Mama Kat’s

They made my Grilled Chees just the way my mom would make it for me back in my kid years:) perfect! nice people great food! Keep up the great work team!:)

Great hearty breakfasts. Colin are waiter suggested the half Campbell and half Don Juan which was perfect with the addition of some hot sauce to the hash browns. Wife and niece had vegetable omelets, which they could only finish half of it. My dish was all gone. Yum, yum!

I’m not saying I would kidnap somebody for the fried chicken recipe here but I’ve certainly thought about it. One of the cooks overheard my spontaneous jubilations, smiled, and shook his head. ‘There’s a bit of honey in there.’, he blurted. That’s about all you’re gonna get. So yeah, I’ll say it, best fried chicken in San Diego, and I’m sorry I didn’t take pictures of it. It came with a nice crispy buttery-​thin waffle, which I swiftly submerged in butter and syrup, and I also didn’t take a picture of that. But I will promise this, the food on your plate will uplift even the most banal of conversations. Don’t talk about work. Talk about the adventure ahead. Bucket-​list stuff. Capiche?
The word is out on Mama Kats so wait times can get upwards of 50m on the weekends. So show up early and have some activities planned. Service is refreshingly active, attentive, and good-​humored. Parking can be sparse at times.
Personally, I think the chicken is worth the wait AND the drive. My opinion: If the mood strikes you, pass up Roscoes and eat here. I don’t get to eat a lot of fried chicken, but I’ve had almost everywhere in SD possible. Please believe me. God wants you to try this.

Great food, staff is delightful and the ambiance is just like visiting home. For my mid-​day meal I ordered chicken fried steak, two eggs over easy and hash brown with wheat toast. The food was perfect, hash browns were crisp and the steak was enough for two people. Arrived about 12:30 pm and waited for a table for about 10 minutes. They have inside and outside tables. We were seated at their counter, very comfortable. Menu is simple but filled with feel good choices, American for sure. They close at 2 pm but we did not feel rushed. Our server, Kristen, was everything you would want, big smile, efficient, checked on us regularly, refilled the drinks, brought the bill in time and had a huge positive attitude. My wife had a traditional eggs, bacon, fruit bowl and toast. Total bill with tip: $ 35.00. About the same as Mimi’s but significantly better. No wonder this is one of the top rated restaurants in San Marcos. Highly recommended.

Hands down BEST BREAKFAST PLACE EVER! I was in the San Diego area for 5 days to attend a wedding and have a mini-​vacation. I didn’t know the area well so I was stupid and went to IHOP down the street my first day. Big mistake. Then on the second day, I happened to find Mama Kat’s. Jackpot! It was so good that the family and I came back on the third day and again on the fourth day! And we were even contemplating the 5^th day as well but we decided it would probably be smarter to try to catch our flight instead :). You can tell all the ingredients were super fresh. My wife couldn’t stop raving about how fresh their veggies (in her omelette) were as well as how fresh my daughter’s fruit medley were. And the overall taste of their food was mouth-​gasmly DELICIOUS! That’s right, I just made up a new level of deliciousness.
Management staff: Please open up a place in Long Island, NY!

So this is by far my favorite brunch go-​to spot in San Diego. Yes, right in the heart of San Marcos. From the service to the food, it is an all around great family spot for breakfast/​brunch! I love their iced coffee (it’s an Asian name that I will definitely misspell) and add a shot of hazelnut flavor, bomb! I go for brunch and I either get the Garden eggs benny or Strawberry Swirl French Toast. Portions are great, customer service is superb and the price is just right. All time fave right here!
P. S. They also have a game room and gift shop in the back!

An absolute MUST dining experience. The best breakfast ever. I have order a number of different items from the menu, and never have I been disappointed.
The wait can be a bit long, but it is more then worth the wait. Closed on most holidays, so make sure they are open before you get your hopes up.

TL;DR: Expect a long wait but go and enjoy. Try some pie, buy a mug.
Admittedly it’s difficult to mess up breakfast, but Mama Kat’s makes it better than most. I’ve eaten most of the menu at one point or another and honestly it’s all great. I usually get the sunrise sandwich with sausage and avocado but honestly everything is just great. The wait time to get seated is almost always pretty long, so expect a long wait. They offer call ahead seating as an annual subscription service with the profits going towards charity. They couldn’t possibly allow normal call ahead seating or there’d be no difference in the wait time.
Espresso drinks are great! They create their own recipes and name them after cat breeds. All are delicious.
For Dessert they offer a variety of cream pies and fruit pies, all of which are pretty good. I’m not a huge fan of cream pies but even their cream pies are good.
Inside the offer various wares for sale and some candies. Overall this can make it a great stop for visitors that want a little souvenir to take home. I live only a mile or so away and my morning coffee mug is from here. Seriously, I love this place.

