College Cafe

Hands down the best breakfast in the Four Corners region. And yeah, we've tried 'em all. With fresh ingredients cooked by a crew that knows what they're doing and a friendly, helpful staff, College Cafe is ALWAYS a good choice. If you're hungry, check out the Bomb Burrito; the chorizo is to die for, and if you like Eggs Benedict, you won't find a better hollandaise within an 8-hour drive. And locally roasted coffee for the win! The new Downtown Durango digs are bright, cozy, and clean. Get on the waitlist when it's busy, it's worth it😎

We enjoyed breakfast here one morning of our stay and really liked the place. It's small and the staff is busy and friendly. I had the Puebloan Benedict and she had the classic breakfast. Both were excellent and came with a good portion of home fries. Great place to enjoy a breakfast made to order.

Food is great as always. Love the new space!

Stopped in for breakfast and was pleasantly surprised with the different menu options. I chose the coconut curry scramble and it was delicious! You can choose the variations as omelet or scramble. The plate comes with several accompaniments but I chose to only have toast. The house coffee is so good and is the local roaster Desert Sun. All of the staff is very nice! I highly suggest giving them a try.

Great place to eat, we’ve been having breakfast here for years. The food is consistently good, and the staff is always very friendly. They’ve recently moved to a new location that is even better but the new place still has the same familiar feeling and great food.

Talk about fluffy omelettes! Cooked to perfection and very tasty! Great place to stop for a bite to eat!

One of our local go to breakfast spots. Always a good meal, always happy servers. Small, and if you have to wait a bit, it’s worth it!

Small place but probably the most affordable place for breakfast. The potatoes were boiled, I think, but not bad. If you guys crisped them up a little before serving them, they'd rate a little higher but breakfast was pretty good any way. I'm glad I ate here and probably will again the next time I'm in town. Picture of South Denver Omelette.

All the employees were super nice and the French toast were excellent and be over easy eggs were perfect which I am having trouble finding these days when I order. The atmosphere was very laid back and comfortable and the people working there clearly enjoy their jobs.

Different experience... never left the College Cafe hungry before. I miss the old place.

Homey and quaint breakfast place in older Durango area. Not too large and gets busy. Ate hear with bro while visiting family. Very nice staff and friendly. Was greeted and seated promptly. Our drink order was taken immediately. We both had coffee and there is actually a container of creamer on table, not those small liquid packages you need to fiddle with. My bro had an omelette and I had eggs benedict with green chili. We both cleaned our plates, and the coffee was good. Don't pass this place without giving it a try.

Food was ok, but service was not. He was in a bad mood, give my family attitude , not friendly.

Great process of signing in for a table via QR code. A small and busy spot! We were staying across the street so we were able to walk our dog and return soon after as our table was ready. Food was great! Had the pancakes and they were fluffy and filling! Compliments to the staff for running an efficient operation!

This is a hidden gem located off the heart of Durango and may have the best breakfast sausage I have ever had! From the welcoming and friendly service, to the quant and small location that makes you feel like you are home everything works and fits. Then to top it off the food is outstanding, it is so good we had it to days in a row. The first day I had the pancake breakfast and the pancakes tasted just like my grandma made and my wife had the French toast breakfast that was truly amazing. The second day I had the biscuits and gravy and my wife as the pancake breakfast. The biscuits and gravy were delicious and fresh, the sausage was spicy and flavorful and the home fries and really good. If you are ever in Durango this is a must if you are looking for a great homemade breakfast!!

Service: 5 (The waitress had solid recommendations and knew the town and surrounding area, re hiking etc., well) Ambience: 4 (cozy, comfortable cabin-like feel) Breakfast ham: 4 (very fresh) Pancakes: 4 Pure maple syrup: 4 Fresh made jam: 5 (probably the best part of the breakfast) Biscuits: 4 I am a tough grader. A 5 means the subject in question is among the best of its kind, but I don't cross-compare. That means a '5' for a diner is among the best diners but is not compared to something like a Michelin Star restaurant. A 4 means it is in the top 20% of similar items that I've enjoyed in my life. A 3 means it was good without any significant detractions. A 2 and it just wasn't worth it. A 1 means it's worth suing over! ;)

The place is great! The service is great and the ambiance is fun. The food was great! I had the Coconut Curry scramble. One of the best breakfast I've had. Homemade muffins and jam, worth it too!

