Cafe Borrone

This café brings tender memories from my childhood and delightful nostalgic moments.
From the time I fell in the fountain when I was barely two feet tall, to coming here with my High School sweetheart, and more recently studying here after work… Borrone’s seen it all!!!
They have the best drinks and particularly their famous frosted mocha is delectable. My favorite time to come here is in the afternoon when the café is filled with warm sunlight. How heavenly! I enjoy people watching here, too. Families, professionals, kids…
The bookstore is right next store, so you can have a warm comforting drink or dish to eat, and then look at books.
A nice place to meet someone.
Borrone will always be filled with sweet recollections for me!

Checked this place out for breakfast and ordered an iced latte and scrambled eggs with ham and cheddar cheese.
Rated it 3 stars because the food wasn’t exceptional and frankly, very plain. The scrambled eggs, although they didn’t skimp on the ham and cheese portions, was all that they have on the plate whereas most breakfast places would have provided toast or a side of fruit on the side. The portions were average, it was enough and worth exactly what I paid.
The latte was also plain, does not come already sweetened but the cashier does ask you about your desired number of espresso shots.
Overall, for a place considerably popular, the place did not meet my expectations. The employees are friendly and the venue is clean :)! The café is a decent place to work and the level of noise was low (at 7 – 8 in the morning).

Solid brunch spot. A little pricey for just normal food, but in comparison to brunch prices you’d find in SF, this place is great.
Lots of breakfast food (eggs, waffles, french toast, pastries) as well as lunch food (sandwiches, salads, soup, quiche), but it’s all pretty standard café food. The place gets a good amount of traffic. It was fairly busy on Sunday for brunch around 10:30am, but there’s plenty of seating, especially outside, and there’s a free parking garage underground. Order and pay at the counter, get a number, find a table and wait for your food.
-#5 EGGS SCRAMBLED WITH ORGANIC SPINACH, FETA CHEESE & RED ONION ($ 7.85) — 3.5÷5
The portion size was disappointingly small. Not super filling to be honest, but I guess you wouldn’t be able to find much for $ 8 for brunch in the area or in SF that would fill you up. Pretty simple scramble and pretty easy to replicate at home. There wasn’t that much spinach, cheese or onion, but they do let you get your eggs with just egg whites for free! I’m a sucker for healthy options at no extra charge, so that was a plus. The eggs themselves were forgettable though.
–BELGIAN WAFFLE TOPPED WITH FRESH MIXED BERRIES ($ 8.75) — ⁴⁄₅
As good as waffles can get, but the main selling point on the waffle (for me at least) was how photogenic it was!
Again, the food isn’t really that special, but it’s a relaxing spot and does the trick for brunch without breaking the bank, so I’d probably come back if I were looking to eat in the area.

From what I had for lunch, I think this place is pretty overrated. The prices are somewhat high for a normal lunch place and especially a café. My co-​worker and I got there around 11:54 and were waiting in line when we saw that the Breakfast special ended at 12:00 pm on the dot and there was a line! They had apple walnut belgian waffles and mushroom omelette I believe. My co-​worker wanted the omelette and I was eyeing that waffle since I had seen so many pictures of their waffles on Unilocal!With some luck we made it to the counter at 11:59 and placed our orders before they took down the board for breakfast specials. We also ordered some mexican hot chocolates.
The place was pretty packed so it was difficult to find seating in orders since it was a cloudy day but we eventually got lucky when some people up and left. Got our drinks first and then our food came out. In short… the mexican hot chocolate was the best part. I liked the waffle well enough since it was pretty light but I wish they had had other options of berries since online there were so many more options. The meal was kinda flat for me and my coworker’s portions were pretty small. Everything came out to be 30 bucks. YES 30 BUCKS. I think that was a bit excessive for a small portion of omelette and a mediocre waffle.
Overall, disappointed and underwhelmed. May give this place another shot in the future if I come early enough but definitely wish I could know specials beforehand because everything else seemed pretty standard for a café. Just my opinion.

