Mecca Restaurant

I drove to Dallas from Canyon Lake expecting to be able to eat what I have considered the very best chicken fried steak I have even eaten. The bread pudding was also to die for. What a disappointment to find it had closed the Harry Hines location and ultimately closed the location that it moved to. I’ll have to keep checking to see if they ever manage to find another location to open. Hey an idea, come to New Braunfels or San Marcos or in the touristy area of Canyon Lake. There are even a couple of empty restaurant locations available.

UPDATE — GOOD RIDDANCE! I PUT YOU OUT OF BUSINESS! Poor service, crappy food, with management and an owner who didn’t care = goodbye.
Last Friday, I ordered the giant cinnamon roll (feeds about 70 people) for pickup this Friday morning. I was told it would be ready at 7a.m. When it opened. The plan was to bring it to work as a surprise breakfast for our staff, so 7 a.m. would work great. Unfortunately, it was not ready at 7 a.m. No big problem, it was Good Friday and there wouldn’t be much traffic anyway. About 10 mins. later, they said it would be ready soon. Then it was finally ready at 7:18. I took it to work and everyone enjoyed eating it — UNTIL we got to the center of the roll. The center was a gooey, doughy, raw, uncooked blob, that was not edible. So our staff breakfast went from great to crappy. Obviously, they had not fully cooked the roll and when I showed up at 7am, they rushed and failed to bake mine properly.
That afternoon, I went back to the Mecca and explained what had happened to the manager. He went over and talked to two people seated at the bar and came back to me. «Sorry, since you ate the outside of the roll, we cannot issue a refund.» What? You give me an uncooked food item and that’s the best you can do? He asked if I wanted to speak to the owner or general manager (the two guys sitting on their behinds by the counter). I told him yes and the GM came over. «Sorry, we can’t issue a refund because you ate part of it. But we can give you an individual cinnamon roll because that’s the size of the center of the giant one you ordered.» Offended, I told them no, I will just e-​mail everyone at work (230 people), post a review on Unilocal,post it to FaceBook, and by the way, I live a block away and you just lost my family’s business for the next 30 years. What a stupid business decision they’re making. None of this seemed to bother the manager (probably they’ve gotten used to bad reviews on Unilocal). And hey Mr. Owner, get off your a$$ and talk to your customer. Your GM says this kind of thing has never happened before, so maybe you should get up, come over and talk to me and find out what happened.
Long story short, I will not go to Mecca again. They don’t care about their customers. Besides, the food at Goldrush and John’s Café is much better anyway, and they have much better service.
A word of advice — if you go to the Mecca, make sure you cut open your cinnamon roll to make sure it’s cooked. If it’s not cooked, don’t eat a single bite because you’ll void the warranty.

Was so excited to finally try this place out. To my suprise it was the worst service ever! We didn’t get to try out the food, which might have made up for the lack of service. We were there for a full 1 hr only to get our glasses half full of orange juice because supposedly they didnt have any of the regular cups wich were smaller.
The wait was maybe 10 – 15 min, reasonable for it being sunday brunch. The rest of the time was sitting at our table wondering when our food was comming. It was only 3 of us and we ordered basic breakfast items. We gave up waiting and walked out. Major disappointment being first time customers.

Mecca was a great place for Sunday Brunch. There was a short wait, but that just re-​inforces how great the place really is! I ordered the Patty Melt, very delicious. I upgraded to the onion rings, mostly because it looked like they were a big deal through different reviews and how often it was mentioned on the menu. They were okay, not what I’m used to. They were breaded in the same batter as the chicken. I probably wouldn’t order them again.
The atmosphere was wonderful! The food was a great price and the service was excellent! I will be back!

Lot’s of bad reviews I see.
I had breakfast here and my buddy ordered the chicken fried steak and everything was great. Our server Sam was fantastic too! We spoke with the cashier and she said all the cooks were from the old location which is also key. We had a great time and we loved the food.

Wow!!!
What a disappointment!
Over-​priced and over-hyped…not much else to say. It was clean, hence the 2 stars
Waffle House quality at uptown prices. Trust in Unilocal. I should have.

