Recommended dishes: Mac & Cheese with Puffed Rice, Hamburger Sandwich, Soup of the Day
Benita Peretz
Fun and delicious food. Great place to go on the coast.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mushroom Sandwich, Mac & Cheese, Grilled Cheese
Jeremy H
The whole experience was ok. Nothing was "bad," but nothing was "great" either. The fact that it's in an old train caboose is cute, different, and a nice experience. The caboose is, in my view, the only real differentiating factor for Dad's Luncheonette. The hamburger sandwiches are just ok. There's nothing wrong with them, but there is nothing about them that would drive me to return. It's a fairly small and insufficiently seasoned beef patty on bread that's too big for the beef with a fried egg, sauce, and some veggies. It was just unremarkable, and I've made similar sandwiches at home. Dad's Luncheonette only serves two sandwiches on its regular menu, so I was expecting the hamburger sandwich to be exceptional. Unfortunately, it's just mediocre, andI do think the price is quite high for one of these hamburger sandwiches at $14.50. We also got chips and mac & cheese. The chips were pretty good! They use nutritional yeast on them as a seasoning. I liked it, especially because it's not really a seasoning or flavoring agent I've used before. Good job on the chips. The Mac & cheese- I'll be fully honest here. At first, I didn't like it that much, but after a few bites, I started liking it more. The sauce is quite thin and they added toasted rice and chives, which is why I think it went from "not good" to "it's ok." The noodles were way overdone and that made the entire dish flop. In summary, it's pricey, not memorable, and overhyped, which is unfortunate. We took a drive down the coast with this place being a big reason for taking the trip from San Francisco. I'm glad it was a beautiful and sunny day because otherwise, I'd say Dad's Luncheonette ruined the day. I'm just not impressed, given the hype and the $65 price tag for two. It's yet another place that fails to substantiate its fairly high price. I would not return.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Homemade Potato Chips
Dennis Ma
Food serving is small consider the price
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Hamburger Sandwich
Emily S.
Really fun atmosphere - they were making jokes and dancing and just overall nice employees! Hamburger, Mushroom burger, and canned kombucha were great!
ordinary. The salad is $7, just a small bowl of vegetables. The burger sandwich wasn't particularly tasty either. The bread is so big and the fillings are so little, almost all of it is starch. Mac and cheese is also popular, the cheese taste is very bland, and the rice on top is not crispy. It feels like there are so many people queuing up and they feel like they have never eaten anything delicious.
This so good !!!Top notch chef, cool people always working and smiling and making you fabulous !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamburger Sandwich
Robert Carson
When you arrive before opening and see a line that's usually a good sign, and it was no exception here. The food was amazing and the staff were super friendly. We mainly got the hamburgers / special burgers and the herb salad. However, we'd love to try the other items on the menu as everything else had was tasty.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamburger Sandwich, Moms Herb Salad, Homemade Potato Chips
Sophia C.
What a beautiful weekend in Half Moon Bay! Boyfie and I just had to stop at Dad's Luncheonette before leaving. Right off the bat, the little caboose was very charming and the staff were very personable. We couldn't decide what we wanted so we went with the Happy Meal option which included one of each menu item (which is perfect if you want to try everything!) The Hamburger sandwich was so delicious- beef patty was juicy and perfectly greasy, pickled onions for sharpness, tangy mustard to cut through the richness, wonderfully runny egg, and toasted buttery bread. The Mushroom burger had thick cuts of maitake mushroom, so if you're the biggest fan of mushrooms, I wouldn't recommend. The homemade potato chips were decent. Sprinkled with nutritional yeast, they had a good saltiness to them but I felt like they did not go with the rich flavors of the sandwiches. The herb salad was light and refreshing, I would definitely order again. However, it has a very strong "herb" flavor, so if you are averse to herby-type salads, probably stay away. We were pretty disappointed with the mac and cheese. We felt as though we were eating just the al dente noodles and there was little to no cheese sauce. The soup of the day, black eyed peas and collard greens, was waay too salty for me but my boyfriend liked it. The rose and pistachio cookie was a new flavor profile for me but it was baked perfectly! The edges were crispy but the inside was soft and warm. Overall, the sandwiches and salad were definitely stars and we really enjoyed ourselves. Definitely a must-try local business whenever you are in Half Moon Bay!
American Angler
I hadn't made up my mind until he said he'd buy lunch at Dad's Luncheonette, and that was it! It's a deal maker, you can squabble over piddlyass things like guarantees or price even delivery fees, but when lunch at Dad's is factored into the equation, it's a done deal. I told the dude "The Brittany Spears underwear she wore at the 2012 Las Vegas concert that she took off and threw out into the crowd was his...cash only, and a lunch at Dad's" I'll meet you at the bank at 11 and we'll eat at 11:30 The sandwiches were Amazing! 5 stars ☆☆☆☆☆
David Baker
If you want an interesting hamburger, Dad's Luncheonette is a great place to try. The menu is very limited and they try to put their unique spin on things. If you have an open mind and can trust someone to make you something unusual and delicious, this is a fun place to try.For example, the one burger they have is a patty melt with a fried egg and pickled onions. It's delicious, but if you're looking for a different type of burger, go somewhere else.The mac and cheese isn't the gooey, cheesy concoction you might expect. Instead, it's macaroni that's lightly dressed, almost as though there's only butter on it with no cheese, topped with a mound of toasted puffed rice. It's more like a warm pasta salad -- very delicious with interesting textures, but not what some would want when they order "mac & cheese."The seating is mostly just picnic tables in the parking lot of a shopping center. I like to take my food and drive to somewhere along the beach.
