Wayside Caf

If you haven’t visited the Wayside Café lately it is worth a visit just to see the growing collection of coffee mugs. It has long been a Wayside Café tradition to take a favorite mug to the café and hang it on the wall with probably 80 others. What can be more comforting than to sit in a cozy corner of this cozy café and sip coffee or tea in your very own mug? What is even better is that, after you are done with your sipping, you leave the mug on the table and the next time you visit the café your mug is sparkling clean and back on the rack. It’s like magic.

There is more magic to this Fallbrook landmark than just the coffee mugs. The eclectic ambiance and tasty food with a ‘homemade’ flair creates a certain magic all its own.

Even though the café changed hands nine months ago it is still the same comforting atmosphere along with an expanded menu. Paul and Ann, who live in Fallbrook, are pleased to be the new owners of the café. Paul happily welcomes the faithful patrons as well as new friends. “It’s not about me, it’s about the people,” he said with a congenial smile.

The Wayside Café wrote the book on ‘eclectic.’ Yes, with the collection of coffee tins and guitars and license plates and crockery and bull horns and giant spoons and signed photos of movie stars, you will never tire of looking at the walls! You’ll even find a dancing Elvis if you look hard enough!

The restaurant is open early — 6:30 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and on Sundays at 7:30 a.m. The establishment closes at 2:00 p.m. each day. Their home-style breakfasts are substantial and are served until 1:00 p.m. If your mind can conceive it and it’s a breakfast food, you can probably order it at the Wayside Café. The breakfast menu is extensive and includes egg dishes, pancakes, French toast, breakfast sandwiches and biscuits and gravy.

Perfect for the Avocado Festival or any lunch day is the ‘Grilled Chicken Avocado and Swiss’ sandwich for $5.55. The grilled chicken is served on a grilled bun with melted Swiss cheese, two generous slices of tomato, lettuce and half an avocado. It’s messy, almost too big to fit in your mouth and it falls apart when you try to eat it, but that and the delicious blend of flavors is what makes it so appealing!

Perfect for a hot afternoon is the cool homemade Strawberry Crunch pie on a homemade crust with strawberry filling topped with whipped cream and then more strawberries. You can have a slice of this delicious pie for $2.85, but why stop there when for $10.50 you can take home the entire pie?

Wayside Café is located at 507 S. Main Street and offers indoor as well as patio dining. Please call (760) 723-9633 for carryout orders.