Mossmans Kitchen — Restaurant in Bakersfield

My Breakfast Review SERVICE: I visited for breakfast on the second day they were open, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well-organized and efficient the staff were. It's uncommon for a newly opened restaurant to run so smoothly, but the staff were pros. I walked in at 7:34 AM and was seated by 7:36 AM, at which time my drink order was taken. I received my drink at 7:45 AM when my food order was also taken. The food arrived at 8:13 AM. I finished eating at 8:28 AM, received the check at 8:30 AM, had my payment picked up at 8:31 AM, and my card returned within the minute.

Duties at the restaurant seemed to be broken up and executed efficiently. The busser, when not clearing tables, was refilling coffee. The waitress focused on taking orders and checking in with the tables, while food runners delivered dishes from the kitchen. Brittney, my waitress, managed to serve 11 other tables in her section, which was much larger than those of the other waitresses. My drinks were refilled promptly as needed.

FOOD: I judge every breakfast offering by its chicken-fried steak, so that is what I ordered. Like most places, the country-fried steak comes topped with country-style gravy, two eggs your way, hashbrowns or country potatoes, and a choice between toast or biscuit & gravy or 1 pancake.

The Chicken-Fried Steak: The steak was a little tough and required a knife to cut. It was seasoned well and had a tanginess to it. The crust was flimsy and looked very eggy and did not adhere well to the steak. In all, it was delicious, but its mouthfeel could use improvement (i.e., tender meat and crunchy exterior). The Gravy: The gravy was slightly translucent, which usually indicates it's made with cornstarch. This is usually a flag for powdered gravy mix. There were small bits of sausage in the gravy. It was adequate but not exactly the country-style gravy I expect. The Eggs: I ordered over-easy eggs. They were slightly firmer than over-easy but still had enough runny yolk. The Hashbrowns: Although I had to salt them, the hashbrowns were perfect, not greasy. They were shredded finely and cooked to a beautiful golden-brown hue, with a delightful crunch on the outside while retaining a tender and flavorful interior.

PRICE:

The "Dining Menu" posted on Mossman's website is apparently old. I suspect they raised their prices when they opened this restaurant. It's lists the Chicken-Fried Steak for $15.89. However, the menu in the restaurant lists it for $18.99. That's $3 more. For comparison, Spencer's Cafe lists theirs for $17.50 and they offer more hashbrowns and bigger biscuit. For fairness, Mossman's offers their egg & meat offerings for $2.50 - $3.50 cheaper than Spencer's, but based on descriptions, Spencer's might offer larger meat portions, but likely not that much more. Mossman's omelette dishes are about $1 more.

In total, my chicken-fried steak and soft drink came to $24.88 + 15% tip = $28.33. If on my next visit, I order something under the 'Eggs & Meat' section (2 eggs your way, served with a choice of 2 bacon or 1 ham or 1 sausage, choice of hashbrowns or country potatoes or fruit, and choice of toast or biscuit & gravy or a pancake for $12.99) and get water only, I can walk out of there paying $16.17 with tip. .

SUMMARY: I suspect this restaurant will be highly successful. Although my wait was slightly longer than I felt it should have been, I'm chalking it up to being newly opened. I suspect I'll be a regular. Service was awesome. Thank...

Excited to try for the first time. Understanding they just opened, there's room for improvement here. Will try again in a few months.

Pros: Limited dining options on this side of town, nice having another option.

Food was cooked well and tasted good. Breakfast is better than Dennys, not as good as Spencer's.

Was seated immediately on a Sunday during after-church hours.

Server was pleasant and noticed immediately when one of our kids orders did not come out. Good catch.

Food smelled good right when you walked in the front door.

Cons: Food did not come out as quickly as other tables that were seated after and got food earlier. ~30 minutes maybe for us, I wasn't timing it. Not terribly long, but we had a small order for 1 adult and 3 kids menu items.

Some food came out on a dirty plate for one dish, with some dry crusty green pesto-like residue in plain sight. It was noticeable like the size of a half 50 cent coin. Nothing on any of our plates was green or anything we ordered.

Flies were a bit of a nuisance buzzing us and the food while we were at our table. I think that's more of a larger issue this side of town has, the second you open a door they're in.

Overall, not a bad. Was hoping for better first impressions. Lunch items looked good too. I saw some huge onion rings on another table that I'll definitely get next time. I think I caught them on the tail end of the Sunday rush hour as they were transitioning to the...

Took my father and husband out for dinner tonight. We ordered: appetizer of onion rings, original fish & chips, Philly cheesesteak, & the chicken wrap. Our server was really sweet & made sure our drinks were always refilled & our food orders were correct, only thing we didn’t get was the onion rings due to them being out which was beyond her control.

Some things we’d recommend: Butter for the bread roll that comes with the fish & chips along with a larger amount of tarter sauce (it was a small spoonful in the tin) Tossing the chicken wrap in some sort of dressing (ranch, honey mustard, chipotle ranch etc) Toasting the bread more for the Philly cheesesteak as it became soggy (still tasted great though!) Salting the fries (or having servers ask if you want them salted if you’re trying to avoid salt for clientele)

Overall it was a great dinner & we all left very full! Portion sizes were perfect!

side note- we overheard that the fried food was done in peanut oil- I HIGHLY suggest switching to a different oil option as the little girl next to us couldn’t eat her chicken tenders as she had a peanut allergy & she was very...