Daybreak Cafe & Catering Co

[EDIT] R.I.P. Daybreak. We will miss you.
This location is now the home of Sushi Tao restaurant.
The best eating place in Arcata! They have an awesome, laid back atmosphere, and always good music emanating from the kitchen. A cheap college student might think the prices are a bit high, but the portions are big and the food is always good and consistent. They have a variety of good menu items with both vegetarian and meat friendly options (and cashew gravy to die for). I only wish they were open later; who doesn’t want potatoes and fresh steamed veggies covered in cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream at 2 in the morning?

The other reviews are spot on. This is a small, comfortable, delightful, home-​style, friendly and warm place. I eat meat but I love the fact that the vegetarian options are the default and you have to request things like real bacon. Similarly, I’m sane and shower everyday, but I adore the crazy people who work and eat here, regardless of how they smell up close. I love the music taste of the staff too.
The portions are huge (though not terribly cheap) and I have yet to try something on the menu that I don’t like. The smoothies are excellent, and they usually make a little too much to fit in one glass so you get a little side cup of extra smoothie, perfect for letting other people taste. The blackberry cobbler smoothie tastes SCARILY like blackberry cobbler.
And yes part of the appeal is that it’s a little kooky but it doesn’t feel remotely fake. It’s authentic Arcata and that is a wonderful thing.

This is the kind of place that Café Gratitude In SF aspires to be. I think the main difference here is that the while Café Gratitude feels formulaic, Disneyish and silly, this is genuine, certified, non-​dyed in the hemp hippie haven. It still may feel silly. But I’ll take real silly over faux silly any day. When you order a «Dharma Bum» here it doesn’t feel like a game you and the server are playing. It feels more like you just did a giant bong rip and stumbled into the first open café you could find. Because you probably just did and «Daybreak» is occurring somewhere around 3 p.m. There are no forced smiles, but lotsa glazed eyes.
Anywhoo — The portions are GINORMOUS. Everything is organic, freshly squeezed and OVERFLOWING. The prices are pretty steep as well. You’ll be tempted to take leftovers, but share less food instead. Super fresh ingredients don’t stay fresh very long and that delectable stack of corn cakes or monstrous fresh fruit crêpe, will soon be a recycled cardboard box of mush — so don’t do it. Be here now, eat here now and then go outside and digest in a field of wildflowers.

This is a funky little place off the beaten path that locals come to all the time. Servers are crazy and cool, food is healthy, delicious, awesome, and servings are huge! The bathroom here is really beautiful, too, if I might add. On the weekends it gets really busy and you sometimes have to wait for a table, so try weekdays, or go early in the morning (they open at 7) or later in the day (close at 4). My favorites are the Dharma Bum, the breakfast burrito, Crêpe of Innocence, Turkey Reuben, Caribbean corncakes, and all the smoothies. Yum!