Maybe I just expected way more after all of the hub-​bub I’ve heard over the years, but I have to say that I experience was just… okay. That’s it. Nothing spectacular at all.
Knowing my passion for diners and great American diner food, a great co-​worker treated me to lunch and suggested that we hit up Mecca. I remember this place being the Tippery Inn and it still kind of felt that way sadly enough. I hate that the diner feel did not translate into the space very well. I LOVE diners too so that was a bit of a disappointment.
As for the food, let me first say that food wise I was impressed with the sheer size of the cinnamon roll. I wish I would have tried it before I went Paleo last year so I could have enjoyed the sweet, bready goodness. The darn diet has killed my beloved sweet tooth so I have to just take everyone’s word that it is as heavenly as it looks.
For lunch I ordered some naughty food and got the Chicken Fried Chicken platter with mashed potatoes (I know, I know), and baked spinach, and an unsweetened tea. My first uh-​oh moment came with the rolls. It was very gummy due to most likely not being baked long enough. When our food came out I was honestly very underwhelmed with the flavor profile. The baked spinach looked unappetizing and was just dry and pretty bland, and while the chicken fried chicken tasted fine, the potatoes were just kind of there.
I have no idea if I came on an off day or what, but I was just not impressed and our service was not the best. I think if I want some diner food I’ll stick with Norma’s or Mama’s Daughter’s.

A kind of old woman country cottage ambiance that really isn’t my style, but this homeyness seems to brighten others right up like a comfy dirty quilt.
Similarly, the food is homestyle rich country food. I had eggs and ham which was perfectly fine. My friend Cara, ordered the chicken fried steak breakfast. It was so huge and covered with thick white gravy.
«I’ll probably take part of this home for lunch.» As she stared at her side of grits and fried egg accompaniers.
And the probability yielded a disappearance of all said food objects, which says something. The grits were a bit bland, but again comforting. We are getting in a habit of having breakfast along with good personal heartfelt conversation, where someone might shed a healthy cathartic tear. This place served our purposes just fine.

I went here for brunch with a friend and my mom visiting from out of town. I picked the place based on Unilocal reviews and the fact that the restaurant has been around since 1938. Service was good and our coffee and hot tea’s kept getting refilled. We were tickled by other reviewers that they had «real» corned beef hash. You know the kind that barely resembles meet and is cooked on a griddle til it forms a crust? Yeah that kind! My mom ordered that, while my friend and I ordered the Frances’s special… bacon, eggs, hash browns and pancakes. Pancakes were ok, fluffy and light but not enough butter/​milk flavor for my taste. You have to check out at the front and there was a long line, hmm. But the food was great and we will be back.

I’m sad to write this about The Mecca.
This restaurant used to be quite unique with authentic career waitresses, piping hot food, and old school ambiance when it was located on Harry Hines.
After what Mecca has become — and the demise of Molly Maguires and Tipperary Inn — I think this places needs a serious feng shui consultation to figure out what is going on. The venue is in a fantastic location and should easily be able to keep their standards up; however, the service this morning didn’t reflect that.
I attended a networking breakfast with a group that has frequented Mecca a lot. When I arrived, we were in a back room with just a couple lights on; half the room still had the chairs on the tables.
The server brought me lukewarm coffee served to the absolute brim which allowed no room for cream or sugar (I used a straw to drink a few sips down to make space). I had to grab the condiments caddy from another table that had chairs on it.
There ended up being about 20 of us and the chairs never came off the adjoining tables.
I ordered the migas (no beans /​corn tortilla). They were served lukewarm and which made them less than appetizing. The portion next to the plate was warm but the top half tasted like it had been sitting out for a couple moments and allowed it to to cool off substantially.
There was just one server trying to take care of all of us – as I typed earlier — Mecca knows this networking group and that we wouldn’t be tiny amount of people.
I really do hope the management of Mecca can pull it together ASAP — because I do want to seem them continue to succeed!

We went for a weekend breakfast, my wife, myself and our 2 kids (2 and 4.5). $ 48 and about an hour and a half later we walked out of there wishing we never step foot inside. Server spilled drinks, but didn’t clean up after herself, we had to go track down some extra napkins at the bar ourselves, the well done hashbrowns we ordered were served raw at best, the pecan pancakes I ordered were plain. My wife’s eggs benedict were drowning in a pathetic excuse for hollandaise sauce. They fixed my order and I was served a good 10 – 15 minutes later, well after my 2 and 4.5 year old were done with their food (my kids don’t eat fast!). And don’t expect to get any coffee refills unless you track down another waitress.
Unfortunately, a poor excuse for a «neighborhood restaurant» that should come with good and friendly service, one that actually takes pride in their establishment, food and service.

