Ralph's Cafe

I have never waited in a longer line for mediocre food ever. They won’t take reservations, and despite being on the list from the start we still waited an hour because they wouldn’t clear the tables that had left. Get more staff. Tons of people are looking for jobs please just hire them. The food was just standard diner food. I was told the food was amazing which is why we stuck it out, obviously that was wrong.

Not knowing the area well, Ralph’s Café seems to be in oasis of extraordinary food in a very rural area. The restaurant has tons of memorabilia from earlier generations and a very mellow vibe. There’s a lot of real personality in the café decor. With homemade breads and I believe homemade desserts plan on going there hungry.

Exceptional food in a small, rural town. It is small and popular, so we expected a wait. The only hiccup was that there’s a “Please wait to be seated sign” at the entry, but you actually needed to go to the counter to get your name taken. We’ll know better next time. Regardless, the food more than made up for the extra 15 minutes waiting.

Ralph's reminds me of some old fashioned diners that I have missed and which I have not seen too many of in Midcoast Maine. Food was quite good as was the friendly service. Will I return? Can't wait!

shakshuka omelet was delicious my husband loved it. My French toast unfortunately had no flavor. Great service.

What an amazing little quirky get of a place! Fantastic breakfast, very unexpected and delicious menu options, cozy atmosphere. We loved everything about it! Definitely come hungry, and with time to spare - it is very busy (justifiably so). We will definitely be back, for the shakshuka, and banana French toast, and MOUTHWATERING home fries. Amazing!

It was exactly the typical small-Maine-town type cafe/restaurant that I was looking for while staying in the area last weekend. Various knick-knacks, collectibles, antiques, and photos adorn the walls of this rather small place. I wanted to try the banana bread french toast based on others reviews, but opted to try the sausage biscuits & gravy instead, while my date had the huevos rancheros. Both were amazing. My plate was a little on the heavy side for grease, but that was mostly expected. Her dish was perfect through and through. We also both had some pumpkin spice lattes, as they were in-season. The employee who brought hers out was quite enthusiastic about them and no issues making another for me 😄 They also have a nice little bakers case with goodies to take home. Won't forget about this place and would always return! 🤤

Great little gem we found on a Saturday drive. Worth the wait! Had the banana bread French toast with blueberries and the others in our party had biscuits and gravy. Hands down best biscuits and gravy they’ve ever had. Service was great.

What a wonderful place. Small, comfortable, homey. Really friendly staff. Delicious food. Be sure to get there right when they open, it fills up fast.

Food 10. Atmosphere 6. Service 9. That being said, what great food. The bowl was flavorful and well seasoned. A stunning success. Atmosphere was lacking, but it was afternoon and we ate pretty much alone. Service was attentive. What more could you want?

kitsch and old advertisements all over the walls. .very entertaining. Small place but big on reward. W split a LumberJack. 2 bacon, 2 sausage, two scram, seasoned HF, 2 blueberry pancakes . they were 3/4" high, about 7 trimmed inch circles, PLENTY of Maine BB. we opted for real maple @$3 per small serving cup. The kitchen even split it for us... it was perfect for us just so very satisfying. Going to be a regular place when we go out.

It's been so long since I've gone out for a meal and thought: "Wow, that meal was incredible." I saw an article a year ago that said this place was worth the drive from anywhere in the state. It's totally true! Even the ketchup was delicious. I am now going to hate the fact that I only make it up here once a year because it was so good (we live in Connecticut but are from Maine). It's worth the wait in line. My mom and hubby had the sausage and gravy. It was spectacular. Buttery, creamy, savory, flavorful. I had the half jack everything was spot on. The home fries were cooked and seasoned perfectly. The onion sage bread was to die for along with the strawberry jam. Literally thanksgiving in the form of toast. My daughter got the corned beef hash and it was amazing (yes I tried everyone's food haha) and filled with flavor. The service was top notch and so friendly. They gave us coffee while we wait. They gave us some cranberrry bread to sample as well. Yum! They were all so friendly. The restaurant itself was adorable. Don't mind the barefoot jest eating in the photo. He knows a good spot when he sees one.

