The East Bay’s best breakfast is served at this decade-old diner

Nosh readers cast their votes prior to Thanksgiving, and the results of the 2025 Nosh Awards are in. Visit Nosh every day from now until Dec. 12 to see a new award announced each day. Congratulations to all the winners!

Sequoia Diner is everything a neighborhood breakfast spot should be. Built on a foundation of fluffy biscuits, buttery pastries, free-flowing coffee and morning classics, it also whips up a rotating menu of seasonal specialities that keep the loyal locals and tipped-off visitors lining up outside its Laurel District door.

In justifying their decisions, the voters who pushed Sequoia Diner past stiff competition in the tightest Nosh Awards race of 2025, were prone to simply typing the name of a baked good followed by an exclamation point

“The biscuits!”
“The sticky bun!”

Others were able to tamp down their excitement enough to tack on a few more words, but they made sure to use lots of capitals. “Breakfast Biscuit Sando is UNREAL”

The pastries, including the “famous” biscuit, sticky buns, scones and chocolate chip cookies, often sell out. In addition to plates of eggs, meat and potatoes, Sequoia also has its own beloved breakfast inventions like the red flannel hash with beets, garnet yams and red potatoes with two poached eggs. And, while the menu is rooted in American breakfast culture, it also commonly features morning time classics from other cultures and countries like loco moco and chilaquiles.

A breakfast spread at Sequoia Diner including the waffle, biscuit, and pecan sticky bun. Credit: Sequoia Diner

“If you’ve had the pecan rolls then you know why! Has the warm community feel like a diner but innovative food like the red flannel hash and tasty drinks as well,” commented Nosh awards voter Carrie from Oakland.

3719 MacArthur Blvd. (at Loma Vista Avenue), Oakland; www.sequoiadiner.com

Hours: Monday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Andrew Vennari and his then-wife, Sequoia Del Hoyo, opened the restaurant in 2015 in a location that housed diners previously. (The couple divorced, and Del Hoyo left the restaurant and now runs Tarocco, a restaurant in West Berkeley.) The diner walks the tightrope of dishing out consistent comfort foods while still updating and improving the menu to stay fresh.

“Diner classics with top ingredients, yet not fussy, good drip coffee in a diner mug, and a fantastic bakery and patisserie program,” wrote Sequoia supporter Jack of Oakland.

Laurel residents complete crosswords while they sip mugs of coffee at the bar, while groups squeeze into booths along the wall on the weekends, when the waitlist can grow long.

“Wonderful neighborhood diner. The food is always delicious, the staff is wonderful. It’s a Laurel District treasure,” comment awards voter Shoshana Finacom of Oakland.

As noted, the Best Breakfast category was the closest Nosh Awards race in 2025, with the top four in the category separated by fewer than 60 votes. The strong list of nominees — La Note, Tanzie’s, Hella Bagels, Mama’s Royal, and Homemade Cafe — all receiving significant support and several comments of devotion.

Know the hot spots before they’re hot.

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The East Bay’s best breakfast is served at this decade-old diner

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