The cooks could use oversight. Muffins weren't toasted. Half a bag of salt was dumped into the potatoes, and hash browns would have been so much better than what they're serving up. These were just cut up and fried potatoes served before being browned, thus, undercooked, soggy, and woefully salty. Cheese in the omelette wasn't melted and barely present, had no taste. Orange juice was just ordinary. There's better, even in Durango.

Everything was fatally overcooked. Service was pretty good. No particular ambiance. This was not a repeat.

We found this place after looking at Yelp reviews. It seems to be the perfect neighborhood, hole in the wall kind of place. Our waitress was fantastic and knew everyone that walked in! The portions were large, and the food was really filling. We ordered an omelette and a traditional one egg breakfast. The best part were the homemade biscuits that the waitress said was Nana's best recipe. We also thoroughly enjoyed the home fries because they were crispy and perfect. The coffee was hot and it kept coming! Would highly Recommend College Drive Café!

Delicious breakfast spot, and I was delighted to find they have gluten free pancakes. I had them add blueberries and they were amazing.

After reading good reviews we stopped here to eat. We will definitely be back! A-1 service, good food, my favorite part was a menu with no high fructose corn syrup and other additives. Also they use locally grown foods. Thanks for going the extra step. I think our country needs this more than most people realize.

This place got great reviews, however, it was not for us. Very, VERY small and tight. Was told it would be about 10 minute wait, we waited almost 30 minutes. Service was slow and we had to ask for refills on water...twice. I ordered the Nearly Larry's scramble and it was okay. The "signature" home fries were basically just a sliced baked potato with skin on and only one of my slices touched a fryer. The "toasted" English muffin was never even near a toaster. My husband ordered the bacon Benedict. He said the best part was the hollandaise sauce, which is the only reason we give it even 2 stars. Some might call it quaint or cozy, but we just call it old and uncomfortable. I'm sure we probably hit them on a bad day. But we won't be back.

We stopped here while traveling between Mesa Verde and Great, Sand Dunes National, Park, and Preserve. I had the eggs Benedict pie loan and my wife had blueberry pancakes. The food and service was fantastic.

Went for breakfast and the food was delicious! Can't go wrong with what you order. Lots of locals eating here. Wonderful service and a cute little place.

Such an outrageous value. Filling high quality breakfast burritos and omelet plates ($11). Giant French toast for $7. Friendly service. One of better breakfast spots I've been to while traveling. If you get the burrito don't shy from the curry sauce!

Quaint little breakfast place. We got there right after they opened on Sunday morning of Mother's Day. Everyone was friendly, food was good, pricing on par with the area, not overpriced but I wouldn't consider it cheap. Food came out quickly and they constantly checked on us and made sure we had what we needed. Would recommend eating here if you're looking for a good breakfast place.

Love the breakfast here! Prices are more reasonable than the place up the road, the eggs for the omelet were very fluffy, the service on point, and the food perfect. We will definitely be back!

While the room is small - super quaint; feels like you're in someone's house so be prepared to wait if you don't call in advance (but the wait was worth it!). Blueberry pancakes were fabulous, breakfast burrito can feed 2 and is The Bomb. Our server was just fabulous - she made our day. Stay away from the corporate owned restaurants and support these wonderful folks that know home cooking!!

Very good food, very kind staff, very cramped restaurant. Small menu, too. And if you're picky, don't count on being able to customize certain things.

This food is mediocre at best. Low vibe ingredients and sub par options. Poorly executed. If durango had anywhere else to eat breakfast, I'd say don't bother. But if you are hungry and you want an underwhelming breakfast this will do

We stopped in here after a bike ride and got our food to go. Everyone was so friendly and the food was good. The breakfast burrito was my fav, best French toast too along with their yummy homemade jam.

College Drive Cafe is a solid breakfast spot, and it's no wonder it's rated so high! It's a tiny restaurant that seemed to be packed the entire time we were there, so be prepared to wait to get a table, but their great service and extensive menu makes it worth it! All of my family could find something they liked, and I was happy with the multiple gluten free options. I got a gluten free blueberry pancake with breakfast potatoes and a fried egg on the side! The pancake was huge and super fluffy, and the potatoes and egg was cooked perfectly. Their regular hot coffee was also good and obviously brewed fresh. It was a great way to start our day in Durango!

