The Filling Station Cafe

YUCK Thought this place would’ve been good boy was i wrong. The staff was rude they got my order wrong twice and my friends and i all agreed that everything was bland and lacked flavor. Waited for a water refill for more than 5 minutes I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE AND WILL NOT BE RETURNING

Went here with really high hopes, my boyfriend is from Orange and used to love coming to this place.
Ordered the biscuits and gravy breakfast (on special). It had 2 tiny pieces of sausage chunks in the gravy and was a small portion. Came 2 eggs, which were completely unseasoned and the bacon was tough and rubbery.
My boyfriend ordered the Denver Omelette. The veggies in it was raw. The iced coffee we both ordered was burnt.
Only thing we liked was the service. Our waitress Hannah Q was fast and friendly.

Great breakfast place in Orange. We like to come here when the wait time isn’t too bad. It’s usually myself and the girlfriend the come so we sit at the bar when we can.
They’re known for their pancakes, and I understand why. They’re very light and delicious. Machaca is something I always try whenever it’s on the menu, and the filling station machaca is quite good. They have massive breakfast burritos and their coffee is always on point, never tastes burned.
Service here is always good. I was tempted to give this place 4 stars (due to the wait times), but gave it 5 anyway because of the service. Try it, but come EARLY… especially on Sundays.

One word: Machaca! Get it for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Soooo yummy! Comes with tortillas and hash browns.
Service is always good. Nice attentive staff.
Be ready for a wait on the weekends! It worth it tho!

Gotta say we love this place! We eat breakfast here at least every other week… My significant other says their waffles are like no other, in fact, he usually eats 2 (and they are B I G) if he orders a waffle anywhere else, he is disappointed! I usually get eggs and bacon and their bacon is soo good. I’ve tried their Eggs Benedict too and breakfast quesidilla (sp)…I cant believe the negative reviews, probably the usual I-​am-​never-​happy-​crowd again!!! haha… always good, try it!

Very underwhelmed, not sure why so many ppl wait in line for average breakfast food. The eggs Benedict was not flavorful and roasted potatoes tasted like they’ve been sitting for a whole, oily and not fresh.

Favorite breakfast spot!!! So delicious and their coffees are great :)
Recommend their veggie omelette, burrito, pancakes, pretty much all breakfast foods :)

I have always wanted to try this place, and I finally did! I love the ambiance of this place, that they play «oldies» music inside the restaurant, the lights hanging outside on the patio area. There was only one bathroom though, and it was really small.
The food– was so amazing! I had the waldorf chicken salad and it was delicious! Yummy! Bruschetta was delicious too!
Service with a smile, of course! Thank you Danielle! I will definitely be back!

Wow! I can’t believe how disappointed I am with this place. My very first time coming and won’t be coming back. This place is always crowded so I thought maybe the food is great, but, it’s not!
I got the Eggs Benedict with potatoes. The Eggs are not properly poached, the potatoes are burnt, and the hollandaise sauce was sour. I could of made this better at home! Not worth it for what I paid. My food was at my table so fast I felt like they don’t make it to order.
–Kay Von Kakes

So Yummy! Will be back soon! Had the huevos rancheros and mimosas! Bloody Mary is excellent too! A bit of a long wait but the food is worth it! Staff is friendly and location is great! My go to Brunch spot on Sundays!

I got the ahi burger and it is seriously the best burger invention I’ve ever tried. Highly recommend! We sat outside and had such a fun lunch with the Cali breeze. Service a bit slow, only because we had an infant with us that I noticed since he began to get fussy and our waiter still had not gotten our order.

Unilocal should increase their star power for The Filling Station Café. The staff, the location, food and environment fits for me and my family. They are friendly and they serve great American comfort food.
Can their bloody Mary get any better… Maybe, but it was so delicious I was tempted to get another one. Next time when I am not driving. And out of nowhere I overhear the next table behind us say,…
«Suck harder!» Then, LOL! Customers here are lively and know how to have fun.
My favorite part of this Café is being able to people watch.
Dick Wasser, Capaletti, or just plain olé best buddy Dyl, would love this café because they have enough vegetarian choices on their menu. Next time I go here, I will bring more people. Thank you Filling Station!

