Lake Murray Cafe

I went and ate there the last time in 2013, we finally went back today and the service was so good (Andrea), the food was wonderful and filling. I have to say that I have changed my mind and give this place a great review. I believe that since they got rid of some of their establishments all over San Diego that being able to concentrate on three instead of more that things have changed and it was a good experience this time. Thanks again Andrea.

The breakfast here is good, but service is the worst!!! It took 20 minutes to get coffee… and the waitress seems to be very unhappy to work here! We used to come here all the time, but it got to be where it was a 2 hour breakfast so we stopped. Today is the first time we’ve been back in a couple of years. Looks like it will be the last for sure!

This used to be one of my favorite restaurants for the past 7 years but it has gone downhill. Not sure if management changed but the service is bad (took 45 minutes to get a sandwich and nobody explained or apologized for the wait). I ordered a chicken salad sandwich and it was beyond bland. My fries were undercooked. They used to serve delicious fresh steak fries and now they use shoestring fries that taste like they were frozen. The place was not busy at all so there is no reason the wait should have been that long. Food and service were lacking and I won’t be coming back.

Too pricey for the quality. If you knew this restaurant when it first opened then you would agree. It was good food at reasonable prices. Now a grilled cheese just isn’t worth it. It’s only busy because it’s one of the few places in town to go out to breakfast. Unfortunate!

I decided to try Lake Murray café after a couple years of not eating here since I had a previous experience that was awful. I wanted to order breakfast but due to a fire in the kitchen that took out their egg cooking area I had to settle for lunch. I got a BLT which was not a good choice. The bacon was burnt and not very good. Overall the 3 of us were not very happy with our meals let alone what we paid for them. The only reason I’m rewriting my review was because of the awesome waitress (Stephanie) we had. She was really nice and engaged in conversation and wasn’t all about putting an order in and sending you on your way. Great service like that is hard to come by. Unfortunately I will no longer be going to lake Murray café as this is the final straw. The three star rating I’m giving is based merely on the fact that Stephanie was a awesome waitress, she gets a 5. As for the restaurant i still consider it a 1

So we waited for our food 40 minutes after ordering… Nothing complicated ordered. Seriously Don’t come here if you value your TIME. The food is just OK. The floors were filthy, the condiments-​salt, pepper, ketchup bottles filthy. Honestly we should have walked out, it was way over priced too. there’s a Denny’s and Marie calendars across the freeway. Trust me Go there.

I really like their food. But! The waitresses do not have the best customer service they can give for such a small home feeling café. The last two times I have gone to eat breakfast our food has came out cold and we had to have them warm it up. But other then that the food is delicious!

We’ve been coming to this restaurant (and others in the chain) for several years because their weekly coupon offers are very good and the food has usually been decent. Last Saturday may be the last time; however, because two of us got home fries that were burned and when I mentioned it to the waitress her response seemed to be ‘meh’, even if she was otherwise pleasant. Prices for non-​coupon items also seemed extremely high compared to the competition.
May try them again in a few months, but for now we will go elsewhere.

Food portions are awesome, service was great. Bloody Mary was ok… I’ve had better. Had a great time with good friends. Will absolutely come back

This place has changed for the worse. Food is mediocre at best. The bathroom was gross. I witnessed customers being seated at dirty tables and the employee never returned to clean that table. Never returning to this restaurant.

*** Do Not go here!!! ***
Been here once a couple years ago and decided to come back for some waffles with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. When we walked in there was a couple waitress just sitting in the booth behind the check in table on their phones. We were seated at 12:55pm and they stop serving waffles after 1pm so we told her to hurry up and put it in. She got us 2 water, a coffee, and apple juice with Sprite. The apple juice has little stuff floating in it. The waitress never came back to check on us after she delivered the drinks. Over 30 mins later she finally comes back with the waffles only. The table of 6 next to us was already served their food and there was just the two of us. Finally the last entrees arrive 15 mins later. Couldn’t believe it took us 45 mins to get our food. We coulda spent the same time making this at home. Having multiple of these restaurants all over San Diego, you would think they would have great service. I would not come here or to any San Diego Home cooking places again.

