Duncan’s Cafe

Felt the need to add our 2 cents worth to the reviews…
Driving through on I-​80 and decided to try Duncan’s based on the reviews.
Pros: not far off the interstate; staff was very efficient & friendly; interesting, historical location; good sized portions; good prices.
Cons: busy; slow; food was average, including the French toast and skillet breakfast; not my favorite coffee at all.

My brother and I were visiting the city and we wanted to try something local, instead of the typical big chain places. Unilocal had some good reviews on this restaurant so, we decided to give it a try. I had the small skillet which was really good. Coffee was good too. The place was clean, not fancy. The personnel was very friendly. I would recommend his place.

This is my 3^rd time eating breakfast here and it’s stellar! That goes for the food AND service. Nestled in a historic part of downtown Council Bluffs, Duncan’s has a nice local feel to it but inviting enough if you’re not from CB (like me).
When you walk in, you seat yourself. There are many booths as well as large rectangular tables (seats 8) and smaller tables (seats 4). Various paintings (I believe from local artists) adorn the walls. A large wooden clock that says «Duncan’s Café» is on the wall just above the kitchen window.
It’s a bustling place and the wait staff is very attentive; making sure your coffee mug is never empty and your water glass is always full. In my opinion service, especially these days, goes a long way.
I ordered 2 eggs, bacon and toast; eggs basted and the toast dry. Old school grape or strawberry jelly served in small single serving sized containers on the plate. Also, I ordered the hash browns — half order as strongly recommended by the waitress. Good call — half an order is PLENTY! The hash browns were a bit crispy but still potatoey enough and were just right. Thanks Duncan’s Café; I will definitely be back!

Best Breakfast in CB. Great staff, great breakfast. Skillet is great, and pancakes are huge. Price is just right and you will leave full.

It’s not a five star restaurant, it’s a small Midwestern diner. Best service in Council Bluffs IMO.

Great home-​style cooking. Friendly staff and just a nice warm atmosphere will make you feel welcome. The portions of the food is ample and the prices are very reasonable. The whole building still has a historic feel to it from the days when it was a hotel. Old pictures and household items items of Council Bluffs are on display right at the entrance to Duncan’s.

Great home cooking for a very reasonable price. Cozy family friendly environment. Wait staff is friendly and fast. Family owned and ran.

This place is one of two local landmarks residents insist one simply must patronize, but after a half dozen disappointing visits since 2001 with NO NEGATIVE REVIEWS from me, it’s time to admit Duncan’s needs a rescue. The coffee is the worst sort of diner fair, but if you like weak, flavorless coffee with notes of bitter oils and filter, have at it. To their credit, they keep the cups full. I had ham, eggs and hashbrowns on my last visit. The ham portion was huge but processed. The hashbrowns were homemade homemade but mushy inside.
The restaurant is in an odd basement locale.
The staff is great. Very friendly. The prices aren’t bad and you will leave physically full, but spiritually this is not the comfort food you are looking for.

Stumbled upon this little café in downtown Council Bluffs! What a surprise! Cute, cozy family run old café! Wait staff was wonderful! Prices are very decent and food quantity is large! I had a skillet with meats, cheese and eggs, plenty of food with a good amount of flavor. I topped it off with nice HOMEMADE salsa! Love supporting local businesses, this one will not let you down!

The place is really nice and the service was excellent! We had the skillet and the hash browns are done right. The only complaint would be the coffee was kinda week. The place was busy but they kept our coffee cups filled. I am going back to try other items. We had toast that was toasted right.

I visited for the first time today… Sunday morning around 10:30 am. It’s a busy place, but the servers are very attentive and quick! The food was really good and we got a LOT of food. I ended up taking half of my“small skillet” with me. Hash browns were yummy. I expected them to be bad after reading some of these posts… but they were very good. It’s not much to look at inside, but it’s kitschy and the food is good!

