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Categories: American (Traditional), Bakeries, Coffee & Tea [Edit]
449 S Winchester Blvd"Bobbi's is my favorite place to meet friends, chat and sip coffee for hours. It feels like an old fashioned diner off Route 66. The…" read more »
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Ben and I lunched here this afternoon before stopping at the old Winchester mansion, which was right across the parking lot.Flames Coffee Shop is a very cool, retro-feeling diner decorated like something out of 1960s Miami, with faux palm trees bearing bananas and other tropical fruit. I liked the feel of the place from the outside, and stepping in was like a time warp, or maybe more like stepping into that scene from Pulp Fiction. Our server was friendly, seated us at a booth immediately, and kept the coffee flowing.
I had the soup of the day, homemade minestrone, along with a tuna salad sandwich and fries-- the sandwich was delicious, as was the soup though it wasn't very hot when it was brought to the table. Ben ordered the crab cake Benedict, which he gives a four out of ten due to freshness-- the crab cake tasted like it was frozen at one point, and the meal all around was "goopy." Regardless, it was a fun outing and next time Ben says he'll just order a good ol' American burger. Isn't that what you're supposed at a diner, anyway?
Once, long ago, this was the site of a Bob's Big Boy. Every time we'd go, I'd order the Fisherman's Platter and finish the meal with Hot Fudge Cake. Those days are gone now, long gone, but Flames grew from teh ashes of that old wonderment.
The first thing about this place is that you must come to terms with the decor. It's loud and jungly and bright and kinda painful. There are fake trees, outrageous carpets, and all manner of unusual items to go on about.
The food, on the other hand, ranges from very good down to about below-average. The things they do best are the things most folk stend to fall in love with. I love the Chicken Fried Steak, and the portions are huge. The Pancake options are all very good. The Eggs Benedict menu is really big and from folk sI know who've had them, they're all delicious.
Recently, I've ventured off my usuals and tried more of the menu, and it's not all great. The Chicken Souvlaki was kinda dry, though the rice was wonderful, as was the sauce. The Seafood combination wasn't bad at all, though the filet of Sole, if I remember correctly, was slightly underdone. The scallops weren't great either. The hamburgers are what you expect.
Overall, this would be a three star place except for three things. 1) the service is fantastic. While they do get busy at times, the servers are all really nice and they take care of you. 2) The desserts are fantastic and huge. The Carrot Cake alone is a monolith of rad and even something as simply as biscotti is wonderful. 3) it's right next to my favorite movie theatres in the world. You can not beat parking and then walkign across the parking to see whatever Hollywood claptrap is playing at the 21.
All in all, I think I'm emotionally attached to the place.
This place has a very good selection of many types of American food from burgers to seafood. The portions are large and the prices aren't too bad. The food isn't bad for a diner. I had the seafood linguine dish that came with salmon, scallops, shrimp, and crab in it today. The seafood tasted fresh which was good. It came with a lemon butter sauce that I got on the side. I didn't eat it since the dish was just fine w/o it. I'm glad that I got it on the side as it looked like they used a whole stick of butter for the sauce. Not good for your heart or waistline at all! I had to take most of what I ordered home as it was too much for me.
My husband and I shared the onion rings which were good. The service was fast and the waiter was attentive and refilled our water and my diet coke without us having to ask. The portions are large and the cake my husband got for desert was HUGE! It looked like he got a quarter of a whole cake and finished almost all of it in five minutes or less.
I'm not too surprised though as he once ate a 72 oz. steak a few years ago before we met in TX. and did it in under an hour then asked for desert! lol! The place he went to doesn't charge you for the steak if you can eat it all in under an hour. Needless to say, the waitress was shocked, lol!
Although the portions here are large, it wasn't large enough for my husband. This is a guy who can eat four huge plates at Home Town Buffet and a few deserts when he's only a little hungry before he feels full. It's amazing that he's not obese and he rarely gains more than a couple of pounds no matter how much he eats!
