Ok this is one of those places you discover and wonder how in the blazes is this place so close to me and I never knew it was there? Absolutely, 100% great breakfast place. Had the egg scramble with pancakes and was shocked at how good it was.

My work is not far from Neal's Coffee Shop. My co-workers are the ones who turned me on to Neal's. I fell in love immediately with their food, their service. The chefs are kind, and considerate. They always try to prepare the food the way that you want it. I've been ordering by delivery lately, and they never disappoint. The last time I ordered, and I wanted Onion Rings. They wrote on the receipt, "Sorry we don't have Onion Rings", and they sent me an order of fries. I thought that was so nice, because I had initially said no sides in the order, if they didn't have onion rings. Each time I go in, it's like stepping into a family kitchen. That's the vibe I get. Thank you because I personally don't experience too many places where there is actually good customer service. If you're ever in the area, and you're hungry, consider Neal's. Whatever you get? Breakfast, lunch, or dinner? It's going to be good. Thank you so much for listening.

This was my first time at this restaurant. It is 9:30 am on a Wednesday. As soon as I came in I see the waitress at the register I’m standing in the front because obviously I’m waiting for her to tell me either seat your self or ask me how many people? But she did neither. She didn’t acknowledge that I was there finally she lifts her head up and says “Anywhere”( in an unfriendly way). One of the kitchen men came and asked us what we would like to drink. The Asian waitress lady then comes 10 minutes later to get our order by then I was upset because the red wasn’t busy at all. So she comes and asks us for our order and I told her that we had to wait for a long time and totally ignores that I said that. 😡😡. As I’m waiting for our food to arrive I saw two other people come in and doesn’t acknowledge them as well.

Been on a hit and miss for good breakfast diners! Walked into Neal's Coffee Shop in San Mateo, and got a home run this morning! Cute, clean, and friendly restaurant in Chrystal Springs Center! Carol, waitress friendly and attentive made our breakfast pleasant! Big hardy and plentiful, cooked to perfection. Check it out, my wife and I will be going back again! Extensive menu, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Very comfortable diner with lots of breakfast options and for lunch, they have burgers, salads, sandwiches and more. My turkey melt sandwich was decent with a buttered and grilled sandwich bread. The fries were McDonalds style: thin and crispy. Very strong. Dining room is open and spacious with a community vibe. It’s easy to overhear other conversations, for good or bad. Service is so friendly.

Good food, but questionable customer service. I ordered an iced coffee, server asked if I wanted vanilla and I declined. We were charged the extra cost for vanilla anyways, and the cashier did not seem happy with amending it. Which was then amended to $4 more somehow... when we went back, they seemed even less happy about amending that. It's a trivial amount of money but it's the principle. Good and fair customer service would make it right without hassle or attitude. Edit: not sure how to respond to the owner's response below. This happened around 11:30am today at the San Mateo location, and we dined in. Appreciate the offer but don't worry about the iced coffees, we won't be returning. Just please ensure your workers have sound morals.

I am a person that rarely anyone will have a negative evaluation of me. Why do I lack critical vision? No! But because I am an extremely compassionate person. But given the gravity of the extent of what happened today, I think it's important to take a sensitive look at the situation. I'm a Doordash dasher, for many people with restricted minds, I'm the simple food delivery girl, but I love what I do, and I feel like I'm much more than the food delivery person, I'm the cooperator of commerce in general, I'm the facilitator of life of many who are at home or at work in an uninterrupted routine, or people who are sick, or with limitations and cannot go out, or simply of people who gave themselves, at that moment, the right to be enjoying their time better, while waiting for the your request. I love and am proud to be the cooperator and facilitator. And I think that people, especially when relating to the public, need to act with respect, whether with the customer, the employee or the cooperator, after all, everyone is in a gear, where each one in his role, is making the machine called commerce work . But today between 10:30am and 11am, I went to pick up two orders at Neal's Cofee, in San Mateo, I live nearby, so I often pick up orders here, and it's also often, sometimes they give me the order next to the cashier, which is at the exit, as employees often call me to go in further and collect closer to the kitchen exit, where the bags are finishing, and today, the person who works in the restaurant, called Norma, was extremely rude, when asking me to withdraw from the premises while I was waiting for the orders, which were not ready. I'm not just the restaurant's employee, I'm also a customer and a place that welcomes so many educated, refined, intelligent people with critical common sense deserves to prepare people who can reciprocate with the same, to everyone who passes through that door. Sadly, when we tried both sides and stayed on the fringes of the service discrepancy, it felt like an act of outright discrimination…

I discovered this nice stop on the drive down 280 and enjoyed a solid, but basic, breakfast. There was lots of seating (a bit too much for the size of the space), the staff was friendly, and prices were a bit higher than the menus online. My breakfast was good and my tea was strong, I'll be back.

