The Big Blue Cafe

You know, 8:ok is kinda late for breakfasts.

Really good food. They prioritize farm to table and other local fresh options on their menu. It's on the expensive side, and there has been a wait every time I've been there, but the food is amazing and definitely worth it. Highly recommended for breakfast or lunch. As a random side note, they've also got high quality custom woodwork around the restaurant.

The sausage biscuits and gravy add to the nice quick breakfast place with the feel of old town atmosphere. You get that traditional good diner breakfast without the greasy spoon feel. Most of the interior is hand crafted wood, from the chairs to the dining bar. Really a simple place to take a trip back in time and be back before lunch.

Big Blue has delicious, quality food for great prices with options for substitutions to fit any diet. The staff is attentive and fun. All this plus the windows of natural light to the plaza make it our top choice for breakfast, brunch and lunch.

This cafe is usually crowded because of their friendly staff and their menu. The food is consistently good. On Saturdays my friends and I try to eat there after the Arcata Framers Market ends so they are less crowded and we can receive our food in less time.

Great place! We are prententious foodies from Portland, and were pleasantly surprised by this cafe. Many vegetarian options or substitutes, delicious Mimosa pitcher only $10! We recommend the one table outside on the sidewalk for people watching while you eat. Gave us free coffee to go and so friendly...was it the mimosa pitcher that concerned them? Ha ha ha. Stop here travelers, even a lovely city park across the street for walking the dog.

My family and I had lunch at the Big Blue Cafe. The restaurant is a bit cramped, but that lends itself well to the overall ambiance of the restaurant, which is cozy. The staff was courteous, though we did have quite a long wait between being seated and having our orders taken. That was a bit annoying, but it happens during the lunch rush.

I ordered the Breakfast Club. It was fantastic. The french toast used for the sandwhich was a good consistency. I wish that it was a tad bit crispier, considering the type of bread that was used, but the flavor was great. I appreciated that the meat in the sandwich actually had the texture of real meat. In other words, this was not your standard fare deli turkey. It was delicious, as were the other components of the sandwhich. Dipped in syrup it was a great bite. The home fries were good, though an afterthought compared to the sandwich. I think another side would pair better with it. Maybe a citrus or something not savory. The sandwich is savory enough on its own. I would order this dish again.

My wife ordered the Grilled Veggie, which is a compilation of sauteed vegetables served on a pita. The vegetables were cooked correctly and had the right balance of freshness and char. Pitas are often a bit too dry, but this one had good pliability and was the perfect vessel for carrying its contents. My wife would probably order this again.

My kids ate Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. It's kind of hard to screw up, and these were good enough that my kids enjoyed them. I didn't try a bite, but they looked fine.

The bottom line is that ambiance is nice, the staff was courteous though overwhelmed by the lunch rush, and the food is very good. I will eat here again the next time I'm in town.

Not bad but not great, either. Service was fine but food was 'meh' and quite overpriced given the quality.

My chicken melt was dry and bland. The chicken could really have used some seasoning and/some kind of spiced aioli. It was, however edible so I ate it after throwing a dash of salt and pepper on it.

After I ate my sandwich, I started to get work on my fries which were fried to the color of wet cardboard. They were cold. I figured the outer layer was just a little chilled from sitting while I ate my sandwich so I grabbed one from the bottom. Still cold. It's as if they just have a pile of cooked fries somewhere in the back and just grab a scoop when needed instead of actually cooking them to order. The (now) unsurprisingly bland, unsalted potato's were not helped by the incredible sogginess. Even after I lightly salt and peppered them, I could not get over the sogginess. I didn't manage to eat more than a few bland, soggy, cold fries.

Overall, the food quality and uninspired menu would have been fine twenty years ago but unfortunately this restaurant has failed to offer a dining experience consistent with the times. I don't plan on returning but that doesn't mean I'd refuse to eat here if someone were to drag me in.

Given Arcata, your breakfast options aren't super great. While the few options around differ slightly in various areas of quality or options all the places feel and taste fundamentally the same. If you want a truly good breakfast I recommend venturing into Eureka. Ugly town as it is, their options for culinary experiences is delightful.

Food is alright,corn tortillas are microwaved and beans taste more on the chili(not the spicy kind) side.

Biscuits and gravy were pretty bad. The biscuit was more reminiscent of a dry, crumbly and overworked scone. The gravy was bland and needed the flour to be cooked out of the roux a bit longer. It tasted of flour and milk and a dash of paprika.

My over easy egg oozed with uncooked whites as soon as my fork broke through the unseasoned egg and my potatoes tasted as if they were croweded on the flat top and steamed or didnt spend enough time in the fryer to get them crispy.

Service was good. Food came at a decent time and kept the strong coffee full. Tables were cleaned and bussed promptly and the servers were very friendly.