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A Caveat Summary: A good choice when everything else is closed I'm not usually a fan of chain restaurants (with a few exceptions), but sometimes there is no way to avoid them; when you are on the road, for example, or when it's Thanksgiving day, you want brunch and nothing else is open. That's how we ended up at the Carrows in San Leandro in 2005, hungry and with pretty low expectations. Perhaps for that reason, our meal was better than expected. I ordered the bacon and onion potato pancakes ($8, I think), which were on the seasonal menu. The thin, messy pancakes were filled with small pieces of bacon and some onions and served with the tiniest dollop of sour cream. They were greasy, but very tasty and I'd order them again. I accompanied them with two standard tasting sausages and two eggs sunny side up. The dish overall was a little in the small side, however. Mike had the biggie breakfast with three eggs, two bacon strips, two sausage links, and two buttermilk pancakes. He thought the food was fine but felt Carrows must be using the smallest eggs on the market. I think he was left a little hungry after the meal as well. Mika ordered the funny face pancake. It tasted like a regular pancake with fake syrup. It was way too large for a three-year old, which was good as we got to finish it off. There are healthier options available for small kids, both for breakfast and lunch. Mika also ordered a vanilla shake, which once again was too large. None of us liked it. It was extremely sweet and had an intense flavor of vanilla extract. In all it wasn't a bad meal and I'd definitely go back when we had no other choice. Carrows 15011 Hesperian Blvd. San Leandro, CA 94578 (510) 278-9474 http://www.carrows.com/