McGlade’s On the Pier

Fantastic view and great food!

Amazing food! Perfect omelettes every time, and so many choices it will make your head spin. Fresh fruit, good coffee, unbeatable location. It is a tradition now for us to visit McGlades for breakfast. As perfect as the food always is, my last visit I was unimpressed with the service, the waitress hardly seemed trained and was very slow, despite the many empty tables surrounding us. This has not been my experience in the past, the service is usually up to par. For that reason, I gave 4 stars.

I am so happy we were able to go to this restaurant on it’s last day of operations for the summer season. Delicious fresh foods! And you cannot beat the view full on bay and ocean. The waitstaff was very nice and friendly and efficient.
I really wanted the crabcake sandwich or platter but when I saw one of the deep-​fried crabcakes I had to decline. Instead, I had to try the crab salad which did not disappoint. It was jumbo lump crab with peppers and onions and celery mix with lemon juice and mayo and spices. It was lovely. I only wish it had a little bit more lump crab in it. I recommend the addition of the avocado. The salad sat on a bed of very crisp iceberg lettuce with delicious beef steak tomatoes and an accompaniment of fresh fruits, oranges watermelon and cantaloupe.
Our other dish was a veggie sandwich with very fresh alfalfa sprouts, American cheese and beefsteak tomato. They were out of the whole wheat bread but it was understandable because literally we were two of the last patrons of the season.
You cannot beat the location of this restaurant, it is just pure natural beauty from the back deck pier. Doesn’t get any more perfect than the big blue sea and a big blue sky — we had a beautiful fall day on the beach.
The bathrooms were very clean.
Not sure if I’d want to try this place out in the dead of the summer with throngs of people waiting in line so dine at this establishment or throngs of people on the boardwalk. But maybe in the off-season’s in May and October will make a return back. It will be very worth it.
Hopefully they’ll offer a broiled option for the crabcake so I can enjoy that

Pros: I’m definitely a fan and I will be returning. I had the «you create it» burger with crab salad on top. Pretty sure the crab was canned, but it was still seasoned wonderfully, beautifully plated, and they cooked my burger «medium,» just the way I requested it. Our waitress was also incredibly kind and accommodated us when we wanted to move tables.
Cons: Looks outdated and the bathroom smelled like it was saturated in urine. I get it, it’s a public restroom; I don’t expect it to smell like fresh peonies, but I felt like I had to intentionally look out for the urine on the bathroom floor… and hold my breath to not regurgitate my lunch.

McGlades is my favorite spot for a beach day meal. Simply walk up from the beach and have a great breakfast or lunch without even feeling like you’ve left the beach sitting on the deck with a great ocean view. Food is great and comes with «extras» that make it even better (for example the crab cake, my fave, comes with fruit, potato salad, egg, cheese, and fruit.) I’ve read some reviews here complaining of service but I have been here many times and never experienced that. It is one of the places I visit multiple times when vacationing in Cape May

This place is amazing. Right on the beach with delicious food. The Mickey was outstanding! I’m not a huge egg fan but really wanted crab, this came highly recommend from the server and I promise will not disappoint.

We walked off the beach to have lunch on Sept 5, 2015. I ordered the lump crab salad platter. The crab was not lump and not fresh. It was from a can. It was shredded like canned tuna fish and had a fishy (not fresh) taste.
Based upon the food quality, price and curt service I would not recommend this place.
PS… the burger was not great either.

Easily our favorite breakfast spot in Cape May. Something for the whole family, especially if you like omelettes. Great value, plenty of food to fill you up (omelettes come with home fries & fresh fruit), and you are steps from the beach. The menu doesn’t change, but there is always an interesting daily special for regulars looking to switch things up. Definitely skip the wait at Uncle Bill’s & try out McGlade’s.

Sorry but place is just average. Location is great but lots of flies. Food okay. Don’t bring kids as out of line pricing for kids.
Fish was good but vegetables were ok but some were so hard they were like stone and not eatable. Server was fine.

In all the years we’ve been coming here, this place has been around for 28, this was the least impressed I have ever been with McGlades.
The host seemed in training. The hostess brought us to a table and while five feet ahead of us, and facing away said, «Specials are on the board.» Gee, thanks! I didn’t even hear her. My wife told me that’s what she said. And then, time and again I listened as other diners walked to their tables and she exclaimed. «Specials are on the board.» WTF?!
Try reading the board.
The menus we were given looked like they hadn’t been replaced in 5 years. They were falling apart and stapled together so you couldn’t read the pages.
Waitress takes our drink order. Orange juice and coffee. I had a full glass of oj. My wife’s coffee cup, half full or empty depending on your world view. The waitress came back for a refill twice and both times she barely filled the mug. Again! WTF?!
We ordered out food. I had a mushroom and Swiss omelette with breakfast potatoes. Wife had French Toast. Her French toast was great. As always. My omelette was delicious. The potatoes were very crisp. And by that I mean burnt. Our waitress asked how everything was and I said potatoes are crisp/​burnt. She explained they pride themselves in the kitchen on their potatoes. And she will get me them again. Wow! She came back with a plate of well cooked, not burnt this time and they were wonderful. She saved the dining experience that was headed nowhere fast from a customer service perspective.
One thing that was odd is that when our meal was served the waitress gave us our check. I don’t recall in the 23 years we’ve been dining there the waitress giving the check before we even ate the food.
The food is good, as always, except for the carelessly burnt potatoes. Service could use work. Maybe train the staff a bit better. Oh and teach them to fill a cup of coffee. Seemed like they were afraid they’d run out.
Not the best experience we’ve ever had here. More like the worst.
So, the question is, what happened to McGlade’s?
I believe the answer is… After 28 years of great food and service it’s become nothing more then a diner with a beach view. Very sad. :(

Great food and great service! Our family of 5 went for lunch and we ordered crab cake platters and the crab salad in ½ of an avocado, both were awesome. The platters are generous– served on a bed of iceberg lettuce with fruit slices (watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, etc), ½ hard boiled egg, cheese slices (although only American cheese– not a fan, but my ONLY complaint!) and a good sized scoop of potato salad. Our kids loved the crab cakes too. The service was super FAST! We had food in less than 10 minutes of ordering! We will definitely go back before the end of our vacation.