What a terrible experience! When Mecca was on Harry Hines, it was a good, solid diner. But since it has moved to Lakewood it is a disaster!
We went for dinner and we were the only people in the place. This should have been a warning sign, but unfortunately we stayed. I ordered an omlet and my companion ordered the chicken fried steak plate. The menu said the omlet had a variety of sides but the server never asked and just brought me hash browns. Both plates were VERY average yet my omlet was $ 8 & the chicken fried steak was $ 11. We ordered 2 of their «famous» Cinnamon rolls to go. Our total was $ 40, not counting the tip, pretty steep for a diner.
When we got home later that night and attempted to eat the Cinnamon rolls, they were so hard you literally could not cut them with a bead knife. They most you could do was chip away at them with the tip of the knife. Disgraceful!
We attempted to call and let them know that we would be returning them tomorrow, and we got an answering machine during business hours every time we called. I don’t know why they couldn’t answer the phone since no one was in the place but it’s one more reason not to patronize this establishment.
I would not recommend the Mecca restaurant in Lakewood to anyone!
If your looking for a good solid diner, try the Metro on Hampton and Davis. It’s never let me down and they’re open 24hrs.

I thought on a Saturday afternoon, this place would be busy. There were a few tables taken but it was free reign of whereever you wanted to sit.
I love places that offer breakfast all day. I got french toast and sausage. They asked on a 2^nd pass if I wanted the french toast cooked on the griddle or deep fried. Deep fried?! Weird. I ended up with bacon instead of sausage. I’m not one to turn my nose up at any breakfast meat so I ate it anyway.
I wasn’t crazy about the staff standing around at the front of the restaurant talking smack about recent customers. I mean, they weren’t talking about us but still pretty tacky. Everyone bitches about their job, just do it quietly like everyone else!

I really wanted to like this place. I’ve been there a handful of times and it has progressively got worse between food quality and service.
I’ve tried most things here. I’ve sadly had a better steak and eggs at IHOP. The pancakes were burned. The chicken sandwich was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen it was all gristle. Everyone keeps going on and on about the cinnamon roll. I don’t get it — makes me wonder if people have taste buds. It was the least sweet cinnamon roll I have ever had. The outside part was so dry it was not edible. The very middle was the only part somewhat good and that was after dragging it through the butter and sugar on the plate.
The worse part is the service. If you get the hippie 40-​ish lady, run for your life or request a different section. It took us 15 minutes to even get our drink order. Then later she said the «computer must have ate our ticket» this was after 45 minutes of waiting. And PS, computers don’t eat tickets. 99% of computers issues are USER ERRORS so we weren’t buying that one. So, then she asked «did you want to just go?» UHM. NO. I wanted to eat brunch, not start over an hour later somewhere else when it’s now noon. So, we told her we would wait. Then still after talking with the manager, it took 20 minutes to get our food, and for some crazy reason it was in to-​go boxes. At this point, I think the server realized the manager said they would take care of our meal, so we got no service from anyone from that point on.
Ironically, the last time I was there I sat near the front door, and watched a similar situation with someone else that was eating there. I could hear all their complaints about how they had been waiting over an hour and a half. Now, I saw first hand.
For greasy spoon food, this ranks low on the charts. I love me some greasy spoon food! But, I wouldn’t recommend eating here. A good solid reliable meal in Lakewood would either be Johns Café or Goldrush. I won’t be returning here sadly. I wanted to like it but after several instances of bad service, it’s just not worth giving up 2 hours on my Sunday for.

I was in Dallas for work and wanted to some place that served a good breakfast. After doing some research on Unilocal.I came across Mecca. Once I saw the giant cinnamon roll I knew I had to try it. The food was good. I have only had breakfast there but I have not been disappointed. I even stopped there again on road trip to the Panhandle. Which meant I had to deviate from route a bit to get there.
If you don’t do anything else. Try the cinnamon roll. It’s huge so you may want to share it.

I think the 1, 2, and 3 star reviewers need to understand how things work at these old dinery places! Here’s how I’d preface an experience to The Mecca:
1. Sometimes you’ll get an amazing waitress (like Nikki!) who will sit down with you and joke like an old friend. And sometimes you’ll get a waitress who isn’t very interested in you or anything else. Relax and expect service to be a liiiitle slower than you’d like. And when you get one of the veteran waiters or waitresses, take time to chat.
2. The food is greasy spoon-​tastic. It’s Texas food, it’s covered in gravy, it’s probably too salty and too heavy. Don’t come here expecting something else. However, nothing is frozen, and they really do make food to order.
3. Breakfast all day! I think this is where they really shine. The migas are fantastic– just the right amount of spicy and cheesey. The biscuits are awesome, and the they have two different types of gravy (one with sausage, one sans meat.) The coffee is hot and weak, exactly how you want it at a diner.
4. Get the cinnamon roll. It really is the size of a human head, and it’s really delicious. I get it without the additional butter on top (but you need the icing, of course.) When you ask for it at the end of your meal, they’ll automatically put it in a to-​go container for you. Pretty much the best midnight snack around.

