Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe Restaurant Review

4081 Hollis St. Send to Phone

510-594-1221 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu

Price

$$$$$

Fun, punk diner known for satisfying, down-home cuisine; co-owners include a member of Green Day.

Cuisine

Open

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner daily, Brunch Sat.-Sun.

Features

Kid-friendly
Outdoor dining
Open late
Parking lot
Casual

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This high-energy diner in an otherwise nondescript stretch of Emeryville has a fiercely loyal clientele. Tables and booths incorporate playful themes (board games, action figures). Good music adds a punk edge, and specials boards above the bar provide entertaining reads. Once the food arrives, all distractions are categorically ignored: generous breakfasts are so good that, as no reservations are taken, wait times can be grueling; luckily, those who wait get free Peet’s coffee. Nightly specials include stick-to-your-ribs meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, and fried chicken with buttermilk biscuits; separate menus take care of the kids. Meatless options are numerous and hearty: the big, hulking breakfast burrito is a standout, and chili-cheese fries---although officially a starter---are a meal unto themselves. On nice days the surrounding asphalt is transformed into a merry outdoor patio. More pluses: $1 beers after 9 p.m.; creative drinks, such as the "shakin' Jesse," a milkshake made from Guinness, espresso and chocolate ice cream; and the fact that Rudy's is open every day from 7 a.m. until 1 a.m. A second location in Oakland's Uptown (1805 Telegraph Ave., 510-251-9400) has the same filling fare and is a hipster magnet.

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