No one loves brunch more than I do and I can confidently say that this spot is one of the best brunch places I’ve ever been to :)
The boyfriend and I were a little confused when we walked in because we were under the impression that this was a «sit-​down and order» type of place, which it wasn’t. It didn’t take long for us to figure it out though, you just order with one of the cashiers, they give you a number to put on your table, and then you wait patiently for the waiters to bring you your brunch (it takes quite a while but maybe that’s just me being impatient, as usual). We ordered the #1 on their scrambled eggs menu that consisted of eggs, cheese, potatoes, and caramelized onions (delicious, and I’m not a big fan of eggs either), a Belgian waffle which came topped with mixed berries, butter, and syrup (you know, the works), and an iced mocha (perfectly sweet and refreshing!). Everything was so good that I felt like I had room in my tummy for more, even though my bf was completely stuffed by the end of our meal.
My only complaint is that portions are on the smaller side and prices are on the higher end, but if you prefer quality over quantity (as I do) then I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

Late post: Had brunch with a friend after my sudden loss consciousness and hit my head the night before. Told her the food and drinks here a go and she wanted to try. The line wasn’t as long as. It also, but looking for a seat was like an owl hunting for a mouse at night. Gawking, surround, flanking the tables. My eagle eyes spotted a table and whoosh! I got it! Haha… unfortunately they ran it of French toast, how does a brunch place do that to me!!! I was quite disappointed, but I tried their special of the day apple waffles. Not bad, but I think it was about too heavy for my stomach hence throwing up all night after blacking out. Nonetheless, my friend loved every part of it and the Mexican hot chocolate. I believe it’s my third time here, so give it a try if you’re in the area or even if you’re not in the area.
Only thing is that there’s no real view, but if you brought a friend… that should be enough. ;). Cheers!

I’ve been here multiple times and always have had a good meal. The food is good, fresh and very tasty. The line is usually long but moves very quickly so don’t let that turn you away. I’ve had their breakfast wrap and chicken sandwich multiple times and both were good. The coffee is a little bland and nothing too exciting about. I would avoid ordering coffee here.
The staff is very friendly and helpful with your order, bringing you food and clearing your table when done. I would recommend sitting outside if you can and enjoy the great weather while having an enjoyable meal.

We got here at 11:30a on a Saturday, which apparently is the perfect time, because the line started piling up behind us, and a few tables opened up just as we finished ordering.
Service is speedy and friendly.
We got (for 2 people, this was the perfect amount of food)
— The apple waffle (breakfast special)
The waffle is pretty big, as you can see, and is nice and fluffy. The toppings are what really make it. The caramelized apples aren’t overly sweet, and they leave the syrup up to you, so you can get the perfect taste.
PS that stuff on top is not ice cream.
— Eggs with Feta (maybe #5?)
Proportionally the eggs seem small, compared to the other items, but they were well executed and tasted great. Seasoning was spot on for me
— Frosted Mochas
To clarify, it’s basically a mocha milkshake. It’s delicious (as is their whipped cream on top) but don’t think of it as a drink. Unless a milkshake is a drink for you.

Got chocolate here is pretty

I was looking for a place in the peninsula close to a Caltrain station and found Café Borrone on Unilocal (this place is right next to Menlo Park station). I think I expected too much from it because of the 1000+ reviews and 4 stars because I thought this place was okay. The interior was nothing special (looked like an average busy brunch spot/​café). Nothing really stood out to me except for the nice workers who smiled a lot and looked really happy. I want to come back and try more items on the menu though!
I came here with a group of 4 for breakfast ~9:30am. It was pretty packed inside (a lot of families with cute kids), but I got lucky and found a table right away. You order from the register and workers bring your order to your table (indoor and outdoor seating). I ordered an Americano which came in a cup smaller than I expected. My friends who asked for just coffee got what I was expecting to get. I don’t know my coffee. I ordered the smoked salmon platter, and it was tasty.

Perfect place for brunch with a group of people! On a Saturday morning, it was a tad busy and few tables left outside but we managed to get one. The line was way out the door but fortunately, it moves very quickly. You order your food at the counter and they bring it out to your table. The menu was a great array of a ton of egg dishes and also some sweet dishes like berry french toast. Our group all decided on their scrambled egg dishes. I got one with salsa, avocado and sour cream. The salsa was super flavorful with just the right amount of kick! The sour cream gave a nice texture to the eggs and who doesn’t love avocado? I also ordered a chicken apple sausage on the side which was very good as well.
The food was great, service was easy and it is in a great location — in fact, I took the Cal Train from San Jose and it was just steps away from the station. I will definitely eat here again!

Terrasse sympathique, toujours bondée.
Les plats sont satisfaisants, mais rien d’exceptionnel.
Leurs prix sont élevés pour ce que c’est.
Cela reste tout même un café agréable entre amis pour un brunch ou dîner en semaine.