Craving Bacon and Eggs? Here Are the Best Breakfast Joints in Wine Country
09 January 2017
Dierk's Parkside Café & Dierk's Midtown Café (Santa Rosa)
Breakfast is served Monday-Friday from 7am -12pm and Saturday-Sunday, 7am-2pm
The lines were getting so long at this tiny Santa Rosa eatery that chef Mark Dierkhising had to open a second café last year just 1.3 miles away. Dierkhising is a graduate of the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and has cooked alongside James Beard and Julia Child (which probably explains the lines). Start with Grandma Dierk's Pull-A-Parts, moist and dense fried bread dough dusted with cinnamon and sugar, then dive into silky duck confit with eggs, hash browns and fragrant warm applesauce; or chicken fried steak of crispy-battered beef partnered with hash browns, eggs, and rich homemade sausage gravy. With Dierkhising's resume, you know it's gonna be great. // 404 Santa Rosa Avenue (Santa Rosa) and 422 4th Street (Santa Rosa), dierksparkside.com
Wishbone (Petaluma)
Breakfast is served Wednesday-Sunday from 8am-2:30pm
Jasmine and black rice gruel cooked in coconut milk and topped with golden raisins, coconut flakes, fruit, and lavender salt may sound like the kind of fancy fare you'd expect from SF's top restaurants, but at Petaluma's Wishbone, it's merely traditional comfort food done with pristine ingredients. Co-owners Miriam Donaldson and Josh Norwitt bake their own breads and even raise their own Scottish Highland cattle. Try the Hot Mess of creamy polenta topped with roasted mushrooms, kale, house fermented hot sauce and a fried farm egg, or the quesadilla stuffed with mashed potato, scrambled egg, tomato, Sriracha cream and mozzarella. // 841 Petaluma Blvd. (Petaluma), wishbonepetaluma.com
The line for Buttercream Bakery's fresh doughnuts starts as early as 5:30am. (photo via Buttercream Bakery)
Buttercream Bakery & Diner (Napa)
Breakfast is served Monday-Saturday from 5:30am-3pm and Sunday 5:30am-2:30pm
Serving Napa for almost 70 years, Buttercream is your classic griddle staffed by speedy, skilled cooks who never make you wait more than 30 minutes for a table. It's basic stuff, but perfectly executed. Try the chicken fried steak and eggs, cinnamon French toast, sugar-cured bacon and eggs, homemade biscuits and gravy, or the light, fluffy buttermilk pancakes. And if you still have room, there are amazing pastries, donuts, eclairs, and maple bars to be enjoyed at the counter or at home. // 2297 Jefferson Street (Napa),buttercreambakery.com
Singletree Café (Healdsburg)
Breakfast is served Monday-Friday from 7am-2pm, Saturday from 7am-3pm, and Sunday 8am to 3pm.
Despite it's small location and rather slow service, locals pack into Singletree Cafe for their signature specials, which includes an early bird breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and toast for only $3(!) offered from 7-9am on weekdays. If you can't get up that early, opt for the old fashioned or buckwheat waffles, biscuits and gravy, spicy machaca, or a lumberjack breakfast burrito of three eggs, chorizo, cheese, peppers, potatoes and homemade salsa any time of the day. // 165 Healdsburg Avenue (Healdsburg), facebook.com/Singletree-Cafe