Holder's Country Inn
Categories: Desserts, Diners, Breakfast & Brunch, American (Traditional) [Edit]
998 S De Anza BoulevardSan Jose, CA 95129 (408) 244-2798
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Good for: Breakfast
- Alcohol: None
53 reviews
San Jose, CA
"who would've guessed my first 5 star review would be about an indian restaurant, given that i am not a big fan of it. This place was great.…" read more »
28 Reviews for Holder's Country Inn
Service is warm and friendly, quick too, I imagine this to be how a trucker stop along Route 66 would feel like. I've eaten breakfast here a few times and it's never disappointed me.
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Love this place. Great for breakfast or lunch. The crepes, waffles and coffee were great. Very friendly atmosphere. Good prices. Good location on DeAnza and open on Easter Sunday...
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Yelp, you usually don't do me wrong, but, well, this time you kinda did.
This place gets 2 stars because the hash browns were tasty.
I got the Swedish pancakes everyone raves about and they were nothing spectacular. IHOP's are easily better, which is disappointing because I would rather purchase from a local chain. One of the pancakes weirdly had carbon on it (a black filmy substance).
Our waitress sat at a booth chatting with another waitress. I eventually had to get up to get my own coffee and refresh my own cream, as the cream they had on my table had obviously been sitting out for a couple hours.
My boyfriend's omelet looked sparse on the eggs and kinda not very good. He had a side of Swedish pancakes as well, and weirdly found a wee tub of whipped butter inside of his scoop of ligonberry butter. Nothing horrible, but it seemed odd.
Again, we enjoyed the hash browns. However, the staff seemed generally apathetic and the coffee did not flow!
I'm from the South where we KNOW our breakfast; I have yet to find a place in the Bay Area that truly "gets it".
All in all this place rates a "Meh."
Very tasty, fast service, and they kept the coffee flowing (very important).
This is a diner/Denny's kind of atmosphere, but the food is great. Country-style, hearty food. They really pile it on.
I've only gone here for breakfast, but it was great. Try the Hash Benedict - fabulous for us that don't like bacon.
My first thought upon walking into Holder's Country Inn was "so this is where all the white people in Cupertino hang out" :p
They get 3.5 stars for their friendly service, cool old cash register, and the fond memories I have of studying there during fall semester finals over tea and eggs and thick-cut bacon. Most of their dishes are... well, not gourmet, but consistently edible, although I did have a less than tasty encounter with a Caesar salad. My advice is not to order anything you wouldn't get at Ihop, but that you can expect good things from their breakfasts (big portions, too).
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I have been here a lot over the years with my family. Swedish pancakes seem to be there special dish. I wore that at 5 years ago when that was what I would get everytime. Now I get the veggie scambles and they fill me up too much. They sholud try to make the food better instead of making it bigger so losers like me don't eat it all.
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I have been to all locations here in the south bay, and I have got to say S W E D I S H P A N C A K E S Yummmmy! A wide variety of menu options to choose from, I always end up getting the same thing. I know what I like! I can't speak for the lunch and dinner items, but breakfast is devine! I try to dine there every other weekend.
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Nothing beats a Sunday morning breakfast like Country Inn.
Well, actually, nothing beats a Sunday Lunch, like Country Inn. I always want to go in the morning for breakfast, but I am typically WAAAAAY too hungover to get there in the a.m.
This place has just some of the best home style cooking evuuur. Its a great place to binge eat on comfort foods. Where else do you get the option of toast, english muffin or PANCAKES?! pancakes instead of toast?! are you kidding?! why aren't there pancakes in my mouth right now?! (how foolish of me to assume that other places do this too, but that's besides the point)
Some of my recommendations:
Corned beef hash and eggs with pancakes. It sounds like a lot. and it is. but you would be a fool to not attempt to finish all of it.
Chocolate chip pancakes. enough said
Tuna Melt with a side of fries. funny that the fries are made differently at this location vs. the saratoga ave location. THEY ARE WAY BETTER here.... mmmmmm seasoned fries
I give this place 5 stars because i love it. and i haven't brought a single person here that didn't fall in love with it.
My parents are in their late 60's and make it a point to come once a week for those damn senior specials and they hate to drive. so if they can drive their old asses out for an early bird dinner, why can't you?!
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It's like a Dennys/Carrows but with slightly better service and food quality.
As others mention, it's decently priced and their pancakes were good!
The customers are generally older and the employees seem to be long timers too.
I would recommend!
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My boyfriend and I go here ALL the time on Fridays when neither of us have school or anything because we love breakfast and can never wake up in time to get to other breakfast spots that all close by 3. Who is awake and ready to go out of the house before 3?! I swear...
Anyways, there are tons of old people here, which is funny because my grandma introduced me to this place. And it tastes the same as it did when I was 10, which is a good thing. The patrons are "interesting." Last week there was a political discussion going on about how Condi should be the Republican V.P. nominee. The 75 year old guy didn't seem to know why, except that it might be cool.
I've only had the breakfast, most notably the Swedish pancakes (YUMMM). They also have a decent omelette. The best one I've had is the California. They put like a whole avacado on top, which is awesome because I hate when restaurants skimp on avacado.
