Rising Loafer Cafe & Bakery - Danville, CA

Rising Loafer Cafe & Bakery
340 Hartz Ave.
Danville, CA 94526
(925) 838-8800
danvillerisingloafer.com



Rising Loafer Cafe & Bakery is located on Hartz Avenue in downtown Danville, just south of Diablo Road and north of Starbucks Coffee. It's a nice spot to have breakfast, lunch or dinner (Fri-Sat only) and dine al fresco in the heart of downtown Danville. Service is wonderful and the food (lunch) is just slightly above average...I honestly expected better from Rising Loafer Cafe & Bakery. The dishes themselves were creative and they have a great menu, but execution is what they lacked.



My Chicken Salad Half Sandwich ($4.95) had only two bites with apple and the soggy croissant had such a strong butter flavor that it overpowered the bland chicken salad. My Napa Valley "Mini" Spinach Salad ($6.95) was better, after I asked for the red seedless grapes that were missing. The Chicken Tortilla Soup ($4.95) was tasty (with a broth similar to menudo) and the Grilled Chicken Diablo ($8.95) was good, but the fries had a baked potato-like consistency on the inside, which was a bit odd.

If I were to visit Rising Loafer Cafe & Bakery in the future, I would most likely try their breakfast instead of having lunch again. Even their bread basket (which smelled really good) wasn't as great as anticipated...but if you're in downtown Danville, there's not a lot of selection of restaurants that serve breakfast.

Cafe Delle Stelle - Walnut Creek, CA

Caffe Delle Stelle
1532 N. Main St.
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
(925) 943-2393

Caffe Delle Stelle gave me a wonderful first impression...the Main Street location in downtown Walnut Creek, the pitcher of sparkling water with a slice of orange that was left at the table and the bread with the tomato dipping sauce...yum!



However, the Gnocchi con Pollo AND the Sogliola ai Caperi (Filet of Sole with Capers) were both AWFUL. The gnocchi was chewy and the chicken breast was well on its way to being chicken jerky. The filet of sole was so rubbery, you needed a knife to cut it...you couldn't cut it with a fork!



Service went downhill right after they brought out our entrees. We ordered a white chocolate gelato to share for dessert, as they were out of regular chocolate gelato...and it turned out to be vanilla! No one ever came back, so we ate a little bit and left the rest...I don't even think it was real gelato because it was terrible (and how can real gelato EVER be terrible?) We sat waiting for our bill for about 15 minutes and we finally had to go get someone's attention...by that time, we were relieved to walk out of Caffe Delle Stelle and never come back. Ugh.

Red Tractor Cafe - Dublin, CA

Red Tractor Cafe
4920 Dublin Blvd
Dublin, CA 94568
(925) 828-8300
redtractor.com

Although I've only ordered from their lunch/dinner menu in the past, I discovered a delicious sourdough breakfast sandwich with rosemary home fries from their all-day breakfast menu...mmm! I originally ordered a house salad with a cup of split pea soup, but the lettuce was wilted and soggy so I sent it back and decided to try the sourdough breakfast sandwich instead.

According to others in my party, the farmhouse breakfast was good and included: eggs, bacon, sausage, mini biscuits and gravy, mini pancakes and a cup of coffee. There were no complaints about the fried chicken dinner, roasted carrots or grilled zucchini either!

Their orangeade is so irresistibly delicious and thirst-quenching, the phrase "unlimited refills" has a new meaning for me. It's better than no other orange drink I've ever had, but it's best described as a sweeter, non-carbonated version of Orangina...pulp and all!









Orangeade - with unlimited refills! ($1.99)




Cup of Soup & House Salad ($6.99)


Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich ($6.99)


Farmhouse Breakfast, including a cup of coffee ($9.99)


Fried Chicken Dinner ($9.99)

Baci Cafe - Pleasanton, CA

Baci Cafe
500 Main Street
Pleasanton, CA 94566
(925) 600-0600
bacimainstreet.com

Baci Cafe (sometimes known as Baci Restaurant) is in a terrific location in Downtown Pleasanton on the corner of Main Street and Neal. We first sat at one of their outside tables, but we decided to sit inside when the person next to us started smoking (she got up from the table and was standing right next to the table while smoking...like that made a difference!)

Anyway, if you are lucky enough to be served from a pitcher that has let the fruit steep into the water, their fruit water is delightful! They put a variety of fruits in their water pitchers such as oranges, lemons, apples, strawberries, etc.

We ordered their "Grilled Bone-In Pork Chop, Herb and Pancetta Crusted" and their "Grilled Salmon with Citrus Beurre Blanc". First, they brought out a Rack of Lamb instead of the Pork Chop, but the Pork Chop turned out to be quite bland as they forgot the "Pancetta Crusted" part. My Salmon was very tasty, thanks to the Citrus Beurre Blanc...I found it to be a perfect compliment to the salmon.

Although this dining experience wasn't 5-star, we appreciate the fact that the server took the Pork Chop off the bill before presenting it to us. That was gracious of her and she told us it was because she wanted us to return...smart girl! We look forward to our next visit to Baci Cafe. :)







Dinner Menu


Fruit Water


Rack of Lamb ($29)


Pork Chop ($21)


Grilled Salmon ($21)


Dessert Menu

Pasta Primavera Cafe - San Ramon, CA

Pasta Primavera Cafe
3124 Crow Canyon Pl, Ste C
San Ramon, CA 94583
(925) 830-9500
pastaprimaveracafe.com

Pasta Primavera is located right off Crow Canyon Road at I-680 just a couple minutes off the freeway. They close at 9:30pm on Saturdays, just so you know that their hours are not the norm. We've eated here once before and noticed a couple of improvements from our last visit - our male server tonight was wonderful (unlike our female server last time) and the minestrone was delightful (unlike the tasteless house salad we ordered last time.)

They have awesome bread and the most delicious roasted red pepper tapenade dip. He had the Veal Saltimbocca and I had the Veal Piccata, both of which were pretty good. The presentation was a bit sloppy with bits of veal peeking through a top layer of pasta, but at least the entrees tasted good. Good food, good service and good company...isn't that what dining out is all about?





Awesome bread and roasted red pepper tapenade!


MMM...Minestrone!


Veal Saltimbocca $17.95


Veal Piccata $17.95

Stephen's Pasta Cafe - San Ramon, CA

Stephen's Pasta Cafe
192 Market Place
San Ramon, CA 94583
(925) 275-1266
stephenspastacafe.com

Tonight's visit would have been rated 5 stars based on the service provided by our tall, young male server and the entrees (Fettucine Abruzzi and the Salmon), but I docked a star because the female server who cashed us out told us we had to order something else because the $35 Restaurant.com minimum purchase did not include soft drinks...which was not the case the last time we dined there, nor has it ever been the case at any Restaurant.com restaurant.

She went on to say: "Things have changed because we're struggling now," and it wasn't worth my time arguing over a few dollars, so I ordered a $5.95 slice of cheesecake to go. I peeked inside the little styrofoam container and I have never seen such a tiny piece of cheesecake in my life (check out the photo below)! :)



Caesar side salad $2.50


Fettuccine Abruzzi $12.95


Salmon on a bed of pureed squash $13.95


Stephen's slice of cheesecake $5.95 - OVERPRICED!