Red Rooster Cafe

As Durham residents, we love our local diner for breakfast or brunch. The service is friendly and usually fast, unless it’s the weekend during brunch then the wait time is understandably a little longer than normal.
The Rooster serves traditional diner food. If that’s what you’re in the mood for then you’re in the right place. The coffee keeps flowing and the eggs are always cooked right!

This review is from a visit a few weeks ago. I drove down from Chico which was is really a nice drive. I had the huevos rancheros and coffee. I would agree the coffee as a little plain for me, but not bad. The service was nice while I sat at the counter everyone that passed either checked with me, or looked at my coffee cup to see if it was getting low. The food was cooked perfectly. I could see some complaining that is was bland but the accompanying generous portions of salsa and fresh guacamole suited my preferences better, allowing me to flavor as I wanted. Saving the best for last was the alternative to hash-​browns. They offered a shredded zucchini hash that was fried up just like hash-​browns and it was YUMMY. Over all I think the drive through the back roads from Chico is relaxing and passes quick. The food was good, not over processed and the service was nice. It is not 5 star restaurant, it is a small town café and it lives up to all the best images associated with that. Instead of waiting a half hour to be seated and some places downtown I would gladly drive the 10 mins to the Red Rooster…

Good eggs, toast, bacon and other breakfast items. Coffee and expresso drinks are fair. Good service and good prices. Would come back.

This place isn’t really bad, and it’s just about your only breakfast choice in Durham. (But Chico is only a few miles north.) This rating is based on our one experience here for breakfast on a weekday in July. Here’s the breakdown from our experience:
really awful, flavorless coffee (Farmer Brothers?): –2
(The latte’ was pretty bad, too.)
waffles were soft – more like a 3-​d pancake – not crunchy at all: –1
cinnamon rolls: looked pretty old/​stale, and the waitress very kindly recommended that we NOT order them on this visit; –1 for the bad rolls and +1 for the warning from the waitress (I saw nutrition stickers on the back of the pastry case, which led me to believe that these are not made on-​site.)
hash brown potatoes: so-​so, crispy outside, but mostly just hot, cooked potato-​y stuff: +/​-​0
very friendly, fast, efficient service: +1
eggs; very good, cooked exactly as requested, served hot: +1
breakfast for 2 adults + 1 small child (included two espresso drinks, but no juice): $ 30.05 without tip
We will probably go back here for breakfast, but we’d skip the coffee-​like drinks and waffle; this would bring it up to a solid 3-​star rating.

Wonderful place to eat breakfast or lunch. The menu great and the waitress is so friendly and eager to serve. Even the country folks who come in to eat will greet you and chat. Had breakfast there and intend to go back very soon.

Blt was really good.