Encinitas Cafe — Restaurant in Encinitas

Encinitas Cafe Our rating was a 3 out of 5 (see formula below) Their rating was based on the following four criteria:

Service - Easily the best service so far compared to other restaurants reviewed. Extremely attentive. They were always checking to see if our drinks were full, or if we wanted more. They were also very friendly.

Food - I opted for the homade chili and daughter decided to have breakfast for lunch. Perhaps that was the name on the can of chili that they served me. The appearance was too uniform to be homemade and the taste was not that of an authentic homemade meal. Daughter enjoyed the oversized blueberry pancake, scrambled egg and bacon.

Ambiance - a typical cafe with counter service if desired. Background music was enjoyable and was probably a few years old from current songs.

Cost - Compared to how much food we got, the price seemed adequate. It was the most expensive of all the other places we’ve been to so far, but probably the most food so far. I got a plate-sized pancake, scrambled egg, and 2 slices of bacon. My dad got a small bowl of chilli, of course we got a side of onion rings, and 2 drinks.

To grade each restaurant, we give each category a 1-5 rating, add it all up, then divide by 4. We were thoroughly surprised by how much we enjoyed this restaurant. We ended up giving them a ⅗ stars. One of our...

I have been coming to this café since high school and every time that I visit it’s always consistently really good. I would say that the selling point is the location and the service, the food is not the best in San Diego, but still it will be a really satisfying breakfast. Parking is very easy because you can find a street space or a free lot space in the park-and-ride parking lot in the rear, however this may be difficult on weekend mornings. All the servers and staff have always been consistently really polite and honestly, it’s one of my favorite parts of coming here. Inside is very large compared to the other diner across the street and it can host many different sized groups.

For this most recent visit, I chose the Avocado Benedict and thought it was OK. The eggs were a little bit overdone and the hollandaise was almost peppery, but I still enjoyed it. I also ordered a Cinnamon Roll and thought it was a great sweet treat for breakfast. It’s not as light and fluffy as some other versions but more dense. I would definitely recommend this place and I will...

I having been coming here for many years. Both breakfast and lunches. Fast, friendly service. Inside, outside, booth, table or counter (my favorite when breakfasting alone). Great food with generous portions, cooked from scratch, to order. This is NOT franchise fast food. One of the last of its kind.

Update after 6/25/25 visit: Thankfully, nothing has changed!

Today I had a late breakfast on the street patio. Same great service. The bacon, cheese and avocado omelet with fruit instead of potatoes and fresh banana-walnut bread instead of toast was awesome. Skipping lunch. 😂

Why stand in line for a sack or tray of chemicals at a fast food chain? Encinitas Cafe has larger portions (no need to order 2 like Egg McMuffins) and it's wholesome food. It's real not chemicals (healthy or not is your choice), they have waiters/waitresses that come to you. And it's a local business, so the money stays in town rather than corporate execs and investment...