Cape Fear Cafe

Went here for my birthday with my teenage daughters as we were browsing the shops at Duncan Mills and got hungry mid-​afternoon. We all had vegeburgers and fries and they were quite simply AWESOME! The garden burgers were fried to perfection, not microwaved, the buns were fresh and toasted on both sides, there was a large quarter pickle on the side, the fries were hot and crispy, but soft on the inside and had a yummy house seasoning on them. The owner/​waiter was a little unfriendly until we made an effort to warm her up. After our meal she brought me a lovely piece of chocolate cheesecake with a lighted candle and 3 forks so we could share «on the house» to celebrate my birthday which was really thoughtful! Would definitely go back. $ 35 for 3 was reasonable — we didn’t order drinks. I’m a big eggs benedict fan so would definitely try that for brunch some time.

Great place to stop for breakfast along the Russian River. There aren’t a ton of options in the area so it can be crowded. There’s a nice little deck out back. I usually go for the benedicts, Charleston or Nik’s. Consistent quality and service, get your breakfast fix here!

If I could give negative stars I would. I should of walked out when I saw some lady yelling at someone in the kitchen when I walked in the door. Since I’ve been here before a few times I decided to stay. Bad choice. The waiter was the only pleasant thing about this place. My food had a long hair in it and I couldn’t even finish eating. I lost my appetite after that and I won’t be a return customer.

We came here for breakfast 3÷29÷16 with family, my daughter love their omelette (bacon, cheese & avocado) I never seen her finished her omelette that quick. My husband and I had their fish and chips which was really good. (A Lil bit on a batter) but you can tell it was fresh. We will definitely coming back when we are in the area.

Went up to Jenner for my 60+ Birthday last weekend. Ate here three times over the course of two days. I’ve never been to the French Laundry but have been to Brennen’s and many other fine restaurants in my life and this ranks among the best. As to the service the people there are the finest kind, attentive, friendly, and caring. I would not hesitate to recommend Cape Fear to any of my friends and the rest of the travelers going to the area!

I tried to go to this place twice. First based off the time listed on Unilocal,and they were closed. The next day I called and heard the recording stating their Fall hours are different and they would be open till 8:30pm. Got there at 6:45pm and they were closed.
Boo!

Best fried oyster poboy I’ve ever had. I’ve been to New Orleans many many times too! The muscles are wonderful too. Great food and service with outdoor seating. Highly recommend!

We were excited to try it. Maybe we had our hopes up a little too high based on the name. The service was fair, the food ok, nothing special but adequate. I’m a huge fan of bread pudding so I have their’s a try, again it was ok. Not worth going out of your way for. I had the Memphis Benedict and the grits were pretty good as was the country sausage. Orange juice was not fresh squeezed. I’d say the high points were the coffee and the atmosphere.

We made reservations for 10 this past Saturday. We arrived at 5:30 and they had the table all set up and our waitress was so pleasant. The food here is amazing! Fresh and local. I had two appetizers; shrimp and grits (oh my!) and the salmon/​crab cakes (oh my goodness!!). Both were amazingly good. I even got to sample the clam chowder with bacon from someone else at the table. I think everyone cleaned their plates too. The prices are very reasonable for such good food. To top it off, the lemon cheesecake with raspberry glaze was a perfect finish.

OMG! My husband and I ate the BEST Eggs Benedict of our lives yesterday for brunch. I ordered the smoked salmon and grits and he got the traditional. Let me tell you, I did not expect the salmon to be homemade/​smoked and it was delicious! There was a sweetness to the smoking that made the salmon so good. It was also made with fresh spinach that wasn’t cooked to death and still had a little crunch to it… unbelievably good. The grits were also cooked to perfection. He couldn’t stop raving about the incredible Hollandaise sauce and the fact the English muffins were so beautifully toasted and the poached eggs perfect!
Wow, it’s almost worth the 2 hour trip to go there for bunch! We happened to have stayed in Monte Rio a couple of days and wanted to eat before heading home.
That beautiful breakfast held me over to near dinnertime!
GO THERE FOR BRUNCH!