I stopped while on vacation after reading positive Unilocal reviews. The restaurant was very average and so was the food. The best thing we ate was there homemade cherry turnovers. They were delicious! :) Friendly staff. I would go elesewere next time I’m rolling through.

You walk into a large building an enter into what reminds me is a cafeteria room of the 60’s. Waitress arrives with a tray that has napkins, forks, spoons. I ordered the 2egg & hashbrown, a breakfast staple. took 13 minutes for order to arrive. The egg was good it tasted like mine, but the full order of hashbrown was large and greasy, too greasy.
bland taste, coffee was watery and had no taste, no flavored creamer here, they brought milk. I have a high standard for hashbrowns, these didn’t make it the grade.
service was good, server, who brought food, was nice a well. Our waitress was the cashier too.

Great plate sized tenderloin sandwiches with cornmeal crust. Recommend the fried cauliflower with cheese sauce. Very old time café with charming ambience. No kitch, this is the real deal.

What a stroke of luck that we stumbled across this local hang out. If you are looking for glitzy and swank, this is not the place… but if you are looking for a good, hardy breakfast with a friendly staff, you are in the right place.
The servings are huge. Your arteries will be clogged from all the butter, but oh, how you will enjoy.
We will definitely visit again. The servers were welcoming and obviously love what they do.

The first thing I have to say is that when you order an omelet and they ask you if you want a full order of hash browns, what they’re really asking you is, «do you want an order of hash browns the size of your plate?» If not, get the half order.
The hash browns were wonderfully crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, but like the omelet, were a bit lacking in seasonings. The omelets were loaded with veggies and the lack of extra seasoning was nothing their homemade salsa couldn’t take care of.
My kids inhaled their pancakes and hot chocolate and everything is reasonably priced. We will certainly be back.

I ordered the Pork Tenderloin sandwich. It was very large and very tasty. It came with chips (not homemade chips, but bagged Lays), but I opted for fries. They were frozen out-​of-​a-​bag fries, but were good. I also ordered their cinnamon roll and it was decent-​sized and very tasty too.
From the outside it appears you’re about to enter some trendy urban gastropub or diner, but once inside it’s quite evident you’re in a diner.
Lunch clientele is definitely on the older side. Décor is dated and furnishings are cheap.
Overall, solid diner fare with friendly service

You have to try the hot loin with hash browns and brown gravy with onions and cheese! Its out of this world and the portions are insane and the service is like home.
You won’t regret a stop at Duncan’s

I have been meaning to try this place for a couple years and we finally made it here last weekend. I was hoping to be wowed but I don’t feel that was the case.
When we arrived the place was nearly full (a good sign). We grabbed one of the last remaining seats. Considering how busy they were we were waited on in a timely manner but this is definitely not somewhere you go if you are in any kind of a rush.
I ordered chicken fried steak with hashbrowns & eggs — my gf ordered biscuits and gravy. After a extremely long wait the food arrived. The chicken fried steak was very small but delicious, the hash browns were decent, the eggs were cooked perfect & the whole thing was doused (way too much) in sausage gravy. Her biscuits had so much gravy on them that you couldn’t even see the biscuits and the biscuits were doughy and flat.
The staff was friendly and the food was not terrible, it just did not live up to the hype or expectations from what I have heard from others. There are many other places to get breakfast and I doubt we will be back any time soon.

Right as I arrived, I smiled a bit because I noted a couple of things:
–Much like Clark R. forwarned, it was VERY much like an AARP meeting, even on the monday morning I stopped in
–There was only one waitress (who did a very good job)
As far as the food goes, my hashbrowns were simply AMAZING, and I am something of a connoisseur in regards to hashbrowns. Besides that, the rest of the food was good, and I didn’t feel to bad walking away only paying a bit over five bucks.
I’d recommend stopping in if you want a cheap, simple breakfast. This easily beats out Village Inn in price and taste, but unfortunately their menu is a bit smaller… so if your looking for «the usual», you may not find it here.