Kelly’s Cafe — Restaurant in Dubuque

The service was well below subpar. Very frustrating. My family consisting of myself, husband and 21 yo son plus our married next door neighbors, went here after a morning wake. We were all seated promptly. Still took waitress a more than adequate and substantial amount of time 2 get 2 us. Ordered our drink choices. 3 of our orange juices plus my husband's milk, were room temp. Again, a substantial wait. All of Which I could clearly over look...if they'd been busy. That was NOT the case at all. It was around 10 am. She FINALLY came to take our orders. By this time we'd been there almost 20 minutes. Ridiculous. Yet ANOTHER substantial wait. I'm not too sure WHAT she was doing, but my pancake wouldn't even melt butter! It was absolutely not even warm, much less hot, to the touch. My omletter was EXTREMELY BROWN, VERGING ON BLACK, on the bottom. My hasbrowns were were a greasy, soggy, mashed up cluster #uck. They honestly looked like they were dropped. And extremely greasy looking with very little golden color and ABSOLUTELY NO SITE of anything even remotely crispy. I, against my better judgement, at least tried them. Literally NO salt or pepper. My husband's meal of eggs, sausage and hashbrowns were fine, but again...room temp verging on cold, toast. My son's French toast wouldn't melt butter either. My neighbor's skillet, while HUGE, was room temp. His toast was the same consistency and condition as my husband's. His wife's omlette came out 7-8 minutes after we all started 2 eat and was amazing, looking as were her hashbrowns...but ONLY bc there was a a mix up between either the waitress or cook and it was originally prepared with an item she specifically asked to have deleted from the taken order. Her toast was golden brown, crisp, buttery and hot. Then we WAITED for take home boxes and then waited AGAIN and had 2 ask twice for our bill...even though we were clearly done with our meal since we requested take home boxes!!! Got our bills. I had asked for my omlette to have the sausage and green peppers taken out bc I'm allergic to green peppers and while I like sausage, it upsets my stomach way too much to contend with. Asked 2 substitute ham for the sausage. We actually got CHARGED for my ham addition. But, interestingly enough, received no credit for the 2 originally requested deleted ingredients. Granted, the additional cost wasn't expensive, it was unexpected and it's the PRINCIPLE of the matter. I had intended 2 buy some gift cards there for us and for some of our older relatives for Christmas gifts for this upcoming holiday season. I quickly NOPED out of that idea. Instant hard pass for me after this huge disaster of a 10 am breakfast when they...

Went for brunch with a large group and no reservations. They accommodated us. The menu has a nice selection. You can do breakfast any time. Hashbrowns are perfect. Portions are generous and prices reasonable. Room for improvement in the area of service, but like Pappa Oz, it depends on who you get. They seem to have a lot of seating and tables aren't jammed close together. Decor is not recent but if you're going for decent food and good value, you really couldn't ask for more. Also, one suggestion: another reviewer commented that the 9 dollar eggs-only option didn't come with toast. That is a valid point. Since the loaded skillets and omelets come with either Pancake or toast and include a hefty serving of hashbrowns all for ony 12, then I suggest just throwing in a couple slices of toast with that 9 dollar eggs-only option. That would be more in keeping with the other prices and values. I will...

First time visitors (there were 5 in our party) and we all ordered different ddishes. I had the Roast Beef and Gravy with Mashed Potatoes (pic.) Gotta tell you that this was some of the best d**n roast beef I've had in a restaurant EVAH. Others in our party had Corned Beef Hash with Eggs and Toast, a Rice Bowl, a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich and finally, Turkey and Gravy with fries.

Mackenzie was our server, and she said it was her 1st day (not sure if she was joking.) She did a GREAT job in checking with us, making sure all was ok, and refilling.

If you follow me, you know my wife and I travel lots, and we take note of the restroom facilities in dining establishments. Kelly's didn't disappoint, so good job Kelly's. And finally ... if management reads this and finds out that Veteran's Day was Mackenzie's 1st day, would you please take time to tell her that her efforts did not...