Cafe Bernardo

Had the salmon blt and it was just the best and if you like sweets the carrot cake hits the spot

I’ve been here twice now while visiting Sacramento and both times the food was very good and the portions were pretty generous given the reasonable prices. I will definitely come back. One warning; like most good restaurants this place is pretty busy on weekend mornings.

YUM. This review is mostly for the orecchiette, which is quite possibly the most delicious pasta I’ve had in a long while. It’s a bit like a white pasta but oh so light, delicate and definitely not a heavy type of pasta, with lots and lots of veggies (brussel sprouts, yay!) and chicken and bacon. They make it super fast here but it comes out piping hot with delicious Parmesan all over it. Ugh I seriously had to stop myself from inhaling the whole thing in two bites.
Other things that they do well here — fast service and a well-​kept self-​seating area. I feel comfortable coming here for take-​out or bringing a book while dining indoors café-​style. I love that the atmosphere is unpretentious and there is just so much delicious food they have to offer here. The sides are also very reasonably priced and well-​portioned. The orecchiette is on the higher side but definitely reasonable for what they give you.
Café Bernado is my new go-​to place for when I need some good but healthy comfort food!

The food is okay. I’m never that impressed when I go here and I rarely do. They are open early and it’s convenient for breakfast. They also have tables when all the other restaurants have a wait list. This morning I was one of 3 people in there. I ordered first. They gave me a card presumably with the intention of bringing my food to me. Everyone else got served before me as they had my food just sitting on the counter. The workers chatted away as I had to go up and ask for it. Poor service.

Came for what was expected to be a great breakfast!
My friend ordered huevos rancheros medium over easy!
They came back as fully cooked!
How disappointing!
So, we asked for a change!
They seemed gracious!
Upon receiving the new plate we were satisfied!
Eggs over medium!
However, upon tasting the black beans…
Disappointing… Tasted like an ashtray…
Not sure how that happened…
But be weary… :\
The mgmt staff was helpful… She refunded my friend…
However… This is not acceptable business practices…

Blonde bartender took 30 minutes to deliver my food and was passive aggressive the whole time I was there during a dead, late lunch period. Her terrible service negates any positive feelings I had for the food, it was ridiculous. In between going to the front of the restaurant to talk to her coworkers, she stood at the end of the bar talking with one of her regulars. When my food was delivered, it was the wrong order. Correcting the mistake took another 10 minutes, and was followed by another period where she just stood around and chatted with a man sitting at the bar. She even went as far as to be patronizing when I got my check.
There are many restaurants in the area that offer good food and better service. Don’t waste your time here.

All I can say is try and carrot cake! If you like carrot cake you will love the one here! I actually came here for breakfast, I ordered the fried egg sandwich. The fried egg sandwich was cooked perfectly, I love my eggs a little runny so you might want to ask for us cooked hard if you don’t like runny eggs. I added avocado to mine and the with the aoli the sandwich was super tasty. I didn’t really care for the side potato’s they were not cooked well enough for me but I really didn’t want them anyways. After breakfast I couldn’t walk out without a pastry, we got the peanut butter cookie and carrot cake both were out of this world. #dessertforbreakfast I love being an adult!

I love that this place is located right around the corner from Sutter Medical Center! The pizzetta was yummy– I had the pepperoni and mushroom. I also had a chance to eat the mixed greens salad with peaches and goat cheese. It was also great– a bit too much goat cheese though. My only criticism is that they don’t have a good ranch dressing and the wait was a little bit too long.,

Great food for breakfast and lunch. It’s a walk up counter where you order, you grab a seat, and they bring your food to you. Eggs, pancakes, waffles, sandwiches, salads, little pizzas, vegetarian options, etc. It’s got a hip atmosphere, and all the food was tasty. On a Sunday when most places have long waits to be seated during brunch, this was not as bad.

Have been to the CB by R15 and really like it. I am sad to say that recently I had a less than great experience at the CB in downtown Sac. Oh well. One star for the fries, which were really good, and one star for the staff setting up for lunch around the place who seemed super friendly.
We came into the spot right as the change over from breakfast to lunch was happening. As a former hostess and waitress, here is a tip. If you are a hosting, cashiering or waiting, it always helps to address both the man and the woman in your party. Totally ignoring a member of the party as if an imperceptible ghost probably won’t get you far in this business. Just a common sense thing really.
So, it was basically dead in there and we ordered a sandwich and a burger both with fries. Then we waited… and waited… and waited. It was just before 11 when we ordered and we didn’t get our food until 11:25. Two tables came in after us, there was a total of maybe four tables in the whole place now, and we were the last to get our food. Maybe they just had a pastry?, you may say… nope, the table near us had basically the same thing, a sandwich with fries. Perhaps that sounds petty, but when you are starving, the place is dead and other people are getting their order before yours even though they ordered 10 minutes after you… a person gets irate. The fries were great, the burger a bit over-​seasoned (and I am not afraid of seasoning) and my friend’s sandwich was good.
Now, there was a super friendly guy who sensed my desire for a box and got it for me. And there was a nice woman with a short plantinum-​ish haircut on fleek who seemed very customer service oriented. Little things like noticing a person needs a box, or smiling for no reason when you pass them are what makes a place pleasant to spend money in. Annoyed cashiers who have an attitude have the opposite effect.
I’ll be sticking to the R15 location for the foreseeable future.

