Meals tried: lunch Absolute rating: 90% or 4.5/5 Price-to-value rating: 95% or 5/5 Bathroom cleanliness rating: 70% (shared) Approx price per person (lunch): $20 Summary: I write this as I lay in bed from an amazing food coma after eating here. Great burger/sandwiches, sides, and specials that use amazingly fresh and high quality ingredients. Nothing is over seasoned, just high quality ingredients. Plus the kitchen is a 100 year old train kaboose! Pros: - super cute place - super casual but great food - super high quality ingredients - super friendly staff - simple menu but nice diversity in quality options Cons: - bathroom is shared as part of another building Get: - mushroom burger/sandwich - burger sandwich - herb salad - mac and cheese with roasted rice - whatever the special is! (I had a pork shoulder with polenta, bok choy, and mushrooms) Meh: - nothing Avoid: - nothing
David O.
Love this place. Limited but great menu, they know what they do well and I always appreciate a restaurant doing what they do great and not trying to be all things to all people. Easy location off Highway 1 near downtown HMB and a very unique setting. During rush hour they could use a few more places to sit, but we were all to happy to plop down on the curb and enjoy your burger. Happy to have you at the coast!
Geoff Y.
Ummm...what? The emperor wears no clothes. This is the definition of hipster hype. So you stand in line with a bunch of suckers waiting for the place to open. Will they open on time? No. Well at least the food is going to knock your socks off? Again, no. The mushroom sandwich is a disgrace to maitake mushrooms. I can appreciate that the ingredients are expensive, but when you have maitake mushrooms literally dripping oil, you've failed in their preparation. The hamburger sandwich is better, but still nothing special, especially for $12. Unless you pony up some dollars for extra sides, you are likely to leave a little hungry. And the mac and cheese and chips are mediocre if I'm being generous. The only plus is that the staff is friendly. I guess people want to pay extra to stand in line for 45 minutes in a parking lot.
Lisa W.
HOLY MUSHROOM SANDWICH BATMAN! This place is awesome - it caught our eye on a Sunday drive down the coast and man am I glad we made that u-turn! It's adorable and so worth the wait no matter how long the line. The story behind it is fantastic - I'm a s***** for anyone who makes a life change in search of peace and happiness. But let's get down to the important stuff - the food is unbelievable! Get there as early as you can as they often run out of items as the day progresses. I had the Mushroom Sandwich, made with Hen of the Woods Mushrooms, a soft egg, melted cheese, pickled red onions, "Dad's Sauce," and red oak lettuce on the yummiest bread from Rosalind Bakery. I can't adequately describe this sandwich - suffice it to say it's one of the best I've ever had - all of the flavors blended together and the mushrooms were amazing. I'm not a vegetarian and you sure don't need to be to appreciate this creation. The husband had the Hamburger Sandwich, which had the same extras and he proclaimed it "fantastic" - quite the compliment from a hamburger fanatic. They were out of their Homemade Potato Chips, but we shared an order of Mac & Cheese and a Mom's Herb Salad. The salad was not just delicious but also beautiful and the Meyer lemon dressing was perfection. And the Mac & Cheese - oh my God - smokey, melty yumminess topped with puffed wild rice - we fought over the last bites. This place is great -- good friendly feelings all around, not a lot of seating but everyone makes do with random chairs and curbs outside once the inside seating fills up. Would also be a great place to pick up food to take to the beach. I'm determined to get back down there soon to try the potato chips, and well a Mushroom Sandwich and a vat of Mac & Cheese would go just perfectly with those chips!
Tyler T.
So on our way to Half Moon Bay, we found an Aquaponic farm called Ouroboros. They had a wide range of vegetables following the Aquaponic ideals, what ever that means. But I found Dad's Luncheonette on the list of restaurants that purchase from this farm, and when we were in Half Moon Bay and were looking for food, this place popped up top. My boyfriend and I enjoyed the hamburgers and the mom's herb salad. We wanted to try the potato chips but they were already sold out like 3 hours before closing. The burgers were delicious! I usually prefer my burgers on buns over bread slices but this ended up tasting good nonetheless. The burger meat was delicious, being juicy and tender while tasting high quality. The red onion pickles added a nice taste balance and break from the sauce in the burger, allowing for the rich taste of the burger without it being overpowering. The over easy egg added an extra touch of richness to the burger and the lettuce was fresh. The herb salad was also done very well, being dressed just right and not too soaked. There were a good variety of herbs and they were very fresh, which created a nice experience of flavor, crispness and taste. Overall an excellent burger, happy to have it!