This is definitely a family-style restaurant...locally ran chain.
I have had several things here, but my absolute favorite is the Joe's Scramble add the beef. And I get the big flat pancake on the side with the eewey gooey lingonberry butter.
The service is always impeccable as it old school type service. The best!
Ok so its waaaay past breakfast....lets say around 8pm and your having this massive craving for panckaes, waffles, and omelettes...OH MY.
Where should you go?
Dennys? oh no my dear....
I Hop? God NO unless you enjoy rubber discs with Aunt Jemima syrup! No thanks....
You need to scoot your little bum bum over here.
You can rely on this resturant to never change and always serve a good breakfast.
This is not going to be best breakfast of your life. If you want that head to The Original House of Pancakes . BUT they are only open till 2pm if you're lucky....!!!
But the Country Inn is far better than the afore mentioned resturants.
(If you can call them that!)
I love this place . Their swedish pancakes are GREAT!. With the rasberry or maybe strawberry butter on top! Yummy!!!!
I love that they give huge GYNORMOUS proportions.
So order an omelette (they have many) You get a huge 3 egg omelette with a massive amount of hash browns AND then a choice of 2 buttermilk pancakes or 2 swedish pancakes or toast.... ALL OF THAT for $8.95 Now thats a steal.
They have millions of choices of eggs, any way you can think of cooking them with tons of ingriedients.
I also adore there chocolate chip pancakes and pigs in a blanket. Yum!
If your pal that you brought here isnt in the mood for breakfast. HEY NO PROBLEM . They serve soups, salads, sandwhiches, burgers and tons of chops and steaks and such. A huge variety for anything. Now remember this isnt gourmet. But it is good.
Also i must say if you are feeling signifgantly hungry that day.... You must try a milkshake. One of the few places in the bay that i will drink a milkshake You know its quality made. Not like jack in the box. ;)
Ps they are open till 10pm!
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I frequently crave breakfast in the afternoon and late at night. I found this place through yelp and it's my fave breakfast place so far. I have yet to try The Original Pancake House. The pancakes here are fluffy pillows of goodness and their swedish pancakes (topped with Lingonberry butter and powdered sugar) melt in your mouth. Their food isn't as greasy as Denny's food, is there a restaurant that makes greasier breakfast food than Denny's? My hubby and I eat here at least three times a month. One complaint: their coffee is gross, really weak, get their hot chocolate.
Used to be the Denny's I frequented many a time as a teen growing up in Cupertino....
Most of the waitresses look like Flo from Alice.....but mine wasn't as charming nor practiced good waitress ettiquette.
My wife and I went there for a late lunch so there wasn't a big rush nor many other patrons. There WAS a couple right across from us that looked close to finishing their meal. The guy, stooped over his plate looking bored and disinterested. His GF, a real cute Asian gal, had a huge puddle of ketchup on her plate aside a few random french fries.
She would dip the entire fry into the ketchup, rendering it "Heinz Red" ..then proceeded to do this weird fellatio thing with it...ending the experience with like a butterfly kiss at the top of the fry Her man looked like he was an hour into a long line at the DMV.
....Needless to say I was mezmorized for like 5 minutes. My wife just shook her head and laughed when I whispered to her about her after they left.....
Oh yeah, I had a California Burger (avocado, havarti, medium well) that was executed marginally well. Wife had a huge omlette, stack O pancakes, and some hashbrowns.
Weird thing about our waitress. She never once acknowledged me. 5 straight times she spoke to my wife, but never to me....she never really asked what I wanted....she just grunted at me after my wife gave her her order... Minus 1 star for this.....it was just plain rude...anyhoo...there's millions of more exciting places to go to grubb...but I will still remember that french fry girl....
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Great, greasy-spoonish. You only really bother for the breakfast, which you can get all day.
I'm a sorry excuse for a white person, but this is where I go when I need my fix of diner/coffee shop stuff. Their primary clientele are old white people with cadillacs, so you know it's good before you even go in. They have a ton of egg dishes which are all fantastic. Get an egg dish.
Everything is greasy, in the best way possible. The coffee is really good for diner coffee.
EDIT: AND JESUS CHRIST ON A CROSS, the omelets! Fluffy, fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy. I got a linguica omelet and it was heavenly. Fluffy, as expected, with cheese and big pieces of tomato and sausage and onions. My review does not do justice to this omelet.
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This is THE place to go if you want some good cakes, great breakfasts, or delicious, simple home-cooked food. The ambience is elegant and the seating area is very spacious. The portions are so generous that you always need to take home half of your plate.
Don't miss their chicken-fried steak--it's the best I have had in California. Also, check their daily specials; sometimes you can find gourmet items like crab salad, which has more than 1/2 lb of real crab meat.
By the way, the cakes on display look soooooo good....
Country Inn also has one location In Santa Clara on El Camino and Scott and another in San Jose on Saratoga.
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the absolute best tuna melt i've ever had in my life. crisy butter sourdough goodness outside and tuna and cheese melting loveliness inside!
my new favorite lunch spot!