Best little restaurant in Waldo county. If you want fried chicken fingers and frozen French fries this is not the place, Food is excellent. Pastry out of this world.

This place is awesome!!! Food is amazing - pancakes are the best we've ever had (the thickest too!). Fresh Maine blue berries inside and homemade lemon curd - can't go wrong! Wait staff is incredibly friendly, owner is very sweet and definitely cares about his guests! Would come back in a heart beat

This is the quaintest little cafe in beautiful Brooks! Hubby and I got some dessert to-go for our anniversary. They did NOT disappoint! Their cheesecake is one of the best we've had, and their loaded nut pie was out of this world! We will be making this a yearly stop when in town, and are looking forward to going back to have breakfast and lunch. Amazing! The town of Brooks is lucky to have this gem.

Thanks to our local Brooks guide, Sarah (my sister-in-law), we were able to experience a most wonderful breakfast at this friendly little spot. Brooks is a smaller town, and this is THE restaurant there. Luckily for folks who live here, as they shine bright with the pressure on. We drank a ton of standard diner coffee and took in the fun, eclectic atmosphere all around us. Sarah brought her own (real) maple syrup which was a vet move, because apparently they don't use the real stuff here. That's literally the only knock I have on this place! The stuffed blueberry pancake was so good that we should've ordered more of them. I thought it would be some over-the-top, IHOP promotion style artificial filler.. Nope, this was a big, fluffy pancake loaded with real, unsweetened blueberries. It was magical. The other star of the show were the potatoes. The pic I took makes them look like sweet potatoes, but these were just charred, flavored and crusted in a cast-iron skillet. Simply amazing, and the best breakfast potatoes I've had in years. It sounds like they *normally* do dinner, but a sign on the door said they are not doing it at this time. I don't have the intel to tell you if that'll change or not, but for now just plan on a breakfast here. This joint is about a 20 minute drive from Belfast, which also has good breakfast options, but I'd recommend taking the little adventure through the beautiful, hilly roads of rural Maine and trying it out.

Stayed at a nearby town in early October 2021 and had breakfast at Ralph's. It has one of the best buttermilk pancakes we had, comparable to Waterwheel Breakfast and Gift House in Randolph, NH (fluffy, thinner than many, but with flavors of eggs and milk) and JJ's Cafe in Brockton, MA (a little sturdier, smaller, but filled with flavors of eggs, milk, and a tiny bit of mysterious spices)! In addition to excellent pancakes, friendly staffs, cozy environment, respectful customers, the overall package is just excellent. So glad that we have found another place with excellent pancakes in New England!

Some of the BEST FOOD in Waldo County! Ive been eating at Ralphs every fall for the last 11 years. We spend time on our property here Sept-October ( Alaska for the other ten months) Currently my favorite lunch ( served 11-2) item is the Green goddess! Two cheeses melted with sauted Kale . Theres an amazing pesto and green goddess sauce, cucumbers and topped with red pickled onions ( some day ill remember to get extras) . As for my side I ALWAYS go for the potato salad... if you like dill, you will be in heaven! It is divine! Everything is made from scratch! My husband prefers breakfast ( 8-11) and always orders the HALF JACK. The menu is extensive and items are so very reasonably priced, so much so, you can easily over-tip and still have $ for the weekend.

Half Jackpot excellent We drove 30 miles and enjoyed every bit of the meal. I suggest going

Just had one of the best breakfasts of my life. Ralph's is a great choice for food when in the Brooks, ME area. The food is amazing and portions are very generous. I had the Potatocake breakfast with bacon, scrambled eggs, homemade white toast and a side of sausage gravy. My previous favorite sausage gravy was at the Moab Diner over 20 years ago, Ralph's is hands down the best sausage gravy I have ever had. The gravy is rich and creamy and filled with a nice amount of locally sourced sausage. The Monkey Cakes are quite possibly the best pancakes on the Planet! Each pancake, you get two, is 8 inches wide and a full 1 inch thick, the cakes are filled with bananas and fresh Maine blueberry's and we all know that Maine has the best blueberry's in the world. The staff is very polite and efficient, Ralph's is a must stop for breakfast and lunch and on Friday's and Saturday's they do dinner, I know where I am dinning on Friday night. The dinner menu changes weekly and this week it has Moroccan dishes, yum.

