Kono’s Café

Breakfast and Lunch
704 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 483-1669

Reviewed for breakfast.
Price: A+
Menu Selection: C
Food: B+
Seating: C-
Restroom: D

Yesterday when we drove up to the Hyatt Hotel, the doorman told us of two of his favorite places to have breakfast.  The first place was called Kono’s in Pacific Beach part of San Diego.  It is located at the end of Garnet Blvd and the intersection of Ocean Blvd (no vehicles on Ocean boarwalk) as close to the beach as a business can get.

We got lucky and found parking on the short segment of Garnet between Ocean and Mission Blvd.  Because we parked across the street from this establishment we immediately noticed a long line trailing out of this place.  It was just past 9 am on a Tuesday.  Normally we do not like to wait to eat but decided to try this out as the long line and the recommendation sort of hooked us.  As we stood in line, we tried to figure out how the restaurant was able to seat all the people.  I went to a side door and saw there were a number of tables for inside dining as well as some eating spots along the walls.  I struck up a conversation with a woman behind me, once I got back in line, to discover that her daughter had been a waitress for a year at the restaurant and knew what was going on.  She told us there was an outdoor patio on the other side of the building, a short walk up past the building along the boardwalk.

(Tip) The third place one can eat is on a patio across Ocean (boardwalk).  Ocean serves as a sort of boardwalk but is not made of wood but a street for pedestrians, bicycles, skateboards and anything else that does not have motor drive.  Across the back porch is a very narrow walkway on one side of a vendor selling wind no needs.  You Just have to know where this path is.  The image below is marked for you.

Behind that shop is a decent size patio with a terrific view of the ocean and beach.

It took at least 25 minutes to get to the counter to place our order.

Two orders of pancakes, eggs (with cheese), pancakes and one breakfast burrito with drinks cost us about $22.   The meals are delivered to your table so pay attention to the name you give the cashier or your order will pass by you. The poor girls (did not see any men making deliveries) entered the small dining room first then the back patio and then had to walk across the board walk to the “hidden patio” to find who had ordered the meals they were carrying.  Our meal came within 5 minutes of paying for our food at the counter.  We sat inside because it was a wonderful day outside and the “hidden patio” was full and I did not care for the back patio.

The food comes to you on paper plates and you are given plastic knife and fork.  The portions looked to be really large.  The pile of eggs was truly impressive and the plate had three strips of bacon and two pancakes.  The eggs were not salted and I liked that as some people are on low sodium diets and you are allowed to salt to your taste.   I sampled the eggs unsalted and the cheese did not overpower the eggs one bit and I had to salt lightly the dish and the flavor popped for me nicely.  The bacon was cooked perfectly and the taste was perfect.  The pancakes were pretty good, nothing above average.  The coffee tasted like Starbucks and needed cream for my liking.

In summary, I did like the experience; it was like taking a roller coaster ride once to see what it was like.  I think I would go back if I knew the place was not slammed and I wanted to have a good meal at a cheap cost.  I definitely would sit on the “hidden patio” if a table was available.