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I really like popping into this place from time to time for brunch on the weekends. This place definitely gives you some of the diner vibe due to the counter service by the kitchen, but it is definitely welcoming. The waitresses are mostly older and they call you "hon" or "dear" a lot. The food is nothing fancy, but it's definitely hearty and good. You can order up omelettes, pancakes, sandwiches, sausages, and pretty much any down home American food you could ever want.
The portions are big and you do get value for your money here.... you definitely won't go home hungry. I usually order omelettes which all come with a side of either buttermilk pancakes, swedish pancakes, or toast. If you haven't had swedish pancakes before, you really have to try 'em. They're really thin pancakes with a more eggy flavor which are then topped with a dallop of lingonberry butter. I don't even know what a lingonberry is, but it's GOOD!
This place gets four stars for good, hearty, and consistent food for a decent price. It's not gourmet or fancy at all, but it's a solid deal that shouldn't disappoint. On another note, I had always thought that this place was in Cupertino, but I guess it must be on the border of Cupertino and San Jose. If you look on a map, that part of De Anza Boulevard runs right through Cupertino. =P
Just went here for lunch for the umpteenth time. I love breakfast. Typical diner here. They probably haven't changed since the late 70s. The plasma display showing CNN seems out of place. But none of that really matters to the food.
When I come here, I always get the Jake's Special. It's a spinache, beef, cheese omelette with hashbrowns and two pancakes for $8.95. I substitute in sausage for beef. Trade out the pancakes for the strawberry pancakes. DELICIOUS! It's an incredible amount of food. Doesn't matter what time of day it is; it'll always make me want to take a nap.
The service staff is particularly well mannered. As we were leaving the restaurant today, one of the bus boys runs out after us. He asks us if we paid our bill, where we left the cash, etc. Then he goes, "Where did you leave your sunglasses?" Oops. He brought out the forgotten pair. Awesome people here -- they are a bit slow, but all seem like nice people.
Mmmmm... Pepper Plant Sauce... ::droooooool::
Ok, so the best thing about this place is that they serve Pepper Plant Sauce (Condiment of the Gods.)
But you know what? The breakfast food is a close second. Fantastic omelettes, crisp yet moist hash-browns, and swedish pancakes with lingonberry butter and powdered sugar. Yum, yummy, yum-yum.
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My cousin and I noticed many senior citizens that seemed to have just gotten out of the hospital or something. They were all bandaged up and what not. My onion rings were delicious and my blintzes were OK. My cousins' apple crepes had too much whipped cream, but the sauteed apples were mighty fine and the garlic pepper sauce that we thought was "theirs" was really from a bottle and wasn't homemade.
I came here with a friend and was pleasantly surprised. We had to wait a few moments for a table, but having cute stuffed animals for sale to look at, I didn't mind at all. We were quickly seated. I'd had a craving for feta a few weeks, so my decision to order the Greek omelette didn't take very long. And Swedish pancakes is their typical side! I got my food, and being full was hardly enough to stop me. Everything was delicious- it'd been years since I'd had Swedish pancakes, and the omelette was very fresh with a wonderful blend of all the flavors- olives, artichokes, and feta. It was delicious.
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Standard, hearty American breakfasts (served all day) as well as burgers and sandwiches. This is a big restaurant, with a mix of booths and tables and the ubiquitous counter. Service is efficient and impersonal. It's easy to overeat here.
My husband was madly in love with his blueberry pancakes piled high with blueberries. They were equally good at the location on Saratoga (http://www.yelp.com/bi...).
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Love, love, love the Swedish pancakes with the lingonberry butter! The food and service is terrific here! The busboy, Roberto, is awesome! He's always refilling my water glass and coffee(usually with fresh coffee). One of my favorite breakfast restaurants!
Okay, so pancakes aside, their food is typical diner food. Their buttermilk pancakes though, are really good. Maybe it's that huge pat of butter (or butter substitute) that they put with every order of pancakes. Most of their breakfast plates (omelettes, eggs, meats, etc...) will come with a side plate of 2-3 huge buttermilk pancakes. Their coffee is surprisingly good for a diner too (which they brag about on the back of the menu)
Delicious breakfast, decently priced! I'm not big on breakfast foods but I LOVE coming to country inn xD I think its delicious :) Everyone that serves there tends to be older but it gives it a diner feel. If you don't go at peak hours, seating is pretty quick.
I always get the steak and eggs. Did I mention I'm not big on breakfast food? xP Most of what you order will come with a choice of regular buttermilk pancakes, swedish pancakes or toast. I think it's a fab deal ;)
They also do dinner and lunch as well. However, I haven't tried even though they offer it every time I go in there with their specials menu.
This is an upgraded coffee shop. I have found the breakfast menu to be good, especially the omelettes. I have not had such good luck with the regular dinner menu having had some mediocre steaks and other uninspired meals. However, we have found the large evening special menu to be very good and very reasonable in price. The service is good and the staff are very pleasant. The dining room is simple but clean and well maintained. I don't give it five stars simply because I don't think it is that kind of restaurant but is as good as a coffee shop can be.
i love breakfast foods. nice atmosphere and good food. i like their florentine omelet and you gotta get their swedish pancakes.
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