San Diego Home Cooking’s Mission Valley Cafe

This was an awesome stop after church. Had the most horrible service today. Waited over 10 minutes to be offered a drink. Service was slow and the waiter was overwhelmed. They even ran out of orange juice
Time to regroup folks

Charged me 3 times for 1 transaction! Will not refund me and after 4 phone calls and 2 rude visits told me to make a claim with my bank which takes a month. In case anybody wants to risk this, the food was overpriced and gross as well. Bön Appétit!

Because our server, Lindsay B.‘s customer service was so outstanding is the reason for this «5 star» review! Lindsay’s prompt, professional and courteous service exceeded our expectations. We came in on a busy Saturday night for their prime rib special and as expected, the restaurant was pretty crowded. Lindsay greeted us and took our complicated order of bar drinks, appetizers, prime rib entrees and dessert.
Lindsay was doing «double duty» as our server and bartender! Lindsay brought our drinks that were excellent. The kitchen was «slammed» with many food orders since it was Saturday night, so our order took longer than usual. Although this was not her fault, she came by often to check on us and informed us on the progress of our order. As soon our food was prepared by the kitchen, she brought it to us, hot and fresh and in typical large portions!
Unfortunately, my prime rib was «well done» instead of «medium rare» as I always have it. Lindsay cheerfully replaced my prime rib with a «medium rare» cut. Again, great customer service. Overall, our dining experience was superb with Lindsay as the «rock star» of excellent customer service. Also providing excellent customer was Jenn, a manager, who resolved an issue on a previous visit. Jenn listened to the issue and offered an immediate satisfactory resolution.
Kudos to Lindsay, Jenn and Mission Valley Café! Based on my many visits as a loyal customer, I recommend Mission Valley Café to everyone who values excellent customer service, good food and large portions.

Worst service ever… waited 15 minutes for the waiter to get our order and then waited 40 minutes to get our food and the restaurant wasn’t even full… my poached eggs were over cooked… and coffee was only offered to us once…

I love coming here. The food is excellent, the portions are generous and the staff are super friendly. I’ve been here a few times, always leaving with a smile. I recommend the Veggie Benedict, a perfect and healthy combination of spinach tomato and red onion topped with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. The side of hash browns or home fries is usually more than I can handle. I can’t wait to return for my next attempt at finishing a delightful breakfast true to my standards of home style cooking.

The food here is like others say… very well-​made and served in very large portions. You can sign up for a phone app and receive discounts every week that make your money go further. Service is not the most professional, but certainly not unfriendly.
The only entreé I’ve experienced here that fell short was the weekend-​only Prime Rib special. The Prime Rib is served with soup or salad, vegetables and a choice of potatoes. For the public, it is priced at $ 17.99, but app users are charged $ 14.99. The Prime Rib I’ve had contained a large amount of gristle and fat that I tried to cut away but there was even more hidden inside to lessen the enjoyment of the meat. I think that, despite the lucrative price, I’ll make other choices in future visits and select my Prime Rib elsewhere.
The staff also needs to be trained not to bring a course until the previous one is finished. It is, of course, frustrating when you have just begun eating your salad or sipping your soup and all of a sudden your server is standing table side with your main course in hand.
And, when you have finished any part of your meal, the plates, glasses, etc. need to be removed from the table so that guests don’t have to sit and stare at the leftover food and utensils. This is not done, leaving an unpleasant environment for guests to endure.
With some fine tuning in the kitchen and by the servers, this would be a 5-​star eatery.

If there was a a zero star I would give it. Bad customer service. Came from Escondido to try this place out instead we should of gone to Wendy’s next door. Mahi mahi had no flavor whatsoever. Will definetly not come or recommend this place again.

UPDATE***Almost another month since my last review and I still haven’t received my money. They took my money January 13, 2016 and its February 17,2016 and still nothing and no one seem to care about damage control. Will no longer come to this establishment. They don’t care about their paying customers or maybe they do since they take our money and have no care to quickly refund their money they basically stole.
Original post 1÷24÷2016
I hate to write a negative review and I must say this is the first I ever done one. My son’s favorite place to eat is about to be the place I hate and will no longer spend my money if they don’t give me back my money promptly as if I already haven’t waited almost two week to receive a refund. My family came into this establishment on Wednesday 1÷13÷2016 for dinner. The service was great but a few days later I checked my account and notice they tried to charge my account 4 times but it only went through twice because it was a prepaid card and the extra funds was not available. I called this establishment hoping they can resolve this problem quickly, however, all I keep getting is someone taking my name and number and no one… NO ONE has returned my call. You take funds that was not authorized, you refund asap. It’s just that simple. I was told to call my bank because that would be quicker and I have explained to them that it is a prepaid card and they said it would take 3 months to dispute and investigate the charge. I have explained that twice with no avail. When I called today, the shift manager told me it was a process with accountant to fix the issue along with telling me it’s loud and busy and she will call me back. Yet again a person who I just complained to that no one has called me back, told me they will call me back without really listening to much I had to say. Now To the customer who is about to be pass angry you should address them to deescalate the problem that is brewing when it’s dealing with the reputation of your establishment and them taking money that was not authorized for you to take you address the person on the phone first. I managed retail and know there is a reversal/​refund option that should only ask for transaction number and amount and the funds are given back to the customer. I am angry at this restaurant on how they have handle their customer service at this point. You should try your damnest to help the situation even if that means giving out free meals to those you screw over because apparently everyone that night got overcharged. You don’t know people financial issues and I for one budget funds accordingly so this is a burden on me. — one angry customer Read less