First morning in Durango.i was experiencing some heavy altitude sickness. We needed to eat and stopped here. Staff was super nice. The place is tiny and a little cramped and there's also a check in online that we didn't know about but we got sat quickly. We got our drinks and ordered but as we were waiting I started not to feel so great. So I stepped outside. A staff person taking out trash saw me asked me if I was ok n and needed any water. Which was very kind. We ended up taking the food to go. The pancakes were huge and the bacon benedict was delicious. There potatoes were amazing. Perfectly seasoned and thinly sliced. Food and service overall were amazing.

There was no table available when my friend and I got there, so we were put on their waitlist, but I think we only waited about 10 minutes, so it wasn't bad. The staff is welcoming and friendly. They kept checking on us. I got the biscuit and gravy, and it also came with scrambled eggs. The biscuit wasn't dry, and the sausage gravy tasted as it was made in-house. The gravy was rich and very flavorful. Overall, I was pleased with my breakfast.

Really quaint restaurant with a small town cafe feel. Expect a decent wait if you go during brunch hours on the weekend. They have self serve coffee while you wait which is nice. The service was friendly and attentive. Some of the food fell flat. The chicken and chorizo smothered burritos looked good. There was little chicken and almost a whole can of whole beans in each burrito. The flavor was muted and lacked seasoning. Even my son was put off on the amount of beans. My wife had scrambled eggs, bacon, and the standard skillet potatoes. The eggs were over cooked and dry. In general the skillet potatoes tasted like a baked potato that was rough sliced and thrown on a griddle. They could have used more browning. On a positive note my daughter liked the Turkey Fried Steak, and my wife said the gluten free pancake was the best she has had. After all the good reviews I was underwhelmed with my experience. The place has a great vibe and friendly service. I'm just not itching to try it again next time I'm in Durango.

This place was awesome. They were busy on a Saturday morning, but I called ahead and a very friendly guy told me I could put my name on the waitlist via their Google listing. Got a party of seven seated right as we showed up and the service was prompt and friendly. Only quibble is that they initially forgot to mention that they were only doing menus on phones, but we pulled it up no problem. The server gave lots of good recommendations. We ordered a variety and everyone's food was great. The Southwest Benedict and the tamales with red and green salsa were particularly awesome.

Had a fabulous breakfast! Florentine omelette with biscuit and gravy....so worth the wait!

Good food and service was also great! We will be back during our stay in Durango! Sat outside with our pooch who enjoyed the stop on his morning walk.

Very friendly inviting staff and a warm inviting, clearly local place. I so wanted the food to match the initial impression. We asked our waitress to recommend breakfast dishes. We took two of her recommendations. The California Benedict and the burrito. The California eggs Benedict was okay. The burrito was okay. The home made potatoes looked great but were limp and had no flavor. The turkey fried chicken looked interesting., but was so disappointing. It was clearly a yellow battered limp tasteless piece of meat, that was not fried. It was bad. I took the recommendation of hollandaise as the sauce. Don't do it. Yellow looking glue is not good. The homemade spicy hot sauce is totally worth it. Coffee was great!

