Richard Walker's Pancake House — Restaurant in San Diego

Not too impressed with Richard Walker’s! 1st time there….it was a quiet, rainy Thursday afternoon…about an hour and a half before closing. I mention that as a possible “reason” for the behavior of our waitress. She acted confused when I asked for a soft drink…she rolled her eyes at me when I said we needed more time to look at the menu! Maybe she just wanted to go home…Maybe asking if we had any questions about the menu was too much to hope for, but we didn’t expect the attitude. Our experience was basically a string of similar interactions with the waitress…we chose this restaurant to try something new….didn’t realize it was a chain….and for the dog friendly patio. We go to nearby dog beaches fairly often and enjoy trying new places. Let me cut to the chase…we were just starting to eat and this waitress walks up and tells my husband that our little dog cannot sit on his lap under the table! I was shocked we do this all the time and have never had a problem. Don’t understand the issue…he’s not in the way of anyone walking by…his feet don’t touch the booth…he’s not touching the table…if “hair” was the concern, it’s OUR food on the table…there was no one else around…and really, like hair couldn’t blow if they were sitting on the floor next to the booth? I assume booths and tables are cleaned between guests?! What was the problem? She offered no explanation or apology and that was the final straw! We took our food to go and don’t expect to be back! Really wouldn’t call this a dog friendly patio the food was so-so and the entire experience was disappointing! To wrap up on a positive note…..the gentleman cleaning tables was super nice! He had a friendly smile and was the best part...

The location was really convenient, and pleasant for a weekend breakfast with family. The menu was pretty extensive, with a good variety of breakfast options. The servers were attentive, friendly, and it wasn't much of a wait.

However, the food preparation just wasn't that great, despite clearly using high-quality ingredients. I ordered their "Venetian Benedict" (which has spinach and mushroom, with bacon crumble on top, instead of Canadian bacon or ham). The English muffin was underdone, and the poached eggs were seriously overcooked. The hash browns on the side, which I'd asked for well-done, were at least sort of crispy on the very outside, but seriously undercooked otherwise. The fresh-squeezed orange juice was awesome, and the coffee was good (for restaurant regular-brewed coffee).

My spousal-unit ordered one of their "baked omelets", which is kind of a frittata. It was over-whipped or something, causing the egg to have a tough texture, and it was overcooked. (A "build-your-own" omelet option would also be appreciated) Her side of pancakes (plain buttermilk) that we shared were great, though.

Nothing was bad enough to send back, but it was overall kind of disappointing. We don't get out to breakfast often, even though it's something I really enjoy. I might give them another try, if only to try one of their Dutch Baby baked-pancake creations - we're in San Diego often to visit family. The menu is great, and maybe we just hit them...

So I came to try this place out in hopes of a good time but sadly I will not be able to say that. My family owns a restaurant and we like trying places to see the food and service and unfortunately I came to try it myself with my friend and it did not meet my expectations. I am going to be very honest starting with the service, our server Shawna was very rude maybe she was having a bad day and I understand but there’s no need to be rude and take it out on the customer. She didn’t even greet us with a smile she looked like she didn’t want to take our order, which does not look good for your restaurant. Second when my friend asked her if she could split the bill please she looked irritated and then she gave the price but I wasn’t sure if it was my friends food or mine so i asked nicely “Would that be my bill or hers?” then she said “I am telling you it is yours!” then shoved the card machine in my face to show me which I found very unprofessional I have worked in customer service/ restaurant with my family and that is no way to treat a customer I didn’t make a big deal or talk back to her because I didn’t want to add on. Then she simply made a face at me and I still tipped her because I was taught no matter how rude the server is never leave without tipping but it was very rude and I will not be returning here and I will let others know as well. The pancakes were okay they were very sticky but not the worst...