Cindy's

Cindy's is a diner-style restaurant in South Davis, with similar food to Denny's. It has distinct 60's/70's-era style decor and a funky roof shaped like an imploding range hood. The best meal there is breakfast and brunch, but lunch and dinner are also fine, and prices are reasonable. It doesn't stand out much and is relatively far from campus, but it is cheaper than Bakers Square which is much closer to the student population of Davis.

Cindy's is one of the best, cheap, little breakfast places in town! Try their biscuits and gravy, although their pancake or waffle specials are also very decent.

It's not a good place to go if you're nursing a hangover in the morning. The coffee's fine, but they expect you to eat and leave, and get sort of confused when you hang around holding your head, wincing, and drinking coffee.

At night, Thai Dynamite operates in this location serving Thai food for dinner.

There is a large mural on the side of the building The logo is festooned with flowers

Tim poses with Cindy's famous Monte Cristo sandwich A cute little drawing by the door.

Reviews

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My food experience at Cindy's is less than stellar. I found their food to be extremely bland, with an odd texture. Service was OK. —PaulLanzi

I had a pretty good breakfast here. Diner food, but the place is cozy. —PhilipNeustrom

2005-02-02 11:41:05   The cinnamon rolls are the best and biggest I have ever seen —MyaBrn

2005-02-10 12:18:51   Whatever you do ... don't get the Monty Cristo. More like the Mound of Crisco ... —CraigBrozinsky

2005-03-02 18:23:59   Very good service here. Their fresh squeezed orange juice, although expensive, is quite good, and you get to watch them squeeze it. —JaimeRaba

2005-03-02 18:34:11   For your standard breakfast fare, Cindy's is great! Two eggs, over easy with toast and hash browns. What I appreciate most is that the place is old school diner and it doesn't aspire to more, like many other Davis diners. —AlphaDog

2005-03-02 19:28:58   Yeah, I think if I had to rank places to have an "American style" breakfast in Davis: #1 Cindys #2 Bernardo #3 Cafe Italia #4 Baker's Square #5 IHOP #6 Abe's —JaimeRaba

2005-03-02 19:29:37   What IS a Monte Cristo anyway? —JaimeRaba

2005-03-02 19:31:54   http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1744,148171-230207,00.html - Monte Cristo Sandwich —JevanGray

2005-03-02 19:37:22   Wow! That Monte Cristo sounds great!! I think it may become my new late Saturday breakfast. —AlphaDog

2005-03-02 21:37:18   Monte Cristos are awesome, but not at Cindy's. They're supposed to be pan fried in butter, as the recipe above suggests. This makes the bread crisp and yummy. Cindy's deep fries it. Think about it— two pieces of bread, dipped in egg, and deep fried in the same vat they cook the fish sticks in. Not only does deep fry oil infuse the bread, but pockets of oil also get caught in between the slices of ham. A tablespoon of mustard or mayo is nice inside a sandwich, but a tablespoon of hot oil does not a happy tongue make. :( —CraigBrozinsky

2005-08-13 10:56:48   The pancakes are very good here. The place is always busy on the weekends, and the selection of food isn't wonderful, but everything I have tried has been tasty. As mentioned above, the cinnamon rolls are awesome. —AlexPomeranz

2005-08-13 10:59:13   I thought the place was alright. I don't remember what I had; i just remembered it was really oily. Water tasted a bit gross/warm. Service was really friendly tho. —ES

2005-08-29 16:03:45   This is by far the best breakfast place around. Their eggs benedict are fantastic, the sauce is not out of a box. They'll make omelettes to your specification without charging extra or getting snippy about it. Their salsa is also pretty good, I like it on my fries! —StarRuiz

2005-08-29 16:38:29   Star, have you been to Delta? —ArlenAbraham

• Delta is great if you like long lines, busing your own table, and elitist COFFEHOUSE employees staring down their nose at you...
  

