What People Are Saying About Cafe Borrone
The Editor
Contributor
Citysearch
The Food – The chalkboard menu is hard to read, so go for the fresh muffins, scones, and divine coffee drinks in the morning; at lunch bite into the chicken-salad sandwich, and after dark branch out and try a glass of red wine and a little pate. – – The Scene – Cafe Borrone is an institution in Menlo Park. The plaza in between the two spots is dotted with cafe tables overflowing with beautiful people just cracking the spine of a new purchase. Borrone is a casual, order-at-the-counter kind of place that still turns out sophisticated sandwiches, salads, and…
07/22/07
Affogato Affront
by gbheron
We have always liked Cafe Borrone. But since they have no e-mail address on their website (consider this a demotion in stars, too!) I am posting publicly how disappointed we were with the affogatos last night.
Affogatos should be a fun, festive drink. In the style to which we're accostomed--from It's Italia in Half Moon Bay--this lively dessert dish should be served as follows: big scoop of well-frozen, high-quality vanilla ice cream in a large martini-shaped glass with whipped cream and shaved dark chocolate. A little maple syrup-type pitcher with 3 oz of espresso is served on the side. The guest pours the espresso over the ice cream in several installations and eats w/ a spoon.
The CB version was in a coffee mug with about a milliliter of coffee and no shaved chocolate (despite asking if I could have a chunk of chcoclate to shave w/ their nutmeg grinder--felt like the tuna sandwich scene in Five Easy Pieces). I was horrified to see the counter guy scoop half-melted Dreyer's into my cup when the menu board had promised Haagen Dasz! He said they ran out of HD. Hmmm. Do I believe that? So we had a drab, minimally-coffee'd, mushy, melted mess in a mundane mug.
SO disappointing. Please learn how to make a proper affogato!!
- Pros: good food, good wine, great desserts, outdoor seating, next to book store, easy to park
- Cons: bad affogatos
04/15/07
great coffee and ambiance
by sthor75
Cafe Borrones is a great coffee shop and restaurant. It has a great seating arrangement inside and out. I would highly recommend.
06/21/04
Great spot!
by krafty
This is a great cafe and is located right next to Kepler's--one of the best bookstores in the area. Although very crowded at times, it's a great place to catch up with friends.
- Pros: good food, great location, near great bookstore
- Cons: , hard to get table at
The Details on Cafe Borrone
Don't Rush It:
Be sure and make some time to browse next door at Kepler's Books.
Jampacked:
Owners Rose and Roy Borrone and their kids took over Kepler's annex a couple years back to add more room, but it still seems packed to overflowing, especially on nights when there's live Dixieland jazz.
Also Try:
Another coffeehouse in Silicon Valley on par with Cafe Borrone.
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