Venus Restaurant

Came here for a weekday breakfast and was pretty disappointed. I ordered the ham omelette, which was an enormous let down. The size was small, and the egg didn’t even wrap around all the fillings inside. Also, it didn’t taste that great, either. The home fries were okay when you dipped them in sour cream and lots of ketchup. The only good thing on my plate was the breakfast muffin, which was a carrot muffin with raisins. That was definitely unique and yummy. For ~$ 13, it was not worth it, and I don’t have the urge to come back.

I had a wonderful breakfast here one morning in February with a good friend of mine. The menu is unique, and the food is great. We got very lucky and scored a parking spot right out front and walked in right before a rush so didn’t have to wait.
Service: quick and friendly
Menu: simple, but you may find it hard to choose!
Price: reasonable for the quality
Food: cooked perfectly, tastes great without being over the top
Atmosphere: casual; they don’t waste any space so if you like a quiet, private breakfast you may be disappointed
Cons: I could see how there could be a long wait (usually a good sign when it comes to places to eat) and parking could be a pain if you aren’t lucky enough to find a spot right out side. If you have to park far away, don’t worry, it’s worth the walk!

I never leave reviews, but I feel like I need to after reading the review from Devon S. I am a regular at Venus restaurant and I was inside when Devon S came to visit on ³⁄₂. I witnessed everything that happened. Yes, Devon S wasn’t able to sit in the back at that time because as the server informed him, they were cleaning and restocking. So then Devon S asked if he, ALONE, could sit at one of the larger tables. The server said «yes, but if it got busy he MIGHT have to move [Devon S] because it was peak hour, but he should be fine because it had been slow all day.» Devon S then asked if he could take a different large table and so the server, AGAIN, said yes. Devon S then threw temper tantrum and decided he didn’t want to stay. He then called the server an «asshole» and said he «was going to write a review.» There were a few of us regulars in the restaurant at that time and we were appalled by Devon S’ behavior. We all agreed that the server handled himself in the most professional and respectable way, especially after being called out of his name.
If you’ve been to Venus Restaurant you know that the servers are all kind, but this server in particular is amazing. Everyone loves him from what I can tell. He is an amazing server and he goes above and beyond. I’ve seen him hold the door open for elderly people, assist customers with wheel chairs, and even cut up food for someone that wasn’t able to.
The food is always amazing. The service is great. some days are busier than other’s but that’s just verification that this is a spectacular restaurant.

Unique and different menu offerings and SO SO GOOD!
Maybe it’s because they cook most items in quality ghee. Maybe it’s because they infuse such amazing spices and flavors into their dishes. Maybe it’s because they have the most delicious morning glory muffins served with some of their menu items… maybe it’s ALL of those things and more!
I’ve breakfasted here twice and both times totally impressed. And both times my boyfriend and I ordered the same dishes we had previously. My boyfriend got the creative Indian Brunch which features curried carrot-​zucchini-​parsnip pancakes, akoori scrambled eggs (chiles, tomato & cilantro), mango aioli, handmade chapati and banana raita — AMAZING.
I got the Butternut Squash Scramble of eggs scrambled with roasted butternut squash, shallot, kale, cauliflower & gruyère served with mixed green salad and morning glory muffin (yum!!). Such good food!
Tons of menu items to pick from, which is the hardest part of your breakfast journey… aside from the wait time on weekends. This place is tiny and fills up quickly so be prepared to wait (but trust me, it’s worth the wait).
I’ll definitely be back for breakfast again and hopefully dinner. :)

So apparently women are from Venus.
Food: I ordered the Poached Egg Salad which was a large serving of spring mix with two perfectly poached and warm eggs, also added avocado for a bit extra. The avocado paired well with the yolk and added more texture and healthy fats. My boyfriend had the chicken sausage scramble which was flavorful and heavy, but the biscuit was the best part. Flaky, warm, buttery — everything a biscuit should be. We shared the Lemon Ricotta Hotcakes. With each bit you get a full taste of ricotta cheese and lemon without overwhelming your palate. Perfectly balanced amount of each ingredient. The hotcakes are thin, not your usually fluffy stack, but still a plentiful portion. Also, you won’t feel as terrible since they’re lighter. It comes with condiments, but I felt the flavor of the pancakes alone was so rich and yummy, I really didn’t find the need to add the blackberry compote, lemon curd or syrup. I did, however sample each. Lemon curd was zesty, thick and sweet; while the compote was tart and full of the berry chunks.
Service: Busy brunch rush, but our server was attentive, quick and gave us plenty of recommendations.
Ambiance: Though busy, more of a relaxed and mellow tone in the air. Small, to the point that I could barely get up to wash my hands and struggled fitting three plates and two drinks on our table.
Price: Extremely affordable in comparison to other brunch spots. We paid about $ 10 for each dish, all of which were generously portioned.
Overall: Wide selection on their menu, good prices and service and hearty & filling brunch food.

