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    Garden's Gate Cafe

    4.3 (176 reviews)
    Open 7:00 am - 3:00 pm

    Order Garden's Gate Cafe Takeout or Delivery

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    GARDEN'S GATE CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Trendy
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Garden's Gate Cafe

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    Indoor plants
    Tvisha G.

    Garden's Gate Café is a hidden gem for those looking to have an aesthetic brunch in San Jose! The ambience was one of the highlights. The cafe was spacious with lots of greenery and plants throughout. The large windows let in plenty of natural light, which made the space feel bright and open. There's plenty of seating both indoors and outdoors, along with a bar area on one side. The menu is quite extensive, with drinks ranging from mimosas, cocktails, and coffees, and food including pancakes, waffles, sandwiches, and a variety of egg dishes. We ordered the Garden's Gate breakfast board, which comes with a mix of breakfast items like pancakes, waffles, and French toast topped with fresh fruit, whipped cream, and syrup on the side. It also originally comes with bacon, sausage, and ham, but we asked to have those removed. We added chocolate chips to the pancakes for an extra charge. The board was around $35, which is a bit on the pricier side, but you are able to sample a variety of items and it's suitable for sharing. Visually, it was very appealing, and the portions were good for three people. However, the pancakes, waffles, and French toast were a bit plain on their own, so it might have been nicer if they had offered flavors rather than just toppings. I also ordered a caramel macchiato, which was well-balanced, neither too sweet nor too bitter. The main downside was the service. It was quite slow, even though the restaurant wasn't very crowded, and we were waiting quite a bit for our server throughout the meal. It seemed like they may have been understaffed.

    Latte with banana cold foam
    Khiet E.

    Came here for breakfast around 8:30am. We were able to get seated right away. Perfect time to come. The server recommended the French toast board to share. I thought it was ok, kinda expensive. I'll come back to try their other stuff on the menu.

    Chilaquiles, was a miss, it wasn't noteworthy. The country potatoes had very little seasoning and tasted boiled.
    Barbara B.

    I was excited to try Garden's Gate Cafe. It has a good review standing on Yelp. It is easy to find, with a parking lot across the street. I was pleasantly surprised how nice and well staff the restaruant was. We were greeted immediately, and put on a waiting list, it was busy. Usually when an establishment is this busy, it's a precursor to good food. The ambiance here is modern/chill vibe. It was fiiled with conversations, and people moving about. Our waitress was pleasant, and took our order quickly. Our drinks were brought out fast, and we were impressed with the plates of food we saw other patrons eating while we waited. We didn't wait long for our food to arrive. The plated food looked very appetizing when placed in front of us. Once I started eating it, I was disappointed. The country potatoes were boiled potatoes, there was no crispiness to them, and barely seasoned. The Chilaquiles were a dud. It was thick soggy chips, with a lot of dry spots, just plain chip flavor. I will not be back. The service was good, but I was bummed by the food.

    Amy S.

    The best experience on a beautiful Sunday morning. Tucked into an apartment complex, it's the neighborhoods best kept secret. Amazing service, everyone is so nice and it's very clean. The food was great. They also have an extensive drink menu as well. Highly recommend!

    Bread Pudding French Toast
    Anna P.

    This cafe is located in a kind of random area, but had a pretty calm and casual ambiance. On a sunday, we ended up waiting only about 15 minutes before we were seated. Parking is a bit of a hassle in this lot so be prepared. We got some drinks to start: Iced vanilla latte and Ube latte. I was honestly really surprised by the flavor of the ube latte, it was amazing. They have many cute drink options and combinations. They have an extensive menu with classic breakfast and brunch items as well as mexican fusion. We decided on the bread pudding french toast. This was honestly more of a banana bread than a french toast. I really enjoy banana bread so was totally fine with it, but it was not what we expected. We also got the gardens gate benedict which was really great! Loved the steak, avocado, peppers, and eggs that were cooked perfectly. House potatoes are standard, nothing to write home about. Service was also good. But I would definitely be coming back here since the prices are super affordable!

    Catherine H.

    I finally had a chance to visit this place and it was good but nothing crazy. First time, I went on a weekend and it was about a 45 min wait. We had to walk in to join the waitlist but I think adding a Yelp waitlist with the option to join from the app would be more convenient. We were in a rush so we decided to come back on a weekday. We came back and it was very empty and quite peaceful! The pancakes were pretty dry.. but overall, the food is pretty good. It's nothing special though, I think it's more of just going for a cute brunch place. It's a nice place to work remotely and chill as well. Service was kind of slow but the staff were nice. The sign outside is also very cute!

