June, 2009

Rating : 9 out of 10

Tariff : Dinner for 5

• 1 appetizer
• 5 entrees
• 2 glasses wine
• 2 beers
• 1 cocktail
• 1 dessert
• tip
• $120

Atmosphere

Toast is a bustling place: big and open like an aircraft hangar, clean and modern, with a square bar right in the center, and funky tan walls cut with holes to resemble the air bubbles in...toast! It has been crowded every time I've been there, so judging by that it's already quite a hit. There are some tables for 2 or 4 and some long tables with shared seating, plus the bar and another long counter.  It's fun and loud, not intimate--all ages can dine here, or just stop in for a drink and an appetizer. The nice weather allows for some outdoor dining on the shopping center's pleasant plaza next to two pretty fountains.

Service

Most of the help is young and some are new, but there is a hostess and everyone is pleasant and the service is fairly quick. The bartender was particularly congenial the evening we stopped by for drinks.

Food

Toast serves "Chef Mike's American Comfort Food,"  and it seems to have something for everyone plus separate menus for each meal of the day. On one visit some friends and I sampled a quesadilla special, a Toast Burger, the North Beach Pizza, Toast Chopped Salad, Italian sausage with penne pasta, the Hail Caesar salad with chicken, and then split a Chocolate Molten Cake for dessert. No complaints. Another time I had the chicken pot pie, which was a pretty round pie with nicely browned crust, chicken and veggie filling, and a gravy seasoned with thyme:  Comfort food for a chilly northern California evening. My companion chose the Cobb salad. It was large and chock full of all the expected ingredients: chicken, avocado, bacon, blue cheese, tomato, hard boiled egg.  It really is a meal itself and one feels it's a healthy choice even though it is rich.

 I had a brunch here and wasn't too impressed: the egg sandwich was nothing special, nor was the French Toast :-( and the chicken chiliqueles seemed messy.

At the bar one evening we enjoyed a glass of Merlot, a mixed drink and an order of calamari. The app was pretty standard.  To impress me, calamari needs to be lighter and more tender.

Toast
5800 Nave Drive, Unit G
Novato, CA  94947
415-382-1144