The Butter House — Restaurant in Seaside

Butter House used to be our family’s favorite brunch spot, but sadly, it’s no longer a place I enjoy going to. Over the last 3-4 visits, I’ve had several issues that I consider unacceptable for a restaurant.

One time, I found a hair stuck in the butter going onto my pancakes. I tried to make sure the staff couldn’t just scrape it off and replate the food by tearing the pancakes in such a way that I’d notice if they attempted to do so. When my pancakes were brought back to me later, I realized they’d just flipped the bottom pancake around and tried to griddle the tear shut. Pancakes are cheap to make, so it should have been refired as a new dish, but instead, it completely ruined my appetite, and I didn’t order anything else.

Another time, we asked our server to hold our food order until after our lumpia appetizer came out. She refused, saying she couldn’t do that and guaranteed our main dishes would come first. Despite asking again, she wouldn’t accommodate the request.

Service has gotten progressively worse, with more forgetful and impersonal interactions. Once, my drink was completely forgotten throughout the meal, and when I asked, the server thought someone else brought it out.

It’s become clear that the quality and service are no longer what they once were. It’s expensive, and I don’t feel like I’m getting what I pay for anymore, especially when I used to go weekly without issue. The only consistently good thing about Butter House is the online waitlist through Yelp, which helps keep waiting to a minimum on their busy mornings.

If you're looking for quality brunch, I highly recommend Rocky’s Café right down the road, which has consistently delivered great food...

Update: Lumpia was great this time. Really good with sauces and wasn't bathing in grease or sweating oil. The SOS is really good. Wife ordered the breakfast sandwich with apple slices and it works pretty well.

Original: First here time for breakfast.

Order: Lumpia, adobe pork belly fried rice, chicken n waffles w/SOS

Service: 5/5 Food: 3/5 Atmosphere: 5/5

Service and atmosphere are spot on. The food though... flavors are mostly good but some major issues.

Lumpia was nice and crisp. Slightly cold in middle but no real issue there. The main issue was the pool of oil it was served in. Even touching it left a mess of oil on my fingers. Delicious flavor and texture but would be better if they let it drain after.

Adobo pork belly was awesome. However, not the biggest fan of the seasoning used on the pork belly mixed with the fried rice (tasted like brown sugar and cinnamon). A standard spg rub would work better but thats just personal preference.

Biggest issue was the chicken in the chicken n waffles. Waffles were perfectly crisp and fluffy. The chicken though... 1) Breast meat??? Why? You serve a puddle of oil lumpia so it cant be a health perception. 2) 90% of chicken was dry, thickest part just passing for tender n juicy. 3) Need to fix breading method. The seasoning is awesome, but hard, no crisp, and just falls off the chicken.

Will come back to try other dishes, but was craving chicken n waffles. Had one of the highest ratings off a generic google search for "chicken n waffles near me" (salinas). But that chicken n waffles was just a...

I am usually the type to hate going out for breakfast, the wait times are long, food usually doesn't come out right or good, service is usually horrible so you wait an hour for your food, and you pay $20 for something you could've made at home better for $1-2. But not this place!

I can happily say this is probably the best place I have ever been for breakfast. We put in our names online to wait for a table and it was ready on time, down to the very minute. Our server was polite and attentive. From the time we ordered our food, it took less than 10 minutes to arrive. That's what I expect from a breakfast place, I can't stand places that take 25 minutes to serve me a plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes, I think its such a waste of time.

Our food arrived hot and fresh. I ordered the pork belly with over easy eggs, and fried rice. Everything was cooked perfectly, seasoned perfectly, and delicious. I seriously couldn't believe how good it all tasted together and my girlfriend had the same sentiment. She ordered the French toast made with banana bread, I usually dont like banana bread but this creative twist was actually very good. We both thought it was a little too sweet but that could just be personal preference, also I think that was kind of expected. Regardless, this restaurant is a must. If you're in the area or even remotely close and in need of a good breakfast, I would go out of my way to go here every time. I will eagerly return in the future for more and recommend this...