I'm so jealous! After that cake though, it did fill him up just to give you an idea how big it is. One piece can feed at least four people, I'm not kidding! For some reason, a lot of elderly people like this place. This is an OK place, but the food IMHO was just average.
Driving by makes me want to order a big ol' piece of chocolate cake.
Although somewhat ambiguous from the outside, inside Flames it is very much your typical diner. My wife and I decided to split the breakfast burrito. It was HUGE, and easily enough for us to split, with the entire restaurant probably if we had to. My wife and I will be back out in San Jose next summer, and while this probably won't be one of the first places that we hit up, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up there some weekend morning for a relaxed cup of coffee and maybe a breakfast burrito between us.
Captain Pie Hole sez:
I recently wrote a review on Mil's Diner in Milpitas and related the tale of "The Great Country Gravy Outrage".
After this disappointment, I was somewhat mollified by the sure knowledge that I could obtain the "Truck Driv'n Man's" favorite meal here and satisfy my craving for Chicken Fried Steak with Biscuits and Gravy. Flames is the only string of coffee shops in the south bay who can make C. F. S. nearly as well as the better truck stop cafes on the Southern U.S. interstates, at which I had enjoyed this dish from Arizona to Florida, as a long haul semi driver (now retired).
My wife and I have eaten here (and at the Milpitas Flames) for years and the Winchester location was the first one we indulged a silly tendency to nickname favorite places, people or things. We called it "The Legs Place". Waitresses here, before Flames updated their uniforms, used to wear above-knee-length skirts with blouses. At least a couple of these ladies have spectacular legs. One, whom I remember from more than ten years ago is, I am sure, still working there today, a very lovely, tall, regal looking Latina, who has always given us impeccable service.
We suppose unrest among the floor staff led to the company making the choice between allowing the women to wear slacks or forcing the men to wear those cute little skirts. Seeing as the male servers probably would have objected (to put it mildly) to the former, (I know I would object to seeing those hairy gams, stockings or not, while trying to eat) they standardized the current uniform as it is today. But it will always be "The Legs Place" to us.
Before delving deeper into the food and service, I'll quickly add that omelets, which are my wife's favorite choice elsewhere, don't appear to be their forte, so for the last few years we have avoided them.
The ambiance is superior, as is the quality of the service most of the time. But when my wife has gone there alone, she reports poor service on at least two recent occasions.
Both times, she was all but ignored by her waitron who was flirting with and fawning over her male customers after the breakfast rush, when the place wasn't even full. She was not offered ice water, and her coffee was not refilled. She also had to remind the waitron she'd forgotten to bring her toast, probably because the young lass was swooning over the handsome cop who was also sitting in her section and was being treated to royal service. Hence, with regrets, three stars, not four.
The coffee is a cut above the usual cup of mud you get in a diner. Eggs cooked to order are always perfect but I suspect the hash browns come out of a freezer. Not too bad, but not great either. We have eaten in diners of lower quality overall, with much better hash browns. My wife recommends ordering home fries here instead. The biscuits aren't bad, but I don't think they are scratch-made. This is compensated by the very good pepper cream country gravy ladled over these as well as the steak.
I haven't had lunch or dinner here for a long time and when I did, I ordered... you guessed it. Chicken Fried Steak. The serving is so large, it requires a separate plate and definitely doesn't come out of a pre-portioned freezer pouch ala Denney's. It is tender and juicy, with savory, crunchy breading and is perfectly seasoned.
Flames is well known for their excellent desserts. The cakes are gargantuan and of the finest quality, and the cheesecake is sublime. The servings of these as well as all of the menu choices are very generous. We will be back, but my wife will avoid the place if I am not with her in the future, when we are looking for a breakfast large enough to make us drive home immediately afterward and collapse back into bed. Ahh, Sundays.
One last thing, breakfast, especially on weekends is busy. So, if you mind being squeezed in at the counter or waiting on the list for a table. GO EARLY, especially on Sunday before the churches empty out.
Peas and love, Greg "Captain Pie Hole" P.
