, and salsa to some sorry greens all of a sudden makes it a "Mexican" salad. Either way....not good, and not worth me going back for lunch.
Key work here: BFAST SPECIALS.
Holy Saturday Special.
B-A-N-A-N-A-S...literally .
Mrs. Coke Salty and I had planned to visit the…
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The special Heuvos Rancheros were just what the doctor ordered. They were so good, I almost wish I had been hungover from the night before.
Yelp mobile, found this place for me in a pinch as I was driving from San Jose to Sunnyvale. At 9am on a Saturday morning, this place was not busy at all, and I was able to walk right in and... well, I would say sit down, but Country Gourmet works by you ordering at the front, paying, then being seated, and then the food coming. Coffee is self-serve.
It looks a bit more expensive at first, but because of their serving style, tipping is optional and they only recommend something like 5-7%, so that makes the total bill about the same as a place with cheaper food but full table service. I hope the waitstaff gets a slightly higher wage here. They do split the tips, should you decide to leave one (and do, if they were good to you!)
Super friendly.
Went here for brunch with Mike K. before taking him to the airport. One way to solve the water dilemma: self serve!
Be sure to look at the specials to your left before ordering... we missed out on some choices by not doing so. Food is pretty good, and priced at typical brunch/breakfast prices. I'd come here for a change of pace from Hobee's. No wow though.
I went to this Country Gourmet for a weekday lunch recently after running an errand nearby. A weird crowd inside - 50% retirees, 25% housewife packs, with the remaining 25% vacationers who dressed like they were at Disneyland.
I scanned the menu and didn't see much I could get excited about, mostly sandwiches and salads. I wasn't in the mood for either, so I ordered the hamburger. Total cost was almost $12 with tax (plus a few more bucks with tip). At this price, it better be good!
My large burger arrived quickly and was impressive. It came on a nice, fresh bun and included ripe tomatoes, lettuce, onions & pickles. Dijon mustard ketchup were delivered as well. Nice. I assembled my masterpiece and dug in....Zounds. This was one great hamburger. The meat was very high quality and cooked perfectly to my medium-rare specification. Combined with the fresh veggies and delicious bun, it was a total home run. One of the best burgers I've had in a long time.. The only other one that might touch this is the burger at Palo Alto Creamery. My burger came with "fries" that were actually hash browns. These were fresh-made and had a nice mix of both crispy and soft pieces. Really good. All in all, a great meal. If the price had below $10 this would have been a great deal and merited 5 stars.
I usually try and visit a restaurant at least twice before submitting a review, but I'll have to make an exception for Country Gourmet since I may not be back for a while. I'm rarely in this neighborhood, and there weren't many other items on the menu that I want to try. Still, I give it a solid score for a solid burger.
Sunday brunch until 2pm. That means you can roll out of bed on a sunday, and actually get food when everything else is closed.
The eggs benedict was off the hook (in a good way). I'm a sucker for mochas and it was good too. Get the "fried potatoes" crispy, the ones that were done normally weren't as good.
We ended up ordering way too much food. One plate here is plenty.
Who really needs full service anyways? It's not too hard to get up and grab some water, syrup or whatever you need. When you're done eating you put 3 bucks down on the table and leave whenever you want! I'd call that even better than full service.
The bathrooms were decent.
total self service place. walk in, place your order, find your own seat, pour your own coffee, grab your own utensils, grab your own napkins, grab your own condiments... if i had known, i woulda just stayed home for brekkie! after all that, im sure most patrons are somewhat compelled to tip a smidge less compared to a full service meal. oh, and although i heard a rumor that the coffee is gratis, and some may think that it is due to the layout, it's definitely not.
grubwise-bangers were softly grilled, not oily..however, i did not care for the gourmet potatoes. they were not crispy and layered in a goop of artery blocking cheese. highlights included, quality wheat toast, fresh fruit, and a delicious buttermilk biscuit done farmer's style. i think the biscuit was truly the highlight...definitely worth trying.
service was just average, when asked about their own food and what it contains, they don't even know which animal it's derived from...
you gotta love mystery meat!
