Ramona Cafe - Ramona, CA

Posted By Michael Stern on December 28, 2001 3:39 AM

Southern California has no bigger breakfast than “The Kitchen Sink” at the Romona Café. In one broad ceramic skillet you are served what seems to be a pound of fried potatoes mixed with plenty of bacon and ham plus mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, sausage-dotted gravy, and two kinds of cheese, topped with a pair of eggs cooked as you like them and accompanied by a big, square biscuit. If you want a meal that is far less complicated, but nearly as satisfying, consider Ramona Café’s “blue ribbon” cinnamon roll: a half-pound circle of hot, sweet pastry veined with cinnamon sugar and accompanied by two paper cups of butter.

Other good breakfast options include omelets of all kinds, plus an array of egg-free “Home Fry Specials,” which are broad hills of good fried potatoes topped with any four ingredients from a long list that includes ham and bacon, taco meat and sausage, chilies, peppers, four different kinds of cheese, sausage gravy, and garlic. If you really like garlic, check out the “Gilroy Omelet” (named for the California town that has proclaimed itself the garlic capital of the world): ham, bacon, mushrooms, cheddar and jack cheese, plus lots of garlic.

While breakfast is the meal by which many travelers know Ramona Café, it also happens to be a fine place for hearty lunch. There are good-size cheeseburgers, hot meat loaf sandwiches, turkey pot pie, and superb fried chicken that is crusted with breading made from the café’s good breakfast biscuits. The list of pies is a long one, including apple and rhubarb and a chocolate peanut butter pie that we once had as dessert for breakfast before a long drive inland, where good eats grow scarce.

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Posted By Phil Olea on May 7, 2008 11:27 AM

As a customer of The Ramona Café for many years, I miss the great meals they serve when I am traveling around the world. I have a funny occupation; I have been designing and creating restaurant point of sale software for Microsoft for the past 20 years, so I am in restaurants nearly every day of my life. I also get the chance to go and visit the customers in the field. Eating breakfast at Denny’s is a 2 or 3, and eating breakfast at The Ramona Café is an 8 or 9.

I typically have the ABC omelet (avocado, bacon, and cheese) with cubed potatoes (minus the onions), sourdough toast, and a side of crispy bacon. I have never had a bad meal and I have eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner there for over 10 years.

Typically the weekends are a little crazy until about 1pm (though they serve breakfast until 2:30) which is great for my wife as she enjoys a Buffalo burger with cheddar cheese, bacon, and mushrooms, and I enjoy my breakfast. After our great meal, we typically head to Julian to walk through the town and shop (plus to walk off the calories).

We use to live in Ramona and I would visit more frequently, though when I am in town, I drive from La Jolla to enjoy a great breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

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Posted By Denise Duvall on February 27, 2008 9:59 PM

After seeing the Ramona Cafe featured on "Drive-ins, Diners and Dives," we decided to take a drive out to the country for lunch. We were VERY disappointed!

I ordered the fried chicken Cordon Bleu that was rated so highly on the show. After waiting almost an hour for our food to arrive, it was dry and lukewarm. The mashed potatoes were barely warm, and the same for the gravy. My dining partners ordered fish and chips, and chicken fried steak. The CFS arrived hot and tasty.

The waitress kept forgetting to bring us items that came with our meals, and every time her excuse was "I never work the lunch shift, only the breakfast shift." The best part about the meal was the dinner salad, and that isn't saying much. This will be my first and last visit to the Ramona Cafe!

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