Penfold's Cafe & Bakery — Restaurant in Temecula

I went to Penfold’s Cafe & Bakery because so many good people could not say enough good things about the place. Always the curiosity of what if this place is a good place? 4 Stars among reviewers is not a shabby score, and look at the size of some of those bakery items! Big generous portions to be sure! I said to my tribe, let’s just concentrate on the Bakery side of this place. Arrive early enough to guarantee freshness and availability, what do you say? A unison yes, and we drove from Menifee, about 15 minutes drive, and I bought a few bakery items, to the tune of almost $20. Another family member spent another $20? Between the both of us, and what was on display at the time, we pretty much picked what was available. Went back home, made gourmet coffee, and proceeded to try the goodies, which were no good. No skills, mediocre quality, big does not count when finesse is not present, so Penfold bakery side turned out to be, besides the unhealthy aspects of a huge roll covered with melted sugar, and some overly expensive other items, a not so great bakery. Dry, poorly prepared by whomever is in charge of baking. Very seldom we throw purchased bakery items away, but this time we did it, for the other option was to consume something that was clearly disappointing. I am assuming the food is a little better? Let’s hope so, in the very remote case someday we venture in. Not all bakeries are created equal, that’s for sure! 2 Stars. Went back after about 3 years. The first visit was only to buy several baked items. Was a fiasco, but having seen the place from the inside, and reading many encouraging reviews, it took us a while, but we arrived hungry for breakfast on a Thursday around 11AM. The place takes a prize for their vastly decorated establishment. Service was adequate, place looked about 60 crowded. Food ordered: Eggs Benedict Penfold, $12.95. Eggs very runny, sauce average, potatoes arrived looking past their prime, one third consumed. Not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, but decent enough. 3.5 Stars. Chicken Fried Steak Cowboy size, $14.95. Decent size, but not shockingly so. Soft enough, seasoning in the bland side, hash browns way past crunchy, biscuits and gravy easy to eat. Gravy no Southern masterpiece, but was consumed zero troubles. 3.5 Stars. Our loveliest and oldest wanted light fare, had to go strictly sides. Two scrambled eggs and english muffin bare, very close to $9. Eggs arrived in a tea size plate, stepchild treatment, frankly not much to comment for our hungry senior, kind of forced to eat light, finished in record time. 3 Stars. Coffee no redeeming quality, expensive enough, weak and plain. 2 Stars. Lipton tea bags for two, hot water, not much to say. Bill over $52 with proper...

My first time going here. Not the best first impression but I will say that they seemed very apologetic so I'm thinking something kind of random happened. After so many years in the industry, I can understand. It happens. The manager came out before I even realized anything happened so that was a good sign to me. I ordered a bloody Mary but my food came out before the drink. Normally, I like my drink to be served before the food. So I was a little upset about that but like I said, the manager came out to ensure everything was OK. But then, the edges of my chicken fried steak were burnt. Also, I asked for a side of gravy and never got that. Another server helped out and brought my entree out for her but she waited until she brought my food to ask if I wanted salt and pepper. When I asked for snp and Tabasco, I'm sitting there waiting as I'm chasing flies away from my food that's sitting there getting cold. She brings out 2 little packets of salt and 2 of pepper. Those pepper packs have such a small pinch of pepper I had to ask for more. The manager was there and saw her bring out the plate with snp on it. He acted surprised for me. It seemed nice at first but now, in retrospect, I feel like he was trying to soften the mistake but really didn't care much. I say this because he asked me if the chicken fried steak was OK. I took the first bite and it was burnt. I told him. He said..."here let me get you another one..." and left. He never returned.

The gravy was OK. I couldn't quite tell if it was canned gravy or homemade so I guess that's good that I couldn't tell?? It was thick and creamy so I guess that's all that matters but the chicken fried steak did seem homemade because the breading was falling off while I was cutting it. Which is good because that tells me it's homemade but bad because they didn't prepare it correctly. I think the steak was just a little over fried. Which is evident because it was burnt.

The plate of biscuits was huge. Couldn't finish though.

The home fries served were lifeless. Very drab and wilted.

I do feel I got off to a bad foot from the beginning but the food did not make up for the problems so it's...

My family and I have been regularly going to Penfolds for breakfast and lunch at least once a month for almost a year now since we moved to the area. The food is tasty and solid old school dinner food with great breakfast options, sandwiches and great homemade baked goods. The ambiance is eclectic and family friendly which we love. The service has always been great too. However, I had a less than stellar server today for lunch which was greatly disappointing. She unfortunately didn't greet me with her name, but checked on myself and my son once after taking our order. We were there for almost an hour. Another server in our section named Savannah was extremely helpful and stepped in to make sure we had everything we needed after we waited multiple times for our server to come back to check on us so we could get extra napkins, order an additional dessert item and get our bill. She even mentioned that my server was busy, but we both saw her standing by the food window and avoiding eye contact. I felt like she was purposely ignoring us and was cold in the two interactions I had with her and was just going through the motions. This was the complete opposite of Savannah who was extremely friendly and went out of her way to make sure we had a great dining experience while juggling the 6+ tables she had around us. Our food was very good (kids pancakes and a patty melt with fries), good portions and fresh. I will say $10 for a slice of pie is a bit high and we might pass on that in the future. I understand food prices have gone way up so I guess it's to be expected. I will definitely be asking for Savannah's section in the future and will avoid the server I had today. I hope this issue is addressed by management because Penfolds is known for having a friendly and...