First Street Cafe

We will be back! Friday night live music was great and the upstairs is nice and cozy. Tables are small, but when the space fills up with people on Friday night, it feels just right. Service was a bit slow, but the guy was really fantastic about getting to everyone in good time. Great way to spend a laid back but fun Friday.

Been coming here for breakfast the last few months with my fellow co workers and managers. Service is great and food is delicious. I recommend the scones and the scramblers. It’s very cozy, but the tables could be a little bigger.

We have been coming here for years, always having a great time
The place was hopping tonight, even more than normal. The band that
played tonight, «One Mile» was great. Great musicians, great harmonies
and it was a delight
Anyway, the wait staff was a little overwhelmed at first, but they served everyone
with a smile and a great attitude. They made sure a very nice evening was close
to perfect.
Thanks !!!

Gluten free bread is available so u too can have the scrumptious creations created by the First St Café! The club sandwich, eggplant sandwich and tuna melt I can personally attest to. The salads are creative and yummy too. Veggie options are good. The service is almost always fantastic. There’s a couple of tables outside where your dog can hang out too. Oh, and their iced tra is super yummy!

After coming back a second time for the lunch/​brunch menu over the weekend. I must say that I prefer this menu overall to that of dinner.
Our server was nice and fast to pour water, and a stella on top of that. We ordered the Waffle, and the turkey cranberry with Dijon mustard. I thought the waffle was fluffy and flawlessly made, though could be larger. The sandwich was great. It was carved thick cuts of turkey with great fresh spinach and the mix between the cran and mustard was flawless. Only thing id like to add was some fries with sammies.
good job guys

Just what I was looking for, a quaint little café in Benicia that could do breakfast the way we wanted it. A couple of eggs on top of a bed of greens, a beautiful fruit bowl, and an excellent selection of organic teas. Very busy, hopping place. Service was good.

Very cute small café. I actually recommend this more than Java point café, which is on the same street. Service was fast and the waitress was friendly. My friend ordered a crème brûlée, ice tea, and Italian soda. I ordered some lemon bars. The ice tea was just ice tea. it needed some sugar. Crème brûlée was pretty good and the lemon bara were perfect! This place has a bathroom and air conditioning… so it’s awesome for summer!

Had their Belgian waffles for brunch yesterday and we loved them. Going back today to try the French toast. The mango iced tea was refreshing.

Must Visit this place! The service was awesome Meri was right over greeting us, getting our drink order. I had a hard time ordering, really I can be rather picky so for me to say I loved this restaurant is huge. The ambience downstairs was a friendly kinda coffee shopish feel. Everyone seemed to be really enjoying their job, the other customers I observed seemed happy and very interested in the food they were eating. I was kinda bummed they ran out of spring mix salad, it comes with the Ahi Tuna Salad, I was indecisive after that a little disappointed, but I really wanted that salad so I decided to let them mix the romaine and spinach. It was delicious I really liked it. The tuna was perfect, it was a great salad. My boyfriend had the Tuna Melt, I hate capers, well they are in the tuna, I have to say it was also delicious. My coffee (cappucino) was strong but super awesome. So we were sitting by the front window watching people pass by, a little boy is playing, his parents enjoying their lunch, their Dog sitting under their table, as I’m watching them totally enjoying myself, I notice a sign, there’s an upstairs, Jazz music is playing so we decide to go up and listen, what a fun day I had. Thankyou for an amazing getaway, loved your restaurant and BTW, the young lady upstairs was also really awesome!06/12/16…we came in around 2:00

My favorite go to after 12 hour shift! Love this place! Extra syrup please. Staff is courteous and friendly… Great cakes! ThankYou.

First time here. We are definitely going back and worth the 45 minute drive. Full of flavor and great portions. Very friendly staff. Very enjoyable. Thank you!

This place is ok for breakfast, but I was horrified when we came in for dinner. I don’t usually write negative reviews, but honestly, don’t go here for dinner.
The breakfast they serve is pretty good, and I love their French toast! The corned beef hash wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t terrible either. The biscuits are delicious, even though they are actually scones, and the jam appears to be homemade.
When we ventured into the restaurant for dinner one night, I was expecting decent food. What I got was the most disgusting spaghetti and meatballs I’ve ever tasted. The waitress warned me they were spicy, but the only spice that was used was black pepper. TONS of black pepper. The spaghetti sauce was watery and orange with an incredibly weird flavor. I found bone fragments in the meatballs, and they were so over cooked and tough I had to push them to the side.
When the waitress picked up my plate, she said, «you don’t want me to wrap this up, do you?» As if she knew I was horrified.
My husband’s was just as bad, but I won’t speak for him.
Y’all need to reevaluate your chef’s recipes.

3^rd visit and counting, very busy, small dinning area but fast, cheerful servers. Coffee fresh brewed and piping hot which accompanies the home made baked daily scones. Today’s visit blackberry scone and oatmeal pecan scone

Met a business associate there for coffee, He had already eaten, before I got there. But I went ahead and ordered a meal. (CornBeef n Hash) Food was ok and cook to my liking, but at the end of my breakfast someone on the staff came over and told us that the our table and the table next to us had been reserved and that we had about 15 minutes before we had to leave.
Needless to say I doubt I“ll be meeting or inviting anymore people there.