2005-09-02 11:38:19   THIS IS NOT LIKE DENNYS. —HeatherKlinger

2005-09-02 14:51:47   I used to go there maybe once a month. I would get an omelette every time. A year or so ago they raised their prices and started giving you less food (no more pancakes with your omelette). I haven't been back since. —NikolaiBraun

2005-09-03 10:17:50   You know, Delta's breakfasts are as good as they used to be... just my jaded opinion. —JaimeRaba

2005-11-07 19:17:38   Cindy's makes delicious pancakes! —JohnDudek

2005-12-16 09:45:56   The food here was not great, not even good. But the malts and shakes are awesome =D Just ask your waitress because they can make all different types (not listed on the menu). —JoAnnaRich

2006-02-24 09:48:25   I like Cindy's but there's usually a long wait for a table on Saturday and Sunday mornings. And since Abe's closed up the street Cindy's is busier all the time. —SteveGreen

2006-03-06 13:06:46   It is awesome! Omelette + cinnamon roll = delicious! They served folgers coffee though..bleh —QuynhNhuNguyen

2006-03-06 13:13:53   What Davis needs is a new Denny's. They'd make bank. —JaimeRaba

• Or Carrow's / Lyon's / 24-hr Diner —TarZxf
  

• The odd thing is that 24-hour places always seem to fold in Davis. It's a total mystery to me how a college town can be totally devoid of all-night study/eatery places, and kill off any that come. It's like Davis is the only college town ever where the students almost all go to bed at midnight. —EricKlein
  

• If it's 24 hours out on Mace Blvd it wouldn't last because they're so far from the majority of the student population. Who would want to travel across town at 4am? I'd rather just travel to downtown. — JR
  

• I agree, but even downtown 24 hour places seem to close quickly (or never form in the first place). —EricKlein
  

2006-03-31 11:42:43   The service wasn't spectacular. The price was right for the amount of food (I think the combo is the best value). The food tastes good, but it isn't anything to write home about. The kiddie drawings near the entrance are fun to look at. :) —JennaChan

2006-11-08 22:34:47   Excellent food for the price! I love the huevos rancheros here. The salsa here is homemade and fresh and the workers are nice. The service isn't the best but it's a diner so they don't have a whole lot to take care of. Being nice is good enough, I think. Same goes for the owner. Good guy, it seems. —LiRic

2007-04-13 15:04:45   Your typical greasy-spoon, but what a great greasy-spoon it is! Great place to go for breakfast after a night out. Food comes out fast and the service is efficient. —BriannaBetancourt

2007-04-14 07:35:55   Did their hours change a while back? I could swear I came here for dinner once three or four years ago. —ElleWeber

2007-05-24 23:08:42   Yes there hours are only opened until 3pm. For those who like fresh food..like REAL turkey in their sandwiches..then this is the place for you. They have the best salads, the best blue cheese dressing, the best turkey bacon melt, and crinkle french fries. Everything is homemade here... even the soup! The wait on the weekends can range from 10- 30 mins but that must tell you something... it is worth waiting for and if it is crowdd it must be good. The owner of this place was so nice and recently passed away... but the place still is owned by the same family and still has that great charm. If you go often they get to know you and wll go the extra mile for you. Very sweet waitresses. —gina

2007-07-16 22:19:23   I like eat at cindys me caveman me like food on bone good food at cindys even a caveman like i do me like —dickjones

2007-08-01 13:49:28   I had a great time the first time I went to cindy's for breakfast enjoying the works skillet with almost everything in it(great ingredients, quick service. I will say that their drinks were dissapointing(apple juice was terrible and replacement orange juice was just ok, too much pulp for my liking) will be going back soon to try out lunch —ElizabethBarthel

2007-08-03 15:35:57   It is good food at times i like the cook that has been there for many years, i also like the vintage feel this place gives i will gladly eat here again —Brians

2007-11-17 17:44:55   Denny's has been in Davis, like two or three times. It was where Abe's was. Why it kept folding, I have no idea other than terrible location. Season's used to be a Lyon's. Great location, right across from the theater. I KNOW why Lyon's went out of business. It consistently, and I mean year in and year out, had the worst service of any place I have ever seen. You could be in a wheel chair with two broken arms and seat yourself, set the table, cook the food, bring yourself drinks... faster than the staff there.