My two experiences here have both been great. Fantastic food, attentive service and generous portions. They have games and toys for while you wait. and you WILL wait and a call ahead service that I still don’t quite understand. I do know that people that arrived after me were seated before me which is a little off-​putting.
I’ve had the chicken fried steak both times and that’s just because I don’t get here too often and yes, it’s THAT good! It’s also HUGE and you probably won’t eat again till dinned if you even eat then. The taters are decent but I may try the hash browns next time just to mix it up. They make some or possibly ALL of their jams and jellies they serve and I did buy a jar of the blueberry on my first visit and it didn’t last long at home. I need another jar already. The pancakes are also pretty darn good as is the corned beef hash and the Benedict that it comes on. I really look forward to expanding my knowledge of the menu and updating. For now that’s all I have about the food.
Parking kind of sucks as it’s busy and shares the lot. Don’t bother and just try street parking that isn’t too abundant but there IS another lot across the street and possibly behind that can be used.
I have to find the magic hour where there’s a lull but have yet to discover when it is… maybe there isn’t one. I’ll keep trying though.

AAAHHH I totally forgot to write a review about this place! But their food and service is exceptional. I’ve only been here twice, but I used to live in the area and have plenty of friends that I’d like to catch up with and wouldn’t even think twice about coming back to Mama Kat’s and enjoying their breakfast. Both times I’ve come I’ve gotten breakfast burritos, and both were delicious.
It has such a warm, home-​y feeling and the service reflects the feelings perfectly. I take forever to decide what I want to eat and their servers also show the most patience and give me as much time as I need.
Food is always more than expected and I leave full, fat, and happy. I wouldn’t recommend coming here if you’re on a diet, but if you don’t mind the carbs and how great you’ll feel after, for sure check it out here.
I’d love to try some of their pies one day. They look yummy, too. :)

We came on a Wednesday around noon. There was a short wait, but they had some fun things to play with outside for the wait. They had hula hoops and chalk. They were meant for kids, but my husband and I played with them. People stared. Oh well.
The food at Mama Kat’s is very good. We had amazing service. The environment was nice. The restaurant looked clean and so did their bathrooms.
I ordered the fried chicken and French toast. My husband ordered the country fried steak. I didn’t have much of the country fried steak, but he said it was good. The fried chicken with crispy and had a great flavor. My French toast was made perfectly. They make their own in-​house strawberry rhubarb, which was great with the sourdough toast that we had.
Also, the best part, was that they had re-​fillable strawberry lemonade. It even had real strawberries it.
I have no complaints about our food eating experience here. Cheers to this great restaurant!

Came 15 mins before they were closing, was welcomed with open arms. It has a very homey feel to it. The Hostess was nice and waiter was extremely helpful with his recommendations.
The mister ordered fried chicken with scrambled eggs and a Belgium waffle made with a vanilla almond batter… yum! The chicken was fried to golden perfection and had the most amazing crunch! It was missing a touch of salt but overall really delicious!
I couldn’t decide between the «So. Cal» Benedict (baked turkey, avocado, and hollandaise) or the «Don Juan» Benedict (sausage patty with homemade sausage gravy) so the waiter suggested I get half and half… genius!!! This was way too much food for me so next time I’ll opt for just half an order. Both were super tasty but if I had to choose one or the other… hands down Don Juan wins, that homemade gravy is pretty righteous!
Check this place out! Great service, good food, reasonably priced!

Old school breakfast place loaded with people dining in and even more waiting for a table.
This place is a mad house on the weekends, expect to wait quite a bit.
I came here for the pie, it is Rhubarb season and i try to eat as much of it as I can when it is finally in season.
Loved the service here, very friendly and helpful and I did not have to wait long since I was just grabbing a pie to go.
Tempted with the chocolate peanut butter pies, they looked amazing, I went with what i came here for, the strawberry rhubarb.
Prices fairly at $ 15 for an entire pie, boxed up nicely to go with a smile I was very satisfied and they are great to take to a cook out, BBQ or party.
What I did not love so much was the pie itself.
The crust very salty and dry, the filling was really lacking in fruit. Barely any strawberries or rhubarb, it was all just the jello like filling which I am really not a fan of.
3 stars for great service and I would be back and just try something else next time, maybe not one of their fruit pies.

