Alfred’s Cafe

One of the few non-​pretentious diner left, even serves breakfast all day. Where it’s more about the food and less about the plate the food came on. If you enjoy not-​overpriced food in a well kept environment then this is the place for you. No hipsters allowed inside, you won’t find the words «Artisanal», «Heirloom», «Massaged», «Deconstructed» or any such silly pretensions.

This is our favorite breakfast place in the South Sound! We go here about twice a month and have a lot of fun. The food is amazing! I usually get hash browns, sausage, and eggs. And my boyfriend and a few of our friends always get French toast, they love it and it tastes amazing! My food is always perfect!
The staff is so friendly and easy to wave over without them hovering or ignoring us. We would eat here more if we could!
They even cut up and presented a simple avocado for one of my friends who had a diet restriction.
Alfred’s is the best! Eat here!

Another great meal at Alfred’s! Four of us stopped by Saturday for breakfast & lunch. We all were happy with our choices; two had chicken fried steak, one crab Benedict and one delicious boom boom burger! The fries are skinny and crispy, my favorite! Bloody Mary and beers are great! Service is wonderful, friendly and fast. Thanks Alfred’s, we’ll be back!

There is parking provided, always a plus downtown. Decent menu with a good variety of items, including some veggie friendly items. They serve their full menu (breakfast and lunch/​dinner) all day. The front door area is a little weird — no one to greet you and no sign to indicate if you should wait to be seated or seat yourself.
After a couple of minutes a friendly server walked by and instructed me to sit where ever I like. I told him I actually wanted carry out and he kindly directed me to the bar. The bartender was friendly and prompt, she made me a tasty bloody mary, and I ordered the California Benedict to go. My food was ready in a timely fashion but when I got home I discovered tgat the chef was very, very stingy with the hollandaise. I can’t lie, I was disappointed. The dish was alright, but for $ 11 it was definitely lacking. There wasn’t enough sauce to cover the eggs, muffin, and topping and I ended up eating dry spinach and muffin at the end.

We’ve live in Tacoma for three years now and are just trying this historical spot! Parking can a bit challenging, but we found some street parking so went that route.
The place inside is your average neighborhood dinner, which is just fine and has its own charm.
My husband ordered the coffee and I had the OJ… we were both pleased. I had the California Benedict which was nice but something I could have made myself at home, the eggs were cooked perfect however. The Mr. Had two eggs (again, cooked great) toast and hash-​browns. All done well, but again, not mind blowing. Just some, good, solid breakfast good.
The staff was super nice, someone who I believe was the owner or manager was helping to bus tables and bring out food… always nice to see people pitching in when its busy! The waitress was very friendly even though she gad many tables.
Will come back when in the area again.

When I wake up and want a quality breakfast (but am still to lazy to make it myself) I head down to Alfred’s. I have been getting breakfast here for several months now, and have had nothing but good experiences.
Located near the Tacoma Dome, Alfred’s is a retro looking diner, with a full bar attached. Parking can be kind of an issue, as they share a parking lot with a neighboring business. There is street parking nearby, as well as a transit station where you can leave your car if you don’t mind a five minute walk.
Now onto the food. My personal favorite thing to get is the French toast breakfast. Comes with 2 eggs, and either sausage (links or patties) or bacon. At twelve dollars it’s not too bad for a meal, however you do get a good amount of food, so you won’t be leaving hungry.
If toast isn’t your thing they have a full menu of other delicious breakfast options, as well as another menu of non breakfast meals.
Now onto the staff. I have always had superb service from the staff at Alfred’s. They’re always kind and courteous to my party (usually 4 or 5 people.) The service is prompt and attentive, but not overly so to where you feel like they are always around.
Overall I’d highly recommend this place if you are in the Tacoma area and looking for a quality breakfast at around 8 – 12 dollars per plate. I have been a lifelong Tacoma resident and this is one of my favorite places.

Had California eggs Benny (poached eggs, tomato, hollandaise, avocado, English muffin) with hash browns. Damn near licked my plate… mmmm

I was impressed with Alfreds. I used to go here back when it was a dive. Now its nice inside and way bigger than i thought it was. The service, food, music and décor were great. Our waitress even smelled real nice. I will come here a lot now.

Came here to try a new place. Waitress was friendly and polite. My daughter and I split the chicken fried steak with sausage gravy, hash browns and over easy eggs. Her boyfriend got the mushroom swiss burger on a pretzel bun. He said his burger was very good. I realized that had we not split our chicken fried steak that the portion would have been huge! The food was good and filling.

It’s good. Went there before a concert, a little crowded but everywhere is crowded. Staff is great and food is good!

I just had the fajita omelet.
Amazballs!!!
The homemade salsa that it comes with NEEDS to be bottled and sold.
I used it on my hashbrowns, and even on my wheat toast.
Breakfast done right!!!

I dream about the Cali eggs Benny do an add on of Canadian bacon and there you go!!! We do Sunday morning breakfast and am super surprised how many places can mess up eggs not here! Great food good price!!!

Best bloody mary ! My favorite so far! Yum! Friendly, good food definitely going back !

