Update: This restaurant has closed.
Atmosphere: 2/5 ♦ Service: 3/5 ♦ Food Quality: 3/5 ♦ Value: 3/5 Times Visited: A Few ♦ Will I Return?: Likely ___________
JD’s can be found at 2837 Castro Valley Boulevard in (yep) Castro Valley, just next to the Chabot Theater. It’s true that we don’t have a large variety of good breakfast places around the mid-east Bay, but JD’s is as close as I’ve come to filling this niche.
Historically, I’ve always liked breakfast. In recent years, however, I find that a full egg, hash brown and toast meal makes me feel a bit queasy. Hence, I don’t patronize the breakfast foods, especially at restaurants, nearly as often as I used to. Regardless, if you’re looking for breakfast out on a lazy Sunday, JD’s isn’t a bad place to go.
There’s also Doug’s, Emil Villa’s and a variety of chain restaurants ranging in quality (Denny’s, Carrows, Mimi’s, Marie Callender’s) in the area, but out of what I’ve had before, I’d probably pick JD’s. They (oddly, but not entirely surprisingly) don’t appear to have a website and hence don’t have a menu online. So we’ll have to go from my memory.
They serve breakfast and lunch every day and are only open from 7am-2pm (I cheated on that one — it’s on Yelp). They have all the standard breakfasts with eggs, a large variety of omelettes, waffles, pancakes, french toast and then dabble in the lunch category with cold and hot sandwiches, soups and salads. If this website is correct, their lunch menu actually extends quite a bit further and includes fancy sandwiches (Reuben, Linguica, Cheese Steak), fresh roast beef and turkey along with burgers (and the breakfast menu showcases the pies), but I’m not sure where this site gets their intel*.
I’ve been to JD’s a handful of times over the years and they seem to be perpetually remodeling, which is odd. The place never really looks finished and they have a weird partially outdoors area that seems like an enclosed patio that I’ve never really liked very much. The inside is small and diner-esque. The waitresses are typically older and the one we had last time wasn’t particularly nice or attentive, though that may have been an isolated incident. I suppose I’m not really talking up the place, am I? Let’s talk food then:
They do a standard egg breakfast well. Granted, it’s not terribly difficult, but they’re on top of their game there. Omelettes are good as well and the selection on the menu is quite large. Feeling non-breakfasty, I ordered a lighter lunch dish of a half tuna sandwich and salad. This was exactly as expected and was neither extremely delicious nor extremely bad for me, so I called it a win. Here, feast on pictures:
2 eggs scrambled, bacon well done, potatoes.
Dad asked that I make specific mention of the English muffin he received which was appropriately crispy. This is rare at restaurants. I’m sure he will append this with a comment to this post.
Avocado, tomato and jack cheese omelette, potatoes, pancakes behind. This was all one meal for $8.50; God Bless America.
Half tuna sandwich on wheat, green salad with blue cheese, obligatory pickle coins.
My sister had the eggs Benedict which I have no experience with and hence cannot comment further than what she told me. She thought JD’s EB were…odd. Not horrible, just not great. She mentioned that she’s generally not terribly fond of the round Canadian bacon-type ham that comes on EB and that the hollandaise was off. Plus, the portions were huge and it’s not a great taker-homer, so that’s not real fun even if it is a better value. The picture turned out well though, see?
JD’s eggs Benedict with potatoes.
*Yeah, I totally used the word “intel” instead of information or info. And I’m typing with my sunglasses on. So. Cool.
JDs is the best around, but that is only because everything else is worse. Yes, they are always remodeling, but it never gets nice. The waitresses are truly perpetually crabby and are apparently quite annoyed that they have to deal with us (customers). They also refuse to turn an “omelet” into a “scramble”. I will continue to go, simply because it is close.
They have a relatively new owner and I think he is better than the last owner. The service usta suck but the last couple times I went there, service was ok. Food was great. Like Angie said, they actually TOAST their muffins. A rarity. Yum!