Brookside Cafe

Small café serving wonderful breakfasts and lunch. Stopped in with my son after some car service nearby. found the reviews on Unilocal to be good and fitting after dinner here. The only problem is parking. lot behind restaurant must have no more than 8 spots and with snow piles it was a tight fit. Drove around twice and looked in window to see not more than 2 to 3 tables filled. anyway, squeezed into a space as my young lad was hungry. At 11, no kid’s menu for him. He had an omelet with sausage, bacon, provolone, side of hash browns, toast and apple juice. I was surprised, as was the server, but he polished ²⁄₃ of the omelet and everything else. I had coffee, two eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast. Great service, cozy place, ample quantity and hearty. Definitely a place to visit, but car pool as parking is scant.

For a local diner type breakfast place, this restaurant is solid! It’s always fairly busy too, which is a testament to how good they are. There are many breakfast places in the area, but I find myself being pulled back here.
The food is great quality here. I’ve had several meals at this point, and I can say that they are consistently great. The portions are very generous, and the variety is great. They also serve fairly quickly, so you aren’t waiting an eternity. As a side note, their home fries are excellent!
The service is also on point! They are cheerful, efficient and professional. They seem to remember their regulars, and the restaurant runs very smoothly, even when busy. I’m never dissuaded to return.
The parking is also plentiful, and you never have a hard time finding a spot, which is get another allure of this place.
Overall, this is just a great breakfast spot, whether you are coming in solo to sit at the counter, or whether you are bringing in the whole family. You’ll be happy you tried this place, and you’ll be back!

More than just diner-​ish food. We came here for breakfast on a Sunday morning, and although it was not busy, the service was slow (hence the 4 stars). The breakfast did, however, make up for it. I ate the Sicilian frittata (with cheese). It was perfectly cooked, and full of flavor. The hubby had the North Ender omelet, which was delicious (according to him and his empty plate. What we loved best was the big pieces of toast made with fresh bread, and the option for hash browns, home fries, or baked beans. I love all 3, but the best is the hash browns!

Had an excellent breakfast. Got eggs and steak tips. Eggs over medium were perfectly cooked (no runny clear stuff) and steak tips were tender and delicious. Hubs got the kitchen sink omelette with a side of sausage and they were both fresh and full of flavor. Better than your average diner, and I’d recommend it.

I love brunch and have tried so many different brunch places. My bf took me here for my birthday and I was excited because Norwood isn’t my typical destination for brunch. Once I walked into this diner, I felt like I was in someone else’s home. This is your classic diner feel restaurant with carpeted floors, ceiling fans, and the seat yourself method. The only downside to this is that they have two entrances so there isn’t a proper line when waiting for tables and I saw a couple waiting for at least 10 minutes at one door while another couple came in through the other and immediately took a table when someone just left.
Food:
I ordered the cinnamon swirl French toast because my goal is to eat French toast from every restaurant! It was good but nothing I couldn’t make at home. My bf ordered the pulled pork sandwich from their specials menu which was decent but we had to ask for an extra side of bbq sauce in order for it to not taste dry. We ordered corned beef hash as a side and the waitress asked if I wanted it homemade or from a can. I don’t even know why that was a question?! If I wanted canned food, I could buy it myself from the supermarket. I don’t even know why a restaurant would use canned food? Well, I ordered homemade and it was actually pretty good.
Overall I love the local feel of the place and they have great portion sizes. This is a typical diner with good food but nothing extraordinary.

Always a great idea to go here for breakfast. When I cannot think of anything I am specifically craving l, Brookside is a great choice. Never unhappy with my meals. One thing is I wish the menu would be shaken up more often, but they do offer varying specials. Decent portions and timely service. I haven’t had a wait here in a whole which is good, they flip tables fast and are able to keep up good service. Over all run of the mill breakfast but pleasant.

I visit this wonderful slice of breakfast heaven when I’m in town for business. I get the Brookside with pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese and hash browns squares. Today, the pancakes were HUGE! I never leave food on my plate but I couldn’t finish my meal!
Looking forward to my next visit. I’m definitely going to try the home style fries! Great staff as well.

Second time I have visited here. I had the Crab Cake Benedicts the first time and Mike’s Homemade Corned Beef Hash this time. Both were excellent! I would recommend the home fries over the hash browns (pre-​made pucks). Fries are excellently cooked and have the right crisp/​crunch to them. No the meals were excellent and I will be back for both.

Damn good eats for breakfast, and I don’t settle for just anything. I’m a hungry dude and this filled me up. Hidden gem. I particularly liked the pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. The home fries were recommended by my waitress, and were also very tasty. I’m basically describing my whole breakfast.

Stopped by with a friend of mine and didn’t really know what to expect. However, the service was great and the food was even better! Definitely will go again!

Food was great. I orders french toast with scrambled eggs and bacon. The french toast was delicious. They added powdered sugar on the top. There was a lot of food and I was stuffed afterwards.
My friend got the pancakes, scrambled eggs, and ham. He was a big fan of the pancakes. He didn’t like the ham as much.
We also ordered the orange juice and it was delicious. You could see the machine they make it in behind the counter.
The price was good! I would come here rather than ihop anytime.

