Serendipity Cafe and Lounge

Great service, we were in and out quickly. My only complaint is more my fault so be sure to tell them how to cook your meat (they cooled the soul out of my burger).

Solidly good all around. Nice food and kind service. Very accommodating to little ones and also has a full bar which is a rather hard to find combination.

Decent breakfast spot for Magnolia.
Seems like a hangout for a bunch of Moms, they all seem to know each other and it’s kinda weird.
I kinda felt like I crashed some sort of book club or something.
Eggs Benedict was decent with a monster piece of ham on it. But everytime I go in everything seems a little on the cold side, especially the potatoes, I usually never eat them.
The coffee is great.

Super nice staff, the food came quickly and the ambiance was pleasurable. The food was definitely amazing. I would come back.

Awesome neighborhood pub! I got there after the grill closed so will have to go again — which is awesome as it is a fun place to relax and have fun. Laid back vibe that is open and inviting. Great place to meet friends and enjoy the night.

The only positive about this place is the staff.
I have given this place so many tries. The borders on mediocre on a good day and just awful on a bad day. Really, how hard is it to screw up a blt? Barely any bacon, thrown together by kids from the looks of it.
The owners and staff are always very friendly but I won’t waste my money here any more.

I just paid over $ 14 (included tax) for a salad that was only «meh» at best. A bit of a disappointment.

The lounge is a nice option since it is open later than most places in this neighborhood. The board games are a nice touch in the café side.

OK for happy hour. Skip the ‘sliderrs’ which were two small unexpectedly bland pulled pork mini mini burgers.
In general, it would not take a whole lot to rework the menu. Bring the standard up. Why do American pubs think the food need only be passable?
Ever go to Victoria? Vancouver? C’mon…

This place is a very family friendly casual place. This is a pretty casual place. I might not go here for coffee because it is a bit louder than other café’s around Magnolia but if I am with another person who would like to eat while I’d like to drink, I’d go here. The food is very typical American cuisine, fish and chips and chicken nuggets. It’s sorta a hodgepodge of café/​playground/​restaurant.
My Personal Restaurant Rating Key
One star: the food was bad and I had a negative experience.
Two star: I had a more negative experience and would not come here again but the food was good so I may.
Three store: Everything is good except one thing. Example-​the food is good, the price is more reasonable but the atmosphere is lacking class. Or the food is good, the atmosphere is good, but they over charged us. These three stars are actually my favorite types of restaurants to go eat at if the reason is due to the atmosphere because they are usually delicious and reasonably priced.
Four stars: Everything is great, food and experience. However the price is definitely on the upper end. I would not recommend this first to Obama unless he didn’t like my five stars. These are restaurants you can take your boss or your mother-​in-​laws to impress them, however they still don’t fit into the five star category. A bit fancier than my three stars, hence I don’t often eat here unless there is an occasion for it or there is a groupon that gives me a bit of a discount!
Five stars: I would recommend this to Obama. The price may be on the upper end but the experience and the taste is so exquisite, it is actually worth every nickel and dime.

You want this place to be a better option than Starbucks across the street, but it’s not. Gross space, gross coffee, underwhelming service. Avoid.

Since my last review, we’ve had a baby. She’s now 1 year old and we are coming a lot more to Serendipity because of that. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate a place that
1) Always has plenty of highchairs, not just one or two
2) Has a sizable playroom well-​stocked with toys, and a decent selection of kids’ books
3) Totally gets it when your daughter ends up with half her meal on the floor below her
4) Doesn’t rush you out, even when things are busy
5) Remembers your entire family
And, I think I like the breakfast items more than I used to ;)

So I have to start by saying I used to love this place. Sadly there has been a lot of turnover and it seems the quality has been left by the wayside.
Tonight was the kicker for me. I ordered the chicken pot pie. Wow. I’m going to describe this in detail for emphasis. Picture a plate. With the pot pie filling served with a biscuit cut in half on top. At room temperature. No pie crust. Just goop.
I mentioned this to the bartender/​server as I was in the lounge. His response. «Yeah I think it’s bad too. If you put hot sauce on it it’s ok.»
I don’t get what the deal is here in magnolia. Must remind myself to head over to Ballard for good food and service. What’s sad is thing used to be so much better here.

The place is nice and clean. Service is very slow so if you’re in a hurry this is not the place to go.

Go Hawks! Awesome lounge, great beer selection. Fabulous layout with TV’s strategically setup for optimum viewing of the game. Excellent food & coffee here.

I love their new patio area and will love it more when the temperature drops back to the 70’s.
Lounge area opens at 12. They have good selection of beer on tap. There’s plenty of screens for sports fans too. I like their extreme nachos, chili and chicken salad sandwich.
Come here when a band is playing, it’s so much fun.
Café has good breakfast options and they also carry some stuff from Macrina. I like sipping my coffee and reading a book on their comfy leather armchairs.

I come here solely to drink beer and play Golden Tee– which is my #1 favorite bar video game. Bar service is always prompt and friendly– and it’s never too busy to get a drink. Beer prices are OK.
I’ve tried their food once and and it was fine– nothing to write home about– but the beer is cold and the Golden Tee machine is always open– so I’m a repeat customer.
The vibe is casual and there are usually older locals sitting at the bar during the day.
Street parking is easy to find.

FILTHY DIRTY, smelly and cold. Filthy children’s play area. Black toys :(how difficult can it be to maintain an 8×5 ft area for your most loyal and vulnerable customers– babies and toddlers?
Tragic that magnolia families are so desperate for a family restaurant as to subject their babies to such a place. Clearly serendipity takes advantage of these families and its the only way they stay in business. Shameful– they deserve better. I don’t think this place has ever been cleaned. I can’t believe the health dept. has not shut them down.
I’ve had dry muffins, bad coffee, mediocre serendipity breakfast and last (and least)
SLIMY, NASTY CHICKEN SALAD SAND. WORST THING IVE EVER EATEN. (GAG) i kindly told them it was inedible and was told my transaction would be voided.
When I returned w/​my statement to show that i was in fact charged, the cashier said she would go get the owner and when she returned, the owner was «busy» and would «telephone» me.
Never called.
I wanted to like this place– it has great potential if the owner remotely cared about people.
A couple of positives– a sweet lady named Janet tells children stories here on Tuesdays and all but two servers seem to genuinely like people. Hopefully this is constructive criticism and til then– beware!

Sweet little «mom & pop» café by day, lounge by night. Friendly service, good portion sizes, endless coffee refills and GF toast! My sausage patty was a bit tough, but the bacon was tasty. A nice spot for me to catch up with a friend.
Street parking wasn’t bad either.

Stopped in the Serendipity for the first time last night, after a couple friends had told me I should check it out.
Overall I thought it was well put together inside, the menu had a good variety to choose from, with light Mexican cuisine, variety of salads, burgers, sandwiches and wraps. There is a little bit of everything on the menu, so it make a good place to dine, if no one can agree on one type of food.
The staff was very friendly and helpful throughout the evening. We needed a quiet place to sit down, get a bite to eat and do some work on the laptops. The WiFi was free and the connection speed was good. Once we started working the server promptly cleared the table, but kept bringing us water and making sure we had everything we needed.
For dinner I had the BBQ chicken salad and we started with the Gorgonzola fries, both were solid choices. The food was good, so no complaints here.
If you are looking for a casual meal out in Magnolia, I would definitely give Serendipity a shot.