Cafe Magnolia

It is a little disappointing for the price. The food is average as is the service but if you really want a downtown experience you need to look else where. For me it is your typical over priced hotel restaurant.

It's essentially a diner with a buffet.

I ordered off the menu, two eggs and sides, and was happy with my pick. Companions were swayed by the size of the buffet and all flocked to gorge themselves on lukewarm meats.

Fortunately I came out ahead! The buffet is more expensive and is what you'd expect: stuff that's been sitting out too long. Given how many empty tables there were, it should have been a no brainer to order off the menu!

Servers were nice, coffee was pretty bad. Again, standard diner fare.

Came here twice for the breakfast buffet and am actually very surprised this place got so slammed by you guys! It's a good breakfast buffet, and the servers are quite prompt in asking what you want to drink. I was surprised though, because my experiences on the two days were quite different.

First day: Good orange juice, food was very good, and I ordered a custom omelet with no mushrooms or sausage (I already had sausage on my plate). He proceeded to make an omelet with no mushrooms. I didn't complain, but on the off chance I was allergic to sausage and didn't watch him make it - I would have ended up like Hitch. I also asked for a little bit of each cheese and he proceeded to dump both cheeses on top and it was way overkill. Overall though I was very happy and would have given it 4 stars.

Second day: The server mentioned the orange juice looked pinkish so she was going to wait. I said give me apple juice instead. She ended up giving me both, which was fine, but her comment about the orange juice made me feel weird and also drove home the fact that this is machine poured from concentrate. The scrambled eggs looked very runny, so I ordered two eggs over easy which were cooked great, albeit too much oil. When I came back the scrambled eggs looked better, but why get it from there when they cook you eggs?

I was still hungry so I went back and asked for a ham, onion and cheese scramble. He put a scoop of ham and some onions and began to cook it. Looked promising. Then after it seemed they would be cooked, he put another scoop of ham. What? Then he put the eggs in and made a scramble, which was chock so full of ham at that point that it was a ham platter with some eggs to hold it together. I picked out the eggs which at that point were super salty.

Bottom Line: Order carefully, then watch him every step of the way. If he messes up, have him start over. You'll be a lot happier with the finished product.

Either way, I don't think it warrants any less than 3 stars. I would definitely go back, but carefully.