Been here twice now, and the basic breakfast is consistently good. There crunchy biscuit is an awesome extra you can’t find most places.
And as hard as it is to find good coffee, I am thrilled with the Latte they make. Will definitely make this a regular stop.

Came here on a Friday night. The restaurant is small and it was pretty busy so thank god we reserved a table! For an appetizer we ordered the cheese plate. It had 3 pieces of cheese, some beats, and some nuts. Alongside they served bread. Overall, the cheese was good but the plate was very small and the quality wasn’t worth $ 12. Additionally, it was presented horribly! My main courses looked beautiful but the cheese plate literally looked like someone’s leftovers. For our main courses we ordered the chicken and the pork sandwich. Both were delicious! The portions were really big and the chicken was juicy. The chicken was serve with mashed potatoes and kale. I’ve never had such good kale in my life. I would like to come back and try their breakfast!

We went to this place on Valentine’s Day and the service was absolutely amazing! They offered to make me a personal vegetarian sandwich which was delicious and my boyfriend got the 2×2 and loved the French toast and said it was very filling! Not a huge fan of the yogurt and fruits though but it was okay. The drinks were fresh and they forgot about it initially a they bumped up our sizes from a small to a large! Great service and great food.

Venus is definitely one of the best brunch places in Berkeley. I really love both the french toast and the nantucket flapjacks. The good thing about Venus is that their flapjacks are not that rich and heavy compared to other pancakes and their french toast is not too sweet, allowing you to eat more without feeling sick of the food. I am just not a fan of their potatoes here, which is a shame.
The service here is a hit or miss. The brunch service is usually awful and the dinner service is often a lot better. Sometimes, the waiter won’t even provide water until I am almost done with my meal. It seems as if the waiters are constantly «looking» around but not seeing anything, which is pretty disappointing. This place is definitely better for brunch than dinner in terms of food, so I would recommend coming here for brunch when the wait isn’t too long.

The food was great, and filling. However, the wait was over 30 minutes for a table and the reservation service is first to wait at the door. It would be better if they had a reservation system that would avoid waiting at the door.

Came here for breakfast on a Sunday morning. The two person wait wasn’t too bad at about 20 – 25 minutes around 10 AM. I really enjoyed my Venus Benedict, including their home potatoes w/​sour cream (coming from a person who’s not a big fan of sour cream). The eggs on my benedict was nicely poached too! If it’s your first time, I highly recommend getting (or at least sharing) an order of the Lemon & Ricotta Hotcakes; the lemon spread that you add to the pancakes is not overpowering and the cakes are super fluffy. Service is also pleasant and fast, especially with all the mouths to feed!

Venus is a great breakfast option on the south end of Shattuck! I’ve been three times now and the food is always pretty tasty, service is kind and prompt.
There is sometimes a long wait, but if you can get yourself there as soon as it opens, there’s hardly any wait time.
The only critique I would have is that the food is good but can be a little inconsistent. We’ve generally found the main «star» of the dish to be delicious, but the sides to be a little lacking. My boyfriend loves breakfast sausage, but said their patties are way too dry. And I ordered the eggs benedict which is billed as coming with «homefries with sour cream!» The benedict itself was awesome, but the sour cream dollop on the potatoes was about the size of a nickel. Been the same every time I’ve been there. I know it’s a nitpicky thing (and I probably could have asked for more!) it just wasn’t what was expected given the description.
Overall, nice place, tasty food, good vibe, really nice staff.

Probably one of the best benedicts I’ve ever had. Small and intimate place with a nice staff and decent prices for the quality. Will be coming back on my next trip out to Berkeley.

I came to Venus because the line at La Note was too long. This was a huge mistake; I should’ve just kept waiting at La Note.
I got Nantucket Flapjacks because I love Buttermilk pancakes, but I couldn’t stand to eat the ones I got here. They were incredibly sour and pungent — I was a little worried that the pancakes I had actually had something wrong with them (had the milk soured? I’m not sure). I ended up getting a side of eggs and bacon and just eating those instead. The eggs and bacon were good, but not good enough to wash down the memory of the terrible pancakes I had.
I love pancakes, and make a point to get pancakes at most brunch places I visit. I can easily say that the pancakes I had at Venus were one of the worst.

