SRJC Culinary Cafe

In reference to Steph A… And her observant and analytical review. I can assure you the dining room is very organized, and I will inform you all of the servers are students, most of whom have never served tables. If you waited for «10 minutes» it was probably because one of the STUDENTS was not ready for another table and the hostess (teacher) didn’t want to overwhelm them.
If you have the gumption to write a one star review you should have the gumption to politely send your food back if it was not up to your standards.

What an exceptional resource this has become in our little town. Not only are students becoming expert chefs but the results are provided to the public. The atmosphere of the dining area actually has a bit of a classroom feel to it, but it is open to the kitchen area which is quite impressive with the white uniforms and stainless. I have eaten here at least once a month in the last 15 years or so, currently in its beautiful new Santa Rosa campus building but also in its previous downtown Santa Rosa «BrickYard» location and even before that in the vintage SRJC Garcia building where culinary instruction started. My favorite meals have been the Shone Farm grass-​fed burger variations or whatever changed-​weekly entrée sections I’ve tried. See, they’re all my favorites: consistently great table bread variety and salads from local organic produce. Fresh ocean fish when offered is my particular favorite. Multiple main entrée choices usually offer beef, pork, chicken, seafood, vegetarian and Mediterranean influenced dishes, so everyone in your dining party should have an option. Upon your exit from the main dining room, select from the bakery pastries, desserts, savory pies and gallettes or bread offerings. So many folks come in to purchase bakery items between the early morning opening until afternoon closing hours because reservations are often needed to sit down at a dining room table. Fair warning — your favorites may have already sold out. They’re all uniformly excellent baked goods.

After going up to SRJC for the summer rep, I was finally able to try this café out (they only open M-​F for lunch, which was my challenge). I had a soup, pork stew, and a dessert. All were very good. I like some of the bread they served. Would definitely return to support the kids!

Best «everything» bagel I’ve had in a long time! So tasty! I’ve only been to the bakery in the mornings.

I have to admit, I’m a little biased. My partner and I both went to school here. I took the Front House class (the people that serve you), and he took both that and the Café class (the people that cook).
That said, we’ve returned here to eat many times after we got our culinary certificates. The food is almost always spectacular. The menu changes almost every week, so there’s always something new to try. The ingredients are always fresh and of good quality. They also always have vegetarian and vegan options!
The atmosphere is more formal than other «cafes,» with cloth napkins, tablecloths, and nice uniforms. This is very important to me. I hate paper napkins and places where the servers wear t-​shirts or button-​covered vests. I always feel comfortable eating here.
My five star rating does come with a little warning, though. As this is a café run by students, there can be some mishaps. The servers and cooks are all still learning, so there’s bound to be a mistake or two. However, after working in «real» restaurants, I’d say the mistakes are no more frequent than at other restaurants. You will get the occasional unprofessional server, and your order may be screwed up. However, the instructors there are fantastic, and they are more than happy to help fix anything they can.

This is a great place to get lunch for a reasonable price! Also, the bakery has gluten– free options! (YAY!) The food was delicious and the service was dependable and accommodating. I hope to try this place again soon.

I know cooking nowadays, opening a restaurant, is quite different than it was a hundred years ago. And so I’m writing to update you about the way things work in the America I live in.
I went to the café for lunch, had a piece of lamb (though someone had called it «pork chop») that was tough and difficult to finish, and tried to give some feedback at the end and had multiple responses that involved «did you try to ???» as though it were my responsibility to get good service.
You may have thought that people will go anywhere just to eat, and a few hundred years ago that was true. If you didn’t know how to cook, or didn’t want to cook, you probably had one choice in your town in the West. Food didn’t have to be good. Service didn’t have to be pleasant. You just went there cause you had to eat.
And yes, it is still true nowadays that some places have notorious service and people still flock there. The epitome is «The Soup Nazi» as portrayed in Seinfeld.
But your food wasn’t good. Your service was barely acceptable. And any goodwill I had towards the café by the fact you were «training students» disappeared when the hostess so rudely responded to my suggestions for improvement.
People don’t tolerate tough meat anymore. You eat that in college, when you think leaner means better and buy London broil instead of chuck steak. You don’t go to restaurants to get meat that takes twenty bites to make soft and small enough to swallow, and sometimes ends up a ball of sinews requiring liquid to wash it down (as a child, that liquid would be milk. On that day, it was the fruit beer I had in a wine glass). I know the waitress asked if I really knew what «lamb shoulder» meant, but when I said yes I referred to my prior experiences at real restaurants, not at a learning café. When I suggested the waitress didn’t know how to set the table, and always expected me to clear space for the next entrée, and didn’t even bring a knife for the meat until I asked, I didn’t expect a response «so, she did bring a knife after you asked her? Good.» I expect slightly more of waiters than to do what you ask them. I don’t want to come in and have to ask to be seated, have to ask for someone to bring me a menu, have to ask for someone to take my order, have to ask for someone to clear the plate when I’m done, have to ask for a refill of water, have to ask for the check, have to ask for my credit card to be swiped, have to ask for a pen to come with the receipt (oh yeah, I forgot. I’d have to ask for the receipt and the return of my credit card). Do you really think that is acceptable? In California, we don’t expect someone to fill up our car when we pull into the gas station. In Oregon, you do. Because by law you cannot fill up your own car. But when you pull in, a guy will come running up and fill up your car. You don’t have to ask him. In the restaurant business, I didn’t know we still had a difference between «full-​service» and «half-​service».
It is ok if you don’t want to improve. If your staff and students don’t want to take feedback. But if so, I don’t know why you call yourself a school. What are you learning? How do you learn? If all the tests you turn in the teacher never grades, how do you know what to improve on? And trust me, you need improvement.

