The Open Door Cafe

Worst breakfast I’ve had in a very long time. It took over an hour to get our food, including the 30 minutes it took to be asked what we wanted to drink. Our server complained numerous times about his section, how someone didn’t put silverware on the tables for us, how the kitchen staff wouldn’t read his tickets if he put too many things on it, how splitting checks are too hard for him, etc. Most of our food came out cold and mine was cold and completely overcooked; our server didn’t check on us to see how it was. Now that I came to the Facebook page I see that they also have specials which were never told to us and I would’ve preferred to the overlooked, cold meal I paid for.

The only reason I did not give five stars is because there are not gluten free indicators on the menu for those who have celiac. The prices are reasonable and the portions are generous. They have high quality foods and take pride in what they do. The menu is diverse and the menu has several specialty and seasonal items that are amazing. There are several high quality vegetarian items on the menu and they are pleased to accommodate dietary restrictions and those with special needs. The staff is always friendly and the atmosphere is beautiful. We dine here frequently and are always excited to go back.

My family of 4 decided to try the open door café one more time. This visit was just as bad as the first. It started well with a tasty bowl of cream of crab soup. My wife and I both ordered the chicken caprese wrap. These were fair at best. My 2 girls ordered pancakes and bacon. The older girl ordered 3 pancakes, the younger 2. The food seemed to take a very long time to arrive, considering they were pretty simple orders. Both girls plates arrived with 2 pancakes. Once again, the wait staff only visits once in a great while, so getting it fixed in a timely manner was out of the question short of getting up and hunting somebody down. They both complained the pancakes were very dry. We all finished eating and still waited 10 minutes before we saw any staff. They must have all been on break at the same time. To top it off, they had Christian music playing rather loud for the setting. To each their own, but seemed inappropriate for a restaurant setting.
We tried it twice, but we definitely will never go back. It’s a shame, because it’s a cute little place. The service was just terrible both times. The restaurant was pretty empty, so there was no excuse for slow service.

This is sadly my first negative review… Came here for dinner on an early-​summer evening. The service was awful and there were flys EVERYWHERE! My plate at least was terrible… The chicken was soaked in soy sauce and I mean soaked.
This place has potential especially with the beautiful artwork/​ambience & location but the food and servers really need to step up their game.

This place is awesome!!! So cute! Great atmosphere and great menu. Lots of selections. We came while out of town at a lacrosse tournament for my daughter for brunch and were a little questionable since it’s in a shopping center but WOW! My daughter ordered pumpkin pancakes… my sister had black walnut coffee that smelled delicious! And our server, James was absolutely great! We will definitely come back here when we visit the area and highly recommend it!

I’m a vegetarian and was grateful for some really good vegetarian choices in Bel Air. The powerhouse was delicious. Their desserts are great. James was the best’-friendly host. Will be a regular

The first time I went here, I was with my BFF. We stopped in for lunch and we both were quite taken with how charming the inside is. The atmosphere is lovely with walls that are covered in murals of sorts. The waitress was extremely friendly and explained the menu very well. We ordered the special chicken and arugula salad. It was EXCELLENT! The second time we were in there, I took my family. We had another terrific waitress, great food and there were even a two person music ensemble playing. WONDERFUL little place.

Had a quick lunch yesterday at Open Door. Had a delicious Cobb Salad. I asked the server if I could get served and out in 30 minutes. She said yes and I was. The salad was so fresh that I swear they are sourcing a farmer. My server was excellent and truthful. The dining room was very comfortable and I enjoyed looking at the lovely paintings on the wall.

From the reviews it sounds like your mileage may vary at the ODC, but our inaugural experience was very positive. After a horrid meal the night before, we were looking for a breakfast that was substantially nicer, and wanted to avoid the sea of diners and chain restaurants in the area. We stumbled on the ODC through a web search and were happy with the results.
We arrived to find a cute, quaintly decorated spot in a strip mall with a separate station to order coffee and pastries to go. But we were there for breakfast, and was lucky to snag a seat before a breakfast rush came in. The breakfast menu is small, but has all of the breakfast staples with a few twists. My father-​in-​law and I both eyed the pulled short rib omelet, but I opted for the Bavarian breakfast after the waitress told me they had only one order left. If it’s that popular it must be good, right?
It was. The brats were IMO far better than what my sister-​in-​law got the previous night at Josef’s, and half the price. My father-​in-​law loved the short-​rib omelet, my wife liked her breakfast sandwich, and my mother-​in-​law approved of her pancakes. And the house potatoes are AWESOME. We felt the portions were ample, everything tasted fresh, and the meal was fair for the price. We left happy that we had found a new spot for breakfast, and will definitely be coming back.

