Broken Yolk Cafe — Restaurant in Irvine

This was my first time going to Broken Yolk in Irvine and I was really disappointed. I know how hard it is to run a restaurant, especially to meet high standards, and I admit I’m very picky, especially when it comes to food and hygiene. That said, this experience fell far short.

The place has a nice vibe and the staff was polite, though inattentive. I ordered the Meat Lover’s Omelette and it had pretty much no flavor. The presentation was okay, but nothing impressive. It didn’t live up to the hype.

Another issue I noticed was with the plates. They were big and heavy, which is fine, but it made it difficult for the servers to handle. When they brought them out, they had to place their thumbs inside the plates to hold them. You could actually see the finger marks around the edge of the plate, all the way from the kitchen to the table. Depending on how clean their hands are, and considering they also handle payments, cash, and more, this is a serious hygiene concern. This isn’t just a problem here but something many restaurants should address more seriously. Proper training, retraining, and attention to plate handling and hygiene are essential to avoid compromising the whole dining experience.

I also had a frustrating experience trying to get something as simple as real butter. I asked for butter and they brought me something else, so I called them back and asked if it was butter or margarine. The server said she would check and came back saying it was margarine. I asked again if they had real butter and she left to check, then returned and said they didn’t have butter, only margarine. I then asked if they had olive oil instead and she said they didn’t have that either.

For a place with a $35 medium ticket that calls itself a quality breakfast spot, this was really disappointing. I probably won’t be coming back. I’m sharing this so the management has clear and honest feedback to take action if they care to improve, and also so other customers get my real feeling...

Unfortunately we have a new restaurant in our city of living here 40 years & our food was horrible. My husband ordered the chicken fried steak, which was as hard as a rock & appeared to have been sitting under heat lamps for more than an hour. The sauce was dry and hard sitting in top of a hard chicken fried steak. I showed Alicia our waitress who said yes I see. My husband couldn’t eat it. She didn’t offer any solutions, no other options. My husband also ordered a Bloody Maria, he asked her what exactly was in the drink. She said vodka however he said it wasn’t vodka. I ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes. Nothing special guys. Just a pancake with a few blueberries, a small slice of lemon and powdered sugar. They should put a dab of ricotta cheese with a lemon slice and lemon zest in the pancakes with ricotta cooked inside the pancake and lemon. My pancake was barely warm. We ordered our food & within 2 minutes they were running it out. It had definitely been sitting somewhere. Not made to order at all. My husband never complains but he said we could have done better at Denny’s. He even said we should have gone to our old restaurant Mimi’s who had a packed parking lot, I guess everyone knows where the good food still is. We were also saying we should have gone to original house of pancakes it’s just a bit farther. I notified our waitress thinking she would give my husband an alternative but we were definitely disappointed when she saw how hard the chicken fried steak was that he could not eat it and did nothing. Don’t waste your time or money on this place. We aren’t going back and we have a huge family here in Irvine and are notifying everyone not to go. If they keep this type of horrible unsafe inedible food they will be closed in 2 years. No one will go. I see you write to your customers reviews however learn to address the issues when your customers bring the issues to your attention at your restaurant...

On our first visit to Broken Yolk Cafe, we started out with the BYC Bloody Mary. Served with a slice of bacon, it’s a very tasty Bloody Mary but there was a unique flavor in it that I did not recognize. I think that the “vodka spirit” is not actually vodka but rather a wine-based spirit that simulates the vodka flavor profile and I think wine was the flavor I was picking up. Their Bloody Mary mix and Tajin rim is banging! It’s worth ordering as long as you don’t feel like it must be real vodka.

I enjoy a good corned beef hash, so I wanted to try the Hash Skillet. Unfortunately, the waitress said that they don’t prepare the hash fresh on the premises. I’m not a fan of canned hash, so I decided to order the Ranchero Skillet instead. It was very flavorful, although I would have liked the chorizo more prominent. I ordered the eggs over-medium but they were slightly overcooked (i.e. most of the yolk was not runny). Nonetheless, it was a satisfying dish overall.

My companion ordered the Chilaquiles Bowl with the green sauce. The eggs on her bowl were cooked perfectly over-medium. She said that salsa was very good and, as a Mexican, she knows how an authentic salsa verde should taste. They also managed to find that balance where the chips are well smothered with the salsa but still have some crispiness. This plate is definitely worth ordering.

Broken Yolk Cafe is a great place to go for brunch since they also have a full lunch menu. Our server was Susie and she was friendly and attentive. The portions on both plates were generous, so we left full and satisfied. I’ll definitely return because there are a few other dishes that...