One of the worst service I have experienced that I was compelled to write a review.
Waited total 1 hour and 20 min and after a coffee, beer and two glasses of wine later, with no one coming back to check if we needed refills, realized that they completely forgot our order.
The owner was rude and curt and didn’t even have the courtesy to come to our table to apologize. She just said ‘sorry’ as we walked out.

Yes! Breakfast madness. On our way to the Ocean, after we had seen the awesome redwood trees (a*m*a*z*i*n*g! Need to see it live!) we stopped at this place and had breakfast. We were sitting outside in the sun on the back terrace in the sun waiting for our omelets we ordered.
I had a red orleander omelet with fried red bell peppers and Swiss cheese. It came along with home made fries and a slice of toast sourdough bread (at least I thought that’s what it was. Before that we had some bread with butter and a selection of jam/​marmalade.
The coffee was pretty good and so was the omelet and a pretty large portion as well. The guy who served us was very friendly and you could see that he liked what he was doing. For the 3 omelets and coffee we paid like 45 $ including tip. Quite okay and I would strongly recommend eating there when in the area checkin on Mother Nature ;))

Oh my goodness, mimosas and eggs benedicts all around. We stopped in for breakfast and mostly went with benedicts and everything was amazingly good (really, we loved those grits). Great service and a beautiful little area, overall it was a memorable and tasty experience for us all.

5 stars for food. I got the salmon-​crab cakes with salad, an Arnold Palmer, and shared the lemon cheesecake with my parents. They both got burgers and we all really enjoyed the meals. The glass of wine my mom got was quite pricey in comparison to the prices of everything else. Our waiter was super friendly, she was newer she said. Super funny, cracked jokes with my silly dad. The other woman however, with the reddish hair and full face of makeup, never smiled once and was just kinda… Unfriendly, shouldn’t be in restaurant/​café/​general customer service… Ever. Apparently other people feel the same way from the reviews. Everything else was nice!

This is a restaurant I enjoy eating at in the summer months. My two favorite dishes is the Hangtown Fry, and the Oyster Poor Boy! While the food is very good generally, the service is odd and extremely distant at times, bordering on disinterest. I’ve never had such impersonal and detached service ever in my life. Not rude mind you, just cold and uncaring. I would suggest a little more smiles, perhaps some verbal interaction with the customers to enhance their visit to your establishment, and refill my water glass without my asking 3 or 4 times. This joint is way off the beaten path, the food is good, but you have to «look like» your happy to have us as customers. More stars easily with more positive service.

Colleen and I had lunch here yesterday morning. I had the Waffles with banana and molasses butter. It was delightful. Colleen had the garden omelet with potatoes sausage. Colleen said it was very good. The bread was excellent.
The outside patio ambience is very country French with lots of beautiful flowers to look at.
The service was very good.

This is a weird place. Food is ok, nothing to write home about. Apps were not good and took a long time, got walnut crusted «goat cheese» which was basically a block of cream cheese crusted in walnuts and topped with a peach compote, didn’t taste goat cheese at all … I would have rather had 4 oz of actual goat cheese than that behemoth of a dessert for an appetizer.
The service (think her name was Tina) was terrible; I’ve never had such an odd, impersonal, inconsistent server anywhere. My dad asked what her favorite dish was and she couldn’t remember what even comes on the dish she recommended. Dropped her pen down the back of my boyfriend’s chair when she was walking by our table, and instead of asking him to get it, she just reached down his back without any warning. She brought the wrong beer, brought beer we didn’t order, never asked about refills, never smiled… Lame.
The bussers were much more friendly and helpful, and actually smiled! I’d have rather had the busboy waiting on us because at least he was actually cheerful. He was happily checking on tables and seeing if they had what they needed. Promote him and demote the lady that waited on us, please.
I know this is a remote, fairly touristy area so it’s going to be hit or miss. The little village this café is in is super cute with some great shops. Maybe bring a picnic lunch… Definitely skip this place. Won’t be back.