This and all reviews posted on http://yelp.com by Captain Pie Hole, are copyrighted 2009 by Pie Hole Publishing. All rights reserved.
It was TOO HOT and we were TOO TIRED to cook the other night so we drove over to Flames. MY husband had a craving for an old fashioned cheeseburger and got just what he wanted. I on the other hand had a bit of a struggle finding something healthy, meat free, and tasty. I had their stuffed portabello mushroom appetizer as an entree and it was good, although maybe a wee bit heavy on the cheese. It did have shrimp so I wasn't able to go full veggie but I don't mind eating fish from time to time. The fruit which came with the mushroom was the best part! I couldn't get enough of the honeydew. We also shared a green salad with ranch, and I must warn you it is not a salad to write home about. Croutons, lettuce and a whole lotta dressing. Good experience all around.
I like Flames, always have, especially for dessert. The decor definitely can make one feel like… Read more »
Simply put..I Love Flames! My food is always tasty, fast, hot and is enough to take home for later everytime. I work for a diner so i know the biz and there doing everything right.
This is my report on: What I Ate for Breakfast Last Saturday
If you were to ask me what i at at Flames this past weekend, you might want to finish your meal before listening to my response:
I had a damp locker-room sock (California Omlette) that looked like it had mushrooms and avocado on it, but you couldn't taste it, for the overpowering stench/taste of the used sock.
I sampled the margarine-soaked cardboard (Buttermilk Pancakes), only edible after a death-by-drowning style encounter with maple syrup.
The most distinguishable thing put in front of me, though, as i save the best for last, were the mushy shredded potatoes (Hash Browns). I actually recognized them by the crispy hash browns on top, but everything below that might as well have been mashed potatoes.
There you go. The End.
I've only eaten here once, when I needed somewhere quick that fit all my friends' and our budgets on Santana Row before heading to the Winchester Mystery House. I was underwhelmed by the experience and found the restaurant to be quite average. They have a large menu with a wide variety of (mostly traditional American) food, most of which is of ok quality. The waits can get very long if you come here on weekend evenings, and the restaurant can be loud and crowded at these times. Still, I give them props for being fast and having reasonably attentive service given how crowded it was. This was far from a bad dining experience, it just wasn't an especially memorable one either.
We only ever come here to get a slice of cake. Now, in the universe that is Flames, a slice of cake is literally an entire cake cut into a triangle. I can only imagine how long it'd take me (all 165 lbs of me) to finish an entire cake. I think it'd last so long I can have it for any future wedding, child births, divorce, house buying, graduation, kids graduation, and then my own untimely demise. Needless to say, the cakes are effing huge.
The service blows. If the cake here wasn't so god dam good, I wouldn't come here for any reason. I'd just go to one of the chain restaraunts that make up the true individual's dream place of Santana Row.
The cake more than makes up for it. Just be prepared to wait a half hour while they cut a piece and then package it up for you.
(did this reveiw a week ago in drafts on iphone...now posting today)Very nice staff. Busier on a Sunday afternoon more than a one-legged man @ a butt-kicking contest. I got the California burger, nephew got French dip.
We did wait more than half an hour to get our food after being seated. My whole family loves the Flame restaurants since they do give you some great food with huge honking potions.
Had their mushroom burger, nothing special. So, I'll just skip to the good stuff and say the cake the is best! I got a slice there for around five dollars, and it's huge. It's definitely something you'll want to share. It's kind of fun to eat a huge piece of cake too. I'm so used to those sheet cakes from Costco or just whimpy baby cakes from other bakeries. This thing is like eight inches tall!
Five stars for the cake, but the rest is just a three.
LET ME EAT CAKE...
So I know I don't really NEED a piece of cake that serves 4 people, but living closer to the Flames on Camden that is what I expect, dang it!
Following a UYE at Santana Row I was feenin' for some sugar. I didn't want to spend $10+ dollars at one of the Row restaurants if I wasn't sure it was going to be well worth it. On our way to the garage Anna D. mentioned that she was parked in the Flames parking lot and the large sugar-coated light went on in my head. I decided to go get a piece of cake to-go.