We were seated right near the pass, so it was interesting to watch the students cadence cooking. I almost fell asleep waiting for my entrée but the thought of Gordon Ramsey running to the pass and yelling «It’s raw» kept me laughingly awake. Our server was happy go lucky and our meal was delightful — A-​OK

There are so many choices for lunch in Sonoma County that I never think of the JC Clinary Café. What a mistake. I treated my sister and niece and had a 4 star lunch for 1 star prices and then got a senior discount! At least that is something good about getting old. I had duck confit — tender and delicious. My sister had a burger made with their own beef — she said it was very good. My niece had chicken with coconut rice — also very happy., A nice surprise was their wine soda — a non alcoholic beverage. I’m a soda drinker but this was a very refreshing change.
Alas, no room for one of their wonderful deserts. All this for $ 42! Can’t beat that — at least not this quality. Allow time since service is slow but the waiter was charming and friendly. The café itself is modern and pretty — you don’t feel like you are in a classroom. It is a shame to not try this café — besides you are supporting the students too.

You can have a three course meal here for next to nothing! The food is great, and the students are eager to please. It does seem to be popular with the early bird senior crowd, so be sure to make a reservation because it will book up quickly. Overall, if you’re looking for a good meal for cheap and wanna do something a little quirky, SRJC is a great spot to check out.

I was excited to try the culinary café, after seeing the beautiful building go up in no time. Even with cutting the students some slack, this was one of my worst dining experiences in Sonoma ever!
Starting with the hostess, though there were spaces available, it took entirely too long to be seated, mostly due to what seemed to be a lack of organization. After 10 mins, we were seated, and I was still excited to try the food. I asked about two dishes, and was assured the ribs were the better of the choices.
After 25 mins, way too long for the lunch crowd, our food showed up. My ribs were hard, cold and not even heated up right. The mac and cheese was bland and flavorless. Ditto for the greens. The cornbread was a crime against southern grandmas … hard as a rock and salty, I guess to make up for the rest of the dish having no salt.
Though one person with us swore they had a good experience a few months earlier, I doubt I’ll give them another chance. I have never considered giving a place a 1 star until now. SRJC Culinary Café gets a failing grade!
Maybe I’ll give the bakery a chance.

This place is cool with nearby parking, clean glass storefront doors, and a glass baked goods display case in the lobby. Properties-​of-​materials geeks will like the wads of food-​grade stainless steel. ‘NSF International’ labels abound. The main dining room has a view of the good-​looking kitchen and hoods. There are large television displays with cameras on some areas of the kitchen allowing us to gawk at the food prep work in progress. It’s sort of like a television cooking show for us diners except you make your own sound track and eat what you’re seeing prepared. If you’re seated in a dining room without a view of the kitchen, there are big screen televisions showing kitchen work. The staff, future wine country hospitality entrepreneurs, were welcoming and friendly. This is a place where staff are working to become hospitality industry professionals. Since they’re learning, by definition your dining experience may be imperfect.
I had a dinner of Buffalo meat balls with kale and Jasmine rice. The dinner was good but not great. I had a bowl of what was clearly the best mushroom soup imaginable. I’m guessing it had heavy cream and carrots as two of the non-​fungal ingredients. The texture was really cool. It was thicker than hot chocolate and thinner than oatmeal. The flavor was ideal and there were bits of mushroom in the mix. For dessert: a slice of mocha coffee cake with a flawless butter-​cream frosting. Can you say, «food coma?» We’re talking near-​Glascow.
Can’t stay for a meal? Take-​out baked products are available from the friendly staff.
State law prohibits alcohol on community college campuses (Sec. 25 608, California Business and Professions code). Somehow, this place got the law changed so they can serve wine about one day each week. This place is in the northern California wine country and the staff are adults, so serving wine makes sense. I think the law’s intent was to keep minors from getting easy access to alcohol.
If you go, you support people learning and you get something good to eat. Would I go back? Absolutely!