This is my favorite breakfast spot. They have the best coffee. Most breakfast places serve stump water but not here and there good about refills. I love their scrambles and the lemon ricotta pancakes. Everything here is fresh and will have you wanting to come back for more!

Venus is consistent.
Always good food.
Always good service.
Always reasonable prices.
This is my favorite restaurant so far. I love coming for dinner.
I’m glad to have found a place that is not overrated or overpriced. There seem to be so many of them. Venus is the real deal. Lovely for a romantic dinner or a small group.

Really very good. I’ve been here twice with my son and friend. Both times I’ve had an omelette. The first time, I had the Farmer’s– good, but nothing to wrote home about. The second time, however, I had the Ranchera. It was outstanding. Mimosas are decent, lattes are good here. This place is also fairly kid friendly, with a kid’s menu. Just a side note, however, their chocolate milk here tastes like a milkshake. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just a thing to know.
Really the only thing I didn’t care for was getting asked to vacate our seats when we were done. Even though the place is small and the line long (a testament to the quality of the food), it was bad form to ask clients in a sit-​down restaurant to leave right as they pay the bill.

One thing is for damn sure… this place is on another planet. Ok two stars because the food was pretty good, but it’s leaning towards one.
Came in to enjoy a very rare moment out with my wife and kid for brunch. My Mom was open to joining us if there wasn’t going to be much of a wait for a table of three. We told the host that if there wasn’t a wait for a table of three we would take that so my Mom could join us, otherwise a table of two with a high chair would be fine. It turned out there was a table for three available right away and that it would be a wait for a two. So I called my Mom, in front of the host, and told her to join. The host got the table ready came back and started asking how close my Mom was because the don’t typically seat partial parties. Then the owner quickly entered the scene and abruptly barked at us that if she wasn’t here they couldn’t seat us now, all this while we were standing at the table we were already brought to and offered.
At this point I did my absolute best to suck it up and not get pissed and just leave. And I did that. I tried to be cordial with the owner and tell him I’ve managed the front of the house and that the way that situation was dealt with was pretty unprofessional. I gave him and opportunity to make it up to us by giving my kid a cookie or something to snack on while we waited for my mom to arrive. He did bring over a muffin, and that symbolically nice, but his delivery added insult to injury, emphasizing how that it was a $ 3 muffin that he was giving to us. It was awkward.
So we stood there waiting with our scwermy hungry little one year old, meanwhile the table sat there empty. My Mom arrived less than ten minutes later and we were sat back down at the same table.
The owner gave me a casual apology of sorts for speaking to us rudely, which wasn’t actually what we were upset about in the first place, although his original tone didn’t help. I say casual because he only said it in response to me light heartedly joking that it was good they had saved the table. He never actually stopped at the table, just kept cruising around while talking.
Next we ordered drinks and an order of French toast. French toast showed up ten minutes later, very yummy and all, but no drinks yet. Finally I saw the owner go by again. I got his attention and very politely mentioned we ordered drinks with the French toast. He said he’d check. Maybe five minutes later he came back and said yeah they never got the order in and were now preparing them. Nearly ten minutes later they finally got us the drinks. No apology from the owner, no apology from the server. Nada.
We just kept our cool, trying not to be cranky diners. I have sympathy for brunch staff. I’ve worked many and they are always the worst after working Friday and Saturday night. So we tried to be cool.
In the back of my mind I thought, well maybe they’ll at least comp a drink at the end of the meal to make up for this over load of negative experiences. Nope. Nada. Just a nice whopping $ 80 brunch check. No further apology, no comping, just time for us to pay our fee for the good food that we we’re so blessed to eat at this popular downtown Berkeley restaurant. Did the hospitality train miss this stop? I guess since it’s another planet it just couldn’t get there’s Am I missing something? I think next time I’ll go to Denny’s (not really, but I’m sure it would be half the price for what I imagine would be much better service.) Well la note is a block away so I guess we will give that a shot next time.
Ok, end of rant.