    Outside
    Lakwan H.

    I absolutely love this place. Everything I've had near has been delicious. I have now been here 6 times and I always try something new when I come there explore their menu. On the weekends there is usually a wait to get in (20-40 min) but when I go during the week I am seated immediately. The service is always great and on point. They also have some Really bomb mocktails. There's only one drink I got that I didn't like very much but everything else I've tried I loved. Their mimosas are my favorite. They are usually playing nice music and it's such a great place to hang with your friends or a little morning date with your partner. Also this is a small preference of mine but I love when a restaurant has a big table that actually fit all the food I'm going to order lol

    Garlic Fries (it's alright)
    Grace F.

    Cute & Yummy, lots of parking & if you don't pay attention, you will miss this place. Friendly service when you walk in, doesn't seem like they get too busy, but they do need more workers, because it took too long, to get service, we were seated right away, but it took a while for the waiter to check in with us, taking our order, bringing our drinks & food. We noticed it was literally One Worker & the (chef or cooks) were the ones bringing out our food & bussing tables when the waiter was busy tending to the other customers. Because we were enjoying the company & conversations, we didn't mind waiting, but the food was very cute when it came out, nice portions & pricing "maybe" good enough ‍ I will definitely be visiting more, just to try the other items on the menu, because the food was also delicious.

    Featured drinks
    Madison B.

    We had an amazing service here on a Saturday morning! For drinks we got the banana matcha latte and the cookie butter latte, and both were perfect and not overly sweet! One of the best banana matcha lattes I have had! For food, we got the chipotle skillet which came with toast and that was very good! My plate was the chilaquiles verde with added carnitas on it and the sauce was very good! Our server was very nice and friendly and attentive, would overall definitely come back for the food and service!

    Carnitas Benedict
    Jill U.

    We got there just before 2 pm on a Saturday and there was a 10-15 minute wait for a two top. They took our info and said we'd get a text when our table was ready. It took 15 mins but we used the time to game plan our menu selections. We were sat inside at the furthest point. But were given a table for two which was nice to have the space. Our server was nice but not super talkative. That's fine. We ordered regular coffee, the Garden Gate board and the carnitas Benedict. The food too a very long time to come out. No offers of coffee refills in the meantime. When the food arrived the Benedict came out first. Our sever brought small plates so we could share it which was thoughtful. We practically finished it before the board came out. The board was plentiful with French toast, waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, ham, fresh fruit, whipped cream, butter and syrup. Way more food the two would be able to finish. The food was very flavorful. Despite it taking a while, the food was tasty and we did end up getting coffee refills We'll be back to try other things.

    Garden's Gate Skillet
    Bart B.

    Service service service..There is none here. Waited for 30 mins to be seated and almost 45 mins to get our food. Had to ask for silverware, jam for toast and hot sauce. I felt like I was the waiter. All food came separately with 10 minute intervals between. My wife's food was cold and had clearly been sitting in the kitchen for a while. My son was virtually done eating when I received my plate. The food is very mediocre I'd rate a B- and the service an F. AVOID THIS PLACE.

    Butter Cookie Latte
    Sharan N.

    So glad to have this new brunch place nearby. Nice ambiance, spacious indoors. Lots of parking across the entrance street. Host was super friendly and suggested the Cookie Butter Latte which was delicious! Loved the Carnitas Benedict and Tres Leches French Toast. Special mention for Taste of Mexico section in the menu.

    Donna T.

    Garden's Gate Cafe is owned by the same folks that own The Breeze Cafe in Newark. If you've tried there, it definitely tastes almost identical, but is a brighter and more botanical space. My friend and I shared the chorizo omelette and fried chicken + waffles with some mimosas. The highlight out of everything for me was probably the strawberry mimosa; dangerously good. On the other hand, the food I felt was meh. The fried chicken was dry and bland. I couldn't super taste the chorizo in the omelette either. Service though was great. We came on an early Saturday morning and there was no wait. I'm the overly cautious type when it comes to parking, so I wound up parking on the street in case I exceeded the 90 min time limit on the parking spots in the plaza, but honestly it didn't really seem like they enforced it.

    banana matcha

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    Garden's Gate Cafe Reviews in Other Languages

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    Voltaire Coffee Roasters - Spanish Latte

