McClellan’s at Monarch Cafe’ — Restaurant in Spartanburg

My family ate here yesterday for lunch. We were pretty excited to try a place that we have never been. The appearance of the restaurant is nice. It's just in a location that we never pass. We love trying new local places and enjoy eating good fresh food. When we arrived at lunch time, this place wasn't busy at all. There were only two other people there that were finishing their lunch. We ordered two butter burgers (one with pimento cheese, one without) and a kids chicken finger plate. We paid about $37, which is fine providing that the food is worthy of such a price tag. The staff was friendly, but the wait time for the food was long.We waiting over 30 minutes for our meals. My husband looked at me and said "This food has got to be really good for me to come back." I agreed with that statement. Once the food arrived, everything looked okay until I took a bite of my burger. The meat on my burger was not fresh. My burger contained two layered and VERY overcooked frozen patties. I continued to try and take a couple of more bites of my cardboard like burger. My husband, who hasn't taken a bite of his yet, looks over at my burger and says "those look like frozen patties". Yep, that's because they are and to top it off, they are severely overdone. I really, really wanted to like this place. I have had better burgers at McDonald's. When you charge $11.25 for a burger, it had better be fresh! My burger was pretty inedible. At least 3/4 of my burger was still on my plate...

We decided to try this restaurant for breakfast after reading so many glowing reviews online, and I have to say we left very disappointed. When we arrived, we were told breakfast was buffet-style until 10:30, so we went with that option. At $17.50 per person, we expected a decent spread, but what we got was honestly worse than most hotel breakfasts I’ve had.

The breakfast potatoes tasted like frozen ones that had just been reheated with seasoning. The eggs were cold, runny, and had a strange texture. The biscuits and gravy were a huge letdown—the gravy was so thin it just slid right off. Even the basics weren’t done well, and there wasn’t a single item on the buffet that made me want to go back for seconds.

The whole experience felt overpriced and underwhelming, especially considering how much other people had built this place up online. The interior of the restaurant was cute and the staff was friendly, which was about the only positive. After rereading other reviews, it seems most people recommend the lunch and dinner menus, so maybe that’s where they shine. But as far as breakfast goes, I wouldn’t recommend it and definitely won’t be returning for the buffet.

McClellan’s at Monarch cafe’ there is literally a picture of a breakfast served from your restaurant directly under my review! I 1000% did not review the wrong restaurant. But if that makes your poor quality buffet better, you just keep telling yourself I reviewed the wrong...

Found this restaurant on Google. Didn’t realize it had a buffet. Ended up ordering from the menu. I was looking forward to the smoked brisket Benedict because brisket & Benedict are my favorite! My husband also ordered off the menu, chicken on biscuits with grits and bacon. The restaurant was VERY busy on a Saturday late morning and it appeared most people came for the buffet. We had a long wait for our food and the brisket wasn’t available, so I ordered the waffle instead. We weren’t in a hurry and the staff was very apologetic for the long wait. The food is so delicious! Everything is made from scratch. No need to salt or pepper this food. The flavor of the grits was spot on. They were creamy and had a hint of chicken. Just melt in your mouth good. The Belgian waffle was yummy and the strawberry sauce, fresh and sweet. My husband loved his meal too. I asked for banana pudding for dessert. The portion was large and that pudding was pure love. No soggy cookies. No whipped cream needed to cover up lack of flavor here. All goodness and happy tastebuds this day! Come support this proudly black-owned business. You...