Idk what happened but the quality of the food has gone down terribly. Not to mention the décor. We sat in the patio and it smelled of sewer with dead animal. Also. The tables were sticky and chairs were old and rusted and not in an appealing way.
Food mediocre at best. I ordered fish tacos. 3 pieces of super small fish coveted in mounds of cabbage and cheese (cheap cheese) and two corn tortillas that weren’t even heated right. All for $ 11.95 … I had to dig to find my fish. The side Cesar I ordered had little to no dressing and filled with lettuce that was wilted and brown. For $ 4.00 what a steal … I don’t think I’ll be coming back. Over priced and overhyped

I’ve recently become a huge brunch lover and always, a sucker for cute restaurant decors. The Filling Station has a great brunch environment with its large outdoor patio and oldies-​inspired inside décor.
I came with a few friends on a weekday morning and there was no wait for a seat indoors. I ordered the Eggs Benedict which comes with two poached eggs on ham and english muffins. I chose the hash browns as my side. First impression — the presentation of the dish wasn’t great. Second impression — the eggs benedict was decent. Not the best I’ve had, but tasty nonetheless. I did appreciate that the hash browns weren’t soaking in grease and that it paired nicely with the saucy eggs benedict. I’d come back to give a few of their other menu items a try.
Note: Parking might be a bit upsetting as you’ll have to try your luck for street parking (unmetered) or public parking lots (free).

i came here for brunch with a few friends. There is both indoor and outdoor seating. There was a bit of a wait for a group of 4 on a saturday, but that is to be expected. We ordered a carafe of the orange mimosas ($ 25) and they were fine. Each person was able to have about 2 glasses. I ordered the eggs benedict with a side of fruit. The eggs were slightly overcooked and the english muffin was hard and a bit burnt. Overall, I was not really satisfied with my meal. The mimosas were the best part.
Street parking and it is limited to 2 hours. So you gotta move your car! The area around this restaurant is super cute with lots of antique shops to peruse.

Super cute hipster place for breakfast/​brunch. They serve sandwiches and burgers for lunch too but my objective was brunch food.
I had been wanting to come because of all of the reviews. I’m surprised to find that there are so many recent mixed reviews. Maybe it depends on what you order.
SERVICE:
Arrived at 12:30 and and the place was packed and a lot of people were waiting outside to be seated. I was meeting my friend so we were committed to eat here. I was told that the wait would be about 10 minutes. I didn’t have a preference for inside or outside dining. I had my jacket and scarf so I was prepared for both. After about 15 minutes, we got seated in a nice booth that could’ve sat 4 right inside the restaurant. I was REALLY pleased. I thought that we would be stuck in some corner at a tiny little table.
Our server was prompt, friendly, and attentive. Couldn’t ask for more.
FOOD:
*Pomegranate mimosas-​FABULOUS!!! The ratio of juice to champagne was perfect!
*Pork chorizo with eggs and hash browns-​I asked for extra diced jalepenos & didn’t get charged extra. Nice & spicy! I also asked for extra crispy hash brown & I got exactly was I wanted. The plate was flavorful & delicious. I could easily find this at a Mexican restaurant for a breakfast item. I liked that the chorizo wasn’t completely macerated. I liked the tiny little chunks. My friend and I were «sharing» & I could tell that she liked mine better.
*French toast with sausage & eggs over medium-​The French toast was good but nothing out of the ordinary. The eggs were cooked as requested. I didn’t really like the soft sausages. It almost tasted undercooked.
CONS:
*Parking is a challenge. 1 hour street parking. The restaurant is in a residential area so some streets are off limits unless you have a permit. My lunch over an hour and was surprised to find that I didn’t get a ticket. Don’t know how the vigilant the patrol is.
*There’s only one bathroom. I thought that if an establishment served alcohol, they are supposed to have two.
I was torn between the chorizo & machaca. I will definitely have to order the machaca next time!