Not a bad place to eat. Relatively healthy foods, in a down to earth, non fru fru way. Not cheap though. My friend and I went for breakfast and it was $25. A little steep, but the food is decent portions.
The banana on the pancake was good, but not enough. Needed powdered sugar, not maple syrup. Fruit cup was good, and try the raspberry lemonade! Bright, almost un-natural looking pink but so good!
There are only 2 things I really like here.. the eggs Benedict... because they use biscuits instead of Englsh muffins.
The pancakes are great too if you like them thick and heavy :)
After reading all the raves about the banana pancakes and the banana/strawberry french toast, I came in with high expectations. My friend and I woke up bright and early and came here today at 7 am so that we could experience firsthand the joys of the above treats.
Unfortunately, since the banana strawberry french toast was a special, I couldn't order it. I could order the strawberry french toast though, which I did. The french toast was a little mushy, and had a hint of orange flavor, which was a little overbearing/too strong. The toast was also a little bland, inspite of the orange tinge. The fresh strawberries were delicious, of course. How can fresh fruit go wrong? =)
My friend's giant wheat pancake was an interesting change, since most pancakes I eat are not wheat. It was very large, thick, and fluffy, and textured a little more rough than the usual pancake.
And, it is true about the place being frequented by older people. We were the only 20-somethings.
Personally, I like other breakfast/brunch places in the area, so I'll probably stick with those, but this place is decent.
I have been going here for years and pretty much stick to the dinner fish specials and I usually get the food to go since I live less than a mile away. This place knows fish and I have never had a bad dinner here. No overcooked or old fish here. The side dishes are well integrated and interesting. Better than a lot of pretensious places.
I rate restaurants on how well they do what they promise to do. Country Gourmet does not try to be something they are not and if you go expecting them to be something else then your expectations will not be met..
Straigh ahead food with few frills
Eclectic food of all sizes and shapes. Hard to describe. The salads are my favorites. Many different selections. Sandwiches are made to order. Specials vary all over the map.
Smoothies in many flavors are really good. Breakfast is topical delicious. Brunch on Sunday is especially good, and a nice crowd gathers for people watching fun.
Fresh, crisp and tasty would be good descriptions of their food. Organic rules here.
A great stop on your culinary journey.
I have been going to Country Gourmet since it replaced Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor (which was awesome). I love going here for nice, healthy ( for the most part) meals. Everything I have had here is wonderful. I love their biscuits for breakfast which are the size of your head and oh so tasty! This place is a very solid place to get a satisfying meal.
*Their molasses's cookies are addictive!!!!
I went here with a friend tonight based on this review and one on jatbar. It did not disappoint. For $40 my friend and I had two entrees, two smoothies, and a side of scalloped horseradish potatoes.
The smoothies were tasty. I had the crab quiche and it was good. The salad was large and came with a side of a cucumber/yogurt dressing. The potatoes were heaven. I'd definitely look at the specials over the menu first, but if you come late for dinner, some of the things may be sold out (sadly, the pulled pork tacos were gone).
I can't wait to come back here for a weekend breakfast after a good bike ride.
I found this place on yelp.
This restaurant is like the Sonoma Chicken Coop. They serve the same style of foods like salads, pasta, pizza, and roasted stuff. The food is not bad. Read through the other reviews. I didn't.
I didn't realize that this was a self service type of restaurant. You order, pay, and they show you to your seat. You have to get your own silver wear, water, and pick up your dessert when you are ready. They bring out your main entree. Since this isn't a full service restaurant, they recommend tipping 5-7 percent. Which is a dollar or so.
I'm going to try breakfast next time. I wen for dinner this time.