Great place to go
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wish we could eat here every day!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mac & Cheese with Puffed Rice, Hamburger Sandwich, Soup of the Day
Fun and delicious food. Great place to go on the coast.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mushroom Sandwich, Mac & Cheese, Grilled Cheese
The whole experience was ok. Nothing was "bad," but nothing was "great" either. The fact that it's in an old train caboose is cute, different, and a nice experience. The caboose is, in my view, the only real differentiating factor for Dad's Luncheonette. The hamburger sandwiches are just ok. There's nothing wrong with them, but there is nothing about them that would drive me to return. It's a fairly small and insufficiently seasoned beef patty on bread that's too big for the beef with a fried egg, sauce, and some veggies. It was just unremarkable, and I've made similar sandwiches at home. Dad's Luncheonette only serves two sandwiches on its regular menu, so I was expecting the hamburger sandwich to be exceptional. Unfortunately, it's just mediocre, andI do think the price is quite high for one of these hamburger sandwiches at $14.50. We also got chips and mac & cheese. The chips were pretty good! They use nutritional yeast on them as a seasoning. I liked it, especially because it's not really a seasoning or flavoring agent I've used before. Good job on the chips. The Mac & cheese- I'll be fully honest here. At first, I didn't like it that much, but after a few bites, I started liking it more. The sauce is quite thin and they added toasted rice and chives, which is why I think it went from "not good" to "it's ok." The noodles were way overdone and that made the entire dish flop. In summary, it's pricey, not memorable, and overhyped, which is unfortunate. We took a drive down the coast with this place being a big reason for taking the trip from San Francisco. I'm glad it was a beautiful and sunny day because otherwise, I'd say Dad's Luncheonette ruined the day. I'm just not impressed, given the hype and the $65 price tag for two. It's yet another place that fails to substantiate its fairly high price. I would not return.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Homemade Potato Chips
Food serving is small consider the price
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Hamburger Sandwich
Really fun atmosphere - they were making jokes and dancing and just overall nice employees! Hamburger, Mushroom burger, and canned kombucha were great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mushroom Sandwich, Hamburger Sandwich
A regular haunt for us!
Consistently excellent…:)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mushroom Sandwich, Hamburger Sandwich, Homemade Potato Chips
ordinary. The salad is $7, just a small bowl of vegetables. The burger sandwich wasn't particularly tasty either. The bread is so big and the fillings are so little, almost all of it is starch. Mac and cheese is also popular, the cheese taste is very bland, and the rice on top is not crispy. It feels like there are so many people queuing up and they feel like they have never eaten anything delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Mushroom sandwich good but a bit expensive
Restaurantji Recommends
This so good !!!Top notch chef, cool people always working and smiling and making you fabulous !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamburger Sandwich
When you arrive before opening and see a line that's usually a good sign, and it was no exception here. The food was amazing and the staff were super friendly. We mainly got the hamburgers / special burgers and the herb salad. However, we'd love to try the other items on the menu as everything else had was tasty.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamburger Sandwich, Moms Herb Salad, Homemade Potato Chips
What a beautiful weekend in Half Moon Bay! Boyfie and I just had to stop at Dad's Luncheonette before leaving. Right off the bat, the little caboose was very charming and the staff were very personable. We couldn't decide what we wanted so we went with the Happy Meal option which included one of each menu item (which is perfect if you want to try everything!) The Hamburger sandwich was so delicious- beef patty was juicy and perfectly greasy, pickled onions for sharpness, tangy mustard to cut through the richness, wonderfully runny egg, and toasted buttery bread. The Mushroom burger had thick cuts of maitake mushroom, so if you're the biggest fan of mushrooms, I wouldn't recommend. The homemade potato chips were decent. Sprinkled with nutritional yeast, they had a good saltiness to them but I felt like they did not go with the rich flavors of the sandwiches. The herb salad was light and refreshing, I would definitely order again. However, it has a very strong "herb" flavor, so if you are averse to herby-type salads, probably stay away. We were pretty disappointed with the mac and cheese. We felt as though we were eating just the al dente noodles and there was little to no cheese sauce. The soup of the day, black eyed peas and collard greens, was waay too salty for me but my boyfriend liked it. The rose and pistachio cookie was a new flavor profile for me but it was baked perfectly! The edges were crispy but the inside was soft and warm. Overall, the sandwiches and salad were definitely stars and we really enjoyed ourselves. Definitely a must-try local business whenever you are in Half Moon Bay!
I hadn't made up my mind until he said he'd buy lunch at Dad's Luncheonette, and that was it! It's a deal maker, you can squabble over piddlyass things like guarantees or price even delivery fees, but when lunch at Dad's is factored into the equation, it's a done deal. I told the dude "The Brittany Spears underwear she wore at the 2012 Las Vegas concert that she took off and threw out into the crowd was his...cash only, and a lunch at Dad's" I'll meet you at the bank at 11 and we'll eat at 11:30 The sandwiches were Amazing! 5 stars ☆☆☆☆☆
If you want an interesting hamburger, Dad's Luncheonette is a great place to try. The menu is very limited and they try to put their unique spin on things. If you have an open mind and can trust someone to make you something unusual and delicious, this is a fun place to try.For example, the one burger they have is a patty melt with a fried egg and pickled onions. It's delicious, but if you're looking for a different type of burger, go somewhere else.The mac and cheese isn't the gooey, cheesy concoction you might expect. Instead, it's macaroni that's lightly dressed, almost as though there's only butter on it with no cheese, topped with a mound of toasted puffed rice. It's more like a warm pasta salad -- very delicious with interesting textures, but not what some would want when they order "mac & cheese."The seating is mostly just picnic tables in the parking lot of a shopping center. I like to take my food and drive to somewhere along the beach.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 4