HP Café — Restaurant in Sedona

This is going to sound very Sedona, but we ended up going here at the last minute because our Pink Jeep tour started much earlier than we thought. My top tier chum who literally went to the school of hospitality and I came for brunch last Sunday to get some sustenance before heading down the street for a scenic rim tour in the aforementioned jeeps. The menu looked pretty decent, so we gave it a shot even though it wasn't a restaurant that had come up in any prior research (which in hindsight isn't too surprising).

The interior is pretty nondescript but we ended up getting a table in their outdoor area. They unfortunately drew the short straw with the view - unlike many of their counterparts, you have no glimpses of the red canyons; it overlooks a pleasant pedestrian plaza, which in almost any other circumstance you'd call a win. The seating also happens to be right next to a small coffee shop, which produced some pleasant aromas during our meal.

I had a hankering for something sweeter and opted for, I believe, the Bourbon Peach French Toast, along with a side of eggs. Unfortunately they didn't have the peaches so I had to sub those out for strawberries but it was still decent. Definitely would have been better with the peaches; a little surprising they'd be out of a key ingredient during Sunday brunch in tourist season, but so it goes. It was a big portion though and I thought the "crust" of it was a unique texture, kind of like when you get those pretzel crusted seafood entrees. Unfortunately their website erroneously has an additional copy of their dinner menu for their breakfast menu (lot of little unforced errors like that) so I can't confirm the exact name.

My chum tested out some mimosas on our vacation and this one was the most tepidly received. Honestly? I considered getting one myself but took a pass once we walked by their "bar area." It legitimately looked like the liquor section at a kegger, literally just a bunch of bottles grouped informally on a shelf. Really unprofessional optic and I thought it was a red flag/sign to avoid that section of the menu. Odd too, because by definition anyone who gets seated in the outdoor area or uses the restroom has to walk right by it. Not a good look. Speaking of the restroom, it was basically camouflaged in the wall (no signage or even a noticeable door knob). My chum used it first and the waitress had to guide her over to it. It's one if those things that sounds cool/interesting at first glance, but also totally illogical - every single time a customer needs to use the restroom, they need to be handheld through the location process, which takes up the bandwidth of your staff. It was like looking for a hidden room in Legends of the Hidden Temple.

We both agreed that the eggs were the best part of the meal. Very fresh and delicious, and I'm glad I opted for a side of them at the last minute. Also a huge plus? We had a good waitress who stopped by regularly, and was very pleasant.

This place has apparently been around for decades, which to me is a pretty big selling point in an area like this, but I think you have a lot of better options with significantly better views (and bathrooms you can locate all...

I've lived in Sedona off and on for about 15 years and locals know not to spend money in uptown because everything is priced to sell to tourist. That being said, I stopped in the HP Cafe after reading the menu just outside the restaurant. It is a medium sized sit down restaurant with tourist price...$12 BLT. Keep in mind, I'm not one to spend $12 on a sandwich however I was in town visiting my daughter who works uptown and couldn't get out to grab lunch. The two hostesses standing in front of the HP Cafe were friendly and let me know that take out was available. So I went inside while the hostess went and told a waitress I wanted to order. I ended up ordering two sandwiches both came with one side each and was ready within what seemed like only 5 minutes. Looking around as I waited, it appeared to be newly remodeled (within the last 5 yrs) , it was clean and had a very friendly atmosphere. I especially liked the bathroom doors, they were designed to blend in with the wall decor so they hidden unless you know what you're looking for. The food was very tasty and fresh. Both sandwiches were of the grilled variety and the bread was toasted well and had a nice crunch in contrast to the lettuce, tomatoes, ham and bacon. Our sides were sweet potato fries and cold slaw, I didn't try the slaw but the fries where hot and lightly salted and a healthy fresh taste. Overall if you're visiting Sedona and have budgeted your trip to include local meals I definitely give HP Cafe a try. They don't have anything fancy on the outside to really draw you in but once inside I think you'll be...

WORST SERVICE I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED. At first this seemed like a nice quiet place to get some food. Our waitress was absent most of the time, we had to ask for refills and the food was just OK. We ate pretty quickly, asked for the check, and that's when things really went south. Waitress was MIA again, so another employee was shouting out random items from our orders trying to figure out the tickets. The hostess soon became short and very rude with us when we asked how long it would be as we needed to leave due to one of our party needing to get to their medication. At that point we had been waiting for at least half an hour just to pay. They haughtily told us their system was down and the manager was on his way and we asked to speak with him. Turns out he was the computer specialist, very condescending, and then said the manger wasn't available because, and I quote "she has other things to do, she's in the back, naked, getting her hair done". We had at this point been waiting for over an hour. The waitress comes over and ASKS US TO WRITE DOWN OUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION SO THEY CAN CHARGE IT LATER. While also still having the tickets wrong and trying to split it 2 then 3 ways when we asked for 4 tickets. We couldn't believe it. We were never offered any kindness for the inconvenience, the hostess and IT man never apologized, and I regret paying. Truly a waste of time and money, I will advise everyone I know to...