It’s located in Downtown Berkeley in a prime brunch spot so it can get pretty busy during the weekends. The wait is not too bad for two people as turnover is usually pretty quick with tables for 2.
I had the Venus Benedict which comes standard with English muffin, 2 poached eggs, sliced tomato, spinach and hollandaise sauce. You get to choose between ham or bacon. I love avocados and if you do too, its an extra 2 bucks. It was $ 17 total which was a bit pricey.
Their house coffee is brewed with Thridwave Coffee and it was smooth and delicous
The atmosphere is intimate as this is a small restaurant. The exposed brick walls really give it character. Great service

There’s always a fear of coming back to a well-​loved location years after your last visit and find it not true to memory. I’m glad to say that this is one of the instances where that fear was completely unfounded. My roommates introduced me to brunch at Venus when we were still studying at Cal (actually not that long ago) and I always thought of Venus fondly from the East Coast. Since I’ve been back to NorCal, I’ve gone a number of times and it’s still been just as awesome as I remember!
My go-​to at Venus is the Ranchera Omelette– one of the few omelettes in the world I will willingly eat. In my opinion, the chipotle crema and homemade salsa perfectly balance the abundance of cooked egg (note: my usual preferences regarding eggs are: anything with a gooey yolk and I hate scrambled eggs/​omelettes). The omelette comes with home fries (yum! Good-​sized, well-​seasoned portion) and your choice of toast, biscuit, morning glory muffin or corn tortillas.
Do yourself a favor and choose the morning glory muffin. (Going along with the tone of this review– I don’t eat muffins but I’ll eat this muffin any time any day.) There’s a perfect ratio of crunchy outside to moist inside– I would love to know the recipe so I can make it for myself, honestly!
Solid ⁵⁄₅. I haven’t had a bad experience here yet and everyone I’ve brought to Venus has loved it.
PS: Saturdays seem to be pretty good for brunch. The last few times I’ve gone were on Saturdays and even though La Note on the next block seems to be packed, we didn’t have to wait long for Venus. I’ve no idea why since I prefer Venus (disclaimer: went to La Note only once ~4+ years ago) over La Note but you won’t see me complaining if that keeps my wait short!

When we were in Berkley I used my Unilocal app to find this spot. It has pretty great reviews for the most part so why wouldn’t we experience the same? Well we didn’t unfortunately. This small spot was right up the street from our motel and we walked here and were seated right away. The place is small and cozy and the

When we were in Berkley I used my Unilocal app to find this spot. It has pretty great reviews for the most part so why wouldn’t we experience the same? Well we didn’t unfortunately. This small spot was right up the street from our motel and we walked here and were seated right away. The place is small and cozy and the servers were friendly enough. The place is crammed so if you are claustrophobic and your personal space is important to you then you may want to go elsewhere. We unfortunately sat next to a couple that nagged and fought the entire time we were there. Not fun to listen to first thing in the morning.
The menu has some great items on it and I immediately spotted what I wanted. We ordered two mimosas and waited. and waited… and waited. No mimosas but the server came over to take our order. Oh damn of course they were out of avocados and the most popular item on the menu that I wanted. Hmmmm back to the drawing bored. Still waiting for the mimosas about 15 minutes in now. The place was not overly crowded. There wasn’t a wait to be seated so I don’t understand why it took so long. So we decided to split a dish wish sausage, eggs, toast etc. A typical breakfast. The dish was supposed to come with chicken sausage and we specifically ordered pork. We do not like chicken sausage. Well guess what it came with? Chicken sausage. Still no mimosas but we did get warm tap water with no ice. Yuck.
Finally about half way through our meal here come the tiny $ 8 each mimosas. The server said «Oh I am sorry that took so long.» Gee thanks. The kicker was when we got our bill there was an item on there that we didn’t even order. Awesome!!! We ended up finishing our meal and paid our bill and hightailed it out of there. Definitely won’t be coming back next time we are in town for a show. What a disappointment.

Whoa! This place is all about the food. Nothing else matters when you come here to eat, that’s how tasty the food was.
Full disclosure: I’ve only eaten here once (so far, I WILL be back!) and it was for breakfast. I can’t speak to the deliciousness of other meals but I know my Indian Brunch was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a long time! Man those flavors! My girlfriend got something pretty tasty as well. Tried some but can’t remember, was too focused on my own amazing plate.
Other things to note: our server was nice but talked very softly in a quite loud restaurant. The wait was at least 15 minutes on a Saturday morning. Not bad but the area outside the restaurant doesn’t smell the best.
I’ll definitely be coming back next time I’m in the area!