HORRID!!! DO NOT EAT AT THIS PLACE!!! The waitress are slow and very rude. Food stinks. If you are not wearing a cross around your neck do not expect good service. I was wearing my star of David last time we ate there and the waitress commented that it was a Catholic establishment. I was not aware Jewish people could not eat there. Screw this place!!! TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE

Desserts are def delicious. Coffee is ok. Food is meh.
I watch videos of eggs benedict like porn, something about that creamy, thick, luxurious texture of hollindaise sauce pouring over a perfectly poached egg is beautiful. As a self-​proclaimed eggs benedict expert, I would NOT get them here. Not enough sauce, my poached egg was HARD in the middle!
Other food I’ve had here is ok, nothing special, and stingy proportions for the prices.
Service could also better.
I reccommend coming for dessert alone, skip breakfast or lunch.

Great place for lunch with some girlfriends. Also a good place for breakfast! Service is friendly, but a little slow, so I wouldn’t come here on your lunch break. It wasn’t an especially crowded or busy place when I went, so I would definitely say this is a leisurely Sunday brunch kind of place.
The Powerhouse sandwich is delicious, and a great vegetarian option for those looking for that. You can add turkey to it if you want, or take away the mozzarella to make it vegan. The chipped beef and gravy over toast was pretty good, but a little bland. I’d be interested to stop by and try dinner some time.

It’s pretty hard to upset your stomach, and while this stomach didn’t really literally get upset after eating at the Open Door Café, it wasn’t as awesome as it has been in the past, and that makes this stomach sad, sniff sniff. :-(
It seems like things have changed, and I can’t say I like what I tasted on my most recent visit.
I’m your stomach, not a chef, but being a stomach and being experienced in digesting good tasting well made food, I’m pretty sure I can probably give good tips on how to make you smile (by sending you ONLY to places where the food is really great). The tip I’m offering for the chef at The Open Door is mostly related to the pesto pizza. Here’s how to make it taste just a little bit better:
–Spread less pesto on the the dough before baking it, and add a little more cheese!
Wow, simple, huh? Anyway, it’s probably not very easy to spread or dump lumps of pesto sauce on raw un-​cooked pizza dough (especially in a fast paced restaurant kitchen setting), and that may have something to do with why there was so much pesto on the pizza. On the other hand, it may just be personal preference on the part of the chef, but we didn’t really care for how he/​she did it.
YourStomachSays:
Skip the Open Door Café until further notice.

Very good food, matter of fact, excellent food. However, service is little bit less then desired.
If you’re not in a hurry nor with a large group you won’t have any worries. You won’t be disappointed.

Absolutely delicious!!!
The food is so fresh, they use local products, very clean, reasonably priced, staff is friendly. Try the chick pea salad, its so good I had to try to recreate it at home.

Visited 6/​28-​The last time I was here with my in laws I LOVED THE FOOD. This time I decided to make my fiancé stop by, the food was not as good as it was the first time. I got a crab melt and my fiancé asked for a Bleu Burger. Well the server this time was very forgetting. Took her time, took forever to great us. I ordered my fiancé Bleu burger not thinking when she asked what kind of cheese I said the cheese I though he may want. When the food came out my fiancé though I ordered him the wrong burger. Well then the server came back and said «oh bacon should be on the Bleue burger, but didn’t give him Bleu cheese. What a confusion mess, we didn’t say anything. The crab melt was very oily and not what I remembered it being. We just finished our meal and I wont be coming back to this place.

This place would be great, if the management/​owners had any idea what they were doing. It is in a great location, has a semi-​stranglehold on the Sunday brunch business in Bel Air and the breakfast and (I hear) lunch is really great. The problem though, is there are tons of employees standing around doing nothing and it will take forever to get any server. Its really managed terribly and that failure shows in the food and the service all around. A new management staff would make it much better. In short, if you want to go out of your way to sit around waiting for help only to get adequate food, this place will work.

I ordered a breakfast burrito as recommended from a previous review, and although it was not on the menu, they still made it. It was the best one I have ever had!
Wife had a breakfast quesadilla and it too was very good. Friends ordered omelets and eggs benedict and those too looked good. They were lenient with choice of sides if you wanted to change.
Really good coffee, friendly staff and servers, and nice size portions make this place a frequent Sunday morning stop for us now.

We returned to have an event hosted here, and we were disappointed. They were understaffed knowing we had such a large party planned, and we didn’t get our dinner until over an hour in. People were really hungry, and it was embarrassing. The food was ok, although not as good as I might have liked. The sangria that they praise was watery.
The décor is still cute … but it was not enough to make up for the lack of service. They gave us a 5% discount at the end, but that was not enough to make me hold an event there again.

This place is seriously a delight. Very good breakfast & lunch… I have yet to get a dinner dish from here. I like that the food here just seems wholesome and not gressy! They have a cute little café area as well with some pretty good coffee/​latte options. I’m obsessed with their fresh mozzarella sandwich. Very fresh! The décor is quite cute as well… I love the paintings on the wall. P. s. do not bring in a coffee cup from an outside location… they will not let you sit with it! LOL.