Craig G.
Friday night.... stream episode featuring Dad's on Check please Bay Area. Saturday, in HalfMoon Bay, just for this. I wish they were bigger... aka they ran out of a lot of stuff... no more of their famous tater chips, then ran out of salad. Fortunately the reason we came the burger samich was still available. We specifically came today due to the glorious weather and it's been a minute and 3 decades since we took the Route 1 trek south. Not only a brilliant day, but hills as green as an Irish pasture, thanks to a monster winter. Time to get out and open up da whip! Nope sorry! Ah well. Bae doesn't care how well the beast grips the road, with Sir Winston in her lap, she wants her grand tour to be relaxed,not the height of white knuckle excitement. And even if I wanted too, it was pretty much bumper to bumper traffic the whole way. Winston had no clue what he was getting himself into. Not only did we get da burger sami, he got one for himself which he woofed so darn fast, I think he thought there might be a way he was getting ours too! So tiny inside but served in little boxes makes it easy to take out, sit in parking lot, car or even beach! I scored a killer latte at the Cove cafe and the generous owner allowed us to sit outside his place. So once settled, I walked back into Dads to ask the owner busy wrapping up a container of trash to holler across the parking lot when our order was ready. While marveling at the thick consistency of the Coves latte, the owner dude, instead of yelling, personally delivered our grub. Nice touch for sure! Beside the best burger sami in the bay, we also ordered s special bean and potato soup, plus the Max &cheese with fried rice cracklins atop. That soup was deep like.... deep! Complex hearty clean, popping! Killer! The Mac and cheese, omg other worldly, and the rice cracklins on top sent it to another dimension! The burger itself was phenomenal, adding fried egg atop toasted bread special sauce, onions that tasted picked and grilled at the same time offering the acid needed to brighten things up. Not to mention half a head of red leaf organic lettuce. Well ...ok it wasn't that much but it added tons of crunch and brightness, the perfect balance. This was well worth the trip!
R L.
Amazing food and ambiance! Staff is amazing and super friendly with kids. Thank you for the awesome lunch! See y'all soon
Sophia H.
Overall decent food but not anything worth going out of the way for. They serve burgers on sandwich bread. We ordered the mushroom sandwich, beef sandwich, and house made chips. I think the chips were definitely unique and worth trying. Both mushroom and beef sandwiches were tasty, but for price and yelp reviews I expected more.
Nutmeg Y.
Nice find. We were headed to an Italian restaurant and then choked on the prices on Main Street. Then we found this place instead. Its definitely not your typical luncheonette. The hubs had the burger sandwich. It's on two pieces of toasted bread rather than a burger bun. Different. I ordered the mushroom sandwich. Also not what I expected. There are full morsels of mushrooms in there - not the chopped up patty kind. It was flavorful. I held the aioli but can imagine how much more flavorful that would have been if the sandwich had it. There were also either picked onions or grilled onions. I couldn't tell. The kids mac and cheese was toddler approved. It was just plain mac and cheese but had a smokey flavor to it. The chips again were not what I expected. They were homemade and sprinkled with some stuff on it. Not too salty and perfectly crisp. It was good. All in all, a fun experience. It will add grease to your arteries, for sure. Some folks suggested taking it to go and eating it on the beach somewhere. That is a great idea. Extra tip: the restrooms are in the building next door. You need a key to get into them so you may have to ask the neighboring businesses.
Samir K.
Made a day out of going to Half Moon Bay and made sure to stop here. My wife is vegetarian and I don't really eat beef anymore so we got the mushroom burger, the mac, and the apple fritters (dessert of the day). The sandwich was really really good. My wife usually doesn't like mushrooms, but these weren't the traditional overcooked rubbery portabella mushroom, but an enoki or similar lighter type of mushroom- really good. The mac had puffed rice on top, which added a nice textural contrast. The fritters were really good too, nice and hot, perfect for the rainy weather. Worth the drive!