I've lived in Durango since 2000 and I've been wanting to try this place for years but I could never tear myself away from CJ's to try. So when CJ's closed, I began using Durango Grill, Oscars and the new, Ruperts. My favorite server (Jeanie) wasn't at Ruperts today and it was the perfect day to try the College Drive Cafe. The first thing we noticed when we walked in was the odor because it was either a VERY stale Mop head and/or odiferous rags used to wipe the tables but regardless, it was dirty, nasty and stale order that was an instant turn off. I ordered my usual, biscuits and gravy with VERY LIGHTLY scrambled eggs emphasizing that "runny"' was better than rubbery but I didn't learn that hash browns (home fries) weren't included in my entree and so I had to add them, far exceeding the price of Ruperts and Oscars. Again I ordered my eggs, emphasizing that I had to have them very lightly scrambled and that runny was preferred to rubbery and absolutely NO BROWN. Neither my bothers omelet or my eggs came with any brown on them, they were still over cooked and cut like rubber. My brother was happy with his omelet but he insisted that the bacon didn't even come float to the Hickory Smoked Bacon at Ruperts. We both noticed that his one biscuit with an added (up charge) serving of sausage gravy had more gravy than my two biscuits ordered as my entree to the point that I had to ask for more gravy. So I had to order more gravy I was Brough a tablespoon and still had less then my brother, add hash browns AND send my scrambled eggs back so they could manufacture car tyres from them, although my new eggs came out somewhat acceptable (I never send back back food), they were still very done. My brother asked for a take-away box for all of his left overs and we were brought a flimsy (the lowest quality available for sale) paper plate and a 1' square piece of aluminum foil, our server seemed really put off when brother show her his overflowing dinner plate of breakfast food asking if she thought it would fit on the flimsy plate. She asked if he needed another paper plate where I interjected -- asking if she might offer a take-away box so the plate wouldn't collapse on our way out. She brought a box and I used the chinsiey paper plate to bring home my side of of hash browns and my slightly overcooked eggs. Although our server brought me a tablespoon more of the sausage gravy, it was only enough to coat a fraction of my second biscuit where my brothers singular biscuit was still overflowing with gravy which is worth mentioning that the sausage here at the College Drive Cafe is, without question, the best sausage gravy I've experienced in Durango minus the two breakfast places I haven't tried (Hermosa and "The Joint.."). We've been going to Ruperts because I had gone to CJ's for 20 years and whom we miss something awful as we do the crowd but sadlyy, Jerry was fed up with the politics tied with running a Diner, Drive in or Drive. The ambience of the College Drive Cafe is really nice (minus the dirty smell of a filthy mop) and our server was great but what was especially impressive was the following that this place has because the crowd was as regular as Jerry had at CJ's - but my brother and I will NOT be returning to the College Drive Cafe which I understand was better with the previous owner a few years back. CONCLUSINON: If you can get past the filthy mop smell when you arrive and you don't mind that it might be as cool as 50 degrees (cold enough that not only do all of the customers wear their coats but the help dos too). Honestly, I had super high hopes for this place and admittedly, the sausage gravy was the best I had since Bob Evans (Elias Brothers) out east with a generous amount of sausage in in but it didn't matter since they didn't give me enough in my outrageously priced entree. Quite frankly, I talked to the owner of Ruperts as to how he might slightly improve his sausage gravy and although the alteration was nominal, he did choose to not try it out and NO, OF COURSE my way isn't the best way but I merely suggested that he might try the recipe from Bob Evans and maybe even do a taste test from his loyal costumers that order sausage to see which they prefer. Whether Ruperts used my idea or not, I wish they'd put more sausage in like the College Drive Cafe does. And where College Drive Cafe uses Sunny Farms sausage, it's riddled with way too much sage to the point that the sage takes over the dish or any dish it touches just reminding me to not purchase Sunnyside Farms Sausage. You can email me using Yelp or respond to my posted email address though Yelp. When I began this review I started with three stars but then I reduced it to two and after reading other reviews, it was a no-brainer to reduce it to only one star and ONLY because the gravy was great in spit of the skimp helping and PLEASE do not tell me that I shouldn't be eating a gravy that's all fat because it is my breakfast weakest

Curry on a breakfast burrito is the greatest idea in the history of ideas and burritos. Thank you for this amazing experience! Tears, shed.

Get curry on your burrito you won't regret it. Been traveling around colorado for the past month and this was the best diner experience. Super accommodating about vegan options too!

Absolutely the worst experience from terrible service to filthy tables and floors. Manager is a smart ass too. Do yourself a favor and skip this place.

Nowhere is worth a 2hr wait and a message if don't waste your time waiting from staff. The online QR sign in was nice. Got the call when it was time for lunch. No thanks on my end.

We stumbled across this little breakfast place and made it a point to go back every afternoon for breakfast. Yep they serve breakfast until 2 Gluten Free blueberry pancakes. Yummy. Service is great. Family run little place with old booths and hot coffee. Nothing fancy just good eats!

