Lidia's Restaurant

Why it's on the list

The only entry in my top five that's a proper sit-down room instead of a counter, and that changes what it's for. This isn't a grab-it-and-go stop.

It's a place to actually sit down, order breakfast, and not look at your phone for twenty minutes. On a work trip that is worth real money.

Getting there

Nevin Avenue in Richmond, easy to reach off I-580 heading toward the bridge. If you're staging in the East Bay before a morning meeting across the water, this is a significantly better plan than the hotel breakfast buffet. It is not a close call.

Region

Richmond, Contra Costa County.

Format

Sit-down dining room. Confirm hours on the restaurant's own page.

Trip fit

Morning stop. Give yourself the twenty minutes.

Before you go

• Check hours on the restaurant's own listing before you drive. Ours would go stale; theirs won't.
• Ask whoever takes your order what they'd get. It has never once steered me wrong.
• Bring cash. Plenty of counters prefer it and a few still require it.
• If you're eating in the car, ask for it double-wrapped and don't let it steam in the foil.

ask the counter. order that. full send.

Elsewhere on the trail