Harry's Coffee Shop — Restaurant in San Diego

My father cooked in the Navy, so I grew up on a breakfast dish called "S.O.S.," a mess hall acronym for "Same Old Stuff."

S.O.S. is either chipped beef or ground beef in a roux-based gravy served over a slice of toast. Not having had it since I left home when I was 17, I was excited to order Harry's rendition of this military breakfast staple, here called "Creamed Chipped Beef," and served with hash browns and an English muffin - but surprisingly no eggs - which seemed unusual for a "meat and potatoes" breakfast dish that cost $11. After all, this was a recipe designed to feed soldiers as cheaply as possible, so I was confused why it was so expensive. Nonetheless, I ordered a couple of eggs 'a la carte' for an additional charge.

What was served to me had very minimal resemblance to the "Creamed Chipped Beef" I enjoyed growing up. The sauce was too runny, the beef was too scant, and the flavor too watered down. It tasted like beef in warm milk, as it lacked basic seasoning like adequate amounts of salt and pepper. Even worse, Harry's kitchen was unable to correctly cook eggs sunny side up, as the eggs I spent extra money on had unset whites (look at the gross photo I've attached to this review). To make this failure complete, the hash browns were mushy on the inside and tasted gummy.

As usual, I'm frustrated that very few diners or breakfast eateries in San Diego know how to do basic things like properly cook eggs, but for a breakfast place that's been around since 1960, they've had nearly 60 years to learn, and it is inexcusable to serve this to customers.

In short, I'm usually sad after a bad meal, but this place made me angry, as it soiled the memory of a breakfast staple of my childhood that I hadn't had for over 20 years. Obviously, I don't recommend Harry's. I'll be bringing my future breakfast dollar to restaurants that at least know how...

I usually do not like giving out bad reviews but the service at Harry’s today was so atrociously bad that I feel a need to speak up. After waiting around 20 minutes to get seated we hear our name called (no problem with this, they warned us and it was a Sunday morning so a wait time this long is reasonable). After getting seated they come back to us and tell us that actually this was not our table and we would have to go back to waiting! So whatever, they unseat us from our table and we wait another 5 minutes and get seated again. Then after getting seated we proceed to wait 20 minutes without so much as getting greeted or getting a glass of water. As we were just about to get up and leave, our server finally comes over and asks us “You know what you want?” like somehow we had been the ones keeping her waiting. Now we order our food and we order a coffee and some waters. Thankfully they brought our waters out promptly, but about 10 minutes after we ordered a girl came out and confirmed that we had ordered a mocha. After she left, we waited another 10 minutes with no server in sight. They bring out our food and still no coffee. Just as I was about to ask, however, they finally bring it out, no apologies for how long it took to bring out. Again, it was a busy Sunday so we were trying to be understanding, but we would not have ordered a coffee if we knew it was going to come out after our food. Finally, after we finished eating we again sat there and waited for our check for over 20 minutes with no server in sight. Getting over the pretty poor service we went through, the food tasted pretty decent. Nothing super special, but a solid breakfast you would think... About 5 hours after eating, without getting into too many details, the food came back with revenge. I will absolutely NEVER go back to Harry’s again. Terrible service and food that makes your...

Harry's is a landmark for La Jolla and it stands up to its reputation as a fun, casual breakfast and brunch hot spot. The service is ALWAYS friendly. One time, I really wanted chili fries but they're not on the menu. I asked (politely!) and the waitress said it wouldn't be a problem.

A let down is that the ladies room is so tiny (one stall), so there can be a line. But at least it's not the men's room, which is technically outside. And on weekend mornings, there's one young host who doesn't keep the best track of who got there first and will seat pretty young white girls quickly as opposed to the brown couple that was there five minutes earlier, the family with toddlers, or the older couple who's probably been coming there for years. But generally the service is really great, efficient, and super friendly, especially from the waitresses and the drink servers. The menu is broad without being gigantic, so there's something for everyone. Now, their food isn't gourmet or amazingly fresh, but that's not why you go to a place like this. This is where you go when you need a big tasty breakfast, fast. That being said, don't order the biscuits. I couldn't cut through them with my fork! DO get the the Superfecta (3 pancakes or a waffle, hash browns, two eggs any style, and two strips of bacon or pieces of sausage links), and ask for the house salsa for those hash browns. Aw. Yeah. They also have a legit espresso machine, and you can get those drinks to go as an after meal treat. I strongly recommend this places for family and friend get togethers, or just brunch with your sweetheart(s). And be sure to check out all the cool historic paraphernalia...