First St. Cafe

Address:	440 1st St, Benicia, CA 94510, USA
Phone:	+1 707-745-1400
Site:	firststcafe.com
Rating:	4.2
Working:	7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–11:30PM 8AM–11:30PM 8AM–9PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 15

Amy Schroll

7/25/14 Husband and I were rewarded with Benicias downtown dollars after doing a favor for a co-worker. We decided to put the dollars to work at First Street Café. I was disappointed to hear they were out of clams (mussels too!) as Id been thinking about shellfish all day long. I settled for a Cobb Salad and went with the small option for $10. Husband had a 6 oz steak sandwich, ordered rare ($15, I think). After a basket of yummy bread our food arrived. I had to confirm that the salad I received was the "small". I filled the to-go container I had brought from home for leftovers, before I even started eating. There was soooo much salad! A delicious blue cheese dressing on top left me very satisfied. My poor husband on the other hand picked at very fatty pieces of overcooked, tough meat. I rarely see him cut off fat, but the huge amounts of fat he cut off this small steak were unbelievable. He said something to our server Lisa and she righted the situation. Actually, Lisa made everything about our dinner service nice. Even teasing me when she caught me licking my finger after running it through the oil on my bread plate. Holy cow, I have no manners sometimes. (Delicious olive oil does that to me.) Im not really a dessert person but Ive had crème brulee on my mind for a while. When Casey got up to look at their dessert cooler, I followed and spoke for us both when I ordered the custard. He got all sugar-crazy-eyed and ordered a chocolate, salted caramel mousse dessert as well. We actually couldnt finish either one. We were so full! Oh, man. Now all I can think about is crème brulee! I want more crème brulee!! I wish Id brought the leftover crème brulee home with me (even though it was only a couple spoonfuls left!) Yes, it was that good. (At least I have a large container full of leftover salad.)

Anonymous User

Horrible! My long time friend and I thought we were going to have a nice lunch after not seeing other for a long time.....we were wrong about the nice lunch although the food was good the Service was terrible! My friend actually had to get up more than once to ask for more to drink and to top it all off....I was charged 4 times on my bill for a total of $105. When I was supposed to have $20 put on my credit card and the rest paid in cash by my friend. The bill was only $31. Now its been a roller coaster trying to get my money back! Then after calling them several times, they started to be VERY RUDE and hung up on me. Mary its extremely unprofessional and can care less about customer service and Danielle was my server and should be in the back washing dishes! Never will I go there again. There are too many good places in downtown Benicia to deal with this BS again.

L R

Quaint little spot in the heart of downtown. Its a little cramped with so many tables in such a small space. Although you get excellent and VERY attentive service, there are probably one too many servers running around. My tiny table of two was served by at least three different people so by the end of our meal I didnt know whom to tip! Other than their eggs florentine being incorrectly passed off as eggs benedict (#sorrynotsorry lol) the food was good and served in a somewhat timely fashion. Perfect place for a quick brunch or lunch date for two to four people, but larger groups should probably go elsewhere.

Robert Harvey-Kinsey

The staff remembers your face when you come again. Their menu mostly contains familiar higher end American entrees combined with a few common European dishes. They have several fun appetizers such as sliders and fish tacos. Their recipes are often modified in heart healthy ways so be sure to ask how its prepared. Ironically given many of their entrees, they have a rich and varied homemade dessert menu. Their service is usually top notch, however as a small establishment when they are short a person it can tax their ability to keep up. They are polite and honest about it on those rare occasions.

Jessie Jimenez

Hmm, our server Alex was cute and nice. But other than that, the entire menu seemed very limited. I ordered a Belgium Waffle with one, just one side which I chose as sausage. I had to also add anything extra so I added eggs. My check was $13.31 plus tip. Very overpriced. My friend likes cornbeef hash but was not told that their recipe is made with Jalapeños. She had to pick around at it. Other than Alex being cute, most lilely wouldnt go there again.

Jackie Ganiy

My husband loves this place but I found it lacking. I ordered the carbonara pasta and substituted fettuccine for the penne. My dish arrived with about a quarter of a head of cauliflower dumped on a mound of nearly tasteless pasta. I have never seen carbonara served with cauliflower, an extremely starchy, heavy vegetable that has no place on delicate, homemade pasta. We also ordered the pecan pie, which was sublime, hence the two stars.

CJ Suchovsky

Poor service when handling a large party. We called in advance to plan for a party of 10. Food was brought to us cold and last person was served 30 minutes after the first person received their entree. Also, we agreed on a fixed menu for our service which included scones--which is their signature item--only to be told that they had sold out, and couldnt deliver @10:30 AM.

David Chamberlain

Our favorite local restaurant - great food, excellent prices, and super friendly service. Dont miss this if you are in town: different menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all of which are excellent. The homemade scones star for breakfast or brunch, the open-face crab sandwich stands out at lunch, and the specials are always good for dinner.

Michael Kearns

Had breakfast - the waffle sliders. They didnt disappoint. The sweet and savory flavors were enjoyable. This is a local place, with laid-back people that are full of conversation. Its an older place, and everything is not new and perfect, but it didnt matter. The food and service was excellent at this restaurant.

Eleanor Torreano

Crab sandwich was good not great. Overpriced. Should be served with salad. Corned beef hash was very dry. Couldnt eat it. Service we received was poor. Waitress didnt even know the specials. Will not return. Needs improvement on customer service especially newcomers.

Benjamin Chaney

Aside from a select few items the menu is awful. Its expensive for the quality and the cooks/chefs are far from experts. Theres often a wait due to the hype of this place. Admitally breakfast is ok, still, I can think of better places to go.

LaJuan Hughes

Very good breakfast. I had the Belgian waffles that was nice and crispy. My wife had the pancakes which she said were delicious! We had great service from Riley. Now we have to come back to try the lunch menu and to try the pies.

michael mcdonald

Love this place. Can get busy and a little slow at times, but there is a reason for that. Great food and service. We have only gotten the crab sandwich and the chicken curry soup because thats all we need! Both are so amazing!

Melanie Paterson

Had a great lunch. Megan was our server she was efficient and friendly. Good selection of lunch items, reasonably-priced. Have had breakfast here before, which was very good as well. Now Im tempted to come for dinner!

Linda Elder

A kind efficient waitress who made a terrific dessert recommendation, the chocolate caramel salted mouse. Wow! I had the crab artichoke sandwich on herb focaccia. I want to go back now and I just got home.