Burnt Toast Cafe

The staff was friendly but the service was slow. The atmosphere was cool, the omelet very fluffy, and the coffee was great. But the potatoes were cold and undercooked and it took a long time to get our food. Overall the restaurant was not very clean either.

We read decent reviews before choosing to grab breakfast here on our way home from our Dubuque girls weekend. The inside is old, but it was busy so we figured that was a good sign. My mother and I both ordered pancakes, my sister had their spinach omelette. It took longer than expected to get our food so graciously the waitress informed us that our coffees would be no charge. When our food was finally delivered we had no utensils. No big deal. our waitress brought them right away, but failed to bring butter or syrup for the pancakes until we flagged her down minutes later. Pancakes were room temperature at best. My sister didn’t get the toast that came with her order, so we had to inform our waitress again of the error. She apologized, stating the kitchen was making lots of mistakes today! As my sister ate her omelette, she discovered a PIECE OF PLASTIC hidden inside. Obviously it ruined her appetite. We flagged our waitress over. She apologized yet again, took the plate and said she’d fix it. We are still waiting on toast at this point. Several minutes later, she came back to let us know it was «fixed». We informed her we no longer wanted the omelette — appetite ruined. To that she stated that the kitchen knew that and was taking it off our bill. Hmmm so my sister goes with no breakfast? What if we wanted it remade. She never asked us; just assumed. When another man came around with coffee to ask if we wanted a refill we asked him if we could speak with the manager. He informed us that he was the manager. We explained that we found a piece of PLASTIC in the omelette we were served, our food was cool and we still had no toast. To that he said, «I know, I took it off the bill.» Umm great. I’d expect no less. No way we would have paid for it. No reason to pay for our meal at all. Restaurants get SHUT DOWN for crap like that ending up in peoples food. He argued that taking the omelette off the bill was «enough». We asked for the check and left cash on the table. I understand it was not the waitresses fault at all but the kitchen’s and bad management. We were so irritated with their lack of concern. No other restaurant (especially one so in-​expensive) would have charged us the rest of our un-​eatten meal. Worst Breakfast Experience and a total lack of good management on their part!

Am almost empty lunch time when we stopped in a part of Dubuque under renovation by the Chamber of Commerce and private gentrifiers influenced by the arrival of IBM. A roast beef sandwich with great home made mashed potatoes and plenty of gravy and a chicken Philly sandwich with crispy French fries hit the spot.

My fiancé, daughter and I went here for mothers day breakfast because I heard they had some good food. When we got there we had to stand around for about 10 minutes before anyone acknowledged us. They need a sign telling you to wait to be seated or seat yourself. When the hostess finally went to seat us all she said was a table number and pointed to the wall. (Like we have any clue how they number the tables) She was the most unprofessionally dressed hostess I have ever seen at a restaurant. When she realized we were confused she walked us over to the table (which was dirty). As she walked away she yelled across the room to a server to let her know the table behind us was hers. We were greeted by our server within 5 minutes of being seated but she forgot to introduce herself and none of the employees wore name badges. Even though they were busy she was really friendly and checked on us frequently. While we were eating my fiancé seen the hostess eating something while she stood at the hostess stand. Working in the service industry myself I pick up on everything that goes on. maybe I’m nitpicking but eating in front of the customers is very unprofessional. Overall the food was good and our server did a great job, it was the hostess we didn’t care for and because of her she ruined our whole dining experience.

Excellent breakfast! I highly recommend the skillets, especially the corned beef hash skillet. I have not been pleased with the waitstaff my last two visits; one was very spazy and flighty, the other was very forgetful, unfriendly, and slow. Prices here are very good and I always leave satisfied and with leftovers!

We came in for Saturday morning breakfast to celebrate a birthday, the waitress was very friendly and nice but the food was a major problem. Sausage and pancakes for our entire table was very under cooked and had to be sent back. The hash browns on two of the plates were burnt so bad they were black. The front staff were great but something needs to happen with those cooks, maybe it was just an off day but it left a very bad impression.

Sunday morning breakfast service was so slow. We waited 5 minutes just for server to acknowledge us, over 10 minutes for her to take our order and then 15 minutes to get out food.
But once the food arrived it was worth the waiting. We both had skillets and they very good.
It would be 4 stars if it wasn’t for the service.

Lunch time!
I was surprised they haven’t had any good reviews.
We got in there at the perfect time! Right after we ordered our food they started getting busy!
Staff was nice, even though the first waitress informed us they take AMEX (we found out at checkout that they don’t take it).
Started with cup of Chicken dumpling soup, it was very good, big chunks of dumpling, and a little chicken, the broth was excellent. Warmed me up on this chilly day.
For my main lunch I had the Grilled Chicken Breast Salad. I used their dressing from the packet, and it would be hard to mess up a basic salad. The chicken had good grilled flavoring, but needed salt.
Inside is pretty plain, it is open spaces with tables. Big menu with lots of foods to choose from.