Postcards American Bistro

We stayed at the hotel this restaurant was in, so we came into it purely for convenience. The main purpose was to feed the toddler since us adults were going out later for dinner. We ordered her the chicken fingers meal, ended up getting the nachos for us to share, as well as two drinks (Basil Vodka Lemonade and Old Fashioned). The toddler’s meal was the best thing we ordered, great chicken and a variety of fruit. Both drinks seems really light on the liquor and not really worth the higher prices. The nachos were ok, but after you ate the top layer, you were just left with chips and salsa. Overall, convenient location if you’re staying at the hotel and need to feed your starving kid rather quickly.

Understaffed and undeserved — I waited 10 minutes before giving up on seeing a hostess. I took a 20 minute walk (because my hotel room at the Handlery wasn’t ready), and came back for a second try. Seated immediately, but there was only one other couple in the entire restaurant … Had the Cuban sandwich and had to request pickles. It took 30 minutes to get my sandwich. OK food, but a bit overpriced. Definitely not on my ‘must do again’ list.

I had a business lunch today there and was amazed by the fresh and delicious Garden Spaghetti Salad as well as the Chicken Chipotle Wrap made by Executive Chef Peter Erni and his team. Great staff and experience!

Not bad. Got a breakfast burrito and coffee here for breakfast. I stayed at the hotel here so made sense to just eat here. $ 3 for coffee wasn’t cool but expected since it is a «service» they provide here. As for the burrito itself, it was pretty good. I guess I would eat here again if I stayed at this place.

We stayed in the hotel and received breakfast vouchers for the next morning. Had the breakfast buffet and pancake special. Both offerings were great. The hostess and waitress were very nice and we were filled up and very much enjoyed our meal. This is a small sit in eatery in the lobby of a hotel. I would recommend both the hotel and eatery if you were in the area.

I ate at the bar area. The bartender was welcoming and gave me the low down on their beers on tap (all local breweries) along with the menu for food. I ate the chicken nachos (edible and filling) and had a bud light. The tab was almost $ 20 for two items. A tad expensive but hey I needed to kill a few hours before a wedding reception. The funniest part of this experience was there was a Oakland Raiders convention. A couple of Raiders fans tried to intimidate the bartender into playing the pre season game. A manager stepped in and told them flat out the game isn’t being showed. They were not happy to say the least. But they fit the mold of the typical Raider fans.

We ate here twice during our vacation as it is located inside the Handlery Inn where we stayed. The first time we had dinner. The waitress took our drink order, the kids drank soda and my husband and I had water. While we were waiting, my husband and my dad went to the bar to get a drink, my husband ordered a dirty martini ($ 12).
We received our drinks and placed our order. I ordered the Orange basil salmon and requested a dinner salad also. I ordered a carnivore pizza for the kids. My husband did not want anything and neither did my dad.
We waited for what seemed like a long time. During that time, the waitress did not come back to refill our water glasses. Mind you, there were only three other people in this restaurant.
Finally dinner came. Remember my salad? It came with the meal. I informed the waitress that I really didn’t want it now I intended to have it before my meal. (isn’t a salad always served before the meal?) she did apologize and took it back.
The salmon was dry and quite frankly, underwhelming. It came with mashed potatoes (also dry) and vegetables which were the best part of the meal. The pizza was pretty good and a pretty good deal at $ 10. It fed my two children and my nephew. Plus my husband had a slice also. The waitress never came back to check on us during our meal and we had to ask the manager for water. The bill came and added on was a 20% gratuity charge! The bill came to about $ 45. That is without the martini.
Now, on to breakfast. We ate breakfast here once day during our stay. I ordered oatmeal, my husband ordered your basic eggs and potatoes and toast. My children ordered off of their kids menu. My son ordered French toast, my daughter pancakes. The food arrived. My oatmeal had apples on it even though I stated I preferred it plain. No big deal it had a strange taste to it, I think because the apples were baked in it, but it wasn’t horrible and I ate it. My kids’ breakfast was about the size a toddler would eat. My son got three round pieces of French toast and my daughter three small pancakes. Please see pictures although the pictures make it seem bigger please refer to the strawberry for comparison. It is just a regular sized strawberry. These meals were $ 7 each. We asked the manager for more food and of course we would be charged for another order. My husband had to give my son some of his breakfast because he was still hungry and he is not even much of a breakfast eater. This time the bill did not have the 20% added (maybe something they only do at dinner?)
The servers were both nice but I wouldn’t call it great service.
All in all a disappointing restaurant experience.

