Downtown Cafe Bar & Grill

Service wasn't the greatest, BUT THE FOOD WAS PHENOMENAL!!! The food came out fast and was PERFECT. Fish & chips & Farmhouse Burger. Nice music playing outside. Not too crowded. I wish I could give 5 stars, but the service was SLOW, and the server was not attentive at all.

This restaurant has become so disappointing. When they first opened, the food was great so was the service. It didn't last long and has only gotten worse. The service staff are so rude, why?? it doesn't matter whether you call or you're waiting for your food to arrive. They are rude or they don't check on you when eating there. Not sure what that's all about, Maybe it's a horrible work environment. Considering they have live bands there on the weekends, they really need to step up their game or people are not going to want to book their gigs there with such horrible service. Then just found these HEALTH REPORTS posted.

Great happy hour specials. Nice prices and food was better than expected! Great service. We were seeing a show at The Magnolia. This Cafe was next to the parking. We got lucky with live music too!

Let me start by stating I was super hesitant to try this place based on the reviews. I could not have been more pleased. The food was good, actually better than expected. Service was on point. Nothing like the reviews stated. Our glasses were kept full, we were circled back several times by the waitress. The prices were fair considering everything is priced completely ridiculous thanks to the blue wave. Fair being, it has been a few years since my high maintenance family of 5 going out to eat for under 200 bucks!

Best Happy Hour in El Cajon!We've been coming to Downtown Cafe for twenty years. I love their patio and live music on the weekend. A great place to bring the kids. Today, we happened by for a late lunch and DC had just opened. ( 2:00 pm ) Which also is the start of happy hour. They have a ton of great beers but today, this is about the food. We had a cheeseburger for $4.75, yea that's not a typo. Which by the way met my list of best burgers. DELISH. My wife and daughter had tacos that we're also spot on. We had the steak salad ( not on happy hour ) and wow, the steak cooked to perfection. What a great late lunch.

First I'll start by saying Paul was a good server. I was impressed that there were 6 people in our group. He took my order I asked questions and he had answes. He didn't write down our orders. This worried me a bit my order was filled out correctly and quickly. I didn't find him to be as friendly or attentive as I like. I cut him some slack as it was his first of waiting on me. I had the soup and sandwich combo. I didn't appreciate spending $14 plus tax and tip for a half sandwich and a cup of soup and no drink. Even with bidenomics it would have been more fair to include a soft drink. I had the BLT and French Onion Soup. The BLT had just the right proportions of B, L, and T. I would have prefered Wheat bread, but no complaints on sourdough. I appreciated that the Tomato was thicker sliced than that of many San Diego BLT. Many times in San Diego the tomato is sliced so thin that it's over powered by lettuce. Not the case today. The bacon was a good quality and cooked crispy as I like.The soup was ok, it came to the table hot. The cheese on top was browned just right. Everyone in our group enjoyed thier meals and drinks. This place has potential to earn a 5 star review. Had Paul been more friendly and attentive, a soft drink been included with the meal, choice of bread on sandwich and had they had an open mic , Karaoke, or a local band playing , and have a loyalty plan in affect, I'd not only award them 5 stars but I'd also visit more often I do reccomend you visit them when you are in El Cajon.

What's special about DTC is how much of a warm, welcoming, local bar and grill it is. No, you won't see the latest art, the fastest trends, or brand new anything- but that's what makes it great! You want classic good food with well poured drinks? Go here. You want a cold beer with the best potato skins? Yup. Come on down. Are you looking for the trendiest bar with petite tapas? Ehhhh not so much. Great live music, good service and a large pet friendly patio is what makes this a must.

Good food, great staff, live music and dancing on the weekends. No cover. My go-to place! Try it.

This place is decent and usually has live music. There's indoor and outdoor seating and a bar area. There's a good selection of drinks and a pretty standard fare of food. They have decent happy hour specials as well. The staff is ok, generally personable, but could be more attentive. You may only get 1-2 check ins during your visit so don't be shy if you need something and think they may be back. There is free street parking outside the restaurant, but it is on a main road and fills up quickly. Other parking arrangements can be difficult to find and may often involve a walk to get to the restaurant.

First time visiting the bar on Friday & greeted in an unfriendly way. Ok... we can't sit near the window- only in back or the bar. Went to bar and not greeted for a while by Delaney for a while. A regular customer came in so after she greeted him, then she acknowledged us. Ok, so we have questions about the menu and beer & she is clearly irritated.Ok, I'm too tired (from painting my house) & hungry do we tolerate all of this and order food and beer. Once food arrives she never came back... and we were short a fork. My husband & I shared a fork and ate fries with no ketchup.We'll never go back even tho we live 2 miles away.