My third time there. Was hoping they had improved on their service
Well, that hadn’t. After waiting to be finally seated, we were lead to a booth
No one came to ask if we would like something to drink or even acknowledge us. I gave it ten minutes then decided I waited long enough and left. Figured that was fifteen minutes of my time wasted
So I will not be returning, three Strick’s your out

Update: My star rating has now changed from 3 stars to 2 stars. Shelly went out of her way again to try to make us uncomfortable. Not only that but she was and still is VERY unprofessional. We come here almost every weekend and today was our second encounter with her and again unpleasant. We normally ask for Vivian because she is a top notch server. I politley asked if she was here today shellys response was «No she didnt show up» 1^st of all I have a degree in hospitality management and that is NOT a correct response. 2ndly her response was ignorantly incorrect. 3rdly she asked us if we wanted to sit somewhere else i replied no not at all. Trying to just brush off our first encounter as an off day for her, but instead of taking the high road and trying to correct the problem she pawned us off on someone else. Jenn took our order pleasantly. Then a guy came out and gave us our food. I always get the eggs benedict. The eggs were cooked solid through, i kindly asked jenn if she could help us for a moment and she came right over and mentioned how sorry she was that she hadnt been over bc its not her section. So i guess shelly didnt even ask anyone to take over the table… jenn went out of her way to help us. Shelly avioded our table the entire time we were there even after walking right passed us looked down saw my hubby was eating and i had no plate. Ok no problem. Jenn brought it out as soon as it was ready. BUT the homefries were mostly burnt and didnt have the peppers and onions i requested. Jenn quickly brought it back to add the peppers an onions.
I needed to use the restroom and to do so you have to pass the front desk.(Mind you we come here often and a lot with our 6 year old.) So as im walking by I hear shelly yell out «we’re closing early today and they dont give a sh*t.» I couldn’t believe this waitress. Not only is she argumentative with customers when SHE screws up orders but she aviods them and is now yelling and cursing at the front desk in front of customers and other employees. She is trashy and most definitely unprofessional. Shes lucky our 6 year old was at home sick because i would have smacked her had she acted this way in front of my son. I do not want my boy growing up thinking that is how you treat people in any industry or at work. We’re raising a respectable young man, not a trashy disrespectful person.
Least to say we will not be coming here anymore if she either doesnt get some type of people skills training or act her age, shes a grown woman in her 40s at least, she needs to act like she has some common decency. From now on we will be calling ahead of time and will not be patronizing this establishment if shelly is working. I’d also like to mention that the last time i did my review shelly harrassed me on Unilocal about it in a personal message. If this is the type of ppl this business hires I dont recommend it.

Had the most exceptional service from Shelley!!!
Thank for employees like her!
Great way to kick off our weekend!

I don’t understand why they have 3 stars. Out of all the crazy and hipster restaurant choices in the city, this little plain Jane place has become our favorite. Portions are f@$king ridiculous. Usually split meals with my girlfriend and I’m still full (and I’m a big guy). Here’s some highlights…
Home made rolls… out of control
Cinnamon roll French toast… it’s like cinabon on crack
Turkey dinner… perfect
Apple pork roast… heavenly
Country fried steak… perfect
If you like dinners and home cooking this place will likely become one of your favorites. If you want a lot of flare and crazy and unique menu items, this isn’t the place for you.

the food is pretty good. Unfortunately, the service has become increasingly poor. I’m not sure if the staff is tired, lazy, hungover, aloof or a combination of all these; but it’s generally unpleasant to be served there. This weekend, I saw my server walk to the convenience store for candy and an energy drink. Then, when she waked in and back to the kitchen, *surprise* our food was ready. (and yes, it looked like it had been sitting under a heat lamp.)
There’s too many cool options in the area to keep returning to Mission Valley Café. — bye
Of course, there’s a few decent servers in the rotten bunch. Good luck to you guys! Go work at the competition and be in a better environment! ;)

It is a little more than the average family restaurant but the service is more personal. You get some nice view of the freeway. The place is clean, accommodating to everyone including physically challenge customer. There’s plenty of parking spaces both front and back and free.
About the food: Everyday, they have specials noted on a chalkboard. if you missed the signs, ask the associates. The food is great and appetizing looking. The food I ordered and regular call are eggs Benedict, steak, and sandwiches. They provide with very large portion and allowed to substitute which is great for my low-​carb diet. Service is quick when not busy but waiting is allowed when they are extremely bz. Try this place… nothing fancy on decorations… they focus of food which is great!

