Restaurant Review: Antique Row Cafe in Lemon Grove, California
Antique Row Cafe has been dubbed the #1 American Restaurant in all of San Diego. Interestingly, I've passed the one in Lemon Grove dozens of times and never noticed it.
As part of my quest to do something different everyday in 2009, I thought I'd check out this cafe. It's located on the busy street of Lemon Grove Avenue right across from the Lemon Grove Trolley Station. I was going to do some work at the Starbucks on that street today, but Starbucks was out of sandwiches, so I ventured out to see if I could find some good food nearby.
What I noticed first about this cafe was the outdoor patio with its spacious eating area. On this particular day it was a little nippy outside, so everyone was inside.
When you step into Antique Row Cafe, be prepared to be whisked away to another era - an era when jukeboxes, Marilyn Monroe, and Coca-Cola bottles existed. Old-school memorabilia is displayed throughout the restaurant. In the booth I sat at, there was a picture of "Beaver" Cleaver with his TV show brother. There was also a little cork bulletin board with people's business cards tacked to it which I thought was pretty interesting...
I loved that there was a variety of dishes available for breakfast. If I remember correctly, the menu had one whole page dedicated to breakfast entrees. The breakfast I ate was the corned-beef hash dish that came with hashbrowns, eggs, and toast all for $8. The food came very fast and was served in generous portions.
Although the food was great, I must say that a true mark of an exceptional restaurant is its customer service. And as some of you know, I'm all about customer service. Well, this cafe lived up to my standards! I was greeted with a warm smile by the host and the waitress. Both of them had that warm and genuine aura about them. There wasn't anything fake about their service. The waitress checked on me a couple times and offered to refill my drink. I could tell that this was a restaurant with great service because there were many regulars that came in and they were all greeted by name.
Overall I was impressed with Antique Row Cafe and I do recommend it as a must-check-out place if you're in San Diego. Read more reviews over at Yelp.