We were visiting the area for a week so breakfast has been fun as we explore different eateries. Laundry was still a must and thanks to Unilocal we found this breakfast joint very near the laundry mat. What a find. The food was reasonably priced, prepared well, and served by a friendly staff. The scrambled eggs were great, potatoes done well, bacon was just right, French toast delicious. Not to sure about the McDonald’s style hash browns though. Could have done without those. Coffee was good. One child wanted something warm to drink that wasn’t chocolate. The waitress had no problem warming up some apple juice for a very much enjoyed substitute. Good value for what you get in both food and atmosphere. Recommended. Just pass on the hash browns.

Cheap Diner classics with warm service and a friendly atmosphere.
Went there for breakfast. I got the breakfast sausage benedict w/​hash browns and a coffee.
The coffee was standard diner coffee! It’s decent and there’s lots of it.
The benedict was nicely done. The hollandaise wasn’t as seasoned as I like but it was nice and creamy. The hash browns were delicious, too!
Service was very friendly all around. Everyone seemed happy to be there and the buzz in the dining room felt good. The food also came out pretty quickly.
Total came out to less than $ 12
Will happily come back again.

Incredibly nice staff and incredibly good breakfast. Highly recommended that you give it a try if you’re looking for a breakfast place

My fiancé, a friend and I decided to try this one Sunday morning for brunch before they went off to work. The food was perfect! We tried a few more local places and they just didn’t stack up. We made this a weekly tradition, where we would have brunch every weekend.
The service is fast and the staff is so nice.

Great waitstaff, and quick turn around on order. I had two eggs, homemade hash, beans and a grilled home made cranberry walnut muffin for $ 8.99 and everything was top notch, I’ll def be back again. My only minor complaints are a small parking lot and poor coffee.

This is now the best place in Norwood for breakfast! After five years, trying other places (not by choice sometimes) and eating here consistently, I am very confident in my assessment.
The food quality has gone up in recent months. I feel it is because there is a consistent team in the kitchen and they really put the effort in to cook the best breakfast with the ingredients provided.
If you like corned beef hash, Brookside’s is awesome! Highly recommend it! Their sourdough bread is great as well. Their omelets are also pretty solid and they are not stingy with the toppings. The ownership is great and they are always pleasant. The staff is very friendly. End of day, for a a simple consistent breakfast, Brookside is the place!
Now some feedback…
My biggest issue is still the coffee and cost for sides, but times are tough and small businesses need to survive, so I get it.
The cost of coffee is staggering! $ 2.05! When you look at the bill for your breakfast and 15% of the cost is coffee, that is crazy! Remember the days when the ‘special’ breakfast included the coffee? Let’s face it, the coffee brewed at Brookside is a write-​off. The coffee is horrible! Hopefully they take this as constructive criticism and attempt to fix. We are not looking for Starbucks, just a decent cup of flavorful coffee.
I’d also like to challenge Brookside Café a bit to figure out a way to ‘enhance’ their breakfast a bit. As I said in my first review, the best place I have ever eaten breakfast is a place called Renee’s Café in Somerville, MA. My advice to the owner of Brookside is to go eat there one day and you will see why. Same with the Spot Café in Watertown. What makes them different than the usual breakfast place? They add in value with a unique offering. At Renee’s it is they creative dishes with fresh ingredients. At the Spot it is their homemade bread.
End of day, Brookside has the potential to be more than just a diner style breakfast place. Source your bread from a local Norwood business the Breadbasket Bakery which is owned by a Norwood resident. Get bagels from the Spot! in Norwood. Offer up some gluten free and paleo options. ‘Enhancements’ are endless! End of day, breakfast while simple, is a fun american tradition that many do! Why not step it up and give your cook a bit more creative control?!
All it takes is a few ‘differences’ to make you stand out!

Once again people, it’s not rocket science to do a decent breakfast but more and more places end up with lousy pancakes or dried out eggs or homefries as crusty as your great grandmothers shorts.
Well, Brookside makes the leap from mediocre to outstanding and fulfilling breakfasts that make it a necessary repeat. Not because other places can’t get a decent menu or breakfast out there but because price, quantity and quality exist here at Brookside. Making it a favorite of mine.
Pancakes, short stack or tall, real maple syrup on demand for 99 cents (which is reasonable) plus extra regular syrup to supplement if desired, the «brookside breakfast platter» that had pancakes, choice of meat, eggs and delicious homefried potatoes. Now that all sounds good but it tasted better!

Family owned and run, fantastic food. The muffins are made here, amazing! Real maple syrup, kid friendly, great service a real neighborhood feel. I only wish I lived closer to this place! Highly recommend the grilled fresh muffins.

Got here a few mins after 9am on a Sunday– tables were full, but there was seating available at the bar. By the time we left at 10:15, there was a line to get in!
Service was attentive & food was great. Prices were good too. Will definitely be back.