Beach Grass Cafe

Reviews 3

JU

Justin Arn

The Beach Grass Cafe pretty much sums up Solana Beach for me; so much as a restaurant can do such things. Perhaps its attempt to blend the interesting and the familiar; the traditional and the wild that gives me that impression. Solana Beach seems forever psychic-ly stuck between the influential, old-money, and expectant Del Mar to the South, and the Surf-loving, pot-smoking and wild eyed Encinitas to the north; Both cities pull on Solana Beachs nature, attempting to capture the soul of this pretty beach town and claim it for their cause. The Beach Grass embodies this conflict in its menu, its decor, and even its hours. An undercurrent of beautiful rebellion lurks in its being, laughing at its conformity. Beach Grasss interior can be described as deco-contemporary: sharp and angular four top tables with not uncomfortable student-style seating. The north side extends out creating wall-backed seating option with cushion included thats become so popular. The ceiling looms high, which, when combined with the overall openness of the design reminds you that you are in public at all times. No table achieves intimacy and as Beach Grass is only open for breakfast and lunch, I suspect that the communal hostel feeling that this inspires is tolerated mostly, and appreciated rarely. The service is generally good. Bussers refill drinks and the Servers will get your order right. Sometimes thats really all you need. Nothing spectacular. Of the many times Ive dined here, on only one occasion did I have cause to complain as I was clearly ignored for a long stretch of time after being sat. Take it from someone in the industry, thats not easy to do in a space as small as Beach Grass. The outside seating is a nice option. Dogs are welcome; as evidenced by the water bowls outside. Beach Grass can accommodate groups; Ive seen them even open up at night, but Im sure this depends on good planning and is at the restaurants discretion. Dont expect to come in with more than 5 people and get a table thrown together quickly. The layout doesnt easily adjust for that, and being a local not-so-secret hotspot for as long as it has been, Beach Grass stays busy. Their Cubano sandwich is my personal favorite. The pork comes in two forms: shredded carnitas style and thickly sliced ham cuts; the taste is fused by melted cheese a well chosen and toasted bread. The flavor and simplicity is exceptional. I rarely eat the fries, as the sandwich always seems enough, but I will mention they could be more crisp. The cuisine is the star at Beach Grass, and the restaurant clearly takes pride in its dishes which are varied, interesting, and tasty above all else. Prices are moderately high. This isnt Dennys but I dont think the cost is unjustified either. There are options for all economic classes; that coming from a proud member of the lowest. Like its native city, Beach Grass has a cool and free look, charming and affable patrons, and an abundance of dishes and secrets that keep it standing out. While the soul of Solana Beach itself may still be in question, The Beach Grass Cafe, embodying the same conflict in its flavors and ideals is both a treat and a question. I highly recommend catching a breakfast or lunch there, you wont be disappointed. Oh yeah, they have incredible hot sauce. Try It! - Justin A.

HA

Hannah Mann

I have been to Beach Grass Cafe twice. The first time everything went well, and I really enjoyed the food. The second time was a terrible experience and I wont waste my time going back. On my second visit, I was with my husband, our two kids, and my parents. We went on a Saturday morning, so it was busy, and we expected to wait a while for a table. They told us 20 minutes, which was fine. 45 minutes later we were still not seated. We had gone to check on how much longer we would be waiting and were about to leave, when they finally seated us. Our waitress did not arrive for at least 10 minutes after we sat down (and keep in mind this is about an hour after we first showed up!), and was barely polite and definitely not friendly. After we finally got to order, we waited an extremely long time for our food and our waitress almost never came back to check for drink refills or anything. Partway through our wait, my husband and I went inside to see if we could check on our food and if it was coming, but we were pretty much dismissed by the staff. We asked to speak to a manager (since we had shown up there an hour and a half ago and STILL didnt have food), but were told there was no manager to speak to. One employee tried to explain to us that a very large party had come in - AFTER US - and they wanted to serve them first. Which is not how its supposed to work, but at least he tried to be polite to us. Our waitress saw my husband and I talking to him and came over to us and rudely dismissed us, said our food was almost ready and wouldnt listen to our concerns. We sat back down, waited a while longer, and fiiiiiinally got our food. Our waitress was hardly ever around to refill our drinks, no one apologized for the wait, we were totally dismissed and no one attempted to make our experience better or take responsibility for how bad it had been. My dad paid for the food and didnt tip the waitress (believe me, we always tip very well and understand how important tips are to servers) because of how bad her service had been, how she dismissed us, how she was hardly around, etc. On our way out, I stopped by the bathroom while my family waited outside, and came out to find our waitress outside the restaurant confronting my dad over her lack of tip!!!!!!! She was extremely rude, as my dad calmly explained the bad experience and her very poor service, and she proceeded to argue with him, tell us that we only waited 10 minutes for our food (which is a joke) and told us how polite and nice she had been. Lets just say that she picked the wrong career.... I really wish that I could rate Beach Grass Cafe higher, because their food is actually awesome and is why we came back after the first time! But with such horrible service and lunch turning into a 2.5 hour ordeal with a rude and confrontational waitress and staff who ignored us, theres no way I could recommend it and I wont be going back. Maybe if this restaurant had a different manager? Something needs to change, and I hope it does, because this place has a lot of potential.

PE

Penny Tague

The host didnt seem too happy to see us, but thankfully we werent exposed to him for long. The waitress would ask if we needed anything but walk away before everyone could respond. The service was just generally meh. As for the food, the others in my party seemed to enjoy theirs well enough. My diet coke didnt taste right, so I asked for a replacement of sprite zero. When the waitress came back and said they were out, I told her I would just drink water. I was still charged for my soda. I ordered a veggie wrap and a side of brown rice and salsa fresco. The veggie wrap was half hot and half cold, which made no sense. The mushrooms were clearly canned and tasted awful. The salsa didnt seem very fresh either and didnt taste good. I doubt Ill be back.