The Squirrels Coffee Shop

SO sad. They have closed down :(((

They are leaving as of August 16? Really sad to lose this from our town. Here’s wishing Rich, Vicki, Shirley, Miguel and the rest of the crew the best of luck in the future.

What a great place!
This is another place that has been on my list of places to go for years now, so while driving around doing some errands in walnut creek early morning, I figured I should head on over here to satisfy my mid morning hunger.
There has not been one time that I have driven by this place and not seen it packed. Unless of course it’s closed. Well, today was packed just as usual, and I can certainly see why now.
I mean, the ambiance is certainly nothing to rave about– very old school, low key– with absolutely no design flair, but it’s very homey and comfortable feeling. You can certainly say its all about family gatherings at this joint.
Being it was fairly packed, I was limited to sitting. So, I was only really able to get a seat at the bar, which turned out fine. Their menu is pretty basic with a limited selection of breakfast and lunch items.
I was in an omelette mood, so I went with a sausage omelet with jack cheese. I really wanted spinage and red bell peppers and swiss cheese, however, they are limited in their veggie and cheese options. It comes with hash browns and your choice of toast, though I just substituted it all for fruit instead. Oh, and I of course ordered a cup of joe to accompany me :)
While sitting waiting for my food, I glanced over at the register and then noticed it was cash only… oops. Not a cash carrying person, I told my waitress that I was not aware that it was cash only, and that I need to go to an ATM. She said «Don’t worry about it now, wait and eat your food and you can get the cash and come back» really? And she also said that she could take a check… Wow… There are trusting good people in the world.
So, my food then arrived looking smaller in portion than anticipated though, decent looking. It turned out to be pretty tasty. Fruit tasted fresh, just wished there was a little more. The coffee was really good which was a major plus.
I then went to an ATM and got the cashola. Paid and then thanked them.
Overall, nothing stellar about the food or ambiance, but the warm, homey atmosphere, along with the stellar service and decent prices, definitely has me certainly wanting to come back.

A little conflicted cause on one hand, there is quick service and good breakfast fare. Though the less than impressive interior (even by diner standards), as well as being cash only, I don’t find myself tripping to come back. Too many other options in the area…

**CASH ONLY*****CASH ONLY*****CASH ONLY*****CASH ONLY*****CASH ONLY***
I can now see why this place is popular with locals. It is cheap and good. This place only takes cash but there is a bank on every corner. It is a classic diner joint. Don’t expect anything fancy but if you like bacon, eggs, pancakes etc you’ll be happy here.

Old-​diner style place. They serve breakfast and lunch only with very basic traditional American breakfast items– eggs, pancakes, omelets, nothing fancy. One page menu for breakfast and other page menu items of lunch offerings. CASH ONLY but cheap eats. I ordered a waffle and side of hashbrowns, no complaints about my breakfast.
My friends ordered the veggie omelet and eggs benedict and said they were ok. I tried the omelet– didnt’ care for it-​have had better omelets. However, they enjoyed their pancakes– said they were fluffy and fully cooked, they were pretty big too. I didn’t try their pancakes but they looked good.
Can’t remember how long we waited to be seated but it was around 12pm on a Sunday and it was busy. Service was nothing commendable or extraordinary to mention.
The women’s restroom… uggghh the toilet and the sink are 1ft apart with the sink to the right of the toilet.

This is your typical small town diner. The food is nothing special and the place is outdated, yet for some reason it all works nicely together — I think it’s the combination of friendly staff and strong community ties that keep this one in business. Three stars for clean environment, friendly staff with decent food and pricing.

Great little breakfast place that we’ve been coming to since we were kids.
They’ve always had good food. From the traditional breakfasts and Benedicts, to the bangers and Cornish pasties. You can’t really go wrong with any of their breakfast/​brunch items on the menu. The portions are large, so you definitely won’t be hungry afterwards.
Yeah, parking sucks. Usually we get pretty lucky and happen upon a spot right in front.
It’s nice to see that even after all these years, it’s still sticking around even as other places come and go. The place is a bit old and dated inside, but don’t let that stop you. They have great service and food, so go by for some breakfast on the weekend!

My wife and I stopped here for brunch. Despite being older, I actually like this kind of place– the décor is dated but I find that unpretentious and seeing as they are still in business people must like the food.
I had an omelette with pancakes. Both were delicious. My wife had the traditional breakfast and enjoyed it. The coffee was great too! We will return with the kids sometime.

Yeah, they may have been around for a while, but that doesn’t mean they’ve perfected the art of making breakfast. I ordered a traditional breakfast with eggs, sausage and hash browns. I’m not sure why so many Unilocal reviews rave about the hash browns. Those of you think the Squirrels have good hash browns need to head over to Jack’s out in Pleasant Hill for a lesson of what good hash browns taste like. The only truly enjoyable thing on my plate were the toast. Sorry, but this was a first and last time for me.

I specifically came to the Squirrels Coffee Shop based on their Unilocal reviews., but I ended up slightly disappointed. They were definitely crowded when I came in during a Sunday morning around 10am, but I was able to get a seat fairly quickly. The service was quick and the employees were very friendly. As for the food., I thought it was just «okay». It wasn’t anything special. The flavor of their food was somewhat generic, their coffee was watered down, the portions were on the normal side, and the price wasn’t even that cheap. Plus., they take CASH ONLY!
I guess since the Squirrels Coffee Shop had such high Unilocal ratings., my expectations were on the higher side. I’ve been to much better diners around the East Bay; but if you are planning on coming here., just keep your expectations normal and you might enjoy this coffee shop more than me.