Both sandwiches are incredible but would especially recommend the mushroom. Onions caramelized exquisitely, great mushrooms and a surprise egg. If the weather is nice, take them to go and eat on one of the cliffs overlooking the beach (end of Redondo beach road for example)
Jonathan C.
From the mind of former Saison Chef Scott Clark. Think "upscale" in-n-out. Tried their hamburger and mushroom sandwiches. Well cooked burger and met expectations. Good lunch spot if you happen to be in Half Moon Bay.
Alison G.
Much better food than I expected based on the menu. Salad was outstanding with flower petals, fresh fennel. Mint leaves, and gorgeous magenta radish slices. The lentil soup sounded delicious. They were happy to to the sandwiches with extra lettuce instead of bread. Mac and cheese had a Smokey flavor - SO good! Maitake mushroom, egg and melty cheese sandwich was super duper. We enjoyed getting our lunch to go and eating on the bluff overlooking the ocean.
Ryan G.
Overall: 3/5 Good service and great atmosphere, but wouldn't say it's worth the price. The inside is also a bit crowded, but I don't mind that too much. Hamburger Sandwich: 9/10 Well seasoned patty, good ratio of meat-to-bread. Flavors are reminiscent of a gourmet in-n-out. Definitely worth a try, but can't justify paying the $12 again. Rose Donuts (Today's Sweet): 3/10 These were fried pieces of dough with a rose sauce and lime zest. The sauce was quite tasty, but the donuts themselves were not great--tasted as if they were fried in old oil. At about $2 each, definitely not worth it.
Joyce J.
Went to eat Lunch, came in and KQED Check Please! Bay Area where shooting to showcase the restaurant on TV. Anyways, I ordered there special for the day Caesar Salad w/smoked chicken, my husband has Hamburger Sandwich and the plain Mac & Cheese for the kids. I was suprised and awesomely delighted to what I ordered it was a big portion and so delicious. The smoked chicken was so tasty and juicy. The kids finished their Mac&Cheese too. I recommend everyone to go there and try their food. I loved it, will definitely come back.
Meals tried: lunch Absolute rating: 90% or 4.5/5 Price-to-value rating: 95% or 5/5 Bathroom cleanliness rating: 70% (shared) Approx price per person (lunch): $20 Summary: I write this as I lay in bed from an amazing food coma after eating here. Great burger/sandwiches, sides, and specials that use amazingly fresh and high quality ingredients. Nothing is over seasoned, just high quality ingredients. Plus the kitchen is a 100 year old train kaboose! Pros: - super cute place - super casual but great food - super high quality ingredients - super friendly staff - simple menu but nice diversity in quality options Cons: - bathroom is shared as part of another building Get: - mushroom burger/sandwich - burger sandwich - herb salad - mac and cheese with roasted rice - whatever the special is! (I had a pork shoulder with polenta, bok choy, and mushrooms) Meh: - nothing Avoid: - nothing
Love this place. Limited but great menu, they know what they do well and I always appreciate a restaurant doing what they do great and not trying to be all things to all people. Easy location off Highway 1 near downtown HMB and a very unique setting. During rush hour they could use a few more places to sit, but we were all to happy to plop down on the curb and enjoy your burger. Happy to have you at the coast!
Ummm...what? The emperor wears no clothes. This is the definition of hipster hype. So you stand in line with a bunch of suckers waiting for the place to open. Will they open on time? No. Well at least the food is going to knock your socks off? Again, no. The mushroom sandwich is a disgrace to maitake mushrooms. I can appreciate that the ingredients are expensive, but when you have maitake mushrooms literally dripping oil, you've failed in their preparation. The hamburger sandwich is better, but still nothing special, especially for $12. Unless you pony up some dollars for extra sides, you are likely to leave a little hungry. And the mac and cheese and chips are mediocre if I'm being generous. The only plus is that the staff is friendly. I guess people want to pay extra to stand in line for 45 minutes in a parking lot.
