Last weekend we went out to breakfast on Saturday AND Sunday, my friends. How exciting! I really wanted to hit up the Crack Shack last Sunday but the rainy weather made me change my mind about that. Instead… two days of breakfast restaurants! On Sunday we stayed near Jake’s place and went to the Lemon Grove Cafe, which used to be the Antique Row Cafe.
Jake had always wanted to go to the Antique Row Cafe but sadly missed his chance. We decided to check out The Lemon Grove Cafe anyway since it was nearby. The Lemon Grove Cafe has an interesting mix of American, Greek, and Mexican food.
It had already started to drizzle when we stepped inside. There’s a clipboard where you put your name down for a table. It felt a little spazzy walking in at first – no one greeted us and there were people lingering around in the front who didn’t know you had to put your name on the list. I thought it was interesting no one greeted the people coming into the restaurant.
We only had to wait a few minutes for a table and we were seated in the back. The restaurants feels a little like someone’s living room with the build-in shelves with knick knacks on the wall.
This is the view towards the bar seating/kitchen area. It was a bit dark.
Here’s the first page of the menu. Isn’t this usually the last page?
The breakfast menu.
Breakfast and Lunch.
Entrees, Greek and Mexican food.
What I did find interesting is that pretty much with any dish you could choose your “style” of breakfast – either American, Greek, or Mexican. American style meant you could choose between country potatoes, hash browns, or fruit with your choice of toast, English muffin, biscuit, or pancakes. Ordering it Greek style meant your breakfast came with tomatoes, feta cheese, and pita bread. Mexican style yielded you beans and tortillas with your breakfast.
[gyros and eggs / $9.95]
I’ve never had gyros for breakfast before I was intrigued to try it for breakfast. I didn’t go for “Greek” style since it wasn’t appealing to me but instead ordered it with regular American food – hash browns and pancakes – and a side of pita bread. Jake and T choose the style of eggs since I didn’t want to eat any eggs that day. Not in an eggy mood these days, once again.
Jake ordered the hash browns extra crispy for this plate so they were quite dark and had a nice crunch on the exterior. A little dried out on the bottom side. The gyros were pretty tasty – the flavor was nice on these and they tasted yummy paired with my side of pita bread.
[side of pita bread / $1.95]
The pita bread went great with the gyros, of course. I should have been a little more adventurous and eaten the gyros and eggs together on a piece of pita bread… but like I said… was NOT into eating eggs last weekend.
We ordered pancakes with the gyro meal so we could share them between the three of us. There was a stack of two pancakes. They were light and fluffy – nothing amazing but a pretty decent set of pancakes.
[portuguese sausage and eggs / $9.95]
Jake decided on ordering the Portuguese Sausage and Eggs breakfast for our second dish. Also American style with hash browns (less crispy and less dark!) with an English muffin (which is hiding off to the side).
This dish was disappointing since the Portuguese Sausage was overcooked. You can see on the left it was even a bit burnt. The overcooking made the sausage incredibly dry and almost stringy. We should have sent it back to the kitchen but we didn’t bother that day. The less crispy hash browns were less appealing to me as well.
All in all… it was just an okay breakfast. I like that you can choose your different “styles” to really customize your breakfast but I feel like the food could have been executed better.
Lemon Grove Cafe
3521 Lemon Grove Ave,
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
619-644-1031
Hours:
Monday thru Saturday – 7:00 am. to 8:00 pm.
Sunday – 7:00 am. to 3:00 pm.
I’ve noticed a lot of breakfast places do this three way breakfast choice and it’s good on the days when I’m craving one style and he’s wanting something else. Sorry this wasn’t great, breakfast is important and should be delicious. There are still two other Antique Row Cafes; Main Street in El Cajon and the other on Adams Avenue.
Yeah, we’ll have to try one of the other locations one of these days. It is nice to have the options.
Hi Mary
We passed by this place this morning! We ate at Bleu Whisk (on Broadway; post is forthcoming). As for the other Antique Row Cafe, it’s on the northeast corner of 30th and Adams. It has a wall mural of 50’s icons. It’s also across the street from Hawthorn Coffee (where I texted you the pix of Bert’s coffee flight). That sux that no one greeted you. That should be the first thing employees do when customers walk in. No one likes being ignored. I like the look of those crispy hash browns.
Hi CC! I considered Bleu Whisk but figured we’d try this place out. Yeah, they should definitely greet people and let them know the clipboard is there at least. Little details like that make a big difference! I’ll have to look out for your post about Bleu Whisk – curious to know what it’s like there and if it’s worth a visit.
The Bleu Whisk post is in the works. I’m so behind, it’s not even funny. It’s definitely worth it. Folks there are super nice, they make their own sauces, they know their regulars. You and Jake would love this place.
Nice!! I’ll have to put it on my “to-visit” list then! I’ll look out for your post!
I’ve been craving hashbrowns!!! Those look good 🙂