Cafe 21 University Heights

Cafe21 never disappoints! The staff is warm as well as friendly , refreshing to talk to before I have had my first coffee of the day :) the food is delicious with fresh flavors unlike the other typical breakfast and brunch places ! It’s an inviting cafe with a good selections of vegetarian dishes as well.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Cafe 21 is one of our favorite breakfast spots. I have been coming here for years. They bake their own crumpets! Lots of delicious toppings. All excellent. Portions are not too large; wonderful mini Dutch pancakes, and make their own jams. Great for vegetarians.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Short Rib Crumpet, Roasted Eggplant Crumpet I

Such a cute place for lunch or dinner. Their menu is updated and there are so many wonderful things to choose from.
I love the casual, elegant, friendly vibe

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Shrimp Corn Cakes

Most favorite brunch place in San Diego, next level details & deliciousness in healthy bites

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Genuinely the worst breakfast I've ever eaten.

Food: 1

The atmosphere and service were great! I would have given the food 5 stars as well, but the food wasn't executed to perfection as previous times. The turkey with eggs Benedict was cold, and the egg was overcooked. The Potato Gallete could have been cooked a little more. It seems like they rushed to get our food out. The food flavors are wonderful, but again, they failed to execute to perfection as in the past.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Shrimp Corn Cakes

Presentation of the food and drinks are beautiful. Very fresh and everything we have tried there has been delicious

Me and a friend came here for brunch on a sunny day. We were seated quickly and ended up in the outside section of the restaurant, which works because the weather was so nice. I got the feta omelette, she got the tomato and egg, and then we split the tiramisu pancakes. The sourdough that came with the eggs was absolutely delicious. Both savory orders were also really good, the eggs were cooked well and the tomato sauce was nicely spiced in my friend’s order. The feta eggs were delicious, the pesto went well with it. The tiramisu pancakes were also delicious, although the mascarpone they came with was maybe a tablespoon max.

The staff are incredibly nice and the food is delicious but it is just not enough food for the price. I originally wanted to give the place 3 stars, but the food and service were good enough and the fact that it’s locally owned and sourced so i didn’t want to bring down the ratings. I would be okay paying a little more but then getting a decent service size. The tomato egg came with only one egg and i’m pretty sure the feta only had one egg as well. The tiramisu pancakes were maybe a little larger than tennis balls and they came with like 1(!) tablespoon of cream.

Great food, staff gives good service, pet-friendly place to brunch. Turkey Benedict and all their tea options are A+. Would recommend any day.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Loved my waiter. Best breakfast ever. Coffee was amazing. I love this place.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Vegan French Toast

Had a lovely vegan brunch here where we were served by the chef's husband and he was sweet to answer all our questions as we excitedly asked how things were made. I recommend ordering multiple V items and sharing with others. Closest to a tapas vegan option as I've seen (with Georgian/Mediterranean food). Could probably ask for many of the vegetarian options be altered to be vegan.

Vegan French Toast - fried on the outside, soft interior. Yummy, classic flavor with crunchy twist.
Spinach/Zucchini Cake - soft, vegetal patties held together with a little rice flour and seared in small stainless steel pan and served in it with guacamole and sliced avocado on top.
Potato pancake - classic thin potato pieces arranged in layer on bottom of small stainless steel pan, cooked in oil for crunchy exterior. Served with a spicy ajika sauce we're dying to recreate!

Drinks:
Chai Toddy - served in clear glass teapot with dry ice for a dramatic, smoky effect. Taste was pretty average, chai didn't come through.
Spring Thyme - gorgeous yellow color served in short martini glass with sprig of rosemary. Taste was light and energizing.
Hot teas - come in cool plastic pot that dispenses from the bottom when sat over your tea cup. Fun little addition to a classic drink.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Vegan French Toast

Restaurant has exquisite kitchen, but they don’t honor their reservation system and let others go ahead of you, I decided to leave to avoid a further bad experience from rude waiter.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 2

I have been to this place once before because we drive by it regularly. The first time was ok, not great. This second time I thought I'd give it a second shot since my husband wanted to try it. We were able to get a table right away which was unusual for a Saturday morning. I understood why after our breakfast experience....🙄 We ordered the lamb and short rib omelettes, tierramisu pancakes, coffee and their version of a Hotty Toddy, and an oj. The omelettes had good flavor 👍 however they were the size of my hand, and I have a tiny hand. Definitely NOT enough for a man, my husband literally got something else as soon as we left. I asked the very rude fony waitress what the pancakes had on top because my 6 year old is very picky, she said ON THE SIDE mascapone cheese and syrup, so I said ok. Our omelette came out but for some reason the pancakes didn't. When they finally did they had a bunch of brown powdes on top which is fine except I had asked her prior and she never mentioned it.I had to send them back because my child would not have eaten them. It took FOREVER for the next batch of pancakes to come out, so when I asked the waitress why it was taking so long she said.... Someone had taken them (which by the way, NOT my problem), since she was not checking on time, which IS why somebody else took them . 🙄 When I asked her again about it she said to me .. "I can't control the kitchen", and I replied... "Neither can I"! It wasn't the kitchen's fault, it was hers since she lagged for everything she was doing. The bar tended made a very good Chai Hotty Toddy, but was not the friendliest, and the little glass he gave me had a broken rim and a shard of cut glass stuck to the inside. There was another waiter inside that was extremely nice and great, wish he could of been our waiter because the girl we had was terrible. I had to get our own utensils since she never checked to see if we had enough. And it took her forever to do anything concerning us. The prices DO NOT justify the service or the portions, because I don't mind paying BUT it has to be worth it! A child size oj is $12-dls 🤣 This is not Coronado or La Jolla to justify those amounts when they CLEARLY don't reflect it! Now it makes sense why they were THE ONLY breakfast place on Adams today that was practically empty while ALL others were packed and had a line. Needless to say I WON'T be going back, and my neighbors said the same thing since they had similar experiences. 👎

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1

Excellent food here, a perfect place for brunch. Would recommend the avocado toast and a mimosa. Mushroom crumpet and french toast were good too.
Maybe avoid the tiramisu pancakes though- a bit dry and bland.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Avocado Toast, Vegan French Toast

The savory cake with salmon is delicious! The crumpets are also great! The camomile tea is also nice, but not worth $11 lol

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5