Egg Harbor Cafe — Restaurant in Sandy Springs

I know that everyone and every business has had to adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I also know that restaurants are trying really hard to make it and adapt to the new normal. So while I am aware of all of these things, I really felt it necessary to post my negative experience at this place from Sunday, 5/10/2020 (Mother's Day). Knowing that they would likely be very busy with takeout orders, I placed my order about 24 hours prior, on Saturday 5/9, from their website. My thought was to get my order in the kitchen ahead of time so they can plan accordingly. I received an email confirmation, saying the order would be ready on Sunday 5/10 at 9:30AM, and to call them when I was here and they would bring it out to me. I arrived Sunday 5/10 at 9:20AM, called as instructed, and told the person answering the phone my name and order and that I was here to pick it up. She confirmed my order and phone number with me, and said they would call me when they're bringing it out. Ok. Lots of other cars were in the parking lot waiting, so I figured a lot of others were in the same boat. Time passes, and more time passes, and I hear nothing. At 10:00AM (40 minutes after my call, and 30 minutes after my confirmation email said the order would be ready), I decided to call again. No answer. I put on my mask and went inside. They were completely overwhelmed with takeout orders. A few people were eating inside, and they were actually turning people away from dining in because their kitchen was so backed up. It took a while for a bit of a crowd to clear from inside, and I finally talked to someone and asked them to check on my order. They said it's being bagged. 15 minutes later I finally got my order. It was 10:20AM. One hour after my call, and 50 minutes later than when the order said it would be ready.

I get it. It was mother's day. Lots of to-go orders. People were calling in to place orders and the staff was telling people that it would be at least an hour wait. I wish someone told me that when I called at 9:20AM, because I could have gone to my mom's versus just waiting. Had the expectation been set with me when I called at 9:20, I wouldn't have been waiting for nothing. That's my biggest complaint and issue with this experience. I figured I was being courteous by placing my order 24 hours in advance, to ensure it would be done at the time the email confirmation said it would be done. I'd appreciate it if either they can give priority to online orders that were already placed prior, or modify their system to ensure they don't get completely overwhelmed from this. The staff was working hard and diligently, but what happened was their kitchen just got totally overwhelmed. A little better communication on the front end would have saved a headache. That's my biggest complaint, and I definitely wanted to make sure I passed along the feedback.

Food...

6:30 AM, need coffee and a great breakfast. My wife and I visited, meeting a friend who had restricted time, thus 6:30 am. Coffee, this is important to me and it was delivered quickly, friendly, and with fresh cream. My wife, me, and our friend ordered breakfast and surprise, surprise, breakfast was delivered quickly, hot and fresh. We ordered fruit in addition to eggs and both were the perfect temperature. In other words, the way the food was plated was perfect. They used warm plates to keep the food warm and our fruit was separate in it's own bowl. Chilled melons, blueberries, strawberries, all keep chilled before service. Now the magic, when we were served, not only was the hot, hot, but the food that must be chilled, was a perfect temperature. The flavor was on point, not a hint of old eggs or old fruit. If you love to cook breakfast or remember how your mom or grandmother did things, well, they took lessons from their mom's and grandma's on how to make perfect eggs, sausage, bacon, and fresh fruit. This breakfast was awesome.

The coffee could have been stronger and this is my only complaint, but to be transparent, my wife and I make Expresso with fresh ground beans everyday. So, I make a quadruple Expresso that I then turn into an Americano. As such, I don't expect any restaurant to do the same and considering what we were served, their coffee was well above average in taste, body, and color I wish I could have ordered mud, i.e. I wish I had the choice to order a stronger cup of coffee, but that expectation isn't reasonable in a restaurant, but I hope a pray one day I can ask for a Mud Cup of coffee.

The service was quick, polite, and attentive. Our coffee cups were never empty, same goes for water. Our server deservedly received a huge tip, well deserved. She was awesome, even that early in the morning.

If you want early/late breakfast, brunch, consider Egg Harbor, based on my experience, you shouldn't be...

First time at an Egg Harbor Cafe and had rather mixed results.

The good: Fresh squeezed OJ was fresh and very good. The cinnamon roll was good as well - just a tad dry, but the frosting helped compensate for that (there was a hint of cream cheese in the frosting for those who like/dislike that). Coffee was fresh and very smooth, if not super strong - not old or sour at all. Basic well done diner coffee. The habanero hash was very tasty and surprisingly spicy too - a rarity at most breakfast places. Cherry wood bacon was thick and tasty, though not particularly crispy if that is your preference.

The average: Scrambled eggs and English muffins were both pretty normal. Sausage gravy wasn't bad, but needed more sausage bits (only a couple in entire bowl) and seasoning.

The bad: The breakfast potatoes looked good - nice golden brown chunks of potato. But rather than being crispy, they were just slightly hard and extremely dry on the inside. Not sure if they were sitting in a warning tray for hours or what, but after trying 4 pieces, I accepted it wasn't just a few bad ones and left the rest. Finally, the biscuit. They managed to turn a nice looking golden brown biscuit into one of the driest and toughest ones I've ever bit into. It was also barely warm. If it had just been dry from overcooking and the gravy had been better, I could have overlooked it, but the toughness was pretty terrible - think the texture of a biscuit that you microwaved on high for a minute and then let cool down to nearly room temperature (if you've ever attempted to reheat a biscuit sandwich in the microwave, hopefully you know what I mean).

Service was good overall - friendly, fast, etc. And we were seated immediately. Only downside was when I mentioned the biscuit being quite bad, there was no apology or anything, just an "oh ok".

Not sure if I'll be back. If I do, it would be solely for the hash and orange juice...