Never disappointed, many enticing items to choose from. Great place to meet new friends.

My family and I went here three times in one weekend on a trip to the Belfast area. Absolutely delicious food, very kind staff, creative menu, beautiful garden setting at the outdoor tables. We had salads, sandwiches, pastries and breakfast and it was all homemade, fresh and fantastic. We've already recommended Ralph's to all of our friends and can't wait to come back next time we're in the neighborhood!

Perfect in every way. Always a great breakfast and lunch, just hard to choose which item to order!

This place never disappoints! Unique menu and made from scratch ingredients. You probably couldn't go wrong with anything on the menu. Worth the drive!

One of the best if not the best place for breakfast we've ever been. Every single thing we had was 10/10 and the staff is very helpful and friendly. Will def be back whenever we are in the area

My husband and I were traveling through Maine and happened upon Ralph's Cafe. I had the falafel wrap and it was fabulous! My husband had the California BLT and really like his as well. My Chai Tea Latte was delicious as well. They had some amazing baked goods that looked delicious. Great stop for us!

This spot is the cutest hidden gem!! We absolutely loved coming here. The service is out of this world and the food is amazing!! If you find yourself near here please go.. we drove 50 minutes to come and it was more than worth it!

Wow, we are amazed at how delicious our breakfast was. I had jeavous Rancheros, and my wife had homemade waffles. Wouldn't have expected such a diverse menu in a small diner in Brooks Maine. We cannot wait to return. Well worth the 30 minute drive from Carmel

Other people have called this better than diner food, they are correct! To start the menu is way more elaborate than your regular diner menu. I got the sweet potato quinoa burger with homemade potato chips. It was so good. I wanted the recipe but knew I would never be able to replicate this divine burger. My niece got the bacon burger and she she really liked it. The decor was so cool to explore. Numerous movie poster from way back along with rotary phone and antique tins covered the wall. It was great to try to explain a rotary phone to my niece. The man behind the counter, my guess the owner was very nice and prompt in taking our order. He had just had a rush so he need to bus the table, but did so promptly. I've already told a bunch of family to check this place out. Cute little town and beautiful drive from which ever direction you come from.

We love this quaint fsmily owned cafe. Delicious breakfast, lunch and weekend dinner options. Mike and the crew are nice and efficient. I jyst hste they close part of the winter. Oh and get there early or you will wait.

This place is SO GOOD. I love coming here for breakfast. BUT holy cow, can we talk about those DONUTS????? They're incredible, honestly the best donuts I have ever had! I love this place!

Positively the best pancakes that I've ever tasted! Paired with the first come first served "kitschy" atmosphere, definitely a family fave for us for many years now! This lovely gem of a cafe is certain to be worth the drive, never been let down. Great food prepared very well!

We have yet to have a bad visit! We typically will go in on Sunday morning,and yes, there is usually a wait, but so worth it! Food is delicious and tastes so fresh. Meals have always been hot and never take very long even on busy days. They keep my coffee hot and my family happy!

Good food, we went for a late breakfast, I got eggs and husband got a burger. Nice atmosphere and interesting wall decorations. Owners were very nice and helped us out with info about the local area

Really great little cafe. The place is adorable and though it is small we were more than comfortable ad taken care of so well by the owner and staff. Everything seemed to be homemade from the baked goods to even the breads for toast and sandwiches. The menu was HUGE and has a great selection of breakfast items, sandwiches, wraps and main dishes. They even had vegan/vegetarian options which is so awesome! I had a sweet potato burger and fries with some kind of spice on them. Everything was so delicious!

The salad was fabulous. The soup actually made me feel a little bit sick to my stomach.

