Depot Garden Restaurant

Have been going here for 16 years. My first time was went I was in college, many moons ago. It’s great!

My favorite place to go with my son in Marin for an always reliable good breakfast. It’s a shame they’re no longer open on Sunday’s.

Best paid for breakfast I’ve ever had. Every part of the meal is always cooked perfectly.
The best hash browns I’ve ever had EVER!
The only downside, is they are much pricier than the average breakfast joint, but you pay for what you get.

Perfect place for a sunny outdoor brunch. Definitely get the sunrise mimosa. I also recommend the Benedicts. Otherwise it’s fairly typical breakfast fare– good, but nothing out of the ordinary. Only problem is they’re not open on Sunday.

Came here for breakfast one day with a friend of mine. It was the first time either of us have been there so we didn’t know what to expect. It is located in downtown San Rafael next to a Safeway parking lot. The restaurant itself is really tiny, a number of 12 tables and there is a small outdoor patio with 6 tables, which is great for nicer days. The restaurant looked like it was well run, organized, clean and at the time there was only one waitress doing rounds. We came here during the week, so it wasn’t a busy morning. We got seated right away and our waitress was quick to take our drink order and a few minutes later our food order. We waited about 15 minutes and received our food. It was really good but it wasn’t the best that I ever tasted but it was good enough that I would I go back again if I am in the area. Check this place out!

Went there for lunch last week and had pancakes. The best!
Waitresses are always top notch here. Food is fantastic every time. Good bacon. Has Browns are a must. Benedict is amazing.
The only minus is that everyone knows how good this place is, so go during non-​peek hours.

Great local café with huge breakfast portions. I order the crab and avocado eggs Benedict with a side of hash browns crisped to perfection. With a cup of bold coffee and fresh squeezed OJ, you can’t go wrong.
The staff, particularly our waitress Michelle were great!

For diners, this is pretty damned good!
Went here with my sis on a late Saturday morning, it was predictably crowded and we had a little wait in the very warm, cozy space. We got a table by the window and had some very fabulous rib eye Benedicts (Benedicts are a weekend-​only item and the steak Benedict with fresh baby spinach and tomato was a special)-YUM! Sis ate all of hers and I couldn’t finish mine (and I can eat). Lots of food!
Our waitress was kind and efficient and the orange juice is fresh squeezed, what could be better than that?

Great little café in San Rafael!
The staff was friendly and efficient.
As busy as it gets, the temperature inside was perfect, not too cold or warm and stuffy.
The linguisa was cooked perfectly, very flavorful, and when over medium eggs come out with the white cooked and the yolk runny and hot, you can’t go wrong! My daughter in law said the hash browns were great!
My only complaint would be that they serve canned drinks, which is why they didn’t get five stars.

New find!
Great brunch
Service is awesome. Although there is always a waiting list, it goes by fairly quickly

This place is between the B street Safeway and St Vincent’s dining hall, so there are a lot of Went here on Sunday morning about 1030am, not too busy, lots of open tables. I remember good food here from years before, and read mostly good reviews on Unilocal.Waited a while, a young man approached, almost fearfully, didn’t make eye contact, then turned and scanned the restaurant for a minute. finally asked us if we were here for breakfast (yes) and how many (two). That seemed to stress him out a bit, so he thought about it, scanned the place some more, obviously uncomfortable. Finally he said we could sit out in back, and left us to seat ourselves. Maybe he was new on the job.
We found a nice table for two in back, and settled in. After 15 minutes of pleasant conversation, we began to feel hungry and neglected. I caught the eye of a waiter, but he turned away before I could wave to him. There was an Asian woman working inside, who studiously avoided eye contact. Not her table, I guessed. I noticed that a group seated before us still had debris from former diners in front of them. They were looking hungry too.
I went inside to seek food. I was told someone would be with us. After another ten minutes without a waiter sighting, we decided to try Lundy’s. There the food is basic, but at least they give it to you.

Yeah, this place is the shizzzzzznit! It deserves every one of its 4.5 stars.
We tried:
— Breakfast Special: hash brown, eggs, bacon, and PANCAKES
The hash browns were soft on the inside and crispy goodness on the outside. My scrambled eggs were fluffy and perfectly seasoned. The bacon was salty, crispy, and devine. And the PANCAKES (all caps intentional) were probably the best I’d ever eaten. Ugh. I wish I could eat there right now, I am jonesing!
FYI — the area is sketch mcgetch. While we were eating our breakfast on the patio, a gentleman approached the fence and started screaming expletives at the top of his lungs. Not sure what got into him, probably meth.
Bottom line: The food is amazeballs, so absolutely give it a shot. Maybe don’t bring your kids, however, due to the colorfulness of the surroundings.

They must have been understaffed the day we ate there. While the food was decent, the waiting was a bit excessive. We waited well over an hour for our food.
Food was ok, they actually brought us the wrong order but we ate it anyway. Probably will try elsewhere when we are back in town

Came back and the terrifying older blonde woman was nowhere in sight! The service was again incredible, the food fantastic, and I feel reassured that the experience I had last time was solely the fault of the terrible waitress.
I will always come here, even if that means I have to ask to be seated elsewhere to avoid the crazy lady from my not-​so-​pleasant experience in December.
The woman I had today, though, was FREAKIN AWESOME! Brunette, great smile, served us around 12:30pm. So friendly and on top of it. Often she knew what we needed before we even realized we needed it (right as my friend was about to ask for ketchup she pulled it right out of her apron like Mary Poppins!).
So relieved to know this place is still awesome. I will definitely be a regular again.