I found the service slow, I ordered hummus and it took over 3o minutes, the bartender took my beverage before I was finish (lupe), Then I shared my bad experience with the Mgr. Wendell whom gave me this obtuse attitude, Not concern what’s so ever. He appeared like I wanted something free. I just wanted to be heard and showed empathy. Need caring staff

Had a great dinner here tonight. Mark had the Penne chicken. He said it was great. I had the steak with an awesome butter on it. Very very nice. The asparagus was just right. We shared a crème brûlée excellent. Manny was a very attentive, not overshadowing server. The locals really need to look at this place. Prices are excellent. We are traveling thru and will definitely come back here.

Postcards American Bistro has extremely tasty food… Quite a surprise for a hotel restaurant.
The bruchetta was AMAZING! The Asian chicken salad was delicious, filed with lots of delicious goodies.
Very nice meal! Many provided great service as well.

Postcards is located in the lobby of the Handlery Hotel. The lobby along with the bar and restaurant is nice and it appears that it was recently updated.
We recently came in on a Friday night and it was quite. We started out with the bruschetta which turned out to be the highlight of the night. It was good, heavy in garlic, and probably one of the best I’ve had.
We then went with the Bistro Club and pizza. Everything was pretty good although they did screw up one order.
The main issue I have is that our server added automatic gratuity on a party of 4. I worked in the restaurant industry a long time and I never heard of such thing. We did have two people that have tattoos and were a bit under dressed. I hope that wasn’t the reason, because that would be discriminatory.

This is one of my favorite local family getaways! Ok, so the food is not haute cuisine. You are in a hotel in MISSION VALLEY, not La Jolla, not the Four Seasons either. BUT, this place is very old school in the best possible way. The bartenders are so welcoming that they make you feel like you’ve just flown into Fantasy Island. Everything is so laid back and relaxing that it’s easy to slip away from reality here.
The prices are reasonable, the food is comforting, the staff is incredibly friendly and courteous, and the poolside service is such a luxury! There’s nothing like lounging by a pool/​jacuzzi on a sunny SoCal day and having someone bring you a daquiri/​piña colada/​name your frozen cocktail, on a tray! Add chili fries to that and this is what I picture heaven to be. If your hungrier for more, then their club sandwich is my favorite. It’s enough to feed 4 regular humans, or just me. The reuben is also ridiculously enormous and tasty — and I enjoyed it very much although I rarely ever eat meat anymore. It’s not as huge as the ones at Carnegie Deli, but still big enough to make it difficult to get both slices of bread in around one bite. The kids love the strawberry and mango slushies with whip cream and maraschino cherry.
I’ve never eaten inside the bar or the restaurant, but the décor for the poolside bar is kitschy 70’s style and the restaurant is hipster, shiny and modern. Both are always very clean. You can’t possibly get me to say anything bad about this place. I will be back for spring break!

It was a last minute decision to eat here at the hotel we stayed in as it was Valentine’s night and every where else was booked or had long wait times. As it turns out it was one of the best Valentine’s dinner out we had as family with 2 young ones. The Valentine’s Special was a choice between Steak or Salmon, Spring Salad with Mango, Raspberries and Papaya or Shrimp Bisque Soup, Champagne or House Wine and a Chocolate and Strawberry Truffle Cake/​Mousse for dessert. Dinner Special for 2 was $ 40. We were pleasantly surprised at the portions of the meal and how great everything tasted. The steak was not the your typical restaurant cut size steak and seasoned and cooked to perfection just as we ordered. This family friendly restaurant offered kids menus and a menu with coloring activities to keep them busy while we waited for our food. The service we received considering it was a busy night for the restaurant was very good as I know we probably would have waited much longer elsewhere. The server was very polite, attentive and courteous. We will definitely eat here again and would definitely recommend this place to others.

Attentive service, huge portions and exquisite food. The breakfast was la Revolucion. An enormous plate of eggs meaty chorizo, cheese and pico. I had the bagels and lox with fresh tomatoes, red onions and capers. Also at the table were bananas foster on French toast, and the breakfast burrito. The portions were so large that we are taking half home. The presentation on the platters was very nice. Jose was our server and so gentle with our special needs son. The food beats the pants off of any other café or breakfast nook around. So long Perry’s! The restaurant validates parking. I’ll be back often.