Now Cindy's is a little scary. I was the skinniest person in there by about 200 pounds. The breakfast was okay. But the bimbo waitress served the rich looking skier types ("I'll bet he tips good") way faster than they served us. Lunches though... grease bomb. Even the coffee was greasy. The seats were a little sticky... Oh cinnamon rolls...Village Bakery, bar none! —LouisM

2008-01-07 13:53:44   Food is ok but like most coffee shops from the past greese is the word. —LongtimeDavisite

2008-04-22 18:07:54   I was wondering around the wiki today and I was stoked to discover that there is a place in Davis to get a Monte Cristo sandwich! —RodneyBlackwell

2008-05-11 11:31:24   Cindy's really is the best place in town to grab a hearty breakfast. The service has alway been decent, even when they're busy. Their omlettes are awesome, great selection of stuff to put in yours if you want to build your own. Cindy's skillets are pretty good too!!! My only complaint would be the coffee...skip the coffee, and go with the fresh squeezed OJ or grapefruit juice. Their cinnamon rolls are HUGE!!!, and always fresh! Who needs restaraunt chains when you have a real good local place....they even honor the regular customers with drawings in the entrance. —JasonA

2008-11-02 12:50:22   Made the trip to Cindy's today for a great breakfast. It had been too long since I visited this place. While a greasy spoon type atmosphere, the owner is always on site, the servers are friendly and the foot is consistently warm and sits well in my tummy. Three in my party today and everyone was totally satisfied. in an era where so many new places try to be unique, fancy and ultimately overpriced, Cindy's is a rock solid choice that is becoming harder to find. —loneshark

2008-11-03 20:13:07   Best hangover food around. —Selby

2009-02-23 10:04:07   We went to Cindy's last night, and they are now a Thai restaurant in the evenings. Breakfast and lunch are still traditional "Cindy's fare." Incidentially, it was really really good food. We ordered Pad Thai and Jungle Curry. They were both outstanding. In fact, it was the best Pad Thai I have had in a long time. The restaurant was a bit chilly (probably a money saver), but bring a jacket and you'll be fine. New best Thai food in Davis, in my opinion. —jillerbean

2009-07-27 18:04:13   Food: confused - mix of American, Mexican, & even Asian Tasteness: not the best
Service: depends on who you get - I've received friendly-welcoming faces to 'I am tired and what do you want?'
Would I return: No. There are other places w/ better eats and prices (better location, also)
Rating: 4/10 —FoodGloriousFood

2009-08-09 21:52:56   Never coming back to Cindy's. Bad, greasy food; poor, slow service; over-rated. I went there for the first time for Saturday breakfast after reading all the positive reviews on Davis Wiki. Sadly, the experience was nowhere near the reviews. First, it took 15-min after getting seated to get our coffee, which we were never offered refills for because the waitress never came to check. When the food arrived, it looked and tasted like a depository for excess grease and was bland and uneventful. Of all things to screw up, I always thought breakfast was fool-proof...Not true apparently. Everytime we needed service (and mind you we had a small party of two only), I had to go up to the front diner for service — three times! Each time, somebody other than our waitress would say, she'll send someone over. LIES! Bottom line: we are never coming back to Cindy's. That one and only negative experience was enough to seal the deal forever. —kenika1226

Considering all the positive reviews about this place, it looks like you just had a bad day.

2009-10-12 17:24:44   I love their Thai food! best in town! I've been there for breakfast and swore I would never come again. But a friend told me that there Thai night was the best he ever had. So, I went since I've been to every Thai place in Davis too many times already. We had the angel wings, thai green curry and pad thai...everything was great! —MinhTran