After reading several negative reviews, I was not expecting much from this place. A group of friends suggested this venue for a casual meeting, and I said OK. I was pleasantly surprised.
Our server was Sophia, and Sophia was efficient and beautiful (she suggested I say that, but it is true). The food was good, the service was good, the parking was ample — all good.
The prices are a bit higher than usual for this «down home» type of food, but not terribly so. I’d go there again. In fact, I plan to go there again next Tuesday!

The food is decent. Portions are of a good size. Staff is ok. Parking is a little tight when they are busy. I usually order food to go and they almost always get it right considering I usually do not check it there. My biggest complaint is they say 20 minutes so I usually add 10 minutes and still end up waiting either for them to bag it or waiting for my server to process my payment.
The only items I have eaten here are the breakfast items and they are decent. The omelets are good. My last visit I tried the eggs benedict and they were pretty good for take out. I eat here now and then because they are convenient to my job site, have take out, and have a nice selection of items to choose from.

The food is good, especially the huge cinnamon rolls! The service is decent for the most part. However, this evening when my wife and I got there at about 8pm, the front door was open but there wasn’t anyone sitting inside or servers to be seen. We stood inside waiting for someone for about 5 minutes, but no one was around. Then a gentleman came in from the parking lot saying they were closed for their monthly cleaning. What? It’s an hour before posted closing time, what’s the deal? This isn’t the first time they’ve turned people away either. On a previous visit, we were eating our food and noticed some people came in to be seated. One of the servers told them since they were closing soon that the kitchen wasn’t taking any new orders. I looked at my watch, it was 8:15pm. Needless to say the group of people were none too pleased.
Posted hours are till 9pm, but figure more like 7:30…

The food is good, it’s not terrible. I personally wasn’t impress. But the servers were attentive, so good customer service. My complaint is the mess, the place isn’t very clean and when I requested to clean under our table I felt like I was asking for too much. But I had asked because a used fork, used napkin, eggs, and pancake was all over the floor under our table (I provided a picture).
But other than that the place is a lower caliber to Denny’s, I would say. I’m not planning on going back because cleaniness is huge for me.

Seeing all the ads finally decided to try this place for breakfast.
Food was just ok nothing to rave about, breakfast menu was ok nothing jumped out as special.
I had Meat lovers melting pot omelet, was good but nothing special.
Came with biscuit and gravy and country potatoes, neither were very good.
Country potatoes were bland, biscuit was tasteless and gravy tasted like paste.
Wife had Lumber Jack House Special which was scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, Country fries, Cinnamon roll french toast, everything but potatoes she said were ok not great.
At least the coffee was good and strong,
Can you believe our table didn’t even have ketchup, hot sauce or even salt or pepper?
Service was slow, both server and hostess were a bit ditzy and unorganized.
Might try again but no promises.

I will NEVER eat here again. This is my first Unilocal review ever written and I’m not usually one to complain. Here we go… I ordered take-​out a little over a month ago and the employee over-​charged my card $ 2. I know it’s only $ 2… but that’s not the point. It wasn’t an authorized charge and they shouldn’t get away with this. I’ve tried talking to the «shift leader» at the restaurant and she told me there’s nothing she can do about it (terrible customer service) and I have to email the owner from the website. After 2 attempts of sending an email– no response. I waited forever for my omelette that day and it was the smallest I’ve ever seen! Definitely not worth how much I paid!
I’ve also been forced to bring up the time about 2 years at this place when my friend found a HAIR in her food. Gross.

