Garden Cafe - San Rafael

I ordered the calamari fritte salad and it was the best salad that I've eaten in my whole life of salads. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. The calamari was lightly fried and it went so well with the cilantro lime dressing. I pigged out and ordered a slice of pie too. (Hey I swam 3200 yds of IM's). I had no idea what kind of pie I ordered but took the risk. The crust was so buttery and very sugary which complimented the strawberry rhubarb. Typically, I think strawberry rhubarb is gross but this slice sent me over the edge into gluttony heaven with some vanilla custard ice cream.

Everything I've had since moving back to Marin at garden cafe has been fantastic. But my go to favorite item hands down is Garden Cafes tortilla soup! It's the BEST I've ever experienced ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD and each and every time over and over again it's that darn delicious! I can't order from Garden Cafe without it being there. It has come to the point where I should talk to them about cutting me a bulk weekly deal lol.

Nice ! Good terrasse, good food and service. Easy parking

Food are ok, they have plenty of outdoor seatings under red umbrellas so you get to enjoy the nice Californian weather without sunburns. Their coffee is hot and strong, better than most diners. They have fresh crab Benedict during the weekend, also on the day we went, they had lobster Benedict. We tried both, both were very underwhelming. The portion of crab or lobster were very tiny. For the crab one, I couldn’t taste any crab, can just see some white floss crumbled that’s drenched in oil. We may have enjoyed our food more if we ordered others, but wouldn’t recommend any of the above 2 dishes.

We usually take friends here for brunch when they visit San Rafael. Great selection, presentation, and nothing yet on the menu has disappointed. I had the Alexander 1 breakfast which is pretty healthy. If you do cardio still, the Hawaiian burger is yummy.