4 stars for the ambiance and super cute charm but 2 stars for the service and 2 stars for the accuracy and taste of our order.
We came here on a recommendation of a friend who used to live in this part of Dallas. We were here for the weekend for a wedding and wanted somewhere nice to grab lunch. We got to Mecca after the major breakfast rush so parking was easy. The inside is old school and reminded me of an old diner. We liked the retro feel of it including the seat they put us in. Along the wall are small little private tables with walls around them. I don’t know what their purpose used to be, but they are cute. We sat in the last one and it’s a good thing there was only two of us, as the seating on one side had two chairs but there is no way someone could have fit against the angled wall. We liked our little space except you can never flag down a server.
Our food took a while to come out and when it did it was wrong. My sandwich, which the server had repeated to me, came out wrong. My husband was supposed to have toast, not a biscuit, etc… I believe there were 3 different things wrong on two orders. The waitress never came by to say she was fixing it, just the food runner. I wasn’t impressed with the service. Everyone was very friendly, but when an order is wrong, the server should at least come over and give an update on how long it will take or apologize or something.
The tater tots tasted like they were reheated from sonic. The sandwich was forgettable. My husband liked his biscuit, but he had never even ordered a biscuit so that was a strange yet nice surprise.
When I went to the bathroom, the whole area smelled of sewage. It was pretty gross.
I loved the cute interior but I came here for the food and I would not come back.

Oh, Mecca. How far you’ve fallen. :(
The move to Lakewood was not kind to Mecca. Sure, the space is… fine, I guess. (it’s better suited to an Irish pub — sayin’) And it rocks that I don’t have to drive 30 minutes to take my son for a cinnamon roll the size of his head. But everything else falls flat.
From the wait times to get food (on 3 visits, we’ve waited no less than 45 minutes each time) to the quality of food (seriously, they obviously didn’t bring any of the kitchen staff to the new location) to the lack of decent service (again, none of the old staff made the move, those gals were hell on wheels with some old fashioned Flo service), Mecca Lakewood just doesn’t cut it. I can’t imagine they’ll last much longer if they stick with the status quo. And that makes me cry a tear made of cinnamon roll glaze.

Well, I’m CRAZY about Original Pancake House… but, I had to give Mecca a shot. I just couldn’t stomach the Old Location off Harry Hines. It was so dirty &…just,… No! I waited for the crowds to die down before trying this new location in the Old Molly McGuire’s house.
First, the décor is really nice… I just had to get my bearings because, it was much different than the old Molly’s /​or The Tipp, which is to be expected. (It’s just hard letting go! = (…) Mecca is cheery & CLEAN. The wait staff is friendly. We were seated immediately. Our server quickly came over to take our drink order… then, hubby ordered the CFS w/​two eggs over easy & hash browns. He said it was all good. I ordered the (3) Buttermilk Pancake Stack w/​crunchy hash browns & crispy bacon… everything was delicious!
Mecca was pretty busy… it was @ 11:30am…lots of people coming & going. I hope Mecca does well @ this location. We’ll defiantly be back.

Ok… that’s about it. I went to try the corn beef hash breakfast to see if it rivaled the stuff at Barbecs and while it was far less greasy… it wasn’t necessarily better. I think Barbecs is cheaper for breakfast and portions are bigger.
Coffee — for 2 bucks and endless refills I got the flavor of burnt coffee on my first sip. Follow up top off tamed that since it was clear this pot hadn’t sat as long.
$ 7.99 gets you the smalled portion of hash browns with some corn beef hash and my two eggs… add the coffee and I was around $ 10:25 before tip. On the plus side, I didn’t leave feeling disgusted like I normally do after Barbecs… AND, this place is clean. Give it some time, it may not be… but for now its a new spot. I just wasn’t blown away…
Service was spotty to bad. On a Friday afternoon, people flowing in steady and it was hard pressed to see wait staff floating around? Where the hell were they? I even had to wait to pay my bill, she was nowhere in sight!
Perhaps I’ll have to go try something aside from breakfast and see?