Sonomas of Sandgate

I’ve eaten here a number of times, but it was many years ago. Since then I’ve rarely seen it open. It’s not uncommon to see hundreds of people wandering around the sea side and Sonomas is closed. They sell Gelato, or at least they would if they were ever open during daylight hours.

Great view, reasonable food and reasonably priced.

My experience at Sonomas could not be more opposing to the previous review, it is of course, all subjective and everyone’s entitled to their opinion.
My partner and I, and throngs of friends and family have been dining at Sonomas since shortly after it opened (2005?).
We have always found the food to be tasty, interesting and of a high quality. I absolutely love the Pumpkin Pizza with spicy onion Jam, Mignonet Pavorotti and it’s replacement, Mignonet Sonomas and the Sandcrab Lasagne to name a few.
Their new house baked bread is to. die. for.
The service has always been personable and professional and the staff really friendly. We’ve gotten to know the owners over the years as regular customers. David and Nikki are a hoot, they are as passionate about their offering as they are funny and generous with their time– always taking a moment to say Hi, welcome us back and catch up. We’ve recently moved further away from Sonomas but still make the trip to Sandgate.
Sonoma’s pricing is also pretty good too, some mains creep over $ 30, but you pay that for generic fair at The Coffee Club, so it’s horses for courses. I have remarked in the past that a few items on their breakfast menu could be too cheap, with urban hole in the wall cafes charging upwards of $ 18 for Eggs Benedict and Sonoma’s sitting around the $ 15 mark.
David’s passion for wine is another reason we keep heading back, as wine buffs ourselves we appreciate his knowledge and passion for wine and the often exclusive additions to Sonoma’s short but concise wine list that derive from David’s annual trips to wine country.
I can’t commend Sonomas enough, we have always been looked after and made to feel like valued guests. I encourage you to give Sonomas a try and make up your own mind.

Screw you Sonomas of Sandgate. Sorry to be so harsh, but when friends move to Sandgate it would be nice if there was a decent breakfast option around and you are most definitely NOT it.
The reason for 2 stars is the location, it’s across from the water so you get the bayside experience, but aside from that it’s all meh, meh, MEH as far as I’m concerned. I know this is harsh, but I’ve been here 3 times now and I’m at the point of buying breakfast provisions and cooking for my friends instead (which sucks when you’re hung over).
The food is expensive and crap. Eggs over done, uninspired, greasy breakfasts, can’t even cook mushrooms right. Coffee is also pretty blah and service has always had problems.
This is a really harsh review, and I’m sorry for it as I’m generally quite polite, but I just get so frustrated when an established café like this is allowed to exist simply because there’s no competition. You guys have the location and the venue, would it really be so freaking hard to cook me a decent meal?