    Voltaire Coffee Roasters

    4.3(612 reviews)
    2.1 miDowntown
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    They are serving The Best coffee in down town San Jose! It…read morehas been a while that I got a copy from them as I hardly ever go to downtown San Jose. Happen to be around and felt that I have to grab their coffee. I ordered pecan latte and flatwhite with oat milk and LOVE IT! I sometimes grab their beans too so that I can drink coffee at home. I got my coffee pretty fast (barista was so kind) and was able to sit down a little bit, enjoying the weather (it was raining in the morning which was perfect for coffee :))

    We were staying at a hotel nearby and were looking for coffee shops within walking distance. This…read moreone looked promising so we walked over and found ourselves in this very cute cafe. The team here was nice and we ordered a flat white and an iced Chai. The drinks didn't take too long to come out and we ended up sitting outside for a bit so we could sip on our drinks. My husband's Chai was a bit too milky, reading other reviews it seems like we should have ordered it extra strong so we'd have a bit more spice. He finished it quickly and ended up asking me if I could look up a new spot that might have a better Chai. My flat white was good, and I sipped it slower before we ventured off to our second coffee shop of the morning. Definitely a cute little cafe, but it's worth asking extra questions about their items to make sure you're ordering right for your tastes. For lovers of spicy Chai, ask for extra spice here.

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    Eos & Nyx - Dining Room

    Eos & Nyx

    4.2(653 reviews)
    2.3 miDowntown
    Locally owned & operated
    Takes reservations

    I'll give the food 4 stars and service 2.5. We went for brunch. Although the restaraunt was…read morerelatively empty, we had to wait for almost an hour. Once seated, it took the waitress a good 10 minutes to come over to our table. When she finallty did, she was going to leave without asking if we wanted to order drinks, we had to call her back. The food took a while also. Not once did she come back to check on us to see if we wanted another drink while we were waiting. She was nice enough, and maybe this is her first wait job, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. However, we noticed quite a few of the staff were just standing around. Hats off to the person who does their Instagram - they make the place look huge, but it's not. Everyone at the table said their dish was very tasty. You HAVE to try the ftench toast a try. It was absolutely delicious.

    What started as a simple Saturday night family dinner evolved into one of my absolute favorite…read moredining stories. From the moment we walked in, the restaurant struck the perfect balance of an energetic, vibrant atmosphere set against an elegant, earthy, warm backdrop. It manages to feel both incredibly lively and deeply welcoming all at once. The service here was impeccable. Cynthia and Lawrence provided seamless, white-glove service that was attentive without ever feeling stiff--they made our family feel like the most important table in the room. The true highlight of the evening, however, was Chef Nicko. We were able to meet him and benefit from hearing him describe the ingredients of our plates with a level of detail that almost makes each part of the recipe come alive. He also added the occasional history and inspiration behind a plate. Hearing the stories behind the food transformed an extraordinary menu into an unforgettable narrative experience. What made the night truly magical was how the food shifted the entire dynamic at the table. Our usual family dinner conversation completely dissolved, refocused entirely around each plate as it arrived. It felt like my family transformed instantly to a group of passionate foodies, analyzing textures, debating flavor profiles, and marveling at the presentation. With a meal this spectacular, it is nearly impossible to pick out a single "best" plate. Instead, if I were returning for a solo dinner and had to build my ultimate dream menu, here is exactly what I would order: To Start: the marinated olives, the pristine crudo, and the perfectly prepared octopus. The Main Event: A split pasta course of the rich tagliatelle and ravioli, followed by the filet mignon and the spectacular bone-in pork chop. The Finale: You cannot leave without ordering both the bright lemon pie and the classic, decadent tiramisu. If you are looking for more than just a meal, but a memory that will completely captivate your table, visit Eos & Nyx. We will be talking about this night for a very long time.

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    The FAB - Surf & Turf Burrito

    The FAB

    4.0(300 reviews)
    2.4 miDowntown
    $$
    Sports on TV
    Private events

    This place was SO good! Definitely a place to go to if you're downtown. We went during brunch time…read moreon Saturday. It was super packed but once you taste the food, you understand why. It's a small place but has indoor & outdoor eating. Lively (Latin?) music & an extensive menu. If you have a large party or are with picky eaters, this place has it all. I ordered their egg scramble with chorizo. 5/5 The rice & beans were seasoned so good. Even as sides, as individual items they were DELICIOUS. The chorizo & eggs weren't overly greasy & the tortillas were good. My partner ordered the steak sandwich. 4.5/5 Flavor was amazing. The steak was a little chewy. The sauce on the side complimented it very well but not necessary as the flavor of the steak was great by itself. I ordered a strawberry mimosa, as well. It was really lacking for me. Didn't taste any strawberry. Just looked like pink champagne. 2/5 Overall, the food & customer service was great. Clean bathrooms. Good vibes. Will definitely come back & try the rest of the menu.