After pacing in front of the display case holding the magnificent specimens of super large cakes I decided to get the Niagara Falls because I'm always a sucker for chocolate. It has layers of chocolate cake in between some sort of white frosting with fudgy goo poured over the top. We were given a bag holding the to-go box, paid and rushed home to dig in. Disappointment swept over me when I sat on the couch, turned on the tivo and then opened the box...to discover that the cake was less than half of the "standard" Flames cake serving that I'm accustomed to. FREAKIN A!!! As previously mentioned, we don't NEED a slice of cake as large as my head but I paid for it and I was scammed, I tell ya!
From now on I'll just stick with what I know. If you want an awesome value and a 1500+ calorie slice of sin you should go to the location on Camden. JOKERS!
Co-workers and I wanted to get breakfast after a store meeting. We hit up this place. We were told that the wait was going to be about 20 minutes. 20 minutes passed, and we were told that we can't get a table for 11 cause ONE customer needed to finish eating. We didn't want to wait any longer so we got Cheesecake Factory instead.
Fuck this place.
Fuck you guys for not giving us a table.
I don't even want to attempt to try and eat here anymore cause of what happened.
Oh my, my experience here was way different from the Milpitas location. First, they stuck us all the way in the back near the kitchen where it was dark and noisy :( And it seemed like our server avoided us for a good ten minutes and wasn't attentive at all, she asked if I wanted a soup or salad three times...
The food was a big disappointment, the steak was salty and was well done, not medium like I asked :( And my poor salad was wet, wilted and hacked into tiny pieces. After wards I didn't even want to stay for the infamous cakes, I didn't want to be disappointed any further...
...Eh, service sucked and the bathrooms were super dirty. I won't be coming back anytime soon unless I was drunk and you dragged me there! LOL.
For some odd reason, I didn't like the food here at this Flames location. Yes, it has a similar menu to the one in Milpitas, and it does get crowded at times (especially on weekends), so if a seat at the counter opens, go ahead and try to sit there (assuming that you're coming by yourself or with a friend). I ordered a few of the breakfast dishes there (i.e. an egg omelet and some pancakes). Hmm...the egg didn't really taste that fresh (did it possibly come out of a milk-type carton that they pour on the griddle?!) and the pancakes tasted somewhat dry. I actually had to take about half of the omelet home and recook it to make it taste slightly better!
Overall, while Flames is an OK place to eat breakfast in the Bay Area, try another location instead.
Flames is a a diner located across the street from Santana Row. On the outside it looks like your standard diner but I think you'll find that they have a lot to offer. Their serving sizes are large and will satisfy your craving for diner food. The breakfast is great and the burgers are great. The service is a bit on the slow slide so if that kind of thing irritates you then you may want to consider going somewhere else. However, if you don't mind waiting awhile, Flames does live up to better than average diner food and a pleasant diner setting. Personally, I'd say the food is worth the wait.
When I want a cheap fast and easy meal, I come here. This place is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For breakfast I usually get the two egg meal. Two eggs, toast, bacon or sausage, and hash browns. The hash browns are oily and not cripsy enough on the inside so I usually just eat the eggs and toast, which is enough to satisfy me. If I'm really hungry I get the waffles, yumm!
Dinner is usually a grilled cheese sandwhich, my fav, with fruit instead of fries. In one night that I won't forget, I shoveled two of these cheesey delights down my throat before my bf even touched his food. Usually I can't even finish one! He still makes fun of me to this day. Some of the other dinners are ok, but I would pretty much stick to the sandwhiches and burgers. Also beware of the mashed potatos and rice pilaf, but are pretty gross.
Great 50s/60s style restaurant diner with huge (all day breakfast) menu across the street from Santana Row.
the pancakes tasted like pancake mix ew, and i think they are on drugs.
This review is for breakfast. We've been there a couple of times and both times have been solid. What we expected for diner food. On the weekends it gets busy so there might be a wait. It's right across from santana row and also close to valley fair mall.
