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Sunnyvale will soon have a new spot to chow down on the “most important meal of the day.”
Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, a Florida-based breakfast chain with 61 locations in the Southeast, is opening its first West Coast location on Oct. 24. Expect carb-loaded breakfast classics like waffles, pancakes and French toast, as well as diner staples like omelets, panini, sandwiches and salads.
“When you come to Keke’s, you better come hungry, because we fill the plate up,” said David Schmidt, president of Keke’s.
Brothers Kevin and Keith Mehan founded Keke’s in 2006 after Kevin Mehan retired to Orlando, Florida, and saw a need for better breakfast. Born and raised in Pennsylvania with backgrounds in mortgage banking, the brothers grew Keke’s into 53 cafes before selling the business to Denny’s for $83.5 million in 2022. Now, under the leadership of Schmidt, who previously was executive vice president of Red Lobster and president of Bonefish Grill, Keke’s is expanding west to California, Colorado and Texas.
“There’s a lot of things that the two brothers did that will always live on in the brand,” Schmidt said. “We grind our coffee every 15 minutes or on demand, so our coffee beans are ground regularly. Our pancake batter is hand spun every 15 minutes. Our home fries, we bring in 50 pound sacks of potatoes and boil them down, cool them, blanch them, slice them, and then cook them on a grill.”
One of Keke’s signature dishes is its Florida pancakes, with strawberries, blueberries, bananas and powdered sugar.
“Our pancakes are some of the largest pancakes I’ve ever seen,” Schmidt said. “They’re as big as the plate. We serve them three stacks high.”
Schmidt’s favorite? It’s a toss-up between the turtle stuffed French toast (with pecans, caramel and chocolate) and the cheese steak omelet (with steak, green peppers, onions and white American cheese).
The new Sunnyvale cafe will have exclusive specialty beverages, including low-ABV cocktails, local beers and regional wines.
In addition to quality, freshness and hefty portion sizes, Schmidt said Keke’s stands out for its speed of service.
“In our mind, we have a target of 38 minutes from the time that guests sit down, we will want that food to be on the table within eight minutes, and we want to give them 30 minutes to enjoy their meal and hopefully get out with their day,” Schmidt said.
Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, 311 S Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale; 408-514-1136. Instagram: @kekesbreakfastcafe. Beginning Oct. 24, open daily from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
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