Good food with an open beach view. I’ve been here for breakfast and dinner. Both were good, but I prefer to talk about dinner. We had fried tomatoes and goat cheese for apps and seafood ograutin for a meal. It comes with bread for the table and early birds (5−6pm) get chowder and a salad too. It was a nice meal with good friendly service and a wonderful view and beach breeze. Worth coming back to next year.

NOTE: This 1 star is based on the restaurant’s hosting service, not the food or the food service.
The wait in line took about 4 minutes until it was our turn. The male host took us in and then told us to wait outside because the table needed to be ready. So we waited. There was a family of six behind us who were told to wait as well for the same reason. After waiting, the family of six was called in. One of them remarked how long it took for a table of six to get ready, basically implying how much worse the wait was for a party of two and a half. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was our hunger, or maybe because the hosting service wasn’t great but in disappointment, we took our business elsewhere.
I don’t have any comment on the food.

If you want to have a nice view of the beach come here, if you want Good food don’t!
Have been coming to this place for years and unfortunately the food has gone downhill. Maybe try the waffles and French toast might be safer.

Must have had breakfast here on an «off day» even though it wasn’t terribly busy. We asked the host if pancakes were available — even though they aren’t on the menu (our stubborn 4 yr old was asking for them) and he said yes. We waited (and waited some more) for our seats after waiting for the busser to clear every table (but ours) which was evidently the only table equipped to seat 5 people. So the staff was very friendly albeit somewhat inexperienced… We got our drinks and then proceeded to order, only to discover pancakes are not available. We convinced the 4 yr old to get French toast — luckily she agreed. The food came out and was generally pretty good… Bacon & cheese omelet was loaded with bacon, eggs were made correctly, home fries were tasty. Everything was good, except for an order of toast that never made it to the table. No big deal. We asked for the toast, and it came out about 10 minutes later, burnt. See photo. We asked for some toast that was less «well done» and it came out about 10 minutes later. All said, it was a decent meal at a decent price with a great view of the ocean.

I would give McGlade’s zero stars if I could. The only «pro» to McGlade’s is that it is located right on the beach. (Why are the only two restaurants on the beach in CM both below-​average? Why can’t any really good restaurants be located on the beach?). The food is substandard, and to be frank, the place has an unkempt feel to it. Let’s start with the food. My husband ordered a ham & cheese omelet. The ham tasted almost «slimy»; he could not finish it. I ordered an egg and cheese sandwich, and it came with fruit that honestly looked as if it had been taken from another patron’s plate; the orange looked raggedy — obviously, I didn’t eat the fruit.
The décor is de classe, to say the least. The chairs are plastic, the napkins are the fast-​food paper kind, and you don’t even get a spoon to stir your coffee (you get plastic stirrers).
The service was nice, but inefficient. The waiter brought my husband’s omelet without the toast and said he would be right back with it. He didn’t bring it. When we finally flagged him down a few minutes later, he said he forgot and would bring it out immediately. He brought out one pre-​buttered piece of toast sliced in half. When we picked it up to investigate what looked like a bite taken out of it, it fell apart — it was that stale. It wasn’t a bite that was taken out; it was that the toast was so stale and brittle that a piece fell off before it got to the table.
I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I won’t be returning.

The perfect breakfast spot!
I’m just not sure there’s anything better than coffee, sunshine and salt water and here, you can get all three!
I went with the crab-​stuffed omelet. Delicious! The potatoes could have been more crispy, but I’ll let that slide since the fruit was bountiful and fresh.
PS! They take credit which is nice because many places on the beach don’t.

Clean, friendly and excellent staff make this a 5 star review! You have to check out their menu! Breakfast has lots of choices including shrimp, crab and other distinctive varieties of omelets! My wife enjoyed the Joie, and I the sausage, cheese and tomato! Egg whites are available for all egg dishes!

This restaurant is located behind Marrows Fudge and Nut shop, in back, immediately north of cape may convention center. Very nice view of ocean, especially if you sit in covered back deck. We had lunch — crab cake and also a burger. Crab cake was average. Burger was really tasty and seemed very fresh. The fruit that came with the burger was fresh and enjoyable. This place is a worthwhile stop, especially if you want an ocean view.

Great food with an amazing view. The restaurant is behind Morries Nut Shop on the beach. We sat in the back but the view was still incredible. We did not have reservations but were still able to get in with 8 people and little wait.
We started with fried tomatoes with goat cheese, baked clams, crab and avocado and the scallops wrapped in bacon. Each was better than the last.
For entrees I split the McGlades penne. It had shrimp and lump crab. It was to die for and with all the apps it was just the right amount.
Our waitress Maggie was so helpful and fast. She knew about all the specials and could tell you about each dish.
This is the perfect summer spot. A must try when in Cape May.