Always an excellent breakfast! Muffins and pancakes are delicious. Eggs Benedict top notch! It might surprise people to know how good lunch and dinner are too. Great hidden gem on the mid-coast that's often missed by visitors.

This is our favorite breakfast spot. Nice family atmosphere and definitely worth the drive. I recently moved here and so glad to have come across this cafe. My kids favorite place to get French toast and my favorite place to get an omelet! I would definitely recommend taking the whole family!

This is a great Cafe. Went there today for the first time. Ralph's has an extensive menu; everything sounded delicious. My California BLT (had avocado and spinach along with the traditional parts) was awesome; my friend had the roasted vegetable salad. She needed to have a couple of things left off and needed a substitution for another ingredient which was no problem. They are open for dinner a couple of nights, otherwise it is for breakfast and lunch. Prices and portions were very reasonable.

Decided to try Ralph's for breakfast and it was a huge mistake. Never knew you could ruin French toast, but they did. It was the most vile and disgusting tasting breakfast , I couldn't eat it. Needless to say, I don't recommend it or Ralph's Cafe.

This is the BEST KEPT secret around here!!!Fabulous imaginative food,.sweet wait persons,Fair prices,beautiful things to look at..Check this out,it might just be THE BEST restaurant in the area this year!!!

Ralph's is a treasure. Really good food, friendly small-town service, nice atmosphere. The food is better than standard diner fare; and save room for their home-made desserts! Worth a drive. Note that as a family-run place, they are closed from January to March, and on Mondays and Tuesdays year-round. Open for dinner Friday and Saturday, breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Sunday. Plan your week accordingly!

Great food, great service, worth driving out of your way to get to Ralph's! We ate 2 meals at Ralph's while visiting Brooks, Maine. Our family was blown away by the amazing food at this wonderful little cafe. The items of note that we recommend are: the pancakes (which are, by far, the best and most unique we've ever had...specifically the blueberry & lemon curd), the sweet potato cake with mixed vegetables, the polenta fries, the green pig sandwich (sliced pork with sweet onion relish and fresh spinach), the tumbleweed burger (with fried onions and Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce), and the sweet potato and quinoa burger. The dishes are creative and expertly prepared. We loved it! Wish we could give more than 5 stars!!!

The food was very good. We had the blueberry banana pancakes which were thick and fluffy with bacon, sausage, eggs and AWESOME home fries. My husband had French toast. Unfortunately, this was our first time there and there isn't really direction about whether to sit or wait in the (very small) entrance area. It's not a big place so it was a bit awkward waiting to be seated (especially with no real acknowledgement from the staff). It took a long time for someone to come take our order and a long time for our food to come out. It seemed like the staff was more active and around more as we were leaving so maybe there was a rush when we came in but there was a semi-lull in new patrons after we came in so that seems unlikely. Overall, from entering to paying it was about 90 minutes which is too long for us. I think this is a real bummer because I loved the diner feel, they had really cool travel photos on the walls in the restroom and the home fries might be my favorite I've ever had but we likely won't go back unless we have a lot of time to kill.

Delicious, fairly priced meals, large plates. Friendly, inviting atmosphere. Wait can be a little long when they get busy but you will see why!

This place is a gem. Everything homemade and delicious. Friendly people and wonderful decor. Fresh salads, delicious quiche, great selection of desserts. So glad we found this place. Like stepping back to a better time!!

Awesome place! We had been staying in the Mid Coast area for about a week when we stumbled onto Ralph's. Creative, inexpensive, delicious, varied food! Everything we had was homemade and excellent from the pickle and ice cream to the donuts and potato chips. Easily the best place to eat in the Mid Coast area, even better than some restaurants in big city Portland! As a lover of food, I highly recommended it. Be careful to call ahead to check the opening times, the only drawback is that they have limited hours, but it is definitely worth the wait and the trip.

great!!!! From apps to desert! Quick drive from Belfast....can not wait to go back for dinner. There is something for everyone and everything is cooked to perfection. Try the veggie fritters....you will order a second helping!