This is one in a chain of restaurants billing itself as San Diego Home Cooking, so the owner (s) are trying to establish a brand in a particular niche. But the food is meh, and the service is spotty. It makes me wonder if they are all about business and have no passion for achievement in the restaurant industry itself.
The food portions are generous, but the taste is mediocre. The wait staff (thus management) is not good enough often enough. That is a red flag foretelling of a restaurant that will eventually crash and burn, or sell to new ownership for cheap.
My 89 year old mother likes dining outdoors on hot days, so I took her there on Monday and we sat on the shaded patio in front. The service was pleasant but s-​l-​o-​w, and I reminded myself it’s called Lake Murray Café, not Lake Hurry Café.
My omelet was shaped like a bulging triangular hot pocket and it was devoid of taste. A waste of time, money and unfulfilled expectations.
My elderly mother, bless her heart, has dementia. Unfortunately, I don’t, so I must live with the memory of eating here.
Go hungry instead of eating here.

Alright, so imagine yourself at home. You just got off of work and you are to tired to make dinner. You than remember you bought one of those frozen dinners that was on sale for $ 3. You pop it in the microwave for 5 minutes. You’re not excited for the food but you just want something to fuel up your hunger. You pull it out of the microwave when it’s done and start to eat it. The chicken is super hot and the mashed potatoes are kind cold in some parts and you taste the little grains in them. Obviously the taste of instant mashed potatoes. You think to yourself, «Well I got what I paid for.» Now think about paying for the same meal for $ 17. Yup, that’s what I got here at this café.
When I came to this café it was absolutely filthy. The food equipment were laying around on the side of the stores for customers to see, chipped paint on the walls and dirty sticky floors. There were about 12 waitresses walking around in groups and talking, not really doing anything. Never seen a place so unorganized. There was one older woman out of all the waitresses that seemed so bitter about everything. She slammed into me without saying excuse me. I don’t know her name but the fact that she was the oldest one and had blonde hair.
Finally after one of them realizing that they were working at a restaurant and not at a social event they sat us down. Surprisingly we got a very nice server so I was relieved. But that nice relief did not last for long. When I got my cup of chili before my meal and took a bite of it I cringed. Microwaved chili with taco cheese served on top. I’ve never put salt on chili before but the taste was too unbearable. I couldn’t finish eating it. I got the half chicken dinner. I don’t know why I did because it would be half a chicken but I figured I could have left overs.
Once my meal came I cringed again. The chicken was so hot for 10 minutes straight and when I was finally able to eat it, it was flavorless. It’s like looking at KFC chicken without the flavor in it. The mashed potatoes were obviously instant and I could taste the grains in it and was cold in some parts. Plus the gravy tasted like weird overwhelming seasonings and very salty. I barely ate any food. I’ve been here once before about a year ago and thought it was gross but gave this place a second chance thinking the last time was just bad luck. Nope!
You will be paying a little bit more money than Denny’s but getting worse food and service than Denny’s. Better off there than here or even McDonald’s! At least there you get what you pid for.

There’s something about cafes on the side of the road that draw me in.
I came in today for lunch for my first time with a party of 5 others, the host quickly accommodated us and moved tables together as we wanted to sit outdoors and enjoy the breeze.
Once everyone sat down it took quite some time to receive drinks (10 – 15 minutes) and even be acknowledged however the server was apologetic and sincere about the «lag» in taking orders and delivering drinks! She was very sweet which made up for the «slowness» of it all.
The food took some time, yet she brought us out bread and butter since we were starving! The rolls were HUGE and soft + warm! Delicious nonetheless…
Food finally came out and my mouth dropped! The serving portion sizes are WOAH, meant for 2!!! Not sure but I will take it for the price of $ 8 – 11 per plate it is a great deal! (Boxing stuff for leftovers is always a plus).
Once meeting with my tastebuds… the food was very tasty! It has that «home cooked» taste/​feel which is nice for a change! The fries were OKAY, (I am a fry girl) they needed some flavor to them… yet everything else was on point.
I would like to go back and try breakfast and dinner! They had so many options and choices on the menu which is a PLUS in my book! It caters to all appetites! Give it a try, you’ll enjoy it!