Wham bam, Thank you ma’am! Service, Food and atmosphere were great. Lightning fast and attentive service. Great breakfast!
Well done

ATTENTION!!! IGNORE THE LOW STAR REVIEWS FROM SNOOTY ARROGANT NORTH-​ENDERS!
If you want an overpriced, dolphin-​safe, sustainable, hipster, puffer jacket wearing, stuck up, portlandia breakfast, then don’t go here! This is a straight up great, simple breakfast, lunch and dinner location. Simple layout and décor, tvs, bar, small menu, old tables and chairs. And good food. I recommend this Southwest scramble with O’Brien potatoes and a bloody Mary. The bloody Mary is not for lightweights.

WHY are people in Tacoma giving some of these mediocre restaurants such great ratings?! I don’t get it…
Alfred’s Café… I don’t know what to say about this place. Hmm. They have good coffee? That’s about it.
Pancakes are frequently burnt and taste «off» with a very strange, runny syrup that doesn’t taste anything like syrup. Omelettes are medium-​sized and somewhat tasty but everything is over-​priced compared to what you get. The recession must have really hit Tacoma hard because all these restaurants I’m writing reviews for dish up small portions but charge much more than the portions are worth.
If you’re a desperate straight woman looking to pick up some skeezy men in dirty jeans, maybe this place is for you. I can’t count the number of times my wife and I had to see some drunken woman in her skimpy halter top trying to get some action as she nearly fell off her tall chair or greasy men leering at my wife and I as we tried to eat our meager portions of eggs and stale sourdough toast. Mmmmm, ambiance!
On the plus side, the waitresses are all very nice and we have tipped them well, seeing what they had to put up with at times.
I give up on finding a decent restaurant near to where we live. I think it’s time to check out the restaurants in the north end of Tacoma. Isn’t there a breakfast place that serves great food but doesn’t require a second mortgage?

I love Alfred’s. The bloody marys are strong, the servings large and the waitstaff friendly.
My boyfriend likes the wide variety of sports that are always playing on the screens.
I like the Monte Cristo on the menu, especially with their perfect (and I mean PERFECT) shoestring fries.
Their California Benedict comes with healthy servings of Avocado, and I always take some home.

Alfred’s café is a great place to stop if your getting off the train and waiting for your ride to pick you up. It’s within easy walking distance of the Amtrak station, plus they have good food, friendly staff and a full bar.
The restaurant has a 50’s diner feel to it, and the bar is one of those old wooden bars with carved motifs and a mirrored back. With 20 beers on tap, you’re sure to find something you’ll like. My personal favorite is the Scrimshaw Pilsner, which I have yet to find on tap anywhere else. It’s a sweeter Pilsner with a hint of honey.
And did I mention breakfast is served all day? Nothing like having a breakfast burrito and a beer at 4 in the afternoon. Had the chicken tacos today, and while they weren’t my favorite, everything else I’ve had had been good.

IT has been many years since I’e been to this venerable breakfast lunch spot in the shadow of the Tacoma dome. I love the large old growth timber building, classic Tacoma style. And like the building, my sturdy omelet was really good, as were the has browns. Nothing here is imagantive, its «just breakfast» but well done.
The servers were nice… but one thing bugs me… really bugs me. they have committed architectural felonies to this gem. Horrible tile int he lobby and up the walls,.incongruous to, the era. and then there’s an unused weird ass diner concept in the left vestibule. This needs to striped down and I, proved. For pointers, they should visit Crockett’s in Puyallup simple traditional, comfortable, true. Don’t get cute with a venerable old timeless building.
Lastly the upstairs here I unused and wasted. Sad really.

Super friendly folks. I feel so welcomed here! From the first step through the door we were welcomed by a waitress walking by, the bartender shouted hello as he poured drinks, another waiter smiled as said hi as he bused a table and another as we got sat. Overwhelmed by the friendliness and struck with hunger — we quickly sat and looked over the menu.
Pretty typical Café/​Diner style menu/​foods — we were so hungry though that everything sounded delicious. After serious debate and coin flipping — and a little help from the waitress we ended up with the following:
Meatloaf — I cannot say I’m a fan. It was a bit dry and overly herb’d for my liking. I like mine moist and slathered in bbq sauce. It wasn’t horrible per say — but definitely not my cup of tea.
French Dip w/​fries — my buddy ordered this and loved the dip. great au jus and perfectly toasted bread was what he told me (i don’t like it) but the FRIES. They were so good they could have been magical. It’s McDonald’s sized and just the perfect amount of salt and crispiness. We doused it in ranch and ketchup and grinded away — when they were all gone we ordered another order to go so we can eat at home but they never made it home cuz we finished it on the spot.
Monte Cristo — yummmmm… it’s always hard to find a good one. but when you do… piled high with flavors, perfect cooked. There are some foods you simple cannot put into words — you just got to put it in your mouth and let the food do the talking. And let me tell you that this sandwich was speakin to me!
Crab omelette — I was a bit skeptical when I ordered this as crab and a diner/​café is usually a no no. for reasons of freshness and/​or reasons of lack of crab. But this omelette did NOT disappoint. It blew me away. Huge chunks of dungeness crab throughout every bite. The hollandaise sauce on top was perfectly poured to balance out the rest of the flavors and the potato bites finished off the dish nicely adding great texture.
I love this place. Never knew it existed — but you bet i’ll be back for more!