I really love this place for breakfast. It’s right in the middle of Mission Valley so it’s very easy to get to. A lot of people don’t know about it… a hidden breakfast gem!
If you want a fast hot delicious meal with over sized portions and enough to take home for one or even two more meals then this is your place.
The biggest draw here is the humongous cinnamon rolls. They literally are as big as your head and are smothered in frosting. They serve it with a big steak knife stabbed right smack in the middle like a big exclamation point Enough to share for sure.
I feel obliged to mention the delicious omelette too. Ordered a cheese spinach turkey and onion omelette and it was so good but so gigantic I couldn’t finish it in one sitting.
The servers are expedient and super sweet and friendly, the kind that will make you want to over-​tip for sure.

Pleasantly surprised here. We had great service, and very accommodating.
I had the Veggie Benedict. It was great! Slathered in holla daisy to. Yes, I’ll have some egg and butter sauce with the eggs and butter. Yum! Perfectly poached eggs, and fresh veggies were very flavorful. I even polished off my potatoes and eggs!
He had the chicken sausage and eggs. He liked it a lot! He ate it all too. That’s rare for both of us to join the clean plate club.
Extremely generous portions. Menu has something for everyone and a great vegetarian selection. Wish I had a Bloody Mary.
Would return and even bring guests.

Been meaning to check this spot out for sometime now as I am a diner fare kinda guy and I love breakfast at anytime of the day. Service was friendly and efficient. I ordered the corn beef and hash with eggs, fruit, and english muffin. I was pretty impressed with the quality of the beef. It was good. The prices here are a bit high as most of the menu items ran over $ 10. Very basic interior… I would say it looked like the inside of a Best Western Hotel. Not bad overall.

I really love the homestyle feeling of this restaurant.
They make the best clam chowder and homemade rolls in town! I’ve some in just for a bowl & roll on more than one occasion. The service is always on point, I have no complaints.
I signed up for their coupons via email and just have to show it to the server. I appreciate not having to print them out.
I need to stop slacking and try their breakfast.

McDonald’s locations in San Diego may be serving all-​day breakfast… but I was in the mood for a good corned beef hash after work, which they don’t carry. So, as I had an email coupon from San Diego Home Cooking for their weekly Corned Beef Hash special for $ 6.99, I figured I’d come to the nearby Mission Valley Café for an early dinner yesterday afternoon.
I wasn’t really too impressed with Café 56 (the recently shuttered North County branch of San Diego Home Cooking’s chain), so I didn’t know what to expect with the Mission Valley Café. Imagine my delight when not only was the food quality amazing, the portion size was enormous! The corned beef hash had onions and peppers mixed in along with the potatoes, and it was covered by the copious home fries (also with sauteed onions and peppers per my request) and the two scrambled eggs I ordered. I had gotten a biscuit with gravy (.50 extra for the gravy) — granted, like at Café 56, there wasn’t too much sausage in the mix, but for some weird reason the biscuit tasted much better. And, that dinner roll… ginormous and tasty, especially when buttered! (I wonder if it’s also used for their burgers.) I sure enjoyed my leftovers for lunch today…
Service actually was better than I expected for a location that I thought was pretty quiet — they checked on me frequently and refilled my Diet Coke when necessary. And I did get my order relatively quickly, so that’s something. While the restaurant itself is clean and pleasant-​looking, getting to the parking lot can be tricky.
Definitely keeping the Mission Valley Café in mind as an early dinner destination after work, especially with the weekly email coupons I get.

After bootcamp on Saturday, i was craving french toast and i wanted it fast… I thought of this place that my «BC» ha told me about and my team even catered our Thanksgiving party from here — food is good.
My friend and i havent been here so we decided to check it out. We walked in and seated right away. thank god!
Our waitress was friendly offered us drinks and took our order. 15mins later our food arrives… that was quick — it was pretty busy too.
I ordered the french toast w/​scrambled eggs and bacons. OH MY GOD deliciousness. Well delicious in ‘homecooked way”.
This place is like an upscale denny’s/ihop with waaaaayyyy better food.
Im glad i got to try this place. I definetly recommend coming here for some real breakfast. — its quick and quiet.
Reminds me a lot like the family restaurant in Spicer, Minnesota. A bunch of friendly cooking home cooked meal — with young waiters/​waitresses.