South Pine Cafe-Grass Valley

there is not a bad menu on the item. I absolutely love this place and will keep coming back. Ive had the blackstone eggs benedict and a few scrambles here. Each one has been delicious beyond measure! dont forget your short stack of pancakes!

Short version:
Amazing food. Steep price. Minor issues. But amazing food, so totally worth stopping.

Longer version:
I've heard a lot of good things about this place and I finally had a breakfast time open to check them out.

I had the special of the week: Caramel Apple Pancakes.
Let me start here: These were some of the best pancakes I have ever eaten. Fresh Gala apple slices were arranged inside pancakes that were light, fluffy, and cinnamon-spiced. The caramel was (fortunately) a drizzle over the top, because these pancakes were a perfect sweetness. SO GOOD! And huge. I'm a fat man who enjoys my meals, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to eat more than half of the three large breakfast cakes. But they were so good, I had to. I can't say enough good about these.

But there was a weird flaw. Spray can whip cream. I recognize that it's easier, but its limp, quickly-melting to a milk drool nature totally failed the pancakes. Spray cream isn't bad - it didn't ruin the dish - but making a proper whipped cream at the beginning of the breakfast rush takes just a couple of minutes and would match the masterpiece of the pancakes. Why shortcut and sell your otherwise perfect platter short? So many places do this: make an excellent special, then throw on some kind of prepackaged, unimpressive afterthought. It's like framing the Mona Lisa with a refrigerator magnet frame from a dollar store.

Service was acceptable, but not enthusiastic. I noticed that all of us who ordered water instead of other drinks got child-sized cups with lukewarm water and no ice. I got a refill once, but not again and the other tables around me didn't even get that. So that was a fail, but did I mention how good the pancakes were?

I don't regret stopping and I will most likely try them again, but the little things matter, so I can only give four stars.

The building is real easy to locate and it's a pretty building. The lobby is a decent size with a little waiting area. The restaurant is bright and unfortunately very loud because the front door slams shut every time someone goes through. Our server was Pfeffie and she was quite pleasant to chat with and was singing and a little dancing to the music that was playing. The food was a little hit and miss. We both had one of the specials of the day, I had the Roast Beef and Gorgonzola sandwich which was great but I got a side of "Clam Chowder" that was clearly Manhattan style and I never tasted or felt a clam, just the bacon that was in there. It tasted fine, but not clam chowdery enough if I could only taste the bacon. My wife got the Tutti Fruity Pancakes, which she loved. We also got a side of home fries with cheese and they were alright but mostly bland.

A friend recommended South Pine Cafe and I really wanted to like this place. The "wait" to be seated was about 15 minutes (not bad), but once we ordered - our food took another 50 minutes (way too long for me). The wait staff was not very friendly, as we had to ask about our food after 40 minutes. I ordered huevos rancheros, it was okay. I would say the breakfast was average.

Great food. Amazing fresh squeezed juices.
Not super fast service but it’s worth the wait!
Kid friendly

Wow! Just moved to the area and decided to give South Pine a try.
It was fantastic. We had one of the specials of the week: Pumpkin pie battered stuffed French toast as well as a Blackstone benedict.
Let me tell you, this jalapeno hollandaise..... 🤌 chefs kiss. Well done. I loved every bite although the potatoes could be a little crisper, that's just my preference.
Service was excellent too. We arrived at 9 and were seated immediately and when we left at 9:45 there were a lot of people waiting. I'd say before 10am is the best time to go, as another person suggested.

I'll definitely be back!

Awesome restaurant, great food, service and atmosphere... Ate there several times while I was in the area, breakfast fruit cups were incredible!!! Bird took great care of us, can't wait to go back!!!

My rating is based on the lack of communication by staff and the lengthy wait time.
We arrived a couple minutes past 12:30. There were several signs asking that we write our name on the wait list as there was no one to check us in. There were 3 parties ahead of us. 2 parties with 2 people and 1 with 3 people. After waiting 15 minutes we noticed the tables we could see were waiting on food. I was unable to find anyone to inquire about the wait time.
After a 25 minute wait the parties ahead of us began to be seated. We were seated at 1:10. We were immediately given menus and water. Our order was taken at 1:20 and we received our food at 2:00. Since we were seated by the kitchen we could see 4 people cooking in the kitchen but the food was exceptionally slow coming out.
The food itself was very good. But if you are in a hurry I would not recommend South Pine Cafe. Had we known how the long we were going to have to wait, we would have gone elsewhere. But again there was no one to ask.

4 stars only because the price is super high…. The food was outstanding! Everyone in the party of 5 was impressed with the food and service. And it was BUSY too. Great quality control in the kitchen. They have their act together.

This is the place for a great burger among other selections. We are lucky to have AnnaBelle as our waitress. She is so personable when providing service. No matter have busy she is she has a moment to listen to us, answer questions or just check on how we are doing. The first baby doe this kidding season will be named after her!!