OK, so upfront I will tell you I teach at the college (but not in the culinary dept.) To the person who wrote «the menu was too big and they should stick to a few things»…that’s not the point. You have many different types of classes coming together to cook in the kitchen. They are all learning to cook many different things. Could you imagine having 30 people in the kitchen all cooking 3 same three things? Again, not the point. These students are brand new, and this is the safe environment where they can learn. The tradeoff? You get an exceptional meal for half the price (or better) than any other restaurant serving the same food. The other day I was in and had duck for $ 9. Where else in SoCo can you get that?!
Like someone else said, feedback is important. Last week we had a brand new server who was SO nervous that he was shaking. My lunch companion and colleague took him aside and told him that he’s doing fine, but his nerves are getting the better of him. These kids are trying hard, wanting to do their best, and they have environment where they can do that. Just go, enjoy, and appreciate this community gem.

This café is an asset to the community. As a program of Santa Rosa Junior College, it provides top notch quality education at a reasonable tuition.
The café is well appointed. Modern but not stark. Bountifully lit by large windows and quality ceiling fixtures. Tableware is decent. Linens are good, too.
Service and food quality can be hit and miss. And when it is a miss, it’s not far off target. My meal of pork loin was extremely overcooked. But the starches and vegetables were perfect. The bread basket variety was chewy fun. Bambie had a pizza. She said it was marvelous.
Service was sincere but occasionally inept. My waiter tried to swipe my entrée plate before I was done, but left the olive oil bread plates on the table well after dessert and coffee.
Take into consideration that this is the teaching laboratory for future cooks, bakers, restaurant owners & managers. The student that serves you may be a brand new freshman who is at the bottom of the learning curve.
Also consider that a 3 meal course of good quality food will run you about $ 13.
That’s why there is a lot of blue & white hair sitting in the dining room. Senior citizens always know where the bargains are.
Wine on Friday only. Reservations highly recommended. Walk-​ins may not get seated.

Truthfully, I should give it 5 stars all things considered. Yes, they are students. yes, the food ranges from good to great. Portions from too little to too much. Yes the service is not ready for prime time… but that’s the point. It’s a teaching kitchen. Everyone is learning and if you want to get a good deal (very good food at very reasonable prices) you just can’t go wrong. The pizza was great and only about to get better when then install the new outdoor wood oven. This is a gem in Santa Rosa… all at our JC and funded by taxes… as it should be. We are creating a strong service workforce here ! Way to go SRJC. I’ll be back often.

Food was good. Price is great. Service fussy. Nothing really wrong, just not comfortable.
Stopped back for the morning pastry on a Tuesday but open Wed…
Jees, I’m supposed to remember this? And remember when school’s not in sessions. I’m just not that thoughtful.

Best. Bread. Ever!!!
Also had lunch there, and lunch was very good. A particular standout, in my opinion, was the eggplant parmesan sandwich. I also really enjoyed the tomato basil soup and the pear and greens salad.
I plan to go back very soon.