We gave Mama Kat’s a try yesterday morning and it was well worth the drive!
Upon our arrival, we were given a 30 – 45 min wait time, which seems to be the average for a Sunday brunch. Since all the benches outside were occupied, I asked if we could grab coffee across the street and if they could give us a call once our table was ready. They were all about it! This experience was pretty pleasant so far and we haven’t even been seated yet.
Once we got the call and ran back across the street, we were seated and greeted by Tod. He was a riot! He reminded me of Will Ferrell (I hope he doesn’t take offense to that). I couldn’t make up my mind between the Don Juan and Campbell’s Benedict. So I asked if I could do ½ and ½ and he said absolutely! There is an extra $ 1 charge for this, but that didn’t bother me. It was pretty bomb. I can see why this place has 900+ reviews with 4.5 stars. I love that they had a huge selection of hot sauces to make everyone happy.
The service was great. They came around often to refill our water and checked in on us. I wish the patio was bigger so that if we did decide to bring our pups, we won’t have to worry about being in close quarters to other doggies. We didn’t have any problems finding parking either. All in all, it was a great Sunday brunch at Mama Kat’s.

Lovely place! The staff is super friendly and welcoming. Get here early because they seem like they’re always packed!
It’s a very homey place :)
Friend and I started off with coffee and the waiter took our order pretty fast. I got the small pancakes with a side of eggs and sausage patty. It’s all very good, but the sausage was a bit on the saltier side. Not bad though.
I’d definitely come back if I’m ever in the area!

Good, not great.
We had a good meal at Mama Kats. The wait wasn’t too bad… about 25 minutes. The server was friendly and took good care of us! The food, though good, didn’t live up to the expectations set by the reviews here. I will say that the Chorizo burrito was excellent, the the hockey and waffles and bread pudding were just so so. There is a tiny spot nearby called Connies that we prefer.

Good breakfast spot, there is usually a wait but they will get you coffee or drinks while you wait.
The food is tasty, I have never had lunch here, always breakfast.
The omelets and scrambles i would definitely recommend

I decided to take my handsome man here since it was our first Valentine’s Day spent together and I’ve heard nothing but great reviews about this breakfast place! So, we decided to give it a shot.
Regardless of the busy atmosphere, our food came out at a great speed and our service was the best! Let’s just say we were both very happy.
He built his own omelet and I had the strawberry swirl french toast (and added bananas) which made it that much more amazing!

4.5 stars. Hot local breakfast/​brunch spot with many regulars. If you don’t want to wait more than 15 min on the weekend, try calling in advance to put your name down or coming early, like withing 30 min of opening.
Showed up at 7:20 and had a 10 min wait for a party of two. Mama Kats has a really homey feel and while waiting you can order coffee, which has unlimited refills. Today, they had free samples of their vanilla latte, which was quite good.
Sat at the bar and got the Supreme French Toast combo and the house special corned beef hash.
Supreme French Toast: perfect for that one with an EXTREME sweet tooth. This isn’t your typical French toast because it’s actually a giant fluffy cinnamon bun cut in half, dipped in batter and then pan fried. The cinnamon and brown sugar in the bun melts and caramelizes as its being fried, resulting in a crispy bottom layer. The toast is very fluffy and packed with sugary cinnamon flavor. You can add some maple syrup to get more of that moist gooey texture but alone, this cinnamon French toast is already amazing!
Supreme sweet «combo»: for an extra $ 3 you can add two eggs and a side to you French toast. I got the home fries and while I had a few really tasty bites, the potatoes were largely undercooked. I would have liked them softer and more seasoned. Perhaps this varies per batch? But maybe try something else.
Corned beef hash: one of the best hash I’ve had! The potatoes were chopped much smaller than the home fries so they were tender and we’ll seasoned by the fat from the corned beef. The bites of beef were plentiful and also very juicy and tender, not very dry like you might elsewhere. Apparently the scramble eggs that came with the hash were underwhelming, but I’d just suggest not getting the two eggs scrambled since it’s so little.
And while I didn’t get pie this time, I had it in the past and it was alright. Nothing too amazing. Come for breakfast though!

Today is my moms birthday, so it is a good day to write this review. Mama Kats joins my own mom, Claire Dunphy, Marge Simpson, Carol Brady, and June Cleaver — on my all-​time greatest moms list (note to self: cut down on cable TV binging).
What makes a good mom? A good mom:
1) Accepts you even when you misbehave
2) Makes sure you don’t go hungry
3) Knows how to turn bad days into good
4) Keeps the house in order
5) Makes good pie
When you visit Mama Kats, you will find:
1) You can misbehave (a little — our puppy did)
2) You’re sure not going to go hungry (get a breakfast combo with a locally roasted coffee)
3) Your bad day will turn good (they treat you like family)
4) The house will be in order (your food will be served promptly: fresh and hot)
5) You can end your meal with some good pie
Or, to summarize: «Good moms let you lick the frosting off the beaters. Great moms turn the mixer off first.»
#Doh!
#RetroTV
#FearTheMixer
#HappyBdayMom!