Potato Shack Cafe — Restaurant in Encinitas

The sign should read "LOCALS ONLY" and you should heed the warning. the place is pretty small and there is barely any room between tables, BUT they've made room for a rather large ATM machine right by the front door and next to a couple of tables. You might think this is weird BUT considering they DO NOT take credit cards, (the teen kid that cuts my lawn takes credit cards) it makes sense that they have an ATM on-site so you can pay them a $3 fee to get the cash to pay them. I thought that was sort of shady but we stayed for breakfast anyway. Food was OK, potato's a bit greasy and they apeahrently don't know that over medium is whites cooked but the bacon was amazing. No kids menu and having to order and pay for adult meals for a 4 and 8 year old sucked... Almost as bad as the coffee did... Which was the real kick in the wallet... I ordered 1 cup of coffee and then had a refill.. at this establishment that counts as 2 cups at $2.75 a cup totaling $5.50... Yup they actually charged me for a coffee refill. It really seamed like a local place, especially since a local recommended it, and I'm sure the locals don't get charged for the coffee refill s... I suppose the snippy attitude from the owner/waitress should have clued me in, especially when she was silky nice with the...

So it saddens me to have to give a 1 star. To note, Food is excellent, friendly staff, positive vibe. No disrespect to this establishment. And I’ve visited often for 6 years or so. And always a good experience, aside from the last (and final) time we visited.

When I arrived with my partner awhile back, we were told we could choose our own seats by a server. And when we went to go sit down, the owner, stopped us and basically yelled at us to sit wherever he told us. He said it in an extremely rude and aggressive tone. To make matters worse when I asked why we couldn’t sit where we wanted (following the servers orders), he again snapped that he’s the owner and it’s his choice. We were genially taken back by this kind of a greeting. Of course, after everything was fine. And maybe it was a bad day. But there is NO excuse to be nasty to the people who support your establishment.

I’m prob the 1% who has given this place a poor review. But my partner and I both come from a service background and agreed that was way over the line. Chances are you will have a stellar experience though. We just were unlucky to have crossed paths in...

We were doing a local kids' running race and wanted to try something new in town. We love potatoes and really enjoy The Potato Shack's small-town feel. It was Saturday around 11 a.m., so as expected, the parking in the area was terrible.

The eatery was busy, with a pretty good amount of tables outside, booths inside, and a short wait, nothing too bad.

The service was a bit slow even after the crowd left, but the food was excellent. Eggs, potatoes, (the homemade salsa was really good), biscuits and gravy, yummy. Eggs Benedict for my wife and a plate-sized kids' chocolate pancake for my son. All were very good. The pancake had a nice crunch on the outside. The hot chocolate was really good, coffee was meah, typical diner coffee.

They don't take cash, which was surprising but kind of cool for some odd reason. Haha. They do have a cash machine on-site and take Venmo.

This reminds me of an old diner in the Midwest—older inside, cozy feeling with hearty comfort food and very large portions. We really liked it here. Check this place out with a big appetite, patience for parking, and some...