Venus is one of my favorite brunch restaurants in Berkeley because it has the BEST eggs benedict I’ve ever tried, hands down. The dish, known as the Venus Benedict, consists of two homemade English muffins topped with poached eggs, sliced tomatoes, spinach covered in hollandaise sauce and served with fried herb-​seasoned potatoes with sour cream. You can add on avocado, ham or bacon, and/​or lox to the eggs benedict for an extra charge. I always add avocado to my Venus Benedict because I love the creamy texture it adds to the bite. This dish is perfection because the eggs are always perfectly poached, the hollandaise sauce is smooth and creamy with no separation within the sauce, the tomatoes and spinach are crisp, and the muffins are perfectly toasted and never soggy. I’ve eaten this dish several times, and I have never been served anything but perfection, which is amazing to me because there are so many elements to this dish that can go wrong. The eggs could be poached incorrectly, leading either to raw egg yolk or to overcooked egg yolk that has solidified. The emulsion between eggs and butter that is the base of the hollandaise sauce could break apart, leading to separation of the sauce. But these disasters have never occured with this dish, and I have been nothing but impressed.
What I also like about Venus is that you can make reservations — not that you need to, because even during weekends, the wait times are not horrendous like they can be at other brunch peoples in Berkeley. The restaurant itself is not the largest space, so the tables are placed really close together, which can be a bit uncomfortable, but I am willing to overlook this aspect of the restaurant because of how amazing those eggs benedict are.

I’m a fan of Venus’ healthy, tasty, and reasonably priced food. Love their strictly seasonal, farm-​to-​table menu. I’ve only come here for lunch so far. There is a soup, salad, and ½ sandwich lunch special ($ 11) which is a nice combo. Today, I got the salmon and kale salad entrée ($ 15.50). Awesome portion size and I left feeling quite healthy and full. The service is friendly and quick.
It’s a small place so I recommend getting there before the lunch hour (11:30−11:45 a.m.) since they don’t take reservations. Come at high noon or later and you might be waiting for 30 – 45 minutes.
Definitely recommend if you are in the Downtown Berkeley/​campus area and looking for a high quality and healthy meal!

A little bit overrated I guess… But maybe it’s our so high expectation that makes the reality a little bit down.
I ordered espresso with country breakfast plus sausage. My friends ordered summer scramble which looks better than mine.
They are decent but not exceptional. Someone gave its five star may have better suggestions on the order?

4 stars!
Cute little place on Shattuck with neat decorations and yummy food.
Came here for brunch with a friend of a mine and we got seated pretty quick. Ambience really nice, waiter was really nice. This was a good start.
This waitress, really pretty, super energetic asked us for our drink orders, I ordered the Blackberry Lemonade and my friend got the Sencha Green Tea. After a couple minutes later, we ordered our breakfast, I got the Venus Benedict and my friend got the Chicken Sausage Scramble.
Moments later, our drinks came out and then 5 – 10 minutes later, our food came out. Excellent service. Food was really good and the food was plated nicely.
I recommend this place for any one who likes brunch, and anyone who likes to drink, they have Venus Mimosas! Lol this place isn’t super convenient for parking unless you’re lucky but it’s close to Bart and walking distance.

I came here for one thing and one thing only: lemon ricotta pancakes. I’m such a sucker for these things.
There is always a wait… but for some reason, I feel like they’re getting people in and out quickly so the wait isn’t too long. The place is cozy and can be noisy.
The lemon ricotta pancakes were delicious. The compote that it’s served with paired perfectly. I got it with some sausage and eggs. The sausage was also tasty and cooked quite well.
Service was hustle and bustle. I don’t blame them though considering their line outside.
Street parking. Prices were comparable to other places in the area. 4 stars. Get the pancakes.

I came here two days ago for brunch. We arrived at around 11:30am and didn’t get seated until 20 – 30 minutes later. I ordered the Venus benedict which consisted of your choice of either bacon or ham, sliced tomatoes, spinach and a light hollandaise sauce topped on the english muffins. It also came with their house potatoes topped with sour cream. The potatoes were crispy and cooked perfectly. The sour cream was an interesting topping but I would prefer without it. As for the benedict, I thought it tasted average. It was good, but it was nothing memorable.
I also got to try a few bites of their chicken sausage scramble with their morning glory muffin. The muffin had carrots, raisins, and apple bits inside. The outside was crunchy while the inside was moist. It was good! Choose the muffin instead of the other options you get to choose from — corn tortilla, biscuit, toast. The scramble was tasty! There was a good amount of chicken sausage.
The service was good!

Lovely birthday dinner here! I had a special of the day which was grilled eggplant with mozzarella and Parmesan and a light red sauce. The portion was the perfect size! G got calamari that needed more flavor and R got the Moroccan Tagine which he deemed «good». M had fish and chips and said the tartar was the best part. The waitress was lovely and the food was a nice treat.