McKenna’s Cafe

The wait was extremely long. I had to continuously flag down a waitress for service. My omelette had no cheese or the sauce it was suppose to come with. My coffee was refilled. I was overcharged for product that I didn’t order. They added 18% gratuity to our bill when the service barely acquitted for a 10% tip. The best part of my meal was the toast. I’m very disappointed with this trip.

Best pancakes. Ever. Everything else is standard breakfast/​brunch food. Everyone loves the flavored ice coffees, but they always drop a cup of cream in there, so be warned. Always a wait, so come early or late to beat the crowd. It’s right next to the station, but we’ve never had trouble finding parking outside.

The service here is terrible. The waitresses all look like there 15 yrs old. They all have attitudes. I used to really enjoy eating here, the food was ok, the pancakes were great. But, today I had an absolutely horrible experience. I got an omelette that I didn’t like. When I asked the waitresses to take it off my bill. She said no she isn’t going to simply because I don’t like it. Ummmm… what? I didn’t eat. I didn’t touch it. That doesn’t make sense to me. If I didn’t touch something, I shouldn’t be paying for it. She was soooo rude. She should probably learn to be a better waitress or person if that’ll help her. It’s just sad. Sad. I’m totally done with McKenna’s Café.

Love this restaurant! Come in before 11am to get a seat at the bar. You’ll meet George there. He is an elder gentleman in his 80’s with wonderful stories about Cork, Ireland and Savin Hill. His daughter is named McKenna. I had the French toast and bacon and it was wonderful! Good coffee too! Come early and you will love it!

The food here is amazing. I’ve had eggs, burgers, bagels, hash browns and I can never go wrong with anything I order. It’s definitely a gem in Dorchester and it’s constantly packed but it’s well worth the wait.
The only unfortunate thing is they close really early.

Long wait, but so worth it. We sat at the counter, and it was just a really relaxed atmosphere. They have lots of fun coffee flavors and omelets are just really good. There’s honestly not much more to say than that. Give it a try. Just be prepared to wait a while to try it.

My friend had the French toast and that was super. The eggs were basic and please save your self the trouble and don’t get the crepes! It had way too much whipped crème but had plenty of fruit, which was good. However, the crêpe itself left a lot to be desired. The crêpe was cakey and would break off easily when I tried to fold it. Please find a new recipe. It’s not good! The orange juice was freshly squeezed so that was a plus. There wasn’t much a wait and we parked on the bridge. I would highly recommend the French toast!

I live very close to this Café and I finally decided to try it out. Their coffees are AMAZING… Very quick to make, and of course delicious. Although their drinks and food are amazing, it is very difficult to dine at such a small place. Their lines are always long, and although the wait is never more than 15 minutes, the space is just horrible. It’s always so tight at the door and its so packed, I’m always literally breathing on someone’s neck. SOME of the waitresses are amazing, cute and sweet … But also a majority of the workers are RUDE. Either they seem miserable or hella annoyed and don’t want to deal with anyone. Why do I have to Say «thank you «10 times for you to respond «you’re welcome »? Why are some of them only nice when I’m about to pay for the bill. For years, I’ve noticed that some of the employees customer service is trash.

Food isn’t that great… Actually not good at all.
Customer service is terrible. Food takes forever and clearly has been sitting out for a while as it’s cold and dry. But the service is by far the most disappointing. Everyone is rude and disrespectful. This is the type of place where people deserve penny tips. Save your time and eat anywhere else.

McKenna’s is great. This review is from a food service professional.
There’s always a wait during main breakfast and lunch times. Obviously doing something right. If you don’t like to wait, plan on coming in during off hours or go somewhere else! Maybe have a snack before you come so you aren’t hangry.
Food is great, portions are awesome. Atmosphere is local and chill (I always come during off hours)
Miserable staff? Have you ever worked in a restaurant? It’s not easy, and I can’t imagine a place like this is super fun. For them to make money, they need to hustle and take care of lots of people at once because of the affordable prices. Be patient, and if you need something, ask when you order, not when they drop your food at the table. Running around your server for extra sauces, then asking for more coffee when they come back with the sauce, and then for an extra napkin when they bring the coffee, isn’t going to make you a friend. I enjoy the service here. If you want the same bubbly, engaging service you get at your favorite trendy gastro-​pub, think about what your checks are there and how much more you’re paying for the service

Delicious, good service, good food, good energy! Great local spot. Generous portions!

We used to come here a lot. Food is well cooked and tasty and it WAS always worth the wait. Last Saturday though was unacceptable. It is clear that they are short staffed, and we were patient but the servers were straight up in a bad mood and would like to take it on us. We tried to call for assistance for water and nobody came. I had to go to the bar and ask for them myself. We also asked for some butter, which usually came with the order of pancakes, but not this time. LOL the lady literally turned her head, mumbled something and ignored us. This was on top of our orders that took forever for them to take and serve. My coffee was not refilled AT ALL, no offers to refill whatsover. I would have been fine asking for it but with what happened with the water we asked for, it is not worth the stress.
NEVER COMING BACK.
Kind of sad. I really love the banana flavored coffee. But I don’t think I should just accept to be treated like that, especially when I am paying!

