Rustic Café — Restaurant in Odessa

We visited the Rustic Cafe last night and both ended up ordering a cheeseburger. I originally ordered the pancake breakfast as I was told on an earlier occasion that the Rustic Cafe serves breakfast all day long. Our waiter, Kyle, told me that they didn’t have pancakes! I thought was odd, since they say the serve breakfast all day & “how hard is it to keep pancake batter made & stored”?? However, i accepted his response, & ended up ordering a cheese burger like my husband. We had seen burgers served there previously & was his main reason for wanting to eat there last night, was to try the burger, as it always has looked so good!!. We have visited the Rustic Cafe several times now since it’s opening & with each visit had an issue with each meal. First of all I want to say that the restaurant is beautiful, the staff is very professional, & it is very clean. It may be the manager or cook that is the issue here, not the waitstaff. Having said that, the restaurant in itself is very much something that is very desirable as customers (retirees) who eat out 2-3 times a week ...And in spite of some food issues we will continue to visit & hope some of the food issues are resolved. The cheeseburgers were served & looked wonderful, the vegetables, grilled bun, etc, I thought were above average. However, the meat used in the burger was not!!. It was maybe one of the worst meat patties I / we both have eaten. It was tasteless, no “good old beef flavor” at all, & very dry! I questioned whether it was really beef or some mixture with tofu or something?? The presentation was great, but the flavor of “a good ole, old fashioned juicy burger” was definitely missing. There are many fast food burgers in our area that beat this meat patty by 100%. We will never order a burger there again!. Hopefully, they will change these patties to a better quality of beef. However, the onion rings & french fries served with the burgers were great!! Secondly, we have ordered breakfast there 2-3 times & each time they have been without the potatoes on the menu & “substituted” with tater tots” which are not what they show on the menu! They should mention this and give you another choice. It should be explained that they don’t have the piotatoes on the menu & not automatically assume everyone likes tater tots. Thirdly on another occasion, we ordered chicken fried steak & shared it, along with sides.& ordered an extra side of potatoes. The chicken fried steak was great & plenty big to share, but the sides were not!! They are really small portions. Also, the cooks were really stingy with the cream gravy on the steak & on the mashed potatoes. We mentioned that the gravy didn’t even cover the steak & asked for more gravy, our waitress brought us gravy in a small bowl but it was only filled halfway. In fact, my husband mentioned that it was only half-full, waitress looked embarrassed, but didn’t bother to offer to fill it. However, we did notice that she charged us for an extra bowl of gravy when we paid out”!! Which i thought was a little too much!! However, we didn’t say anything at the time, just paid it! WE also always tip well, so maybe the cook needs to keep in mind, when prepping plates. I mean how expensive...

Tried a few places around town yet none of these topped the rustics brunch spot. Thanks to Tesseract’s warm, unobtrusive service and Nicolas’s steady hand in the kitchen. They outweighed they’re nearby competitors.

Right away, the pancakes stole the spotlight: impossibly fluffy, with just enough sweetness to let the melted butter shine without overpowering. Each stack arrived perfectly golden, inviting you to dive in bite after bite. Not to be outdone, the Texas toast followed close behind. Thick-cut, its edges crisped to a fine crunch and the center luxuriously soft, slicked generously with butter that soaked in without ever feeling greasy. Together, they set a standard so high that everything else on the table felt like an encore.

Still, the supporting cast held its own. The chorizo chipped in a friendly kick of spice that complemented the pancakes without stealing their thunder. Bacon came off the grill crackling and smoky, offering a welcome textural contrast. Boneless wings, coated in a barbecue sauce with a bright tang and gentle smokiness, had me sneakily reaching for “just one more.” And those little potatoes crispy exteriors yielding to fluffy centers were the perfect savory punctuation.

By the time I finished, it was clear: this spot knows how to brunch. But it’s the heavenly pancakes and the show-stopping Texas toast that make it unforgettable. If Michelin ever judges weekend breakfasts, this place has already baked its way onto the...

It's a cafe, so it's cafe food. I ordered chicken and waffles, that's what I got, 2 chicken strips and a waffle with a plastic cup about ⅓ full of syrup. I asked for more syrup and some white gravy for the chicken strips. I meant to ask for butter but i forgot and didn't want to make the server go back again. The food was okay, it wasn't nasty but it wasn't tasty either, just okay. My wife noted the faint sewage smell in the air, which I actually thought was just a figment of my imagination, it wasn't. It kind of lingered in the air until I just got used to it and couldn't smell it anymore. She got some mashed potatoes and some mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was good and the potatoes were just okay. Our server was nice enough and the atmosphere was decent enough, except for that smell.

Lastly, the parking: Whoever decided on putting the handicapped spots on the end, furthest away from the door, well, that's just foolish. It only makes sense that they're supposed to be closer to the door for people who have limited mobility. It's actually the law to be ADA compliant. "Accessible parking spaces must be located on the shortest accessible route to an accessible facility entrance." These spots are as far away from the entrance as possible. Since the whole area is flat, with no curbs, it's just baffles me that they'd do this.

I the end, I just don't feel like I'll be going out of my way to eat here again as it was...