HOLY MUSHROOM SANDWICH BATMAN! This place is awesome - it caught our eye on a Sunday drive down the coast and man am I glad we made that u-turn! It's adorable and so worth the wait no matter how long the line. The story behind it is fantastic - I'm a s***** for anyone who makes a life change in search of peace and happiness. But let's get down to the important stuff - the food is unbelievable! Get there as early as you can as they often run out of items as the day progresses. I had the Mushroom Sandwich, made with Hen of the Woods Mushrooms, a soft egg, melted cheese, pickled red onions, "Dad's Sauce," and red oak lettuce on the yummiest bread from Rosalind Bakery. I can't adequately describe this sandwich - suffice it to say it's one of the best I've ever had - all of the flavors blended together and the mushrooms were amazing. I'm not a vegetarian and you sure don't need to be to appreciate this creation. The husband had the Hamburger Sandwich, which had the same extras and he proclaimed it "fantastic" - quite the compliment from a hamburger fanatic. They were out of their Homemade Potato Chips, but we shared an order of Mac & Cheese and a Mom's Herb Salad. The salad was not just delicious but also beautiful and the Meyer lemon dressing was perfection. And the Mac & Cheese - oh my God - smokey, melty yumminess topped with puffed wild rice - we fought over the last bites. This place is great -- good friendly feelings all around, not a lot of seating but everyone makes do with random chairs and curbs outside once the inside seating fills up. Would also be a great place to pick up food to take to the beach. I'm determined to get back down there soon to try the potato chips, and well a Mushroom Sandwich and a vat of Mac & Cheese would go just perfectly with those chips!
So on our way to Half Moon Bay, we found an Aquaponic farm called Ouroboros. They had a wide range of vegetables following the Aquaponic ideals, what ever that means. But I found Dad's Luncheonette on the list of restaurants that purchase from this farm, and when we were in Half Moon Bay and were looking for food, this place popped up top. My boyfriend and I enjoyed the hamburgers and the mom's herb salad. We wanted to try the potato chips but they were already sold out like 3 hours before closing. The burgers were delicious! I usually prefer my burgers on buns over bread slices but this ended up tasting good nonetheless. The burger meat was delicious, being juicy and tender while tasting high quality. The red onion pickles added a nice taste balance and break from the sauce in the burger, allowing for the rich taste of the burger without it being overpowering. The over easy egg added an extra touch of richness to the burger and the lettuce was fresh. The herb salad was also done very well, being dressed just right and not too soaked. There were a good variety of herbs and they were very fresh, which created a nice experience of flavor, crispness and taste. Overall an excellent burger, happy to have it!
Friday night.... stream episode featuring Dad's on Check please Bay Area. Saturday, in HalfMoon Bay, just for this. I wish they were bigger... aka they ran out of a lot of stuff... no more of their famous tater chips, then ran out of salad. Fortunately the reason we came the burger samich was still available. We specifically came today due to the glorious weather and it's been a minute and 3 decades since we took the Route 1 trek south. Not only a brilliant day, but hills as green as an Irish pasture, thanks to a monster winter. Time to get out and open up da whip! Nope sorry! Ah well. Bae doesn't care how well the beast grips the road, with Sir Winston in her lap, she wants her grand tour to be relaxed,not the height of white knuckle excitement. And even if I wanted too, it was pretty much bumper to bumper traffic the whole way. Winston had no clue what he was getting himself into. Not only did we get da burger sami, he got one for himself which he woofed so darn fast, I think he thought there might be a way he was getting ours too! So tiny inside but served in little boxes makes it easy to take out, sit in parking lot, car or even beach! I scored a killer latte at the Cove cafe and the generous owner allowed us to sit outside his place. So once settled, I walked back into Dads to ask the owner busy wrapping up a container of trash to holler across the parking lot when our order was ready. While marveling at the thick consistency of the Coves latte, the owner dude, instead of yelling, personally delivered our grub. Nice touch for sure! Beside the best burger sami in the bay, we also ordered s special bean and potato soup, plus the Max &cheese with fried rice cracklins atop. That soup was deep like.... deep! Complex hearty clean, popping! Killer! The Mac and cheese, omg other worldly, and the rice cracklins on top sent it to another dimension! The burger itself was phenomenal, adding fried egg atop toasted bread special sauce, onions that tasted picked and grilled at the same time offering the acid needed to brighten things up. Not to mention half a head of red leaf organic lettuce. Well ...ok it wasn't that much but it added tons of crunch and brightness, the perfect balance. This was well worth the trip!