Prices are pretty good. Breakfast for two is was only 25 bucks and the portions are huge! Service was okay.
Since it's diner food; theres many familiar items and there seems to be lots of butter, sugar, and eggs involved. Have tried the pancakes (really good), bacon (strips on the small side), chorizo omelette (giant size), hash browns,, corned beef hash, and biscuits & gravy.
Would come back if in the area.
I remember back in the day when this Flames Coffee shop was a Bob's Big Boy. I went to the premier of Star Wars back in '77 and had a Big Boy Burger at this very location.
I still go here now and then, usually before or after attending a movie. The food is actually better than Bob's. Here are some of my favorites:
French Dip Sandwich & Fries (Probably the best French Dip in San Jose)
Cajun Chicken Sandwich (Blackened Chicken Breast, Bacon, & Cheese)
Cinnamon Roll French Toast (Egg Dipped Cinnamon Roll)
Bacon Cheese Burger
Oh, and don't forget a huge piece of Chocolate Cake, Big Enough for Two!
My friend and I ate here yesterday, she got the Reuben sandwich she said it was very good. I got the french dip, it was OK, I hate when I have to go into my sandwich and de-fat the meat, I'm a little pickey, otherwise it was good. Definitely had a lot of meat. The french fries were nice and crisp, and pickle was really good. Word of advice don't drink the water, at least not without lemon I hate water that tastes "funny".
Old school classic diner here - reminds me of Reno.
Steak and Eggs is what i usually get - good times.
They even have an old school register
I love breakfast! Especially breakfast for lunch. Flames however has made me worry about the breakfast i receive from any place in the future.
My Review is solely based on my breakfast for lunch experience:
Awful. I Ordered the Short stack with sausage links and can honestly say it was horrendous. After smothering the stack with syrup, the pancakes had the odd flavor of cardboard that has been stored in an attic for about 3 months. (don"t ask how i know that, just go with it). I usually hold sausage links in high regard because they offer a spicy treat from the monotonous taste that pancakes can take on. These links however were hard and bland...almost freezer burned. I thought to my self "maybe its just my meal" so I attempted to try the hash-browns of the person next to me and received an overwhelming taste of margarine, with no potato flavor in sight. I have this ranked at a 2 because I haven't eaten the lunch/dinner menu but from the way breakfast turned out It doesn't look like I'm going to even attempt it.
Cute coffee shop that might have been hip in the 70s - it's kind of old-school but not run down in the least. I felt like I was in another era. Reminds me a little of the random hipster diners (minus the hipsters) that I would frequent back when I was visiting LA more often.
The food itself is great. Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict is served up in generous portions, and it comes with a huge portion of fresh fruit. I also had a side of hash browns, which were brown and crispy on the top. Paz's Greek Omelette was pretty good too - he's not really a fan of feta cheese, but I had no problem picking the chunks off his plate.
Dare I say I think I like this place better than Stacks?
Standard coffee shop look and feel. The omelets are pretty big - but word of warning: don't get the Four Cheese Combo omelet unless you have a high tolerance of cheese. I knew it was a little risky when the description read "filled AND topped with 4 types of cheeses" but as an avid cheese lover I ordered it anyway. And, there is such a thing as something being too cheesy.
Otherwise, service was good and the other food was tasty too. The giant cakes looked tempting enough for me to want to stop by some other time to try out a slice.
This is a decent place to get some grub before going to the movies or shopping at Valley Fair mall. They have reasonable prices and the food is good. I have gone here a bunch of times with my parents and they really like it. I have also gone here with friends as well.
The service is pretty on the level. The waiters are nice and they will give you time to order without being too pushy. the food can sometimes take a while to arrive, which means that they are either making it fresh or it takes a while to unthaw. The steamed veggies are probably frozen and the steak is a bit over cooked, but I have never had any inedible food here. i personally like their hamburger steak. I get it with mashed potatoes, mushrooms and gravy. Delicious with the steamed veggies on the side. It is definitely a stereotypical white trash meal.
