Sunday Sandwiches: Maggies Cafe

Ever since Kokoro stopped serving lunch and our offices moved further North to Kearny Mesa I haven't been in the Serra Mesa area much. Recently I had some meetings nearby and I decided to drop by the nearby strip mall to see what was up. The place looks kind of depressing.....it just hasn;'t been the same since Henry's left the strip mall. I did notice a shop I hadn't seen before....Maggie's Café.

I remember when this location was....for a very short time, Leilani's Restaurant. I decided to stop by.

the women working were very friendly. The place is fairly generic, but wide open and bright. The menu is an amalgamation of themes; everything from Alfredo to Faijitas, Eggs Benedict to Poptstickers......part Mexican, part diner, part sportsbar. Kind of scary, but sometimes places like this work because they put out honest, solid, food. So why not give it a whirl.

I ordered the Torta Oaxaquena ($11.45), holy smokes, this thing was huge.

Good lord, how does one wrap their mouth around this. Separate the parts weren't very impressive; the carnitas was basically oven pulled pork, the bolillo standard issue. The milanesa was somewhere in there. Somehow the sum of the parts made this a decent sandwich........the queso added a eaminess; though I appreciated the avocado more. Red onion, pickled jalapenos also added to the experience. And yes, there were some fries hidden behind the gigantic sandwich. It was perhaps a bit too much..... For some reason, this "Gringo Torta" had me reminiscing back to the La Torta days.

There's no denying that you get your money's worth here as I could only finish half the sandwich.

So of course I decided to return. I've mentioned before that I hold a special place in my heart for the old fashioned Club House Sandwich, so I decided I should just go ahead and try it here ($10.95).

  While quite large, this didn't quite do it for me. The bread was a chewy sourdough and several slices were burnt. The bacon wasn't crisp making it rubbery. I did enjoy the addition of avocado, but overall, not my favorite clubhouse sandwich.

So what to say about Maggie's Café? I think every neighborhood should have a place like Maggie's; it's not about haute cuisine, it's about full bellies, satisfied customers, a good value, and unpretentious food. Which is what Maggie's Café does. I'm not sure the place is worth going out of the way for, but I sure wish I had a place like this in my neighborhood.

Maggie’s Cafe
3232 Greyling Dr
San Diego, CA 92123
Open Daily:
9am - 9pm

Comments

[kat]

that is huge!

[nhbilly]

I don't get it either, if you serving the burnt bread won't eat it, why the F server it?
I just don't get it.

[nhbilly]

Sorry, was annoyed.
The server should be server/cooked should be served burnt bread.

[Kirk]

Too huge Kat!

I agree Billy......perhaps they think most folks don't really care. No worries, I was a bit annoyed as well, but not enough to return the sandwich.

[Soo @ hungryones]

Mmm... That's too bad about the bacon. I might have asked for better bacon. I wouldn't have eaten the rubbery bacon...

[Kirk]

Well Soo, after that first sandwich I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt....really nice folks too.

[Ed (from Yuma)]

I've eaten at a lot of these kinda places. But the post reminds me of a curmudgeonly gripe of mine: cheese on a club sandwich is just not right. Back in the day, a club was like a turkey sandwich piggybacking on a blt, both united by mayo and that middle slice of toast. Do you put cheese on turkey sandwiches? On blts? So why the heck on clubs? What does it add, what does it bring? IMHO, it is either tasteless (at best) or annoying (at worst). Grumble, grumble. Empty calories, grumble grumble.

[Kirk]

I agree, but won't grumble about the avocado Ed......plus you gotta have tomato, no tomato, no Bueno....