Parkside Snack Bar
| Address: | 43 Arsenal Ave, Stinson Beach, CA 94970, USA |
| Phone: | +1 415-868-1277 |
| Site: | parksidecafe.com |
| Rating: | 3.9 |
| Working: | 7:30AM–7PM 7:30AM–7PM 7:30AM–7PM 7:30AM–7PM 7:30AM–7PM 7:30AM–7PM 7:30AM–7PM |
Location
Photos 1
Reviews 6
SP
Spooky Emer
My 1st time visiting Stinson Beach was tainted by the unpleasant and unnecessary experience in Parkside Cafe. If youre dark brown, this place will make you feel unwelcome. From the front door to our table, I got stopped 3 times. Once to be questioned why Im just walking straight in. Next was that I shouldnt skip the toilet queue so I had to tell them, thats not what Im here for. Why people assume without asking pisses me off. Lastly, I was questioned where I was going so I pointed to the table where all my friends were sitting at already. By the time I sat down, I was so annoyed and had wished I had walked in with all my WHITE friends. Whatever happened to, Welcome to Parkside can I help you? Instead of accusing and assuming. Why are staff so quick to judge negatively? I was not dressed like a bum or anything. One apologized but I had already lost my appetite and felt so uncomfortable. The table I sat at had prime view of the front door so I can see who goes in and out. In the hour I was there, people would walk in all the time, just like I did. NOONE ELSE WAS STOPPED LIKE I WAS. Even the ones that would just stroll straight to the toilet. Then again, I didnt see anyone dark skinned. To add to the insult, I had ordered onion rings. Everyones food arrived and even though the server (blonde blue eyed) saw I had nothing in front of me, she said nothing. Nothing like, Did you order? or have u ordered Though she had taken all our orders and I was not last to order either. Finally after 5 mins, thank goodness I asked. Server told me that someone else took my order and that a fresh batch is getting made. Needless to say, friends waited for me to be done since it was too hot to eat when it finally arrived. My hubby who is a fan of clam chowder didnt even want to tolerate the small cup. It was so thick. You could pick up the soup with your fork. Just like the white paste you use it school. I had been at the cafe earlier to get food to go and the folks there were no better. I had mentioned that the mayo had run out and would there be more. The only response from this guy was, no more mayo! then walked away. If you hate your job, dont take it out on the customer! This place is very popular and right by the entrance to the beach so perhaps they do not see a need to have repeat business in mind. I do not need to ever step foot here. Food is not that unique or to die for. There are a ton more awesome cafes here to try. I will be avoiding Parkside like a plague. What is the world coming to when we cannot even just be kind to a fellow human being?
ER
Eric Gray
Im reserving a star for consistency: well be back. We had 2 orders of the crunchy, hot & perfectly cooked fish and chips and then an order of chili cheese fries. We were hungry. Everything came quickly and was very tasty. Perfect for pre-dusk outdoor cheap eats at the beach. The tiny table near the shack was clean and well situated near a propane space heater. I would have left the fries in the boiling oil for maybe 45-60 seconds longer, but then I like them crunchy. So thats just me. Im sure that the friendly staff would have obliged. I feel a warning is due however, though it has nothing to do with the quality of the food or service: this place closes promptly at 7. As we were digging the last delicious chili nuggets out of the bottom of the paper dish around 7:20pm, various people approached the snack bar and were disappointed that it had closed. Dont be those people. The cafe that shares the building with the snack bar is considerably more sophisticated and the prices reflect this. So make a point to drop by the snack bar earlier and take advantage of the warming tower things. Well be back.
AL
algin amores
Hmmm...where to start? Ambiance was about the only redeeming quality, and maybe the vintage white bar stools in the waiting area..those were kind of cool too. My girlfriend and I dared to try it out despite all of the negative reviews and we crapped out across the board. This is what we got for 54 dollars (tip included): 2 crab cakes that looked suspiciously of the frozen variety, a decent burger and a mountain of standard variety french fries. In retrospect, I think the bread out of the oven may have been the best part of the meal. Its now 5 hours later and my girlfriend has an upset stomach and is releasing farts strong enough to kill a donkey or send poltergeist ghosts on to the next house. This is not the way I envisioned our last night in Stinson at our romantic beach house getaway. Given the gross overpricing alone, I would strongly urge anybody visiting Stinson to give this place a pass. A wiser move would be hitting up the Whole Foods in Mill Valley and stocking up before coming down if your accommodation has a fridge and kitchen unit.
AM
Amy Hodge
The food here was fine, but not spectacular, especially for how much it cost. The fresh bread was good, but the french fries were mediocre and not helped by the fact that they were room temperature. At dinner we had the club sandwiches with ahi tuna and crab cake, and they were just okay. The brioche buns were tasty, but not really sturdy enough for the sandwiches. We also had breakfast here and the scrambled eggs and bacon were good, but both the French toast and the buttermilk pancake were kind of meh. If wed gotten out of there for $20 it would have been fine, but it was closer to twice that. Service at breakfast on Sunday morning at 7:30 was speedy, but service at dinner on Saturday night was way too slow. We waited a long time for our bread appetizer to be delivered and then even longer for a cup of soup to arrive before our entrees. And it was really loud inside at dinner when it was busy. Hard to have a conversation in here without shouting over everyone else.
DA
Daivat Dholakia
We were at Stinson beach last Sunday and we wanted to grab lunch so we headed down to Parkside Cafe around 2 PM since it is the closest to the beach. Outdoor seating had a 30 minute wait so we just headed in the restaurant where seating was easily available. We ordered garlic cheesy bread which was served hot and garlicky within 15 minutes. We also got the polenta burger and onion rings which to our surprise took 30-40 minutes to be served after the order. The burger was nice, it had a good taste/texture and wasnt too heavy. Burger came with fries which were crisp and fresh. On the contrary, the onion rings took even longer to be served and were drenched in oil. They were so oily that we couldnt finish the 4 huge onion rings that were served. After having the first one we saw the oil on the plate of onion rings and that was it. We decided to not go to this place again.
MA
margaret eisenbise
Ok the bread is now baked fresh and sold at the restaurant. Thats fine. Its great bread, I really like it BUT they are now offering it to you by your wait person as " Can I get you started with some bread?" Sure I said assuming we were going to get bread put on the table like all restaurants do. Well it turns out it costs 3:00 !!! They didnt mention that! And it didnt make it to the table until AFTER we got our dinner. The fish tacos were the best thing on the menu............for some reason they changed them and they are the now the worst thing on the menu. They are impossible to eat!! The fish is not fried and it isnt put in the tortilla so you have to TRY to pick it up to do so and it falls apart before you even get it close. So frustrating! Not good. I went home with a horrible stomach ache that night to boot.