French dip sandwich is awesome.
Breakfast is standard, always good and reasonable price.

Actually, this place is 4.5÷5 star because of CASH only!
Otherwise, I’d wake up 20 minutes earlier just so I can eat here. I love their sausage breakfast or lunch plates. The portion of food is large, and the diner feeling is eternal here, as if we just went back in time to when diners are the glorious places to be. You come in, seat yourself, order from a simple menu, enjoy the company, and eat right away with little wait.
The service is great, friendly, and they all do not look bored or irritated. It makes me enjoy eating here even more. You can eat at the counter since there’s plenty of seats there too, and everyone is friendly.
Again, try their sausage plates, and they surprisingly had eggs benedict. Everything is freshly cooked and ready to order! This is one of the places I think about first whenever I want to go out for breakfast. Also the bathroom, floors and table are outdated, but at least clean.

The food is consistently good, the people are friendly, and the prices reasonable. The English sausages are fantastic, especially with the fancy mustard. If you’re expecting simple, good-​olé breakfast and lunch cooking, this is it. My standard is the «Traditional Breakfast» with English sausages. The coffee cake is pretty good too.
Weekends can be packed around noon so expect a short wait for a table. There is almost always counter seating for one or two. They only have two tables that can accommodate six or more. They don’t accept credit cards or nuts so bring cash, it’s all they take.
Q: Why didn’t the pair of fours eat here?
A: They already eight.

Came here the other day for breakfast with my guy. He ordered eggs benedict with a coffee cake and I got the traditional breakfast. Mine was pretty standard, but well made. The pork sausages were ginormous! And really good. The sauce on the benedict was a little on the tart side, but it was still amazingly good. The coffee cake was amazing. They cut you a huge slice and heat it up before they bring it to you. So nice and moist, and it has this little layer of gooey cinnamon on the inside. Mmmmm, so good!
The service was an itty bit slow, it kinda took us a while to get our orders in, but not a big deal. I love the old school diner vibe to it. We sat at the round counter, of course. Definitely recommend for a good no frills breakfast at a reasonable price!

CASH ONLY! BEWARE!
we stopped in after running the resevoir, grabbed a booth and settled in for a great breakfast. this place has that old school diner feel, with the wrap around countertop with the pastries under plastic casing. and most likely the owner’s daughter wandering around giving people their checks.
honestly, it might have been my starving stomach that made me think this, but the food is delicious. had the eggs benedict. and my food was doused in hollandaise (which i love). will have to come back here.

A nut at the squirrel café!
This place wasn’t bad at all, although we planned to head over to Millie’s, but due do the line, we found this place. It was not a miss in opinion, we went in and we were seated right away. Coffee was pretty good, our order was taken and seemed like I blinked my eyes and the waitress was there with our meal. Although I wanted to order the eggs benedict, I didn’t because it didn’t come with asparagus and who in their right mind would eat eggs benedict with out asparagus. Well, that just may be my obsession, anyways… I ordered a standard eggs, potatoes and breakfast meat dish and was very pleased. Everything came exactly as I ordered it and I believe I cleaned my plate. I will probably go back if given the opportunity.

This place has an old-​school feeling to it. The interior looks like it hasn’t been updated in years and it’s pretty bare-​bones, but it works for them. It’s and makes you feel like you’ve transported back in time. They offer all the classics: eggs, toast, hash browns, coffee cake. you name it. And it’s all inexpensive. Everything is great and the coffee is bottomless (though their coffee isn’t that great, but I guess you can’t expect to find outstanding coffee at a diner). I’ve found the service to be quick and friendly on most occasions but there have been some exceptions when it was overly busy and they seemed to be short of staff. My only complaint is that they don’t accept credit cards and there isn’t much warning to customers aside from a small sign at the front, and Unilocal doesn’t even mention they’re a cash only establishment.
Overall, this is an excellent breakfast joint. Bring cash and come hungry.

To be honest, I wanted to give this place a 4, but sadly the service really left a bad taste in my mouth.
I met up with a friend for brunch as brunch is the best meal of the day next to dessert. Lucky enough that my friend was able to get a table quickly as from other reviews it gets pretty busy. I came around 10-​ish am. Well I ordered the bangers and mash and it was a huge amount of food. Like ginormous and could easily feed two hungry people. The prices were definitely reasonable and came out really fast.
As I was enjoying catching up with my friend and eating food. Our came by with the check almost immediately after we got our food. No biggie, I kind of appreciated this so that we can handle the bill without waiting. I would say about 20 – 30 min into our brunch I definitely felt pressured to leave. Our server asked if we wanted boxes for our food as we were still working on it and enjoying conversation. Brunches should be lazy enjoy yourself time! Well after boxing our stuff up and still catching up of course, our server basically asked us if we can leave. Okay I understand why as there were folks waiting for tables, but still he could’ve been more nice about it.
Considering the service, I just was just definitely put off. I will not go back here again to catch up with a friend even though it’s super quaint and cheap. I will go back here though if I want a no nonsense, eat and leave experience.

A very basic breakfast and lunch café with very good prices. The menu is spot on for breakfast, not too many options. I had eggs Benedict and loved it! Definitely ask for the hash browns crispy. My friend got the omelet and it’s made the way I think it should be, not just a pancake of egg around the filling but the contents are actually cooked into the egg. The service was very fast and friendly. The feeling nostalgic without feeling outdated. I’ll be coming back for lunch
Cash only!