I’ve never had a bad meal here. It’s all been delicious.
And the kid’s pancake is GINORMOUS.

Best goddamn breakfast spot I’ve ever had the luck to visit.
How the hell do they make the hashbrowns so delicious? Seriously. Hashbrowns. These are not your average rectangular patty of previously frozen compressed ‘taters. Here, the cooks pull off the rare feat of crispy fried outside and warm, soft, salty inside. Perfect comfort food. The boyfriend heartily agrees that their Hollandaise sauce is something special, indeed.
Hashbrowns aside, you can find a variety of breakfast and lunch meals on the menu that are just so good. Feeling like some pancakes with sausage and toast? Done. Eggs Benedict with bacon, tomato, and spinach? Go there on the weekends. Breakfast burritos, omelettes, hot and cold sandwiches, waffles, and more are all available. The drinks menu is an ordinary one– coffee, lemonade, orange juice, etc.
The overall atmosphere here is very inviting and casual. You don’t have the hustle of Theresa & Johnny’s, so you feel like you can take your time with your company and your meal. The food is so good, actually, that you’ll spend more time eating than talking! Lots of groups seem to come here, so there is ample seating both indoors and outside on the back patio.
The times that I’ve been here, the service has always been very kind and attentive. Case in point– our server accidentally touched my setting’s silverware on the table with his arm. I said no big deal, I’ll clean it– but he kindly apologized, and quickly replaced the utensil. Very nice!
Price-​wise, I’ve found their dishes to be reasonable. All the ingredients taste great, so I know that the cooks care about putting together satisfying meals. It’s no cheap greasy spoon diner.

The main entrance might sometime seem like, nay, remind you of a secret door in one of those mystery movies. It’s not very obvious at first glance. But fear not, the door will become immediately obvious as your hungry self approaches to break your fast.
As you enter the warm casual interiors, you notice a nice sunny patio out back. Almost all tables have a sun umbrella should your hungover bleary eyes decide they’re not quite ready yet to face the day head on. The breeze hopefully should help wake you, and whet your appetite up.
I decided to go for the pancakes and, being the glutton, a side of a pair of fried eggs and chicken-​apple sausage. Don’t be fooled by the «short-​stack» pancakes as they are huge — short indeed, but very wide! The pancakes were soft, fluffy, airy and sponge-​like, soaking up the maple syrup and butter like a camel in an oasis. This made it a sponge of sinful flavours, soaked as it were in the syrup, bursting with flavours!
Not surprisingly, there was nothing to complain, or write home, about the fried eggs and the side of chicken apple sausage. They were well executed and pretty decent.
The fresh squeezed orange juice was good, but pricey (as expected).
I’d definitely come back and come back I did, but much to my chagrin they were closed Mondays, as I found out by experience.

The Depot Garden Restaurant is the best place in San Rafael for traditional breakfast.
(gasps from the audience! «What a claim!» they murmur)
The reasons why? Well, The Depot hits a home run on several key markers:
#1: The Best Hashbrowns ever (as Joyce L. correctly writes, «HANDS DOWN, BEST murfurrin’ hash browns EVER!!!». .. what else is there to say?);
#2: Adorable outside seating (darling patio area, mostly walled in so that you might imagine yourself anywhere in the world, with a variety of plants growing with pot and with soil, various sized and shaped patio tables, in sun and in shade seating);
#3: Delicious menu (everything that I have tasted here is delicious. From hashbrowns — see above — and scrambles, to pancakes and iced mochas, to cornbread and benedicts, they have what I want and they cook it right);
#4 Good service (I have always had a good time with the staff here, who seem eager to make the customer happy);
#5 Good parking (the restaurant is downtown San Rafael but don’t let that deter you — it’s far enough away from the hustle and bustle so that there’s ample street parking in all directions).

We were on a road trip to point reyes from south bay and decided to drop by here for brunch thanks to the amazing Unilocal reviews. We were definitely not disappointed.
The special dungeness crab with avocado benedict was heavenly. Gosh. I can have more of that! The crab was sweet and pairs very well with the creamy avocado, perfectly poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Serving was generous and the hashbrown filled half the plate.
The side of sauteed mushroom was slightly disappointing. It was too watery and not sauteed enough. The chicken apple sausage was yummy though.
We said we were sharing the food and I wish they went ahead to split our order on two plates. Nonetheless, they were very accomodating since we had a party of 9 and 6 people were 30min late so we hogged the table for pretty long. Also, the waiter took the initiative to pre-​split our bill even though we ended up paying all together.
Great job on the food and service! Will definitely come back again!

We decided to stop in after seeing the good Unilocal reviews. The place was kind of hidden but we found it (and we are sure glad we did). It was quiet for a Saturday morning and we were seated right away. The waitress was super sweet.
I had the bacon breakfast burrito with avocado and a side of fruit. BF insisted I had a mimosa, so I did. ;) BF had an omelette with crispy hash browns. Both meals were delicious and the mimosa was pretty good too! We both recommend this little place for breakfast!