Home Front Cafe

Great food, pies, pastries, and ice cream/​gelato… And I mean REALLY good food, pies, pastries, and ice cream/​gelato. And the surroundings– the small town charm that is Altamont, is a perfect backdrop for this American military/​veteran themed slice of America. What a pleasure, what a treasure. It’s like Mom and apple pie. You can spend hours and still not see everything, and what’s better than learning a little history while you eat some «grandma good» home cookin’?

I have always loved it here. The staff is always so kind the food is yummy and the prices are good. I love that I can just pop in with my four kids and feel right at home. Thank you Pollards for our little town Gem.

Absolutely delicious quaint brunch spot. I am still reeling from memories of how delicious the toasted corn muffin was. So good you’ll eat one there and debate buying another for the road. Homemade corned beef hash was also superb. They will make whatever you want to order, just ask. Do not miss this place before or after your fall apple picking adventures or hiking the helderbergs!

Very neat place to enjoy a bite to eat and gaze around the café to look at all the World War II memorabilia! Service friendly and food very good. If you have a veteran in your family treat them here for a nice meal!

I love this place-it’s a classic. The food is really good & it’s loaded with meaningful veteran memorabilia.

If I tell you why I like this place, the tables will be more scarce! But I must share the best cole slaw I have ever tasted! Ever! I like it chopped fine with a slight bite. Fantastic!
The rest of my meal was good as well, but the slaw was showcase.
I love the nostalgia there. The music is from the 40s and the decorations are pure history. The history of the Orsini brothers and the flag made during his confinement in a Japanese POW camp is not to be missed.
The light sandwich fare tonight was just what I needed. The paper plates and chips help keep the prices low and they are reasonable.
I can’t tell you about the ice cream so many others rave about — I filled up on the sand which and slaw!
I will have to go back for the ice cream, or more slaw… ok for any reason at all! Next time you find yourself on Main St in Altamont, stop in. You don’t have to be a retired veteran to enjoy the food.

Today we stopped in for the first time for ice cream. I got the chocolate fudge brownie gelato which was AWESOME. However, a small was $ 4!!! Way too expensive for the size. I don’t know how a place like that gets away with it. My fiancé ordered a chocolate milkshake and it was very good, and huge. It was $ 3.50. I think I’ll stick to Stewart’s. I still plan on checking out their breakfast.

Best restaurant in town. Good food, good prices, good people. Some favorites: the wacs poetic, the still Sargent, the Macarthur.

We love this place. The atmosphere is great and the staff and owner are wonderful. The food is very good. Always happy after eating here.

We were in Altamont to shop at the neighboring yarn store and it happened to be the annual village garage sale day. There were a great many people wandering around town, but we were immediately seated at the Home Front. Since we don’t eat meat and generally avoid tuna (mercury?), we ordered omelets. Both my wife and my omelets were big, perfectly cooked, served hot with fresh, hot, home fries (not the frozen stuff!). The fillings for the omelets (mushrooms, onions, swiss) were all fresh and properly cooked. The service was quick and polite. Even the decaf coffee was good (not fancy café’ stuff, but good nonetheless).
I would recommend the Home Front Café’ to anyone looking for an very good, inexpensive meal in a homey, small town milieu.

My boyfriend and I stumbled upon the Home Front shortly after moving nearby and having a terrible brunch experience at a neighboring restaurant. We went in having no expectations and we were blown away. The waitstaff is on top of things and is always friendly and fast. We have never had to wait for a table despite it being a fairly popular breakfast spot. The food is consistently good and if you order something in January and then again in March it is exactly the same which to me is an often impossible feat. We now go at least one weekend morning for breakfast and will often go on Tuesday or Friday nights for dinner. The menu is limited but there is something for everyone, and the desserts are great especially the ice cream. It is also nice to be able to bring a bottle of wine or beer to have with dinner. This place is easy on the pockets, with great food, engaging décor, and staff that treats you like family.

After a hike in nearby Thatcher State Park this past Sunday, stopped in with the family to have lunch. We were intrigued by the Unilocal reviews. Sadly, we arrived at 1:20 pm and they stop serving lunch at 1 pm on Sundays (really?). So, we went a few doors down the street to Mio Vino for their Sunday brunch (10 am to 3 pm on Sundays), which we really enjoyed.
We made our way back to Home Front Café afterwards for ice cream for dessert. The highlights were the ice cream made while you watch, using liquid nitrogen, and their homemade gelatos and sorbets (the flavors vary from day to day). We especially enjoyed their chococate-​coconut gelato and lemon sorbet, which was out of this world incredible.
We also appreciated the service. The person working the counter was very friendly and she had such a great attitude and enthusiasm.
Overall, we were sad to miss out on the opportunity to have lunch here, but the awesome gelato and sorbet, plus the great service and cool ambiance/​vibe of the place, more than made up for it. Will definitely stop in again when next in the area.