This was a great (and more affordable) option!! It is just the stereotypical mom and pop diner... but they have some fun things on the menu that made me feel like I could order something yummy I would never make for myself at home. For example, you can get a burrito smothered in hollandaise sauce!! They have an online waiting line so you can "get in line" on your drive over. Their online menu also has prices on it!! I love when places are upfront about pricing. The food came out super fast and everything was tasty tasty

Very good breakfast. Blueberry pancakes are sooo good. Red and green omelette was delicious. Friendly service. Go there!!!! But not when I'm trying to get in

A favorite place in town! Almost hate to recommend because it can get busy. Chef makes my skillet my way. So nice! Good quality food.

Not a very big place, but food was delicious and staff were very friendly. We really enjoyed the homemade blueberry jam for the biscuits, which were quite good. Will hope to eat here again next time we are in Durango

Pancakes. Great! French toast. Mouth watering. Eggs. Just right. The seating inside is small just be prepared for that.

This place was amazing. The food was delicious and the staff was hilarious!! The biscuits are made from scratch.

This is the hidden gem of Durango, hands down!! Not only was the staff incredibly friendly, attentive, and helpful, but the food was absolutely amazing!! I always love a good hole-in-the-wall diner, and College Drive Cafe did not disappoint!! It definitely has that adorable mom and pop shop vibe that I love!! We were instantly seated as soon as we got there, and even though they had indoor seating available, we chose to sit at the cute outside bar table. First off, the coffee was amazing-highly recommend!! Then for my meal, I got two biscuits and sausage gravy w/ a scrambled egg and side of ham. And wow, just WOW!! Everything was SO good!! I tried my mom's pancake she ordered, and it was huge and very ihop-y(my highest praise for a pancake haha!!) Also I highly recommend their toast simply so you can use mounds and mounds of their amazing jelly!! Next tome I'm in Durango, I definitely plan to come back to visit!! Well done, College Drive Cafe!!

This is where the cool kids in Durango go for breakfast. We, as outsiders, learned this quickly. Thanks for letting us feel hip too. Facts: -The food is delicious and they source a lot of local ingredients. -The service is fast, attentive, and well-versed in the menu offerings. -If you get a benedict, swap the muffin for the house-made biscuits. Don't ask questions, just do it. -There is a "wait list" that consists of writing your name on a pad of paper hanging on the wall. -There's free coffee while you wait in the coffee nook (just past the kitchen). Drink up me hearty!

We were told by a local this was the best place to eat breakfast. I will say they had a very varied menu, however we felt the food was not the best the day we were there. We had unmelted cheese on one of the groups meal and others were just underwhelmed.

Awesome place you can tell it's a local favorite. If you go during the standard brunch or breakfast times be prepared to wait. I got the Denver Omelet with a side of Hollandaise and their home made biscuit with honey. All of which were very good. Also thank you thank you thank you having almond milk for my coffee! My only note was that I did come here to work for a bit and this is not the kind of breakfast joint where you can hunker down and bring your laptop I for sure felt the looks from the staff to GTFO as soon as possible - hence the 4 stars.

I'll start with a tip: Call Ahead. Our wait time, when given to us by the host staff, was underestimated - 55 minutes instead of the 35-45 estimated. The best way to get around that is to call ahead before going and not counting on the tables to be turned too quickly. Otherwise: Our order: Anasazi Benedict with coffee, biscuits & gravy with water. The result: the Anasazi Benedict was hearty and is a clever recipe. Combining their well-seasoned hollandaise and the rich egg yolk with the bitterly spicy & smoky green chile produces a delicious bite. The home fries were tender and balanced between salt and pepper seasoning, but not at all crispy. The biscuits & gravy was no less tasty. I wouldn't be surprised if the substantial biscuit was made from scratch, and the sausage gravy was nicely heavy with the taste of sage. Coffee refill service, always a big part of my litmus test for a breakfast restaurant, was attentive. Overall: the organization of the front of house was not great on the day we went, but if you plan ahead, given COVID, there's no reason you still can't have a nice experience here. I'll be back.

I was really excited to try this place because I read reviews that stated that their eggs Benedict was fantastic. I LOVE eggs benny and order it anytime it's available. This time I wasn't disappointed but I wasn't wowed either. The eggs Benedict isn't the best I've ever had but it was decent. I still enjoyed my meal and the side of bacon was really good and flavorful! It was decent food for a great price. For a family of 3 our total was around $31. Overall, pleasant experience at a great price.