Great Maple
| Address: | 1451 Washington St, San Diego, CA 92103, USA |
| Phone: | +1 619-255-2282 |
| Site: | thegreatmaple.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 8AM–2PM 8AM–2PM 8AM–2PM 8AM–2PM 8AM–2PM 8AM–2:30PM 8AM–2:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
ES
Esmeralda Ramirez
By far the best maple bacon donut I have ever eaten. More on that later. A friend and I dropped by for brunch and waited about an hour to be seated. The line is long, especially on the weekends, but its worth the wait. If it gets too crazy, put your name on the list and walk to the farmers market a few blocks down. Or you can people watch in the meantime. Service was great even though we were sitting next to the American Apparel generation. They kind of ruined my experience with all of their bitching. Im not sure who these "hip" juveniles think they are, but why would they wait in line for so long only to play with their phones and not order food!? Only one of them ordered and the rest complained about the "lag" in service. Cant they be annoying elsewhere?! Anyway. Our server was a young friendly guy. They dont have bottomless mimosas, which was a sad moment for me, but I asked him if I could get a really strong one. He said no problem and delivered. I feel at times he kept pushing for us to order more alcoholic beverages though... Onto the donuts. Theyre fresh out of the kitchen and are topped with real strips of bacon and maple syrup. Theres a delicate crunch when you first bite into them, followed by a soft pillow of dough. Its amazing. The sweet factor is right on point. I thought it would be overwhelmingly sweet, but theres just the right amount of maple syrup. The bacon is thick and crispy and gives it a nice texture. Beware: they can get a little bit sticky. Perhaps youll want to eat them the fancy way with a fork and knife. My actual dish was the brisket popover. I know Im probably the only person in the planet to say this, but it had too much bacon. The brisket itself was great (tender and full of flavor), but I could have done without the bacon. Especially after eating it on the donut. The herbed potatoes were amazing and probably my second favorite item from this brunch. It was my first popover but I didnt really care for it. It was good to pick up some of the yolk from the eggs though. One day Im going to be back just for an order of maple bacon donuts.
ES
ES Perkins
Let me get all the complaints about my first experience here out the way. We were not given a choice or inside or outside for our party of four when I put our name on the list. We love eating outside and noticed many people with similar sized parties being seated before us, when I asked I was told they were sitting outside... Frustrating way to start our experience. Upon being seated (inside) our table and chairs were not clean, they had food from the previous guests on it, it was sticky and I got syrup on my (expensive) jacket. The check was left on it from previous paterons as well. Not what you would expect after having read the reviews for Great Maple. The food was taking a considerable amount of time to arrive, but in thier defense it was quite busy. I decided to use the restroom after copious amounts coffee while waiting, I was surprised to find five people I of me in line for the restroom. Ugh. The restaurant itself is loud but not uncomfortable, in fact I would call it vibrant. Once the food arrived, I can see why its so busy, it was amazing. Seriously they nailed the hardest part, preparing a perfect meal. If they handled all the details as well as they handled the main course this place would be in my top ten in San Diego no question. Im sure my experience was a matter of circumstance and am willing to try it again, but it was less than stellar for an $80 family of four breakfast.
ZU
Zuzana Votrubec
Came in on Friday night for some appetizers and drinks. They did a good job handling the fact that the website and reality dont agree on happy hour specials and extended the offer on the website to us. We sat at the bar where we had great views of the semi open kitchen and were able to engage a bit more with the bar staff. The pickle Bloody Mary I had was very good. I loved the bloody mary mix they use and the good balance of salty and spicy. Fiancee had a craft beer and enjoyed that, and then we shared a tequila mezcal cocktail that came with an interesting burnt lemon as a topper (cant recall the name, but it was very good). Ordered the pop overs, which were shaken in a paper bag table-side to get dusted with an interesting Parmesan herb mixture. Also had the pork belly and pulled pork sliders, both of which were quite good. I didnt care too much for the sour cream sauce on the bbq slider and they sent out a plain slider bun for me to re-assemble without any hesitation. We also lucked out and to our surprise, every Friday at 6:30p they do a celebration of the weekend with free champagne toasts for everyone. Will be back soon.
ME
Megan-Ashley King
I seriously believe that San Diego has the most amazing restaurants ever! I thought brunch couldnt get any better than Snooze, but I was completely misguided. Great Maple, which is owned by the same people that bring us amazing restaurants like Hash House-A-Go-Go and Tractor Room, is a chic and more portion controlled restaurant that combines nouveau Americana, F2T and comfort foods. For starters, the drink menu is OHMAZING!!!! I had to indulge in 3, The Honey Mule (GMs twist on a Moscow mule), a watermelon mimosa and 2 of a Pear. The main reason I came here was to try the maple bacon donuts, which are made to order! When I tell you, LIFE CHANGING, I mean it. Perfect combination of sweet and savory. I had to break my vow of pescatarianism to try them. I ordered the chorizo scramble with egg whites and Hunt opted for the seasonal Italian hash! BOTH ITEMS did not disappoint. The ingredients were fresh, seasoned to perfection and identically matched the description on the menu. Im soooooooooo glad I let my curiosity get the best of me because Great Maple is EVERYTHING!
AN
Anatoly Petkov
Another great meal at the Great Maple! After todays feast I can say Ive tried breakfast, lunch and dinner here and they hit the spot every time. As others have mentioned in their reviews, this is not a budget eatery, but here you truly get what you pay for. Every item we ordered was prepared with great care and was aimed to please. Even small details are taken into account and are given careful consideration. Examples - the toast that comes with the pâté is from top quality bread and was grilled (with grill marks on) instead of simply toasted; the peas accompanying the fish & chips were fresh peas instead of frozen and the ice cream on top of the individual apple pie was as tasty as Double Rainbow vanilla ice cream. The menu is created thoughtfully and though concise, covers a good variety and gives enough choices for every taste. Breakfast/brunch is most definitely among the top 3 Ive had in San Diego and is more imaginative than anything youll normally find in similar establishments. This one is a keeper!
JE
Jennie Dinh
Not only is the place gorgeous and lively, but their farm fresh menu and decadent brunch classics like French toast and maple bacon donuts make this place a must try. They cook their omelettes to perfection and have a crazy bloody Mary lineup! If you want a whole dill pickle or an octopus leg hanging onto your drink, then this is the place. Watch out for the super long cutting board stacked with daily baked treats being offered for only $1-2! It doesnt happen all the time but Ive been able to snag some delicious scones the last few times I was there. Popovers are solid menu items. I did try the beef brisket hash this time and we both thought the meat was dry. I got the smoked bacon omelette and honestly, I think this dish is perfection. Try and get here before 11, as the line moves toward 1 hour waits. There is a small lot, but unless youre lucky, youll have to patrol the surrounding neighborhoods for parking. You can also park in the farmers market parking lots.