Amazing food and ambiance! Staff is amazing and super friendly with kids. Thank you for the awesome lunch! See y'all soon
Overall decent food but not anything worth going out of the way for. They serve burgers on sandwich bread. We ordered the mushroom sandwich, beef sandwich, and house made chips. I think the chips were definitely unique and worth trying. Both mushroom and beef sandwiches were tasty, but for price and yelp reviews I expected more.
Nice find. We were headed to an Italian restaurant and then choked on the prices on Main Street. Then we found this place instead. Its definitely not your typical luncheonette. The hubs had the burger sandwich. It's on two pieces of toasted bread rather than a burger bun. Different. I ordered the mushroom sandwich. Also not what I expected. There are full morsels of mushrooms in there - not the chopped up patty kind. It was flavorful. I held the aioli but can imagine how much more flavorful that would have been if the sandwich had it. There were also either picked onions or grilled onions. I couldn't tell. The kids mac and cheese was toddler approved. It was just plain mac and cheese but had a smokey flavor to it. The chips again were not what I expected. They were homemade and sprinkled with some stuff on it. Not too salty and perfectly crisp. It was good. All in all, a fun experience. It will add grease to your arteries, for sure. Some folks suggested taking it to go and eating it on the beach somewhere. That is a great idea. Extra tip: the restrooms are in the building next door. You need a key to get into them so you may have to ask the neighboring businesses.
Made a day out of going to Half Moon Bay and made sure to stop here. My wife is vegetarian and I don't really eat beef anymore so we got the mushroom burger, the mac, and the apple fritters (dessert of the day). The sandwich was really really good. My wife usually doesn't like mushrooms, but these weren't the traditional overcooked rubbery portabella mushroom, but an enoki or similar lighter type of mushroom- really good. The mac had puffed rice on top, which added a nice textural contrast. The fritters were really good too, nice and hot, perfect for the rainy weather. Worth the drive!
Restaurantji Recommends
Both sandwiches are incredible but would especially recommend the mushroom. Onions caramelized exquisitely, great mushrooms and a surprise egg. If the weather is nice, take them to go and eat on one of the cliffs overlooking the beach (end of Redondo beach road for example)
From the mind of former Saison Chef Scott Clark. Think "upscale" in-n-out. Tried their hamburger and mushroom sandwiches. Well cooked burger and met expectations. Good lunch spot if you happen to be in Half Moon Bay.
Much better food than I expected based on the menu. Salad was outstanding with flower petals, fresh fennel. Mint leaves, and gorgeous magenta radish slices. The lentil soup sounded delicious. They were happy to to the sandwiches with extra lettuce instead of bread. Mac and cheese had a Smokey flavor - SO good! Maitake mushroom, egg and melty cheese sandwich was super duper. We enjoyed getting our lunch to go and eating on the bluff overlooking the ocean.
Overall: 3/5 Good service and great atmosphere, but wouldn't say it's worth the price. The inside is also a bit crowded, but I don't mind that too much. Hamburger Sandwich: 9/10 Well seasoned patty, good ratio of meat-to-bread. Flavors are reminiscent of a gourmet in-n-out. Definitely worth a try, but can't justify paying the $12 again. Rose Donuts (Today's Sweet): 3/10 These were fried pieces of dough with a rose sauce and lime zest. The sauce was quite tasty, but the donuts themselves were not great--tasted as if they were fried in old oil. At about $2 each, definitely not worth it.
Went to eat Lunch, came in and KQED Check Please! Bay Area where shooting to showcase the restaurant on TV. Anyways, I ordered there special for the day Caesar Salad w/smoked chicken, my husband has Hamburger Sandwich and the plain Mac & Cheese for the kids. I was suprised and awesomely delighted to what I ordered it was a big portion and so delicious. The smoked chicken was so tasty and juicy. The kids finished their Mac&Cheese too. I recommend everyone to go there and try their food. I loved it, will definitely come back.