So I’ve never walked out of a restaurant before. Never even close to it.
This place started out fine. Got some ok bread shortly after sitting and placing our order. Then waited probably 20m for our appetizers. Kind of long to wait, but not horrible — it is Sat night and they’re close to full. Another 15m without anything, no water, drink refills or a check in. The tables around us that arrived after us are already on to entrees. Finally our waitress comes back with salads and a drink refill. Didn’t realize we had salad coming, but thanks. Another 15−20m of nothing. Previously mentioned tables are finishing desserts and getting checks. I ask about our entrees, waitress says they’re on the way and something about how «everything hit at the same time». Another 10−15m, and I finally throw in the towel. Paid for what we owed, cancelled the entrees even though «they’re in the pan».
Look, just be straight. You forgot to put the order in. That’s fine, but put some urgency in if so. Luckily the apps and salads we had were pretty big, so we didn’t leave hungry.
Ridiculously poor service. Forgettable apps. Definitely won’t be back.

I have to admit I thought Duncan Mills was an abandoned theme park when Jamie W. and I stopped by on a Saturday morning up in Sonoma County. It’s on a particularly bucolic stretch of Hwy 116 between Guerneville and the coast, and it’s a real head-​scratcher why this tribute to Petticoat Junction exists in the middle of nowhere. Even so, we were staying in nearby Monte Rio that weekend, and I had suggested we come back here for dinner since we’ve already tried most of the dining options in Guerneville. I believe it’s the only restaurant on the northern part of this village since the historic Blue Heron Restaurant & Tavern lies across the road.
And before you ask, yes, it looks like it’s named after the movie, not the Robert DeNiro remake but the Robert Mitchum original since a vintage poster hangs over the bar (photo:
). The main building consists of a slanted roof and one dining room. Three other tables were occupied but otherwise it was a slow evening for them… and for us (photo:
). The dinner menu provided a reasonable selection of familiar American dishes with a few global touches from Italy and Thailand (photo:
). Since the server was so convincing in her pitch, we both decided to order off the menu and went for their evening specials that weekend.
Jamie tried the $ 19.95 Fried Catfish, two fillets lightly breaded and accompanied by mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus (photo:
). It was not an offensive dish by any means, but it was rather bland with nothing to make it stand out on one’s palate. Mine was marginally disappointing as well as I ordered the $ 27.95 Prime Rib, which I must learn not to do unless I’m at a place that honestly specializes in serving it. Cape Fear Café is not one of those places. While the cut was ample and prepared medium-​rare to my request, a full third of the slab was pure gristle. I received the same mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus as the sides (photo:
).
We both got as starters, pieces of focaccia accompanied by a homemade tapenade (photo:
), as well as small salads with cranberries and a gloppy balsamic vinaigrette (photo:
). Neither were remotely terrible nor all that memorable, although what helped considerably was the wine. I ordered a $ 7.50 glass of the buttery Blackstone Merlot which went down my gullet quite easily (photo:
). Jamie had similar satisfaction with his $ 6.50 glass of Placido Pinot Grigio, and we both agreed the $ 7.50 slice of Applesauce Carrot Cake hit the spot since it had pineapple, coconut, raisins, pecans and cream cheese buttercream (photo:
). What’s not to like about that?
FOOD — 3 stars… pretty standard American fare but except for the wine and the dessert, it escapes the memory quickly
AMBIANCE — 3.5 stars… like eating in a B&B cottage
SERVICE — 3.5 stars… attentive though a bit packaged
TOTAL — 3 stars… if you want a fancier dinner in the middle of the woods, you could do worse

This café has super friendly service and nice atmosphere. Our server was patient with our foreign guest who has a wheat intolerance.
The real reason for writing this review, though, is the best clam chowder I ever had. Yes I said that. The clams and bacon to potato ratio– 1:1 and smokey bacon flavor oh man. I won’t forget it. The chowder wasn’t overwhelmed with the soup part either. Every spoonful was chunky.
I really liked the oyster po boy too. I’ll be thinking of more excuses to go to the beach.