I have only been here for weekend breakfast. The Eggs Benedict is freaaaaking awesome. Except today I somehow started feeling guilty about eating the ham. I think next time I'll just get a Bill's breakfast but ask them for hollandaise sauce on the side? I have had both toast and buttermilk biscuitt. The buttermilk biscuit is delicious.
Warning! The pancakes are huge! One serves two people easily. Esp after you've had your eggs or omelette breakfast.
The atmosphere is very family oriented and kid friendly. Lots of old folks and lots of people with kids.
It's not a full service restaurant so they're quick and efficient. They suggest a 7% tip.
The only bad thing... I wish they'd change the coffee mugs. They look cheap and are too small.
i'm so glad this place is still around. I grew in this little suburban hood and Country Gourmet used to be a Farrell's. Oh the irony. Though when it was Farrell's I got a thumbtack in my mudpie. I was only 10 and should have taken the hint then that mounds of ice cream and chocolate sauce can kill you, with or without sharp objects imbedded in them. again, I digress.
I'm at the folks today so I plan on stopping by and having their veggie burrito. It's super good. It's not a mission style...it's the kind you eat with a fork and comes with a side of potatoes.
Everything here tastes good and it has a homestyle appeal.
Vegetarians will be happy here. There is also a vegetarian Indian place that opened up across the street (formerly Coco's) that I have been meaning to try. But that means table for one because my parents are way to whitified to eat food with any sort of spice.
If your heading down the 85 to or from 101 and your hungry, stop off at the Fremont exit and give this place a try.
Went here with a group of co-workers for lunch and it was pretty good.
It's nice for groups because you just order what you want at the counter when you walk in and pay. (No worrying about split checks and figuring out how to divide up the bill at the end of lunch.) The hostess found us a big oval table for all of us to sit at - it felt cozy and almost like a dining table you'd find in someone's home.
I had the half sandwich (tuna salad) and half soup (chicken) and it was just the right amount of food for lunch and was really good! I had a bit of my friend's crab quiche and that was delicious. Maybe a little too heavy for lunch but it was great to have a bite.
You help yourself to water and the people bring you your food. The only thing that we were unsure of was how to tip at the end of the meal. I have to go back and figure it out again because I actually forget what we did!
I had missed lunch on a Saturday, and swung by this place to get some take away dinner. They start serving dinners at 4:30, and have a huge chalkboard with about ten specials. I ordered the Nieman Ranch top sirloin steak, which at $17 is the most expensive item ( I was real hungry)
Drank a beer while waiting for the meal. Got home and enjoyed the best meal I've had in ages; perfectly cooked (medium) steak with feta scalloped potatoes, grilled zucchini, and figs. Had a sauce of some sort. The flavor combinations were perfect; the figs added the finishing touch. Served with a sourdough roll. Highly recommended.
I've actually gone to this place for about 20 years, and it has remained consistently excellent. Most of the reviewers mention breakfast and lunch, and maybe being priced a bit more than average...but go for dinner and enjoy top caliber food for less than a fancy restaurant.
Beer and wine served. Order at the counter. Tips maybe 5%, because not full service.
I always get the smoked chicken salad...it's good because they use butter lettuce, but the chicken was really salty and as us healthy Californians know, lots of sodium is never good for the bloat!
But it's clean, and quiet, easy to park, and they give you a delicious sourdough roll with the salads!
Okay so ya this place does seem to cater to what you may call the geritol crowd but it is very kid friendly. The salads on the lunch menu are huge enough for 2 people and the turkey pesto sandwich is really good too.
The standout tho is at breakfast time. EGGS BENEDICT yummy. ,they serve it on homemade biscuits which are awesome. Coffee is really strong and self serve. Dinner is just ok. Just go for breakfast its the best.
Santa Clara, CA
Category: American (Traditional)
Mountain View, CA
Category: American (Traditional)
Los Altos, CA
Category: Breakfast & Brunch
Sunnyvale, CA
Category: American (Traditional)
San Jose, CA
Category: Breakfast & Brunch
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