The Hidden Kitchen - Cayucos — Restaurant in Cayucos

I was out with my friend. We both have never been to the Hidden Kitchen so we both decided to go there. We looked at the menu. The waffles caught our eye. My friend said, “can I get a normal Cambria waffle please?”The girl up front said, “you mean the something waffle- the one with the beef and the tomatoes waffle?” My friend said “”no just the plain.”She says ok. I order a fruit something waffle with no cocoa powder. She says ok and gives us our number. We take a seat. We look around. Everybody looked happy but no one had a waffle. Me and my friend talk about how exited we were. It was very pretty looking around. Then our food comes! Everybody else looked very happy and pleased with their food. We get ours, and we turn blue. There was wet cream on the top of mine but my friend said “can I have some of your butter?” I though it was butter to but when she tried it she said “this is terrible butter.” I realized it was very creamy whipped cream. I tried it and it wasn’t good. It was a little too sweet in my opinion. It was to plain too. So then I try the strawberry’s. The strawberry’s were definitely not local. Then I tried the bananas! They were really good for some reason! But not the strawberries. Now… I take a bite of the waffle. I expected it to be crunchy like a normal waffle is. It was not. It was soggy and soft. And the inside was blue! What? The outside was dark dark brown…. I did not like it at all! And then I said “the maple syrup will make it better!”I try it and it tasted terrible to. The maple syrup, made the waffle kinda taste better but with the syrup alone, it didn’t taste good at all. Then I went to the bathroom. Very pretty bathroom and clean! Love it! But food I did not like.The food was not good! Blue waffle, turned...

Great food, laid back atmosphere, and usually helpful, caring, and efficient staff. We just don't come often anymore because the prices have gone up so much, and its been pretty inconsistent in quality in the last year or so. (Prices are up at least 25-40% over the past 2 years.) We used to come weekly, and honestly would probably still come regularly if we hadn't had several bad experiences in a row. Wish we could afford it, but $70 for 2 people (before tip!), for breakfast is a bit much when you aren't sure if you're going to get 2/3 of a waffle, and greasy mess on top, or the amazing food they used to have consistently. This trip we got 2 smoothies, 1 taco, and 1 waffle. (Not even a boozy breakfast! Lol)

The bad experiences were several clueless employees who were absolutely unwilling to help in food substitutions due to allergies, and didn't know the menu (or that most items are cooked in avocado oil, which is amazing, except for if you are allergic to avocado). They served us granola in a huge to go box (instead of the usual little bag?) And then tossed it into a huge brown paper bag so it spilled everwhere :/ (Thanks tall dude with the dark shaggy/curly hair.) We used to always bring friends & families who were visiting, but have now been embarrassed after multiple visits here didn't go so well. A few examples: They wanted to charge $3.50 on an already $11 smoothie just to split it into 2 cups so the little kiddos we brought wouldn't spill. And when we got an unusually spicy and inedible carnitas taco, they refused to replace it with sauce...

I am a very picky foodie and I LOVE eating variety of high quality, healthy, tasty food. So I am not a Mac and cheese or steak and potato type. Having said that…Holy Moly! This place has such a different twist to what they do. First, my wife can’t have any gluten, so that eliminates most flower products. She is always sad that she can’t just have a delicious waffle, well everything they do here is all ORGANIC and Gluten Free!! We ordered the fruit topping on the blue corn waffle, 10 out of 10! The fruit was fresh and the home made whip cream was to die for! Knowing that it’s not made from process garbage chemicals made it that much better. We also had two different carne Asada tacos, first the blue corn tortillas was very tasty and natural tasting. I have eaten many different types of tacos in my life, I would rate these as being top 2 out of 100 different places. It’s a different twist, but I love the flavor and the creative twist on it. Some times those creative attempts can go bad, not here. Sadly we are from Oswego IL. We just stumbled onto this cute little town and to this magical place! It’s bit more expensive than normal, but worth every penny in my book. You will also appreciate the cute beachy, coffee house feel, they also have a nice outdoor dining area. Give it a try, you will be incredibly glad you did, YUM!...