    The Fab has a really great ambiance and a wonderful overall environment. The outdoor seating is a…read morehuge plus, especially being located on such a nice strip in downtown San Jose. If you enjoy people-watching while you eat, this is definitely your spot. And if you're a fan of mimosas, you'll probably feel right at home here. Our waitress was amazing -- very sweet, attentive, and professional. She made sure we were taken care of and really added to the experience. Unfortunately, the food itself wasn't the best. I ordered waffles with a side of bacon and berries. The berries were fresh and the bacon was cooked perfectly, but the waffle came out extremely hard -- almost like a plate. My spouse ordered eggs, potatoes, and a side of bacon. He clearly explained how he wanted his order, but it came out with hash browns and bacon instead. Again, the bacon was actually very good, but the rest of the dish missed the mark. One thing I did appreciate is that they are very welcoming to furbabies and even offer a special menu for them, which is a nice touch for pet owners. Overall, the atmosphere and service were great, but the food quality and order accuracy could definitely use some improvement.

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    Egghead Sando Cafe - The Chic Sandwich

    Egghead Sando Cafe

    3.5(350 reviews)
    2.3 miDowntown
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    I swung by Egghead Sando Cafe not too long ago and it honestly left a really good impression. The…read moreplace has a chill, cozy feel , nothing over the top, just a nice spot to sit and eat without feeling rushed. I tried one of their signature sandos and it was really solid. The bread was soft and fresh, and everything inside tasted balanced rather than heavy or greasy. It's simple food, but done properly, which makes a big difference. Coffee was also better than I expected and worked well with the sandwich. The staff were friendly and easygoing, and even though it was fairly busy, the wait wasn't long. Overall, it's just a nice, low-key place for a casual bite. Nothing overly fancy, but definitely somewhere I'd go back to when I'm in the mood for a good sandwich and a relaxed atmosphere.

    This is one of the breakfast places in Downtown San Jose that you do NOT want to miss!…read more I stumbled upon this place after the Yelp app recommended me to try -- so you know I had to give it a try. Upon entering, I loved how spacious the place was, especially with the variety of foods they had: egg sandwiches, matcha lattes, coffee, and lots more. I was fortunate enough to try their egg drop in a jar alongside bacon and cheese, and their matcha latte. Both were very delicious and had a very natural taste to them :) They had self-order kiosks but at the same time, their hospitality and customer service was on par. They were very accommodating with regards to dietary restrictions (especially when it came to the milk selections for lattes, matcha was no different). I will definitely be coming back to this place to try more! (Hint hint: I may also try their other location as well -- that to.be saved for another time)

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    The Table - Complimentary Bread ($0)

    The Table

    3.9(3.9k reviews)
    0.9 miWillow Glen
    $$

    I ordered the avocado crab toast with dungeness crab, miso butter, soft scrambled eggs, arugula,…read moreand trout roe. It was good, but I think the portion was on the smaller side for the price. Service was really good though. We sat outside since I had my dog with me, and the waitress brought out a water bowl for my dog without me even asking, which I thought was a really nice touch. Overall a solid spot, especially if you're sitting outside. Good service and a nice, relaxed vibe.

    The Table was a really big miss for me. The outside of the restaurant was very cute, and the inside…read morehad nice vibes. From the start, the waitstaff was standoffish and not very friendly. When we were seated, we were given a list of items that were not available. I originally wanted to try the pancakes but ended up ordering the chicken sandwich instead. This was genuinely one of the worst chicken sandwiches I have ever had. It was extremely gristly, fatty, and made with dark meat, which felt like an odd choice for a chicken sandwich. I'm not sure why this cut of chicken was used. The fries were alright, but they did not come with the sandwich and cost an additional $5. Our total came to almost $90 for three entrees with no beverages. I was especially frustrated because my sandwich was inedible. For the price and quality, I will not be returning and would not recommend this place.

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    Roasted Carrot Salad ($14)

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    Garden's Gate Cafe - breakfast_brunch - Updated May 2026

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