Ambiance 5 stars
*I love the plentiful outdoor seating with, and if the weather is chilly, the indoor seating/​décor is fun as well. They had a mini pumpkin patch set up outside for kids which was so cute and thoughtful! The chairs were comfy and they had plenty of heater stands in the patio. Our table even had a fire pit in the center of it! About 2 or 3 tables had this. Twinkling lights outside are always a plus. The bus boy really tried hard to light it for us; it took a while but he finally got it to work. After a while it did cool down and the heat was nice.
Food 2 – 3 stars
The options were OK. If you want something healthy, salads are a good option. We ordered the ahi tuna kale salad, the chicken sandwich on focaccia and the beef stroganoff. My dad said his sandwich was good; I didn’t try it. The beef and noodles were meh, ok… I’ve had way better quality meat (this one was a bit fatty for my taste) but the pasta and sauce were tasty and it came out hot. The problem we had was with the «seared» tuna… it was basically cooked almost all the way through and TOO DRY. The salad itself was fine but I didn’t like the tuna at all. We told the waiter and he said that since we already started eating it he can’t take it back but he talked to the manager for us.
Service from mgmt/​staff: 5 stars
*After the «seared tuna incident, the manager gave us a discount on the salad and a free piece of pie (which they were prob going to toss at the end of the night anyway, but it was a nice gesture all the same). Kitchen gets less stars b/​c of the food.
Sitting in an outside patio is very nice but if the food isn’t that great, I’m not likely to return. It might be nice to just come here for a coffee/​dessert date though. The location is great and easy to walk to from the lots near the circle. Not sure if I would come back for dinner though; options weren’t that great or to my taste.

This is one of those places that should be a great restaurant but it is not. It has a great location and, from a distance, it looks to have a great atmosphere. But, there are some problems…
First of all let’s look at the positives. The food is pretty good and the staff is nice and they are fairly efficient. Your coffee cup and your water glass stays full.
The Filling Station has both indoor and patio dining options. The inside is themed with red tiles and the tables and the booths are well separated to give you a nice dining experience. The outside tables are also well spaced apart from one another. They are not placed too close together — situated right next to one another, as many restaurants do in order to maximize occupancy. So, again, due to their placement, you do not feel crowded or uncomfortable having a conversation with your dining partner.
But, there are problems… Number one, this place can get insanely crowded. There can be very long waits, especially on the weekends. Number two, they really do not take very good care of their facility. For example, they do things like haphazardly duck tape their umbrellas to their fence to keep them in place (as can be seen in my photo). This looks really tacky and is something a restaurant that is obviously making money should not do. They also have some very off balance tables outside, that rock back and forth. Again, there is no reason for a successful restaurant to have such poor furnishings. They should care more about their customers then to make them sit at a table that has duck taped feet just to provide it with any sense of balance.
One of the main problems, and one that truly surprises me, is that The Filling Station only has one restroom, used by both men and women. When this place is crowded there can be a very long line. Why they do not add additional restrooms is a mystery.
These are just some things to think about if you plan to dine here. If you plan to go it is best to go on the off-​hours. From this, you will not have to deal with the problems that are encountered when there are large crowds and your overall experience will be much better.

+/​-​THE FOOD
Portion sizes are pretty huge here! I had the Old Towne Scramble with extra ham. It had bell peppers, onions, mushroom, and tomatoes scrambled on top of 3 eggs. I thought that there wasn’t a lot of flavor but it was still decent. The English muffin came with butter and strawberry jam and was pretty good. Although I didn’t order it, I thought the guava mimosa looked very good and wish I had since it was only $ 5!
+ THE ENVIRONMENT
The café is decorated like a vintage gas station so it’s a bit run down/​rustic looking. There’s many different car/​gas station parts around the place. There’s plenty of seats, both indoors and outdoors. The indoor seats seemed a bit cramped but it was raining outside so we had no choice.