While the place is filled with an older crowd in the daytime, the weekend nights can be jumping with the younger teens to twenties and thirties crowd.
Flames saves itself with its excellent service, which was friendly and made me feel as though I were in a diner out in the Midwest or down South.
Yes, they have abnormally large and beautiful cakes, for only $5 a humongous slice. They were disappointing, however, especially the Oreo and the Princess cake. Flames likes to go heavy on the cream. I'd be willing to come back and try the others though. See pictures posted.
Well it really depends on what you are looking for. I would normally give this a three and a half but they fully lived up to my expectations and since you can't do half stars I had to bump them up.
After deciding not to eat at The Village (in Santana Row across the street), my brother and I decided to try Flames. I was really in the mood for an all egg white veggie omelet with whole wheat toast....that's exactly what I got. I asked for no cheese and extra tomatoes and no oil or butter on the omelet or toast....again that's exactly what I got. The taste was as expected, nothing special. My brother found something on the menu that he normally gets but has to order off the menu, an Eggs Benedict with bacon instead of Canadian bacon (except this one came with a tomato and avocado). He enjoyed it well enough.
The wait for a table was very short especially for the time that we went, 11AM Sunday morning. The wait for our food was a little long (I think the made mine wrong and had to recook it), The staff were very friendly and prompt. The price was very good. Overall this was exactly what I wanted when I wanted it.
The joint reminded me of the scene from pulp fiction, expecting to be held up while gorging on chocolate sundaes and princess cake.
service was good. our waitress came by every so often to check on us and made sure our coffees remained topped off.
It's a decent late night diner. I'd hit up Denny's if i had the choice.
The Order:
chocolate sundae
strawberry sundae
slice of princess cake
3 coffees
biscuit and gravy (my favorite)
1 hot cocoa
came out to about $37 pre-tip
Here's a summary:
Eggs - good and greasy.
Hash brown - good and greasy.
Pancakes - good and greasy.
Portions - big and greasy.
Lunch and dinner - bleh. Stick with breakfast.
I get sick every time I eat there. Yet I still go back.
Line starts at winding out the door if you go after 10:00 am on weekends.
Yo, one of the server in there is a dead ringer for Pedro in Napoleon Dynamite. Check it out.
For breakfast I like an omelet, chicken fried steak, or just over medium eggs with hash browns. Most of all, I need to have good pancakes. If you are like me, go to Country Inn. Their pancakes are killer.
I got the country breakfast ($10) - The meats and eggs were good, the hash browns were ok, not crispy as I ordered, and the pancakes were not very tasty, but better than IHOP. Honestly, I would have liked it more if I had ordered it with whole wheat toast.
Hubz got the Huevos Rancheros($9), and it was very bland, with hardly any sauce, like two tablespoons.
The food seems to be aimed at the mostly octogenarian clientele. Kind of bland, but large portions can be had for cheap.
When I was in high school at least once a week my best friend and I cut school during second period to eat at flames. It was both a tradition and routine. We'd order the two egg breakfast, scrambled with wheat toast. We spent all of our time together and rarely invited anyone else along. There was a waiter there, the "water guy" who would always stare at me and she'd make fun of me for his obvious interest.
I miss her since she now lives in Washington and I miss the absolute freedom of those days. we'd roll up to flames in the partially rusted yellow bug blasting Pantera, or Tool or Janet Jackson or Papa Roach because that's who we were then. Later it would be "the eagle" we'd drive up in. Now I might come here without her after shopping at Santana Row and I'll see that guy and think of her the most honest reflection of who I was back then and the only person who really knows everything about me.
As for the breakfast, Flames is great for the standards and I've heard only bad things about the dinner menu. The sandwiches are good and the cakes are legendary.
When I began coming to flames as a teenager with Alex I didn't realize we'd be making the most endearing memories doing such trivial things.
I only miss a few things in my life.