I really like the location of this place. Decent parking and close to downtown. But I generally dislike restaurants that make you wait in line instead of just hiring someone to take orders. But that’s just me. If you get here during a rush period, add 30 minutes to your trip.
I ordered a turkey club sandwich. It was nice — came on sourdough ciabatta. My lunch mate ordered a salad or something — I know, I don’t know why people order those either.
The food was to us in a reasonable amount of time. One thing I think they could improve on is that everything in my sandwich was cold — even the bacon. It had been in the fridge. Why not make a hot sandwich? All these places microwave anyway. Why mess up an opportunity for a really good sandwich?

So I had the Artichoke Marinated Chicken– Description Below:
Cabbage and radish slaw, roasted green chile mayonnaise
And I was mildly impressed. Typically chicken sandwiches are dry and tasteless, but this one restored my hope in ordering chicken sandwiches at restaurants again.
Otherwise the café is nice with a good vibe and friendly staff.

We found this cute little joint when we were driving by. Great outdoor seating and it’s on a quietish street.
The Benedict was fresh and flavorful with a rosemary bread to die for. Breakfast Sammie was like a 2.5. Fresh and great cheese but as a whole it didn’t has much flavor.
Bacon was cooked to perfection.
We kinda got forgotten with the most important part… the mimosas and ketchup. Both are must haves for a decent breakfast.
We would come back again though.

It was ok!
I have never heard of this place and come to find out there are 3 of them!
My friend asked me to meet him here after my 5k & I was excited to try something new.
I was taken aback by the order 1^st then sit down style — not my favorite — tipping is always awkward.
I love me some biscuits & gravy so my friend indulged me by sharing a plate along with our orders.
My egg scramble was pretty good — needed tapatio and none was to be found :(The smoky mozzarella was definitely smoky!
My friend’s french toast was pretty good … Overall I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be.

Café Bernardo has been my favorite restaurant for lunch for many many years. From the high quality ingredients, perfectly executed dishes, to the casual and friendly atmosphere and very sweet staff I have not yet found a place that tops Bernardo.
I was here today to join my fiancé for a working lunch. We had our favorite Thai Chicken Noodle Salad. If you get one thing here ever, this is the one. I’ve heard that the process to make this salad is painstaking and tedious and it shows. Its essentially perfect: a little tangy, great ratio of noodle to chicken to produce, slight crunch with the peanuts and a very good portion.
We also got the bean and bacon soup (the du jour) it was not mindblowing but it did the job: chili-​like with a swirl of sour cream and a little tortilla slivers on the top. We also got the flank steak medium rare with fingerling potatoes and broccolini. Everything on that plate was sigh-​able, but the broccolini was out-​of-​control. Again, well excecuted with a little crunch a little salt and slightly buttery.
Finally, we sat at the bar (Monkey Bar) and had a really nice easy convo with the bartender, Joe. It’s one thing to just enjoy your company but what makes Bernardo my favorite are the people that work there. Thanks guys!

Stopped by here at about 1pm on a Sunday. They have a limited lunch menu when brunch is being served so I couldn’t get the black bean burger.
I ordered the small thai chicken noodle salad for. $ 5.75. It was huge! Thin noodles mixed with shredded chicken in a peanut dressing… yum!
They have a dog friendly patio and brought out a bowl of water and some treats for the dogs. Overall the place had a really friendly vibe.

I dig.
Came in and ordered at the front.
I thought it was priced alright for the quality of food. It wasn’t too expensive, and I thought my meal tasted great. My favorite was the jam on the bread. I normally don’t eat the bread or like jam, but I really enjoyed this. The coffee was good. The scramble was tasty although it didn’t blow my mind — nevertheless, still good quality food.
Staff could have been more friendly, but it was alright — a smile here or a hello, can I help you with anything? would have made me feel more welcome. It wasn’t bad though at all, it just would have made it a more pleasant experience :)

I’ve always been a frequent customer and cheerleader for Café Bernardo, so it pains me to drop them a star. Why? Consistently slow lunch service, especially for take-​out orders.
I’ll use my most recent visit as an example. I popped in about 12:30, stood in a line behind two other people and ordered up a turkey burger and mixed green salad (one of the best turkey burgers in town, by the way). I sat down and waited. And waited. Exactly 28 minutes later, and just as I approached the counter to cancel my order and leave, my food came out.
Was the restaurant terribly busy? No. Judging from the looks of patrons at neighboring tables with phones in their hands and purses still over their shoulders, I wasn’t the only one waiting either. I’m sure they know that speed is the key when you don’t have time to eat there.
This is the latest example of a pattern that may keep me from lunch here in the future. The only justification I can see for this is that they are a «sit-​down» restaurant who values their eat-​in customers first, but speaking for myself and the four or five others waiting for to-​go orders that day, their priorities need to shift.

I would describe Café Bernardo as adequate. The employees are generally nice, and you will see some interesting menu items that put them just above «just another American food place».
We came here for breakfast one weekend. I ordered the fennel, asparagus, and goat cheese omelet. They reinforced my belief that no one knows how to make a damn omelet anymore by doing that thing where they cooked the ingredients separately and cooked the unseasoned eggs as one big bland egg pancake, then folded it in half with the ingredients inside and called it an omelet. No, it’s an egg taco. And it is gross.
I wouldn’t order it again, but might come back for a sandwich or salad if I’m nearby and hungry.

Absolutely love this place! My boyfriend and I recently moved to midtown and we decided to walk over yesterday, and try it out.
He ordered the 2 egg breakfast & I got the squash frittata. I would recommend both! Their coffee is excellent as well, free refills.
Everyone was very nice & accommodating. They have a nice porch, perfect for summer mornings. Also, you can bring your dog (s) and sit outside. They have water dishes for them.
We loved this place so much, we even came back this morning!