I have been here once. The food was really good. There was an issue with communication. We got our food and immediately got a to go box. My friend was like I guess we have to go. Lol. It was the wrong table. Initially I didn’t know what to order. The waiter suggested the burrito. Fabulous choice. It was really good. My friend got the eggs benedict two days in a row and loved it. If I’m in the area and staying at the handlery, i would go back.

Without question, the biggest and best French Dip sandwich I’ve had in a long time.

We’ll call this one a 3.5, which I would say is a pretty decent rating for a hotel restaurant. Was I staying here? Nope, but when some friends of the family held a small, informal and casual wedding reception here, we had a chance to eat our way through the appetizer menu at happy hour prices.
I will give some props to the bartenders that didn’t bat an eye at muddling a mojito upon request. I mean, when you have a crowd ordering a bunch of drinks and someone (cough, cough, mom) orders a mojito and laser beams don’t shoot from the bartender’s eyes, you get some love from me. Other than that it was Maker’s Mark on the rocks for me at $ 10 a pop. Ehhh… a bit pricey but to be expected at a hotel bar.
The good:
The wings. Damn me for not snapping a pic of these suckers! Much different than any wings that I have had in a while. Prepared as the entire wing (flat, leg and tip) these suckers are dry and served with ranch dressing. Nice crunch and no need to dip in the dressing for me.
The bad:
The bruschetta. Four pieces of something you’d see Gordon Ramsay throw across a kitchen while screaming, «how in bloody hell did you screw that up?!»
The ugly:
Their really wasn’t one. The burger was decent and the quesadilla was about on par with any corner taco shop. Not going to blow your mind but certainly not something that will last long at a table of hungry partiers — and it didn’t.

I rarely give bad reviews. This one is for the service! It’s so. slow. Only came here to pick up a pizza…
I asked when will my pizza come out… A server told me five min… The manger comes out tells me 10 more! I asked how come? Since two to go orders were filled before my to go order?! She said its not on purpose there are three orders ahead of yours. Hmmmm… I think is that a joke, everyone has food and drinks in the bar.
Food: I could tell while I was bringing my pizza back that I was not going to like it. The box felt heavy. When I returned to my room the pizza had huge slices of raw tomatoes and tons of slightly melted mozzarella… The pizza wasn’t even hot. I forced myself to eat half a slice then realized it wasn’t even cooked.
The pizza smells so gross I had to throw it away outside the hotel because i didn’t want to leave it in my room. Ugh. I’m annoyed I wasted $ 15 and an hour of my time. Never again!

I’ve been hosting happy hour events at the «Postcards» Bitro for several years now for an Internet social group that I run.
I’ve found the staff to be incredibly helpful, especially Sandra (the asst. manager) who handles everything for us and the bartender, whose name I don’t know but he’s always very courteous and efficient tending to a large group of folks.
The food for the events has been very good, especially the teriyaki chicken and pizzas, and Sandra has been more than helpful in adjusting their menu to meet our food needs.
5 stars.
Thanks!
tom

Located in the Handlery, a modest resort facility that’s shed some of the reputation it earned when, under its previous name of the Stardust, it hosted a science fiction convention in 1966, where the restaurant was so bad that it inspired the writer Poul Anderson to write a parody of «Waltzing Matilda» about it called «Bouncing Potatoes». («What is this hunk of a grey-​green greasy limpopo /​All set about with a strange fever-​tree? /​That, said the waitress, is roast beef and a salad too /​You’ll come a-​bouncing potatoes with me.»)
But the quality was still a bit variable when I was there a few years ago. The menu seems to have changed again since then, so I hope you won’t have the problems I did. I had dinner there both evenings of the conference I was attending at the hotel. On Friday the service was fine, and the food edible, though it seemed a bit odd to find (what was probably previously frozen, prepared elsewhere) stuffed Atlantic salmon in San Diego. At least the vegetables tasted fresh.
Saturday night, though, was less than successful. Our party of (I think) nine seems to have been of indigestible size, though the restaurant was not crowded. Our seating consisted of round tables in a row with interesting gaps between them, and the service was very slow. Two of us ordered pizza, for which we could choose our toppings. The other fellow asked for pepperoni. I asked for pepperoni, sausage, and onion. We both got pepperoni and sausage. And while we were peering at the pizzas trying to figure out what was on them, and whether either of us got what we ordered, the waiter heard me say «I have the one with onion, if there is one with onion,» and he hustled off and came back offering me a small plate holding … a full slice of raw red onion, the kind you’d plop on a hamburger. «For a pizza?» I said. «Take it away.»
The pizza was greasy, very salty, and by the time we were finished our party leader still hadn’t received her entrée.