It’s Thursday, and it’s time for my favorite place to visit on Thursday – Cafe at Queensgate, 1950 Keene Rd. in Richland. Take Hwy. 182 to the Queensgate (south) exit, go back over the freeway, turn left on Keene, and it’s on the left hand side of the street.
Thursday’s my day there because the soup of the day is Chicken Enchilada. I usually get the CE soup and a half of a tuna melt on sourdough bread and – wow, is it good. If I’ve had a light breakfast or have worked out sufficiently in the am, I’ll also grab dessert. The offerings are plentiful and they’re all soooo good! They have turtle bars and coconut bars and cupcakes and pies and apple strudel and things that defy description but just LOOK fantastic.
Lunch is pretty basic fare – soups and sandwiches and salads. You can have hot sandwiches, like the tuna melt I’m so fond of, or cold ones. Every day, in addition to the soup of the day, the have chili, which is pretty tasty. They have salads which I’ve never tried, but when a friend orders one they look yummy!
The service has always been good, with one exception – I was in line with a friend, and they took the orders of the big group in front of us, and the big group behind us first, then turned their attention to us. Neither of us thought that was cool, but because normally they’re so good, we cut them some slack. You order at the register, and they bring your food to your table. They are always friendly when they bring your food and will sometimes add a comment, “I wish I’d had that during my break,”, or “Don’t you just LOVE that salad?”
I’ve raced in and had a quick bite before, and I’ve also lingered for more than a couple hours. It’s a great place to do both because the service is fast if you need that, and the atmosphere is friendly if you’re going to stay a while. Perhaps it’s partially due to the people who frequent the cafe, or the light which streams through the southern-facing windows, but it ‘feels’ happy there. I can’t stay down for long when I drop by.
Hours are Monday through Saturday, 6-2 and Sundays, 8-2
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I’m a big fan of supporting local business, so whenever someone suggests going out for breakfast, the Cafe at Queensgate is the first place I recommend, versus ending up at yet-another-IHOP.
Their selection of pastries is unparalleled outside of bigger metro areas, and the breakfasts are reasonably priced, very filling, and quite yummy. I agree — their service has (with a single misunderstanding once for someone in our party) been superb, and fast.
If you’re heading there for a Sunday breakfast, I would recommend making it a point to show up earlier than the big church across the street lets out (10? 0930?) or you’ll probably be waiting for a table.
I ate there for breakfast last year on Black Friday and loved it.
FYI, Bethel( the big church across the street) has two Sunday am services, 9am, which let’s out at 10:30ish, then another at 11, which let’s out around 12:30.
I recently tried out The Cafe and I won’t be back. I don’t think that I have ever been at a restaurant where the service was so poor. My mother and I ordered breakfast and we also ordered a dish to go and they brought us our to go order first and then we had to wait another 5 minutes for our breakfast which we were going to eat there but ended up taking it to go, when we complained to the manager she didn’t seem to care in fact she started an argument with us.