The Potholder Cafe Traffic Circle P3 — Restaurant in Long Beach

Was super excited to come here to the Potholder. Every time I drive by there seems to be a line. So, wife and i decided to give it a try for breakfast/brunch on a Saturday morning.

We arrived about 1030am. Signed in, waited about 30 min, then we were seated. We sat in a pretty spacious patio out back. The place was running on all cylinders!

First thing I notice is that service is tip top. Everyone was very efficient, pleasant and helpful. Second thing i notice is that even is very clean and organized. With limited space it's very helpful. And finally tho is an amazing space for families with little kids and open enough for strollers!

However, one looming issue with my wife and i was the food. I don't know if this was just an off day, but besides the hash browns, everything we ordered seemed bland from the coffee ($3.25 with free refills), hot chocolate, mimosas (($10.95) and bloody Mary ($10.95)to the tall stack of banana nut pancakes. I placed an order for Maritime loco Moco ($13.45) to share with my daughter. Not sure how they make brown gravy but it underwhelmed and tasted like it came from a can or box. Eggs Florentine ($11.95) that my wife ordered were pretty decent, especially the hash browns. But the main part of the dish also underwhelmed. Hollandaise sauce was bland for me. And finally the tall stack of pancakes ($10.95) with banana nut ($1.95) cooked in. Portions was huge, which I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, but texture and flavor wise i bit chewy. Not sure if it was the nuts or walnuts cooked in that made it chewy, but my wife and forced ourselves to eat about 1/2 the order whole we just left the other half.

There are definitely a number of other items on the menu that i would otherwise try. I don't know of I'd order the same things again.

All in all, not sure what the hype here is. For me, service is excellent but food for me wasn't worth the price. However, come an try for yourself and see....

Wanted to try somewhere new, but this will be my first and last time here.

Atmosphere: 9/10 Definitely an establishment that has been here for awhile. Very small on the inside and most of the seating is in the back of the restaurant. I saw several heating lamps that should help keep patrons stay warm when the cold weather officially hits. Wouldn’t hurt to get some updating, but overall it’s clean at the least.

Service: 10/10 Greeted warmly, allowed to sit where I wanted and everyone was very attentive. It was the best team work I’ve seen in a long time.

Food: 2/10 The only reason I won’t return is the food. I got the Popeye scramble with hash browns and sourdough bread. No seasoning was used at all and the salt and pepper didn’t help so I slathered everything in ketchup which didn’t help much either because I’m not a huge fan of ketchup.

The eggs were over cooked, the hash browns were more like mashed potatoes, and at least the toast was toasted to perfection. I didn’t complain and I was very hungry so I dug in, but half way through I found a hair in my food.

As someone who refuses to complain I asked to pay my bill and was offered a box, I told my server about the hair and showed her, she felt awful that this happened and offered to have my food remade. I told her it was fine, I didn’t want to complain but just pay my bill. She was very sweet and ensures I was ok with not getting my food redone, of which I insisted it was fine.

This could be a great place, but the bland food will keep me from coming back. I can forgive one piece of hair because things happen, but their recipes need...

I ordered a California omelette, sour dough toast, and a short stack of (which would be 3) BLUEBERRY PANCAKES. Not buttermilk pancakes...BLUEBERRY PANCAKES! I was charged $34.00 and some change for this breakfast. And what did I get? A bland tasting omelette, SOGGY sour dough toast with no jam, and BUTTERMILK PANCAKES.

I specifically ordered BB pancakes because I have always believed Potholder #3 had the best BB pancakes in the LBC. On top of that, I called them to let them know they screwed up my order, and the waitress who took my call says, "Oh, well, I didn't charge you for the blueberries."? Seriously? No "Hey man, so sorry. Come on back and we'll have some BB pancakes ready for you."?

And to top it off, they gave me only ONE syrup...for a short stack. Really? Like..give me one syrup if I order ONE pancake. You give me ONE syrup for a short stack? I'd be lucky if I could get a third of my stack smothered in syrup. Needless to say, I threw this shitty breakfast away. So done with this place. I'm not one to Yelp, but this breakfast and shitty customer service really ruined my morning.

Going to start getting my breakfast at "Schooner or Later". Sure it's out of my way drive wise, and a little bit more expensive, but at least they'll give me my short stack of BB pancakes and TWO syrups, coupled with GREAT...