We have learned that for a good meal at good prices culinary schools often have restaurants associated with their schools so their students can practice cooking and serving to real customers! Because these are students in the process of learning their trade you have to go in realizing the students are a work in progress, so need to cut them some slack. They may not hit the mark every time, but you will usually get to try some interesting and creative dishes for substantially less than you would pay at a «gourmet» restaurant. So, if you are a «Foodie» these are fun places to check-​out!
We had not been to the Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary Café in a few years, but always remembered the great meal we had when we first visited. We had tried to return on previous trips to Santa Rosa, but they are not open for dinner and have limited hours during the weekdays. This time we found ourselves unexpectedly in the area on a day and time when they were open so we made reservations — Usually a good thing to do since due to their limited hours and seating they are often fully booked.
We discovered that the Café had just this year moved from their downtown location to a brand new Culinary Arts building directly across the street from the SRJC main campus.
Entering the building we passed by the bakery and saw many interesting bakery treats on display in refrigerated glass cases. Students were lined up to get a bakery goodie and a freshly made coffee drink.
We were seated promptly in the dining room by the woman professor who runs the restaurant. The airy, high-​ceilinged room is about 50 feet square, with floor to ceiling glass on the outside wall. On one side of the room is a modern stainless steel and tile open kitchen, with a wood-​fired pizza oven, where student chefs, dressed in their white coats and chefs’ hats are busy cooking and preparing their culinary features for the day. The dining room contains about 15+ tables for four.
The students here work on both sides of the counter. The chefs cooking for you one day are waiters the next. We were attended to by a waiter who took our order and delivered our food and wait staff who efficiently kept our water glasses filled.
The menu changes every week and features soups, salads, sandwiches, small plates, entrées and desserts. With all the interesting items to sample we tend to try things in as many categories as our stomachs will accommodate. We ordered:
— Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk
— Salad of LIttle Gem Lettuce, Golden Nectar Farm Apples & Asian Pears with a Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese Dressing
— Pizza with Black Mission Figs, Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese and Prosciutto
— Pork Stew with Fresh Tomatoes, Jimmy Nardelelo Peppers, Garlic, Herbs, and White Wine served with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Our waiter was a friendly, jovial guy named, Danté. As a waiter he was not ready for Prime Time. He forgot things and was distracted, but in mid-​September school has just started and he could have just started as a waiter today, so we didn’t hold it against him. If it was the end of the school year and not the beginning, we would have expected better service.
The soup was very good! Thick and creamy and garnished with swirls of sour cream and sprigs of cilantro. The soup was lightly curried so it did not over power the coconut milk. It was just a touch to thick and heavy for us, but it tasted great!
The salad had the sweetness of the apples and pears and the tanginess of the blue cheese dressing. We thought it could have been improved with the additional of slivered almonds to add some crunchiness, but it was very good, too!
The pizza was hand-​formed and cooked in the kitchen’s wood-​fired pizza oven. The pizza crust had been rubbed with garlic and drizzled with virgin olive oil. It was cooked attentively so the center wasn’t soft and doughy. It was very good, but the toppings were sparse.
The Pork Stew was a large portion. It was served in a bowl ladled over a mound of mashed sweet potatoes. This was very good, too! The pork was tender and the tomatoes, peppers, wine and spices all melded together to create a nice rich stewy sauce.
After stuffing ourselves we decided to top it off with a dessert of mixed berry ricotta strudel with Grand Marnier Cream! This was divine! I can’t think of a way they could have made this any better other than giving us a bigger piece!
We had a great time here not only eating the student’s creations, but watching them bustling in the kitchen. As we waddled out of the restaurant we couldn’t pass by the bakery without getting a huge almond cookie for the road… which we ate walking out to the car! Good thing we don’t live nearby… we would have to change our wardrobe!

These guys really try.
As expected a well managed front of house. The food is very good but obviously prepared by learners. their old space on 7^th St. is nice and bright and I look forward to their new space.
I had the Lingcod my first meal and was very happy with the lemony fish I was served my companion had an exceelent piece of duck althought the veg was a bit overdone.
my second meal was at the last day of the spring ’11 semester and I must say I wished for the previous days duck.
Overall this place is a great deal for the price and the baked goods seem to really ambitious and near-​the-​mark in terms of quality and freshness.

I was sitting outside in my car debating whether or not to go in here for the third straight time in the same day.
The bakery is seriously that good. The four items I had today were better than what I usually have at a professional bakery, and I frequent bakeries like… well, like a fat woman who is really the hell into bakeries. And if you eat here after eating at Bouchon Bakery, you will be fucking mad, chump. Just mad at how cheap and superior most of this stuff is.
So if you only read up to here — eat at the bakery. Now, on with the testifying…
First we had ham-​fennel galettes, peach ginger scones and cranberry orange muffins. And even though all of the white-​hatted chefs to be were visibly busy crafting straight up excellence for the front case, nothing was over $ 3 bucks. Most wasn’t over $ 2.
Let’s talk galettes — like a pie or tart not made in a pie pan. When I first bit in, it made a coooo-​runch and cooo-​rispy sound and feel in my mouth. There aren’t enough metaphors — it is the shit. Moist, juicy and savory inside, perfectly fresh pastry — I want the calling card of the person who made these on 4÷8÷2011 so I will know to eat at their future James Beard nominated restaurant. Or they just have a good ass recipe, I don’t know.
Scones — I usually think scone=dry dough rock, with only a few exceptions — this is one of the exceptions. Sooo good. Muffins — not the best I’ve ever had (because I actually know how to make muffins and I’m kind of an asshole, I suppose) but very good, flavorful and moist.
Everything was gone fast, with immediate «Maybe we should get more» talk. Then, because we were pretty much feening, mainly for some more of the fennel ham galettes, I made another quickie trip back and: oh my god and shut the hell up —
Fresh. Hot. Bacon. Gruyère. Pastry. Puffs.
FOR 50 CENTS EACH.
Like some light yet rich piece of a heavenly cloud or at least what clouds should probably be like in heaven.
Apparently the offerings change up just that fast — you think you just tried everything and: SHAAZZAAYYYAAMM: bacon pastry puffs, a lemon curd biscuit cake (whaaa!!! duuude, I didn’t even get to that…) and a chocolate mousse cake pops up. So plan to just keep walking in and out over and over again just to see what happens.
I didn’t go back a third time. The only reason I can think of is because I am dumb. Because they are only open from Wednesday-​Friday, or something ridiculous like that, so I’m going to have to wait at least five more days or so before I can have another galette.