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150 Grand Cafe - CLOSED
Category: Restaurants American (Traditional) American (Traditional) [Edit]
150 W Grand Ave(between Broadway & Kalmia St)
Escondido, CA 92025
Neighborhood: Escondido
(760) 738-6868
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Kate W. said: "We love to support small businesses and we believe going out for breakfast is one of life's nicest little pleasures. I think that's because breakfast is such an intimate meal. It's the first meal of the day, when you're not quite all…" read more »
7 reviews for 150 Grand Cafe
7 reviews in English
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Review from Christine C.
San Diego, CA
11/17/2006
It is a tres chic cafe and it is one of Escondido's most renowned restaurants. It is a little pricey, but it is a lovely experience to be able to eat there and look out onto Escondido's charming main drag, Grand Ave.
The restaurant is very open and passerbyers can easily peer into the inside of the restaurant to see the 150 Grand Patrons dining, so if you eat there you kind feel like your on display, but sometimes that is not too bad of a thing.
There are some delectable dishes on the menu, but the restaurant recently changed owners so there are some new cajun-style entrees available, now. The salads are pretty unique, I like the Machego cheese salad, but they don't have an entree there that I'm in love with and they all run about $20. I would recommend going here for lunch, but I feel If I am going to pay $20 for a meal, the restaurant better be near a a great museum or have an ocean view, but that's just me. -
Review from Phil H.
Escondido, CA
1/27/2009
This was a very disappointing experience, made even worse by the fact that we'd been great fans of 150 Grand and had enjoyed an incredibly memorable meal when they had a Chef's table.
My wife and I went for a midweek lunch last week (3rd week of January, 2009). We were a bit surprised to see Christmas decor still up, and references to restaraunt week which had passed already. We were also further surprised to see the chairs worn, tablecloth dirty at our table and one other that was "set," and paint peeling/stained on the ceiling. The place looked like it needed some love big time, but we gave it a chance.
The lunch menu was fairly uninspired. We ordered the crabcake, the strawberry and goat cheese salad, the Croissant sandwich (turkey) and the seafood pasta.
In fairness, the crabcake was large and good. This on its own deserves 3 stars.
The strawberry and goat cheese salad arrived sans goat cheese but with coarsely grated (i.e. a la cafeteria) chedder or mild gouda. A weird mix and very disappointing. We were really hoping for the goat cheese which would have been a much better combination.
The turkey croissant sandwich was a huge disappointment and on the level of deli quality. While not bad, it was far from exceptional with turkey that looked pressed... it just didn't seem worthy of a restaurant of 150 Grand's reputation.
The Seafood pasta with "fish and shellfish" ended up being salmon and shrimp. The pasta was overcooked and tasteless, the sauce was bland, and the seafood had next to no flavor. There were only 4 shrimp. As one reviewer is known to say (not regarding this restaurant however), it was the bland leading the bland.
The waiter was friendly, but we had the impression he wasn't surprised when we complained. There were many other waiters there standing around chatting, when the restaurant really could have used some loving attention. Our bill also arrived with an ad for restaurant week... an event that had long past. This was a simple but telling example of the lack of attention and care we felt.
Overall, 150 Grand was a sub mediocre experience and a shadow of what it once was. It was also a pricey lunch at $50+ for quite poor quality.
We won't be returning any time soon, and it is a sad loss for Escondido. I hope the owners take this review as an earnest plea for some improvement. 150 Grand was a highlight of the Escondido restaurant scene and deserves to be there once again. -
Review from Caroline V.
San Diego, CA
5/6/2009
Ate here for a lunch meeting. I enjoyed the white ambiance and service that was offered here. We got the nice table right by the window. I got the salmon with hazlenut rice pilaf and asparagus--delicious! The salmon was perfectly cooked and thebportion was just right. This place can be pretty pricey at about $15-20 an entrée. Finished the meal off with vanilla bean creme bulee and french pressed coffee. Yum! One of the best meals I've had in a long time.
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Review from Carrie B.
1/26/2010
Just read in the North County Times this place recently sold to the family that runs the Frech Bakery. Maybe the new owners will bring the heat back to Grand Avenue!
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Review from Yvette H.
Poway, CA
11/14/2007
I went to dinner there with my fiancee and grandparents for a birthday. For the most part, the food was fine. What was horrible was the customer service that followed our dining experience. My fiancee ordered the stuffed sole entree. When it came to our table, it smelled pretty fishy, but he's a seafood person so he ate it anyway. That night he got food poisoning and was in the restroom from 3am to 6am, no joke. He did not eating anything else, except for some pita for lunch. I called the restuarant to speak with the manager about it and the waitress who served me answered and said that she'd relay the message to her boss so that he'd call me back. I never heard back, so I called him. The man did nothing but deny that they could have had anything to do with my fiancee getting sick. All I can say is, I was made to feel like this place did not care about me and my family as customers at all. If they did, they would have at least had the decency to call back, listen to what we had to say, and offer words of compassion / consolation on what he went through. Instead, he was dismissive and ignored our concerns. We've had family and friends go there for years. From now on, we will recommend to dine elsewhere. A truly well managed establishment would add that human element to their customer service.
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Review from John A.
La Jolla, CA
4/15/2010
CLOSED....Tried calling for dinner. Number has been disconnected.
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Review from Susan K.
Escondido, CA
7/3/2009
My husband and I gave this place a try during Restaurant Week. We ordered items from their Restaurant Week menu, expecting to be impressed by their showcase entrees, especially since they are on the expensive side. The stuffed chicken was undercooked and the sauce was bland. Later that night, we were both sick with stomach problems. It's one thing when the food is so-so and another when it makes you sick. Needless to say, we will not be visiting them again anytime soon.