I love the Homefront. It’s our comfort food go to place. Great for breakfast or lunch. The owners Jack and Cindy know their customers well and can usually be found making rounds around the place and chatting at each table. Each table has different wwII and 1940’s photos/​letters and memorabilia placed under clear plastic tablecloths. Most of the material is from local families.

Home Front is BY FAR our favorite place to take out of town guests for a hangover curing breakfast and they all leave very satisfied.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because if you sit out in the «ice cream parlor» area (rather than up top), you might occasionally find yourself forgotten. This only happens on particularly busy weekends around holidays; but if you’re in a hurry it can be frustrating.
TIPS: if you’re there with older folks in the winter I would recommend sitting in the upper spot — they do a lot of business so the door opens and closes a lot and you will be subject to a cold draft if you’re in the ice cream parlor area.
Also — we usually park in the library parking lot directly across the street.

This is great café with an unbelievable amount of WWII memorabilia. You could spend all day just looking at the décor some of which was donated by patrons, not reproductions. It’s like stepping back in time. Oh and the food is great. The owner is lovely and the french toast is fabulous. I also like the chicken salad for lunch. It’s a really cool little place. Must see.

Solid diner food! A must stop location in Altamont when you’re in the area. The WWII memorabilia is incredible. It’s like eating in a museum!

Just stopped in after running an errand in altamont. Decorated with vintage style Korean war era themes. Alcovy feel with different nooks and crannies to sit in. Long tables with memorabilia under clear tablecloths, etc. 24 hour clock on wall. Mismatched coffee cups. Old hutches. Brown plastic covered metal upright chairs. Food fine. Ten minutes for breakfast sandwich to go. Place semi packed on new years eve late morning. Thin guy with gray hair and mustache briefly visible at grill which is far but line-​of-​sight from main dining room. Nice place. More for relaxed ambience than anything else. This is a first impression review. I would come here again if I was in altamont.

Read the other reviews and you’ll get an idea of how cool this joint is. It’s true you will spend a great deal of time looking around and checking out the items under the glass of your table.
The food is good, comforting even. They have interesting specials and I do believe that cream chipped beef (shit on a shingle) is a menu standard. Awesome really.
Definitely worth checking out and if you know a veteran bring them here.

This is a family favorite for brunch. I can’t review any of the other food, because I’ve only ever had breakfast food here!
First of all, the aesthetics of the place are the first thing you notice and what keep you looking around during the course of your meal. The place is a sort of homage to veterans, particularly WWII. There’s all kinds of neat stuff from the ‘40s and there’s a wall with tons and tons of pictures of vets. Really touching.
On to the food. I’ve never had anything here I didn’t like. They usually have some kind of pancake/​waffle/​french toast special that I can’t resist. The eggs are always cooked just right. Good coffee. The wait staff is always great with the parties of 6 or more we usually show up with.
It’s a little off the beaten path out in Altamont, but it’s well worth the trek!

Everyone has a quiet elderly uncle or grandfather who had fought in WWII but would never really evince a willingness to share his experiences. The Home Front Café is where you might take that guy.
The entire luncheonette is covered from floor to ceiling with ephemera from the 1940’s. You’ll even find the stuff on the kitchen tables at which the flinty waitresses seat you. Most of the material is not a pop culture-​mediated sentimental journey. Instead, you’ll find gasoline ration tickets, letters from a grunt stationed in the Pacific to his girlfriend, photos of long-​gone sailors, and odd documents of the period. This doesn’t feel like nostalgia, though… more like a nobly gentle, everyman’s history lesson directly underneath your breakfast or lunch.
Breakfasts here are very, very good, consisting of the standard fare, but they’re prepared several notches above most places around here. The kitchen definitely knows what it’s doing with omelettes. We’ve only been here on weekends, and have had some of their specials that are so good we’ve never left with a doggie bag.
Much of the clientele is from the ‘hill towns,’ or farmers, and you’ll inevitably find yourself waiting behind someone with a walker, so leave pretense behind and simply enjoy a remarkably humble little place. You’ll leave with a deeper sensitivity toward that quiet uncle.