Our experience was fine. Where some can boast «simply the best,» this was «Simply The Most Adequate.»
I always want better from this local staple on First Street. It fails to live up to anything above just OK. Since 3-​Stars means «A-​OK» according to Unilocal,I need to bring my rating down just under that.
I’m in search of «Wow» and First Street Café will never offer that. At least based on past experience, they don’t seem capable of that. In the past, we’ve watched as four and five servers gather behind the bar area while we sat ignored.
Last night we came into an almost empty restaurant and were promptly seated «anywhere you’d like.» So, not exactly the personal touch of «let me take you to your table,» but being greeted with smiles is always good.
We were attended to by two people. One, whom I thought was a busser. The other, our wait person. The first greeted us, offered us water, and suggested items off the menu. The second offered us water, to take a drink order, and suggested items off the menu. Communicate much?
There was a special — scallops with angel hair pasta.
I decided to get that.
My daughter got a cheese ravioli in a pesto sauce that was quite good.
My wife got the chicken with a beautiful chutney on it. I’m not sure what it was called, but it was nicely done.
When the salads came out with dinner, they were of disproportionate size. I’d think if you’re serving two salads to the same table, you wouldn’t serve one that overflowed off of the salad plate and the other so thin that you could see the plate though the lettuce leaves.
Disappointing.
When the food came, we all dove in. As noted, the two dishes my meal companions got were well received and, in fact quite flavorful.
Both dishes were rich in texture and in flavor; my wife and daughter enjoyed their meals.
Mine, the «special,» was so bland I needed salt to bring out the flavor in the pasta AND the scallops. I used pepper to augment the salt seasoning because the depth of flavor went to a point of garlic in the tomatoes. There was olive oil on the pasta and the salt I added helped to accent it. The pepper that I added gave it a flair. They could have been more creative with flavor in the kitchen.
The scallops were not large and were, unfortunately, over cooked. So, simply put, the scallops were small and dry.
My dish was disappointing. I’m not sure how it could be a «special.»
The service was such that we never had our water glasses refilled and it was only at the end of the meal that the busser came by. As he began to clear, I met his question of how everything was with the notation of my food lacking seasoning and being bland.
«Good to know,» was his reply. (Why, was that what you were going for with that dish?)
The waitress never asked us at all, but swung by the table next to ours mid-​meal to ask how everything was tasting. I would have liked the opportunity to have answered that. Instead, in the service of not upsetting my table mates (family), I didn’t get up to call attention to my simply adequate meal.
So, First Street Café will continue to almost live up to «simply the most adequate,» and I shall give in and try them again in another four or five months. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I’m an optimist and I like supporting local restaurants.
While my family seemed to enjoy their meals here, this restaurant just continues to disappoint me.

My husband and I were visiting Benicia and went here for breakfast yesterday, a Saturday. The place is cute with a friendly, bustling vibe. Our server was quick and friendly and refilled my Diet Coke several times. We shared the Dungeness crab sandwich and the waffle sausage sliders. It was a perfect breakfast with savory and sweet and I would certainly go again. I was too full for a fresh scone but they looked lovely-​hopefully next time!

The crab sandwich is as good as advertised. Comes in two halves, for a total of a bunch of food – probably a pound or so. We had it on sourdough, good choice.
The lunch crowd was still there at 1230. Full, but we got seated within five minutes. Definitely recommend this place for a touch of local flavor.

This is nice local place, casual enough, but not TOO casual. While I hear that there is occasionally a wait, I’ve never had a problem getting a table, even on a Friday or Saturday night. The staff is very friendly, and when there is a problem, such as they have run out of something, or haven’t gotten the food out promptly, they make up for it with little extras. My only complaints are: 1. No hard liquor (beer & wine only) and 2. No beers on tap (at least downstairs– I have not been upstairs).
The crab & artichoke dip is delicious, and of course you expect it to be rich, but it borders on (a bit overly) greasy at times. I always get the appetizer to share, I cannot imagine eating a whole sandwich of this stuff. Complimentary baguette, olive oil & balsamic. Good bruschetta, well seasoned & lightly seared ahi tuna, fresh salads– these are our go-​tos. Their selection of bottled beers is pretty good at least, and mostly local. The prices and portions are reasonable, but I just wish I could enjoy a light cocktail with my rich, gooey crab dip– not a big wine fan.
I will have to try their soups one day, especially when it gets toward the lighter side of things in the spring and summer. Oh, and some of the baked goods (SO many selections of pie– yum!).

This review is solely based on the food that I ordered which was the Dungeness crab and artichoke sandwich. I had it served on sliced sourdough bread, and it was amazing. The bread had the perfect amount of crispness and the Dungeness crab spread was flavored well. However as good as my food was I won’t be back anytime soon. Their customer service lacked in every aspect.
— We had 10:45 am reservations
— We walked into the not so spacious restaurant at 10:49, asked a waitress where should we go to be seated and her reply was «I don’t know, you have to ask the supervisor, he’s wearing a hat.»
— The «supervisor» was not very friendly as he he asked what name our reservation was under.
— we waited outside for another 15 min, I noticed that people were leaving, so I had my friend check if our table was available.
— we were finally seated, I asked the waiter if they had mimosas he said «I think we do, check the menu»… Like are you serious? Can you not point to where it is?! Then I asked how much they were and he said he didn’t know…
— we asked for waters and he never brought them, we waited for 15 min before we finally got someone else’s attention.
In conclusion, I don’t care how good that crab sandwich was… No one that I encountered at that establishment was kind or knowledgeable. So they get no stars for their lack of customer service.

I came here on a Saturday noon to redeem my birthday entrée. I always order an egg white veggie omelette for breakfast, wherever I go. My sister ordered the breakfast burrito. The food was mediocre. The service was above average.
This review is for April the server– I am a self-​proclaimed health nut /​fitness buff who always has several special instructions for the servers. Unfortunately April was the very first server in my life to comment on how not «easy» my order was to take down, called me a «picky lady» when she brought my meal out, and finally to laugh at me when I asked her to leave my plate to take the last bite of waffle before she took it away. … It took me YEARS to be comfortable and confident in the way that I order my food when I eat out. I hope that April realizes that.
Thanks First Street.