Popping Yolk Cafe — Restaurant in Alhambra

Came for brunch with the BF to celebrate Valentine's Day early. Saw all the great reviews and decided to give this place a try. It was a bit confusing when we got there. There was a line so we got in line. As the line got shorter, we saw a tablet for yelp check-in, so I checked in and then it indicated there was a 10 minute wait. Then we overheard the person in front trying to place an order that the proper process is to check in on the tablet. Then wait for the return text, then get into line to place order. The person in front ended up behind us cause he didn't do the yelp check in. Wished there were instructions on the process/procedure posted so it would be less confusing.

When I got the text we got into line and ordered. We ordered a Norwegian benedict, full tray of French toast, green tea latte w/ almond milk and a lychee sangria. My BF decided to add a popcorn chicken thinking it wasn't enough food. LOL After we paid, the cashier gave us a number and we could sit anywhere there is an opening. We opted to sit at the high bar table since it was pretty hot. The quartz top provided some coolness. The drinks came first. The green tea latte was a bit too light in flavor for my liking. My BF enjoyed the sangria. The French toast and popcorn chicken came next. The French toast was very crispy with lots of blueberries and strawberries. I liked it way better than Blue Jam. It wasn't too sweet either with some side of whip cream. We devoured it. The popcorn chicken was yummy too but would have preferred some more basil. I ordered it medium which wasn't much spicy but they offered to give us more chili powder. The Norwegian benedict came last. It was smoked salmon egg benedict with a side of home potatoes and salad. I especially enjoyed the salad, they used some very refreshing yuzu salad dressing with corn and tomatoes. The benedict was good, the egg was very googy just the way I like it. The potatoes were crispy and good. Overall we enjoyed our meal. We actually over ordered cause we had to take home leftovers (shouldn't have ordered that popcorn chicken LOL) cause the portions were huge. I would definitely be back next time if I wanted brunch.

Service was great. Although we weren't sure if we had to tip since we ordered ourselves at the cashier and found our own seat and everything but we tipped anyway.

This location is in downtown Alhambra so it's free parking in the...

The food is decent but not extraordinary. I'm from NYC area so this place pales in comparison with the myriad of creative and delicious breakfast and brunch venues in the big apple. Service is where the negatives comes in. The seating is first come first serve, so after we ordered the front desk staff told us that we could sit anywhere we want. There were high tops which would be uncomfortable for me in high heels and regular tables and chairs. We waited for a table to be cleared and set up for us and got seated. Soon after we sat down we were told to pick another seating because the staff wanted to accommodate a larger party size and needed our table. By this time there were only high tops left and they were all wobbly. We asked the front desk staff for help and let him know that we're are willing to wait for the next table seating. Front desk staff gave us the option to cancel our order or to wait in line again (over 45 min wait) and start all over and maybe a table will open up. I told him that it was unfair to make us give up our table for another party without helping us finding another acceptable seating. He pretty much ignored us, his response was irresponsible, insensitive, and rude.

I went back to my table and told the wait staff that we are staying and the larger party can wait their turn for a table just as we waited for ours. I saw a couple of wait staff in the back huddled to figure out how to accommodate the larger party and solved the issue. The front desk staff never apologized or acknowledged the problem, an example of terrible customer service. The back wait staff basically saved his butt.

Though I'm grateful that the back wait staff accommodated us and didn't make us leave our table again, it was an unpleasant experience and I will not go back there again when there are so many other choices with better customer service. Tasty food is great, but service quality is important especially we are all paying a premium thanks to inflation across the board post pandemic. I did leave extra tips for the wait staff...

So I have been to the Popping Yolk Cafe 3 times. I will summarize my review here for each visit. The breakfast atmosphere here is quite nice for a lazy brunch day visit. The staff service is adequate. My main concern is the pricing versus food quality. The first time I ordered the Classic Benedict at $18.50. The Hollandaise was creamy but bland. The poached eggs are cooked well while the default vinaigrette dressing for the salad was sickly sweet and lacked layers combing sweet, heat, and acidity. It feels like a generic bottled vinaigrette at any diner. The plate also, was unfortunately too small and crammed with salad resulting in the English muffin underneath the benedict getting soggy from the leaves’ mousture. The potatoes were overcooked, dark brown instead of golden, very crispy to almost hardened, leaving a slight bitter after taste. I would give this a 5/10. A while later, I thought to give Popping Yolk a second chance and went with the Pulled Pork Benedict at $18.65. The pulled pork was juicy and not dry but was flooded with BBQ sauce which again seeped under and soaked the English muffin, and overwhelmed any poached egg flavors. The salad and potatoes had the same issue as our previous visit. On my latest and final visit, because I’m forgiving and stupid, I ordered the classic breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage and comes with the standard potatoes and salad. The scrambled eggs were cooked well, fluffy and creamy. The bacon however was so overcooked it tasted like salted wood chips. The breakfast sausage lacked any spice other than syrupy sweet. The issue with the potatoes and salad persisted. So what is my final verdict? For 10 bucks, I wouldn’t complain. But at 20 dollars a main dish, the quality is on par with many chain diners and not...