Nice looking place and the Monte Cristo was good. The beef dip however was skimpy and some kind of cheap lunch meat. It had a weird tooth. My fries were not cooked and raw in the middle. Would I go back? Prob not. Coffee was thin and tasted cheap. Lots of seniors enjoying Sunday morning.

Neal's has two locations. I ate lunch at the Anza and Polhemus crossroads. The shopping center is clean and has interesting restaurants I've yet to explore. Neals offers a very substantial Greek salad. It has lots of olives, which I love and I recommend the adition of chicken. It is perfectly seasoned and tender and there is plenty of it. They also have a senior special which offers soup or salad, a lovely main course, and dessert. I always order the tapioca with whipping cream on top. They also serve soft warm white rolls. These were popular in the 50's but Neals is the only place I know of that now offers them. Their soups are thick and tasty and they have chicken gumbo as one of their choices occasionally, and a very good lentil soup as well. In this cold weather it is so rewarding to come in out of the icy weather and have a hot bowl of soup.

The Swedish crepes with lingonberry butter was really good! I would order that again for sure!

Typical diner atmosphere- busy, loud, bustling, cramped, casual. This is a place to get food and hang out with friends like you would for Starbucks. Coffee is strong, breakfast is fantastic. Been here for lunch and nothing to write home about, pretty average but solid, but breakfast will really surprise you with how yummy it is. Big portions and flavor is phenomenal. Service is unapologetically loud, but they have to be. Attentive to refills and needs of the table. I would say this is a place you see a lot of elderly blue haired people, not so many young people unless they're with families. To be honest, they know whats up. All in all, this little tucked-in unassuming place is the hidden gem of Crystal Springs.

The food was good overall and we'll go back at some point, I'm sure. However, my son asked for his eggs over medium and they came with runny, raw whites. The server seemed disinterested about this when I politely pointed it out, and the service bordered on surly, in general. Maybe just a bad day for her, but I suspect not.

This used to be a good place. Went there on Sunday for brunch and the food was terrible. We asked the waitress if they could remake the eggs because they were runny and she had an attitude. Even before that she seemed very grumpy. Both my husband and I didn't finish the food we just took it home for the dog. Also $50 is a lot of money for 2 basic breakfast plates. Will not go back.

My first time going with my family. We all loved it. It's so good we couldn't stop talking about their food all day. I will definitely come back!

bad experience. very rude employees. you are going to taste a good meal not to tolerate their rudeness. The food is very normal, nothing that can withstand such rudeness.

I had a Tri-Tip Taco Salad and it was really good. Lots of fresh ingredients and plenty of meat. The server was really nice as well. I loved the patio seating and nice surroundings.

Just tried them out this morning and it was nothing to write home about. Mental note to everyone, especially myself… NEVER order breakfast food for togo. You’ll regret it. Especially when you get home and see there’s no butter on your already cold bread, they forgot to include syrup for your pancakes and the cheese is all cold in the omelette, as were at Neal’s. Not sure if I’d recommend this place as I didn’t have a good experience… but the people are friendly.

We ordered fish tacos, hot chocolate, pan cakes and waffles. The Fish tacos was bland. The fish was not cooked properly. The pan cakes were ok. The waffles were not great too. The waitress were too busy to even recommend something for us. We came in hungry and left hungry. This place is not for us. The hot chocolate was just water. I did not pay $3+ for chocolate water. I couldnt drink and i asked for a carry-on cup and I was told that i will be charged 50c for that. This was the tipping point.

Great diner with all your classics. There's more seating here than at the Burlingame location. Staff is friendly and our food always comes out quick. I really enjoy their breakfasts and they make a good liver n onion 😋

Total diner/coffee shop experience. Friendly and attentive staff. There's always someone eyeballing your table keeping drinks topped off or making sure you're not missing something. Consistent food choices, healthy portions. Parking is a bit challenging at times but it's located in a supermarket plaza so you may need a short walk once parked. I don't drink coffee so cannot comment. I do see a lot of pre-order take out happening during visits. Decent breakfast here. Selection is great. Other shops nearby so handy if you're running errands and want a quick bite as well. Clean restrooms.

First time here. We sat outside d/t having our pets. Food was good and it tasted fresh. I deducted 1 star for charging $1 for a side of dried up salsa.