This café is finely balanced on the line between cute and working-​class and conveniently located two doors down from the Savin Hill-​Red Line station. I met someone for breakfast there and got an iced coffee while waiting for her per the recommendation of Unilocalers. The iced coffee was good but not as strong as I like it. The Irish Roll was excellent with generous layers of sausage, bacon, and black pudding with a tender fried egg and a slice of cheese to hold it all together in between a long crusty roll. My only regret is that I am not in this neighborhood often!

Handsdown my favorite place to get steak and eggs in the area!
My eggs are normal cooked as ordered and the steak is so delicious.
Unfortunately we almost always get takeout due to bad service. Services is slow and staff can be rude.
We would order from here more often but they take their phone off the hook so it’s impossible to order takeout.
Star off for messed up phones
Star off for service
Foods awesome though, give it a try if you can get ahold of them!

This review is mainly for customer service.
Worst customer service, I’d honestly recommend you go with someone who’s been here before. I don’t want to say that the servers/​host were being rude but they were defiantly giving a lot of sass.
Always getting the veggie omelets which never upsets!

The best part about the Savin Hill area is McKennas. It’s coffee is legend, the staff is friendly, and you will always walk out satisfied.
My personal favorite is coming here for waffles and getting their Vermont syrup when it’s in season. The waffles melt in your mouth and there’s nothing better than real maple syrup.
The only downside is if you get there after 9am on most days you can expect a wait, even for take out. Expect a 45 min to hour wait around 10 am on a Saturday or Sunday, so I recommend getting there early to avoid that.
I’ve been here many times and will always be back!

Small but good breakfast spot. Was visiting in roxbury and was recommended to try this place and glad we did. Great iced coffee. Large portions, prices were cheap, some items expensive such as steak an eggs but overall worth it. Would visit again !

Food was good, service was terrible. I’m torn between two and three stars since I think this place deserves 2.5. Since most of our party were satisfied most of the time, I’m going with 3.
We must have had every server in the place come up to our table at least once, and not more than once. I prefer to have one server throughout, but if it adds to the quality of service overall, I don’t mind shared tables. Unfortunately, my fiancée was having normal coffee and they never once offered to top it off, they picked up the check with tip before we left the table, and the server who took our order was easily confused and never returned.
The food was good, but it’s breakfast and isn’t exactly difficult. As a man who can’t cook, when I have to cook, the Misses prefers it’s breakfast food.
The next morning/​early afternoon our group ordered ‘to go’. My Step-​mother and Aunt both really liked the crab cake BLT and my cousin enjoyed his omelet. My fiancée ordered a bun-​less burger expecting the patty with the ‘salad’ on the side. All she received was a dry patty with no condiments or toppings. She also did not receive her side of Irish bacon. I ordered the cheese steak sandwich which was literally just steak and cheese. There were no onions, peppers or other condiments or toppings. However, that may be a local thing so I am not going to hold that against the restaurant. I just assumed it was a Philly cheese steak.

1^st Negative Review that I have ever written. Do NOT go if you are by yourself! Such poor Customer Service that I never got seated so no chance to try the food. They cater to 3 – 4 person for their 4 person tables. Upon entering, I said I needed a table, not the high stool at the counter due to a medical condition. After an extended wait I was told I could be seated-​AT THE COUNTER! Seats had been open there since I entered. If that was what I wanted; I would have already been seated there. She said I had to wait longer for a particular table where 2 persons were just being served their food! WHAT? She even asked them if they were almost finished while they were eating??? Oh my!
During the entire time that I was there; they had 3 of the 4 person tables open continuously. No one was waiting for them. The heavy greasy odor in the air was becoming stronger. I continued to wait. 3 hostesses/​servers (1 of which had already tried to seat me at the counter) came to check the sign-​in list. She called my name for the COUNTER, again! After all this wait I knew with so many other great restaurant options that it was time to leave. My dining experience ELSEWHERE was fantastic.
I told them since it was such a problem seating potential customers; I would go elsewhere!

Pretty solid for a breakfast spot. A wait for a table is always a thing here so just be prepared. I would probably not show up with more than 5 people. The staff is down to business and not overly friendly but I did not have a problem with that because I wanted food so bad.
Here is what the table ordered:
Pancakes — by far my favorite they were perfectly cooked
French Toast — not the best we ever had but a good thing to order if you are looking for something sweet
Salmon Benedict — The hollandaise was really goopy and salty and the salmon was dried out but I still ate it. I would probably just order the pancakes.
Also as others have noted we were charged a gratuity which I thought was really weird since we didn’t have a big party. Not sure what that was all about???