How does Sunnyvale’s new Keke’s Breakfast Cafe set itself apart in the morning and midday restaurant world?
Makes plate-size pancakes and five versions of stuffed French toast. Grinds coffee beans every half-hour. Puts grits and cheese grits on the menu. And, in this first California location for the Florida-founded chain, offers a coffee bar and wine bar, with lattes and mochas to go.
Keke’s, a chain started in 2006 by brothers Keith and Kevin (now you understand the name), selected Sunnyvale to kick off its planned West Coast expansion. The newly constructed restaurant, located at The Maxwell building in the city’s heritage district, is now serving daily from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
There’s seating for 138 customers in this airy space punctuated with art — the largest mural features a map of Sunnyvale — and nearly 50 covered parking spaces.
“It has an a.m. eatery freshness to it, less of a diner feel,” says Garren Grieve, CEO of the Seaside Dining Group, which operates the site.
Plate-filling pancakes (they call them “famously large”) are among the chain’s bestsellers nationwide, particularly the Florida Pancakes, which are topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries and banana slices.
Also popular, Seaside Dining exec Michael Yates says, are the Eggs Benedict, the Cheesesteak Omelet and the Stuffed French Toast, with cream cheese and your choice of filling (apple-cinnamon, banana caramel pecan, blueberry compote, raspberry compote or the turtle trio of pecans, caramel and chocolate fudge). Many of the egg entrees come with an option to substitute grits for home fries as the side dish.
Sunnyvale’s standout feature is the coffee and wine bar, staffed with barista-bartenders. Under the Bubbles category, the drinks ($7 each) made with sparkling wine include four mimosas (traditional, white peach, passionfruit, seasonal spicy) and three sparkling cocktails (Lavender Lemonade, Strawberry Basil, Pineapple Creamsicle). If you can’t narrow it down to one selection, you can order a flight of four. And there’s a Sunnyvale Spritz, a refreshing prosecco, fresh lemon and mint concoction.
Cocktails, crafted with spirit-flavored wine bases ($7 mini, $10 regular), include a Bloody Mary made with Jeff’s Best Bloody Mix, an Espresso Martini, Morning Mule, Lemon Ginger Fizz, Wildberry Sangria and the whimsical, frothy Milk & Cereal, a creation by GM Tyler Etter with tropical juices and housemade coconut blend.
Details >> Open every day from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (closed Christmas Day) at 311 S. Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale; www.kekes.com/locations/kekes-sunnyvale
Oakland’s new speakeasy is a sonic-listening bar
The East Bay’s newest speakeasy is devoted to electronic music and accessed via a golden doorbell in a Pakistani party restaurant. If that sounds like a whole bunch of random phrases — hey, that’s just part of the fun.
Moonglow opened earlier this month inside the Gold Palm restaurant, a new late-night spot serving Middle Eastern snacks in the former Flora space. The owners of both spots are Shirin Raza and Daniel Gahr, who run Bar Shiru down the street, a Japanese-themed whiskey bar that plays LPs on a hi-fi audio system. Like Bar Shiru, Moonglow has a heavy music component. There’s a high-end sound system and acoustic treatments to ensure the proper listening environment for, almost exclusively, contemporary electronic music.
In terms of design, the intimate space features a mahogany bar occupying an entire wall and Art Deco-inspired lighting. To enter, guests must first ring a gold doorbell at the back of Gold Palm, and once inside there are rules — specifically, no taking photos or videos. (In that way it’s kind of similar to Bar Shiru, which has rules against using laptops and talking louder than the music.)
The beverage menu was developed by Gahr and bar manager Sammy Demecillo and features what they call “Martinis and Friends.” There are elevated cocktails, like a tequila-based espresso martini and a “nuanced” lychee martini, and classics with a twist, like an Old Fashioned with chanterelle mushroom-infused scotch and a crystal-clear House Negroni. And if somebody wants something else, they can simply walk next door to Gold Palm and order a beer.
Details >> Open 7 p.m.- midnight Wednesday- Saturday inside Gold Palm at 1900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; goldpalmoakland.com and instagram.com/moonglowoakland.
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