Crest Cafe — Restaurant in San Diego

I've eaten at Crest several times over the last 20 years. I've never been impressed. It's like you often hear, you can either have good food or atmosphere but you can't have both. Well, I've always felt this place was cute but the food wasn't that great. It's certainly not memorable.

Last weekend our group of 6 decided to meet here. When we arrived, the lobby was empty and the first 3 of us showed up together. The staff wouldn't seat us until our complete party had arrived. Now I think this is reasonable if there is a wait, but the place had open tables and no one else waiting. In the 20 minutes we waited, we could have been seated and spending money on mimosas. Instead we were forced to wait. Finally, the one waiter with common sense seated us despite not having a complete party.

As a paying customer, I chose to use the free WiFi. After leaving I received a request to please provide feedback. So I did! I provided my honest feedback detailing our dissatisfaction with the seating policy as well as feedback about the mediocre quality of the food. But our waiter was GREAT! Instead of receiving a concerned response seeking further feedback or kindly addressing my concerns, I got an email with a nasty tone accusing me of using their free WiFi to provide "hurtful" feedback.

The owner clearly can't handle constructive criticism. I definitely won't be back to this place until I see that ownership has changed.

I've never thought it was all that good, and now I won't waste my time.

My review:

Someone left Crest Cafe a review!

We were told you “don’t seat incomplete parties on Sundays.” Meanwhile we sat in the entry way for over 20 minutes when we could have been at a table drinking mimosas. Only one other party walked in and was seated during that period. Your rule is self defeating and only pisses your customers off. We asked ourselves why we bother coming to crest cafe....it’s not like the food is outstanding. You’re limiting yourselves as a business and you’re being cocky for no good reason.

The owner, Cecelia’s response:

Hi there! Thank you for providing hurtful feedback while using our Free WiFi! We really feel bad but it seems like you had to wait only Because some folks that you dined with kept you waiting. Obviously, we have no control over that, but we find that all Of our guests can be better served in a timely fashion when Their entire party is present!

Sincerely All of us at the “not cocky” Crest Cafe. (...

Our family landed early in San Diego on a Sunday (3/24) morning, having flown in from Sacramento, and everyone was hungry. Searched for highly rated breakfast eateries within 20 miles of San Diego airport using Google Maps AI. Crest Cafe came up via search and thought we give it a go since it was too far from where we were staying at. Parking is a bit challenging for the area; we ended up paying for parking just a few short blocks away. The exterior and interior decor of the restaurant is pretty neat, reminiscent of the 50’s and takes you back in time. We were able to get a table by walking in without having to wait. We were seated at the corner closer to the street. We quickly noticed an interesting smell in the air and turns out the smell was from the restroom. While not dirty or gross smelling but also not good if you’re sitting down about to have a meal. They need to do something about ventilation in the restroom; it’s a distraction to the dining experience. Our server was good. She was polite and hospitable. Took our order promptly and wasn’t intrusive. A 4.5/5.

We ordered round of drinks (soda, water, coffee). My coffee mug unfortunately was dirty with signs that it wasn’t cleaned well with food stains on the side of the mug (yuck!). The coffee was watered down and tasted cheap. The food took about 15 minutes to arrive warm from the kitchen. All came out looking great and the taste was very good. We got the Burritos and Omelettes. The portions were huge. Food is a solid 4.5/5. With 3 meals and drinks, our total came to almost $90 after tax and tip. A bit pricey for breakfast. Value to price ratio is about a 3/5. Over all experience is about a 3/5.

Our experience at Crest was much different than others. If you come here and don’t mind the smell of the restroom then inside seating is fine. Otherwise consider seating outside if it’s on a warm day. Expect to pay a higher price for breakfast however. Do check your silverware and plates to make sure they are clean. Service is good as mentioned which is nice. You don’t won’t walk away hungry. Don’t forget to compliment your server. They work hard!

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Service guy in his middle age, dark blonde with glasses was so agressive about my friend & I trying to use the facilities. I get it, paying customers are the aim but we were also planning to view the menu after taking care of business. But this guy wanted an order before. We ordered a soda & paid cash while he left to fullfill the order as we used the facilities. He didn't even provide us the respect of providing our order inside, rather he stood outside with our cup with strangers but seemingly also delivering a drink to three black women in a similar situation (doing the same for them---but to provide further context, I'm Latinx & my friend is caucasian... so this was not a racial conflict but rather of sexism?). He didn't even offer change back & kept it like he was entitled to it ...yuck! This guy has no customer service, seems non apologetically against women's basic needs, lacking basic business components to serve the community in which it is trying to appeal or sell to. I've ever only written 3 poor reviews in my 38 years of life, this being the 3rd. But after this unjustfiably offensive encounter, I was compelled to share immediately. So upsetting but more so, saddened because it looked really cute & inviting—quite the jarring contradiction of what we experienced. Will never return to give a 2nd chance & differ all good humans from supporting this behavior in treatment towards women.

In response to my review: dear business owner, I'm all about supporting minority & women owned businesses but the reactive remark that "For Cityfest attendees there are facilities right across the street for all your needs" is a prejudicial & discrimanatory attitude that feeds into the offensive treatment we experienced, as it disregards my note of intention to become customers when noting our desire to view the menu (dine-in was our aim). We were looking for a quite space to relax in. The accupancy of just 1 table in use was our atmospheric appeal (but we were focused on addressing more urgent matters beforehand). I never mentioned we were event attendees. The server's whole demeanor was not welcoming nor offering the option for dine in. So, ok. We followed the vibe, left, &...