Morning Glory Cafe — Restaurant in Phoenix

I was super excited to go here for breakfast with my boyfriend and our two kids because I had heard awesome things and was immediately wowed by the atmosphere. However once actually seated and the waitress told us of the serve your own tea and coffee area the problems start. I assumed that since I had to serve my own beverages they would be complimentary but no. They were actually 3.50 a piece which in my opinion is pretty over priced for something I served myself. The table they sat us at was so wobbly that when the 7 year old went to get a refill my coffee actually tipped over and spilt everywhere. No one working there noticed so I used every napkin available to mop up the mess. The waitress did not smile, did not ask questions regarding our order ( what I ordered said there where options but she didn't ask), forgot who got what, never once checked on us. honestly the food was pretty good although my boyfriend did get an egg that wasn't cooked through. But overall I enjoyed my food. A bit over priced 60 dollars for a family of 4 and my 3 year old got one egg and 2 pieces of bacon so yeah.. 60 bucks seemed steep. Now my boyfriend was the one paying. I would have left a tip regardless of a less then satisfactory visit. He chose not to. As we are leaving the manager approaches us and asks why we didn't leave a tip Wow way to make us feel unwelcome. Then goes on to tell us how our waitresses don't make a good wage. That's why they count on our tips. Well.. I'm sorry our waitress made no attempt at doing a good job serving our table. You guys made 60 bucks on our table today you should pay them a decent wage. And I was extremely put off by her approach. I'm usually a good tipper and was embarrassed he didn't leave one but to call us out in front of a restaurant full of people after we had zero service because you guys don't pay your staff well or train them well or to be attentive to guests. She did not try to fix the issue simply said oh ok I was just wondering why you would do that. Yeah.. I won't...

I have been to the Cafe a handful of times and always enjoyed the food and ambiance. I took a friend visiting from Ohio last Thursday and was sadly disappointed. I really wanted this to be a good experience for her, but it fell far short of my previous experience. I understand that changes had to be made to the service as a result of COVID, so I was expecting things would be different. The problems this Cafe currently has goes beyond COVID. Here were my issues with the place: They used to have patio tables and chairs, but now you sit at picnic tables and benches, which lends a park atmosphere to the place and isn't comfortable. My friend and I ordered 2 entrees and 2 coffees. The omelet entree was 15.95. We added bacon for 4.00 and found a few pieces in there. The potatoes were on the verge of crunchy, though the flavor was good. We had no problems with the Bananas Foster Brioche French toast. That was great. You have to order at the counters and they call out your name when your food is ready in plastic to-go containers. The containers make it difficult to share. My friend and I split the omelet as well as the french toast and I had to eat my portions on the lid of the containers. This made me feel like I just went through the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant. The Cafe used to serve breakfast on actual plates with metal utensils. The coffee was lukewarm at best, and after putting a creamer in, it was cold. I ended up tossing the whole thing at the end of the meal. The total price excluding tip was 46.00 for 2 entrees, no tip. By comparison, a recent trip to Matt's Big Breakfast was 22.00 without coffee or tip.

In summary, unless you're willing to pay big bucks to sit awkwardly at a picnic table in a nice park while eating out of containers, I'd skip it and go to any number of places that are successfully operating during COVID without compromising their quality and service. Also, when I emailed the Cafe regarding my experience, I received...

This was my second visit to The Farm at South Mountain.

The first time, we visited in late October and had lunch at the Farm Kitchen. We ordered the Tuscan and the Pecan Chicken Salad sandwiches which were good but too light on protein and overpriced.

We visited again in late December and had breakfast at the Morning Glory. I had the Smoked Brisket Tacos and the Brioche French Toast. Others in our group had the Farm Monte Cristo and the Farm Breakfast Burrito. The food was good but nothing to write home about and overpriced for the portions we were served.

During both visits, we took our time enjoying our meals and then strolled through the grounds, while chatting and admiring the flower and vegetable gardens. In October, the pecan trees still had all their leaves so there was a lot of greenery and shade. In December, the grounds were littered with pecans and we cracked open a couple - yum! There are signs all over asking us not pick the fruit from the trees, but these were on the ground already so we figured there was no harm in it. 😉

We also stopped by the farm animals' area and enjoyed watching the pretty hens, and ducks. In December, there was also a large fluffy turkey that somehow made it past Thanksgiving! It goes without saying that our friends would be much happier with more living space - poor creatures!

We also went window-shopping at the onsite gift shop which is packed with cute, creative but overpriced items (as is the nature of anything in a gift shop). You can still look, though!

So why do we keep coming back? Because we enjoy all the greenery in the middle of this desert! The grounds are lovely and the experience is different each time (although I would definitely stay away during the long hot summers). I'd say we spent between 3.5 to 4 hours each visit and will be back for more before the real heat...