WOW-you want a piece of cake, then Flames is where it's at. If you read my Dick's Bakery review, then you know I am a fiend for the sweets! My friend was up from San Diego this past weekend, and I suggested we take a coffee break(just like the way the used to say it on SNL). She obliged and we walked from Santana Row to Flames. Upon entering, I felt like I was in a scene from Seinfeld; specifically, a restaurant where his parents might take Jerry if he were visiting their retirement community in Florida. It was so comedic and classic. I was hoping to see a flamingo,but I think I missed it.
Either way, the display case was gleaming with sugary delight. I wanted Boston Cream, Banana Cream, Chocolate cream, Tiramisu...I just could not make up my mind.
AND THEN.....
it spoke to me...the caramel something err rother pie...
WOW...sprinkles, chocolate, a cookie crust, with a marshmallow cream filling. IT WAS ALL SO MUCH. My heart was hating me, but my taste buds were loving it. Even the coffee tasted sweet.
Yes, I had to hit the gym...but it was worth it. After giving into our craving, both my friend and I had a sugar coma. To our credit, we did not finish the slices. However, midway through our eating fiasco, we then were craving something salty. We ordered fries and hot sauce. Don't call me a big girl yet...but...boy were we just snack-ie!
Either way, flames is great...and you truly must go...if not for the playful banter, OK coffee, and great CAKE! Props the waitress with the cocktail earrings. She was nice and enjoyed laughing at our food changes.
Ok, I must revise myself after last night's dinner. The service was impeccable! The waitress was totally sweet, kind, considerate, and overall awesome. Must bring it up to five stars now. The food was really good as usual and I look forward to coming here more often!
The food here is excellent, but can you say assembly-line service?! Geez! The server sure didn't… Read more »
After taking The Future (my 2yr old nephew, Mano) on a drive through Vasona Park for their illuminated Christmas lights display (much fun, BTW, but pricey at $12 a vehicle so bring a vanload of peeps!) we were hungry but wholly indecisive. We ended up at Flames...
Now I like this Flames second to the Milpitas Flames, though I can't quantify why, but this one is good too. You're not going to get great food at Flames and I don't think they aim to wow you with their culinary skills anyhow. But you will find four pages of hearty (and heart-stopping) diner options, from hefty Maserati Omelettes to Monte Cristo Sandwiches to 3/4 lb. Flames Burgers. And cakes... if what you saw with your eyes could satisfy you, then cakes at Flames, for sheer size alone, could leave you with a tummy ache... (alas, they're not remarkably good, but they are monumental in size!).
Flames is kitschy goodness! They won't be winning any awards for fashion or interior design anytime soon. In fact, they seem to be running headlong in the other direction. But what they lack in style is more than made up for in service! I have consistently receieved outstanding personal service at each and every Flames I've gone to and this location is no exception.
Go in with a hunger to appease and a forgiving palate and you'll be fine and full in no time...
"No, seriously? ... turkey, ham and cheese sandwich? ... then they dip it in batter? ...and fry the d@mn thing?! Oh, well, at least they serve it with fruit..."
We needed some breakky on the way to the Mystery House, and Flames was just what the doctor ordered. I totally heart old-school California joints (such as the Century 21/22/23 theaters next door).
The staff were friendly, helpful, and quick. The indoor fake plastic plants were Technicolor and *perfect*. My breakfast? Huge, fairly priced, and extremely good.
'Tis a no-brainer. Skip "Santana Row" and catch a bite at Flames.
my number one choice when I am too hungover to do any cooking. Actually I preferred the cupertino location but it has closed. this place has a huge menu. I like sticking to breakfast. the portions are large enough to soak up any left over booze I may have in my stomach. The wait on the weekends can be long but it's worth the wait. the cakes here are huge and are dr suess like. I'm too chicken to try any cake since I don't want to do any more overtime in the gym.
***monte cristo is greasy goodness
Chili's Gift Cards
San Jose, CA
Lunch Special $4.99
San Jose, CA
San Jose, CA
Category: American (Traditional)
San Jose, CA
Category: Diners
San Jose, CA
Category: American (Traditional)
San Jose, CA
Category: American (Traditional)
San Jose, CA
Category: American (New)
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