Aunt Emma's Pancakes — Restaurant in Chula Vista

Wow, was this place a disappointment. I never write reviews, but seeing this place rated 4.2 stars (as of 1/26/22), I could not stay quiet since it’s so misleading.

First, parking sucks. There was no parking available in their parking lot and there is little to no parking available on the street, thus I assumed the food must be really good if the parking lot and street are so full. Was I wrong.

When I entered, I was greeted and sat. It didn’t take long for me to order. Though I noticed someone ordered food after me but got their food first. I just attributed that to my food taking longer to cook. I ordered the bacon and eggs, with hash browns, wheat toast, and a coffee. A basic breakfast that would be the litmus test for my visit. First thing I noticed was the half and half they brought out was the little packet cups of half and half. This tells me a lot about a breakfast restaurant. If they skimp on the little things, they skimp on the big things. But that doesn’t always mean a restaurant with fresh half and half makes good food. Just one indicator of a restaurant’s quality. The coffee itself was terrible. Burnt, bland and warm. The overly processed half and half did not help.

Then came the main dish. The bacon was some of the worst bacon I’ve been served in my life. It looks to have been sitting in a pan of grease for a while. As if they precook a bunch of bacon and let a pile sit and pick off of it per order to improve efficiency. It did not look fresh at all. Quality of bacon meat was evidently poor. Worse than Denny’s, even. See attached photo. I cannot attach video which shows more detail. I took one bite and became nauseous. I could not eat the rest.

I ordered the eggs over medium but it was closer to over easy, but I didn’t mind. The hash browns were decent. The toast was basic. I was only given one packet of jam when requested which isn’t sufficient. Had to flag down a waitress to request more.

The service was sub par. They weren’t rude. They just weren’t very attentive. They didn’t check on me. Never offered a refill on coffee or water (not that I really wanted more of the horrible coffee). Service was just not present. Still I’m not a jerk and tipped at least 15%. I normally tip 20%.

This is supposed to be a mom and pop shop. Freshness and great service should separate it from the national chain, Denny’s, a few yards away but there was nothing that differentiated this place.

I could have returned the food or ordered something else but all the indicators point to this place being one that lacks quality. There is nothing they can do today to change that. I wrote this thorough review with hope ownership/management can take feedback to change things for the better. Until then, I will not...

My last visit here was 3 Yeats ago. And the place and it's service hasn't changed. So sad. I went in here because I was coming from an appt. Family house was crowded so we opted to give Emma and her nieces a second shot. Well, that was a mistake...again. walk in, no greeting whatsoever. When a server showed to seat us she tried to put us in a corner. I asked to be seated by the windows and she..I swear this is true...shoved the menus in my hand and walked away! I was shocked. I almost walked out. But my Ex talked me into staying. So we seat ourselves. Server showed up. Service was ok and I was warming to the place. My food was midiocre. Pork Chops were cardboard thin and tasted like cardboard too! Actually made the eggs right. But drink refills are impossible to get. Once again we had to stop someone and ASK for refills. Still waiting on the bill! Last time I come here. Will find a different beast spot. Bye Emma.

I have eaten at this place since the 70s. It used to be good. Now im not so sure. I went here today because i had business in the area. And the National City location has consistent bad service. Well, National City must be training Chula Vista now. Because the service was bad. It started out good and went down hill. Coffee refill lagged. I gues you only get one cup and then you have to trick them into getting a refill. When i was done eating, and she cleared the table (just came over and picked up the playes, no 'how was it's', or 'would you like anything else's' just cleared the table...) ive gotten better service at Denny's! I walk up to the cashier after waiting 20 minutes for my check and aftet 2....2! Servers came and went... finally one of comes up and looks at me strange and says....wheres your check?. WTH?! "I got tired of waiting for it after 20 minutes" was my reply. Paid the bill and left NO TIP.... take the hint Emma... get your Nieces in line. They suck. At least the food was decent. But then its not hard to make a cheese omelet and toast with some beens refritos. But to be fair... most of the breakfast places in San Diego have poor service. They should send the staffs to places like Marinette Wisconsin and Romulus Michigan to learn what real...

We had put our name on waiting list. We were seeing people getting table's that came after us with same amount in group being seated. When we asked the person up front she said she was the cashier to take it up with the hostess, really!!!! We had no idea who that was...we're paying customers n u want me to chase down the hostess n not even knowing who that is, really!!!! Waited another 15 min and asked cashier why can she find the hostess n tell her we've been waiting almost 1hr n half now n they missed our name, we don't know who the hostess is, it's not a customer responsible or job to find a person to give us a table!!! She was so rude" n simply said just wait "again. I finally had enough i literally had to grab a waitress by walking thru the restaurant to tell her about whats going on. She got us a table right away after 1 hr n 45 mins wait and dealing with the rudest" cashier we've ever incountered. They failed to call our name by passing us up n cashier being disrespectful n rude not getting the hostess or giving us a table and made it our job to find some one to seat us, so unheard of!!!!!! I ordered a turkey sandwich on sourdough bread cuz its lunch time now. Sandwich had one very thin slice of turkey n tiny piece of lettuce n very thin slice of tomatoe n two small slices of avocado for $14 n bread was over toasted like a rock! The other two meals were breakfast was just thrown unto the plate my daughters food got cold cuz she had to wait 10 mins to get her toast n Omelet looked like mosh not sure what it was n her grandfather got his breakfast one item at a time 5 mins apart at different times n I had to wait 15 more minutes to get my sandwich after they got their cold disgusting breakfast that each item came 5min to 10mins apart...we waited all of this time to only wanting to have breakfast with family it wouldn't of been so bad if at least the food was some what decent would of made up for the WORSE service we've ever experienced in a restaurant.. if i can give this restaurant ZERO...