The Breakfast Den — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I never write reviews, but this experience was so bad that I felt I had to share.

We came in on a rainy day with a group of 5 and it was pretty crowded. We were told it would be over an hour wait for a table so we decided to order take out. While we were waiting at the front, a very rude waitress said, "it would take 25-30mins for the takeout, but you can't wait here" in such a condescending tone. I understand that the place was small, but there was no one behind us and no one coming in so we weren't in anyone's way. Did she want us to wait in the rain for half an hour? She didn't even ask nicely if we can wait outside. She demanded us to leave and we stood there confused why we were being treated this way.

After she basically tried to kick us out, two tables opened up. We asked if we can sit at the tables instead of waiting outside in the rain and we could tip separately since we paid for the take out already. The waitress had to go back to the kitchen and discuss about it. A different waitress came back and tried to convince us to leave, saying they had a big party of people they had to tend to or some other excuse. So, because they had a big group of people seated right now, no one else is allowed to dine in on the two empty tables? In fact, a couple who just came in was seated at a different table that also opened up. Had we known all these tables would open up in about 15 minutes, we could've avoided all of this and just waited for a table instead of ordering take out.

We wanted to speak to the manager, but the waitress said the manager is busy cooking in the kitchen. However, it seems like the manager was busy talking with her friends, which was the big party of people the waitress was referring to. So instead of talking with us to try to work out this situation, she sends her waitresses, one at a time, to try to make us leave while she chats with her friends right in front of us. If I were her, I would be embarrassed to display such unprofessionalism in front of my friends.

After going back and forth with a third waitress, we were obviously very mad about how this whole situation was handled. We asked if we can just cancel our orders because we didn't feel welcomed and we didn't want to deal with this hostility anymore. After going back to the kitchen to discuss one more time, the third waitress finally said we can sit at the two empty tables.

This third waitress took care of us and waited our tables. We appreciated that she still took care of us after all this happened. We thanked her and wanted to tip her personally, but she said they all share the tips. That was unfortunate because we really don't think the first waitress, who tried to kick us out, deserved any of it, and definitely not the manager who ignored us.

Overall, the food was fine, but not worth the headache and bad service we had...

Had a very mixed experience today, most of the negative points is for the situation and service. Skip to the bottom for the review on the food.

Situation: When we went in today, the restaurant was quite compact and we saw a full house with a large party of 20+. We asked how long the wait would be, was told that the wait was about an hour so we decided we could just do take out. We were told that we were not allowed to wait in the restaurant by server A, while it was raining outside. After being told we had to wait outside because the restaurant was cramped and that we had to wait 25-30 mins... We saw that there were two tables that opened up. We asked if instead we could do dine in. They told us that they wouldn't allow people who ordered take out to dine in because of a prior negative experience. I would be more understanding about the take out but because it was raining and we were told to find a place to shelter ourselves until our food was ready, it made me very upset. After conversing with server B for a while, the manager finally decided to tell the server B to let us dine in. Server B was very gracious and patient with us when she waited our tables. Sadly, we were not able to get her name, but she made us feel taken care of despite us having a difficult and negative conversation prior. Understandably, the situation put everyone in uncomfortable positions, but still grateful for server B. **the manager/owner(?) was too busy waiting and conversing with her party of 20+ people made up of assumingly her friends/family than to take care of our situation directly.

Food: The food was great... we ordered the fried eggplant bahn mi, herby chicken bahn mi and crispy chicken bahn mi... which we all enjoyed. Drinks that we ordered were mediocre. The vietnamese coffee was not made to order, and it was mediocre with not enough of a deep vietnamese coffee flavor or enough condensed milk. The green tea matcha latte was alright.

The main reason for the 2 stars is simply because the food was still enjoyable and server B helped the situation. I would advise to just not come here if the place is packed and if the weather outside is...

My girlfriend and I are here visiting for the weekend. We are from Massachusetts and it’s our first time in Philly. Our original plan was to go to another place. But life works in mysterious ways. As soon as you walk in, you’re comforted with a sense of familiarity. It really does feel like home. Hard working people that enjoy what they do. Now the food, I’ve always loved Vietnamese. Especially Bahn Mi’s! Mixing brunch with their cuisine was not only genius, but the execution was stellar. I got a breakfast rice bowl and a crispy pork belly bahn. My girl got a breakfast bahn mi (madness!). Did I mention the porks egg rolls? I’ll have dreams about them I know it…. As you can tell, we were STARVING when we went and they did not disappoint. Very nice people. The ambience was so warm and beautiful. My favorite part was the back wall. As you can see, it was repaired our refurbished. But they decided to built around it. Make the imperfections speak for themselves. And it was breathtaking. So much love went into this place. I hope they continue to do what they love and people coming to support a beautiful business. My only regret is not trying the congee....