My second visit didn’t live up to the standard set by my first visit. It is still a popular place with a wait on the weekends, which is to be expected. I do love the outdoor patio and they had plenty of umbrellas to shade everyone. We were seated inside and received terrible service. They never gave napkins and place settings to my grandma who ended up getting it herself since we only saw our waitress a total of 2 times after she took our order. She wasn’t friendly or attentive. We ran out of both water and coffee.
Our food this time was just okay. I had the Breakfast Quesadilla. It was filled with onions. They overpowered everything else. Additionally, the onions and peppers were still a bit too raw and needed more cook time in order to soften up. The guacamole on the side was filled with onions and tomatoes, which I felt was just filler. I couldn’t get any sold bites of just avocado and I was also so tired of eating onions. My sister’s breakfast burrito was too full of potatoes and not enough of the other components. My mom and grandma enjoyed their omelets, so perhaps that is the best way to go.
I would like to give this place one more try, to see if it measures up with the first experience we had since it was so vastly different.

Cute little place in downtown Orange!
I love the orange circle and love finding places to eat in the area. I, of course, found this gem on Unilocal and had it bookmarked. My sister and friend went hiking and I had an intense workout training so we decided to meet up for brunch around 1 pm. It was all of our first meals of the day so needless to say we were starving! I was scared there would be a wait because of the reviews I read, but there was no wait on a Saturday around 1 pm. We got a nice booth inside but also had the option to sit outside. If it wasn’t so hot, it would have been nice since the patio area is so cute!
My sister and I got the iced coffee which was amaze! My friend got the hot chocolate which looked delish! For my meal, I got the Eggs Benedict with veggie sausage, added on avocado and grilled potatoes. Every bite was to the T! I was very satisfied! My sister got the spicy burger with fries and she loved her meal too. My friend got the pancake breakfast with eggs and 2 buttermilk pancakes. She enjoyed it too. We all finished our meals! I’m not sure if we were just super hungry from our workouts, or if the food was just that good. I’m gonna say it was a combo of both :)
Our waitress wasn’t overly nice, but she was sweet and helpful with our questions. The inside is so cute! I love all the décor and the diner like feeling it gives out. Super cool vibe!
We found parking right at the back of the restaurant. But there’s plenty of street parking on those busy days.
I will definitely be back to try their other foods! But def avoid the rush time hours. Saturday at 1 will be my time to check this place out. Don’t steal it from me ;)

It has been several years ago now, Mr. B and I had an uninspiring breakfast here. So seeing the glowing reviews on Unilocal surprised us. Being the breakfast whores we admit to being, we decided to give them a second chance.
Still as cute as a button, it was up, and running, and quite busy for a mid-​week day. Doesn’t anybody have a J.O.B. around here? Of course, as the name suggests, you may correctly assume it was a mid-​century filling station conversion with a 50’s theme. It has all the trappings of Route 66 sentimentality and enough artifacts to draw your zombie’d 2015 eyes off your text messaging just long enough to feel a twinge of 1950’s nostalgia.
The menu is a mix of artery-​clogging foods or politically correct, turkey or veggie sausage dining. My kind of place… you can choose how *guilty* you want to feel.
Ordering the Pancake Breakfast, I was able to upgrade to a summer season, lemon-​poppy seed pancake with lemon zest and mascarpone crème for $ 2 more, instead of the regular buttermilk pancakes. [I really wanted cornmeal pancakes, but they had none.] This came with 2 eggs cooked to order and 2 slices of bacon. I found the pancakes to be fluffy, but too sweet for my palate. The bacon was good, and no complaints about the eggs.
The other breakfast was a Breakfast Quesadilla filled with chorizo, mushrooms, eggs, onion, and black bean. No complaints here, it was thick with filling and very flavorful, and way too much to finish in one sitting. One word… Yum.
The only other consideration were the flies. Of course, these were *OC flies*. Where I come from, the flies are barefoot and gravitate to dairy land (so we don’t want to know where they have landed). These were most likely dressed in designer jeans (Dussault Apparal Thrashed Denims) and stilettos. I suppose instead of using fly swatters, you should invite them to a wine and cheese tasting party next door. Regardless, they were as annoying as watching an episode of the Real Housewives of the OC.
I digress.
Service was good. Mid week is a good choice if you want to avoid long waits. Parking is a free for all on the street. Ugh. And they are dog friendly.
Bottom line? What we had this time was better than we remembered. I liked it, but I still love Orange Café more.