Desert Rays Cafe

I was at Desert Ray’s last week for breakfast. Really delicious. Service was slow and not attentive. Went back today for lunch. Very slow service again. No refills on iced tea. The BLT was very good. Food is good; service not so good. Seemed to be lazy considering there were only 6 customers. The Cole slaw was inedible as well according to my friend and myself.

Good breakfast joint. My husband loved the corned beef hash (they smoke the meat themselves). I had a scrambler with chorizo, avocado & cheese — I at it all including my crispy hash browns, which is is not like me! Gluten-​free pancakes were pretty gross but the kids loved their regular pancakes. Super friendly service — the owner helps out in the dining room AND cooks. He makes his own hot sauces too, which I found too sweet but my husband liked them enough to buy a bottle to bring home. We’ll be back!

You ever go on a mercy date because you just felt so bad for the girl?
I admit to feeling guilty about parking in front of Desert Rays in the morning, because they’re right next to my gym. I’ve taken up my fair share of their premium parking, so one day, while sitting in my car, staring at their lackluster signage, I looked them up on Unilocal,and was surprised by their high rating… so I figured I’d give them a go… another day.
Well that day came, and I walked in… to a nearly deserted dining area. There was an old lady in there, but I couldn’t see her as the booth backing eclipsed her height.
A super peppy employee, named Julia, emerged from a hole in the wall, and gave me an excited welcome… a welcome you might receive when visiting Iwo Jima, say if you stumbled across someone who’s been in hiding since March of ’45 and hasn’t had much social interaction since then, outside of the occasional one-​sided dialog with a flame-​thrown corpse.
Choosing my seating, I ordered the Desert Rays Combo with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and buttermilk pancakes… a good value at $ 8… but I gotta say, the more Julia lauded my visit, the more uncomfortable I became. Now them there pancakes were kinda weird in taste and consistency… everything else was good, but what I really wanted was to taste the freedom of society, outside of this demure dining area. I paid my bill and Julia rewarded me with an over-​sized $ 5 coupon, which I conveniently tucked into my Costanza wallet and summarily forgot.
I returned 2 days later, because I read good things about their crepes, and this time, I got gruff and stumble, muscular jack, in his compression Under Armour shirt. You better believe I straightened my act up, as I ordered the crepes with fresh strawberries.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a player in the crêpe game, nor am I even an armchair quarterback… but serving crepes topped with cold fruit and a heaping mound of fresh made whipped cream sounds MUCH more appealing than what I got… a ball of cold butter and maple syrup… which curiously enough, is also what I got 2 days prior with my weird hotcakes.
The worst part… ABSOLUTE WORST PART… is that I forgot to use my colossal sized coupon… which means I wont be dropping this review until after I’ve returned one more time to cash in on my discount

Prices are almost amazing as their house made specialties, always more than enough to eat and found out on Sundays they always have a special addition to the menu like crabcakes Benedict or Prime Rib and eggs! Best, most generous Mimosas I’ve experienced anywhere! The staff is great and the owner is generally there and a lot of fun to talk to. I would highly recommend this place to anyone The north Scottsdale area!

This place is nice and quaint. The food is amazing and the service is outstanding. To be greeted by the owner is something that is not done often enough. Not only did our server take care of us but ever one of the waiters/​waitresses checked in throughout the meal. Definitely coming back!!!

Not my favorite… My first impression is that it’s interior was very dated. The service was outstanding. Our server — a man– was very personable, charming and helpful. The food, though, was terrible. The crepes were spongy. The blueberries were frozen and then heated. The coffee was subpar and the scramble lacked flavor. It was too spicy. It was a custom scramble. It had ingredients I did not ask for and didn’t like and 2 ingredients I did ask for were left out.
Not recommended.

Great atmosphere. Very friendly and personable staff. They have free wifi and made sure to let us know which was awesome. Both had the 2 eggs your way with meat and it was so good! Great amount of food for the price.

This is a wonder full place for a family breakfast or brunch. Ray and his staff are wonderful! It does not matter if they are busy or shorthanded they get the job done right. Highly recommend and will be visiting several times in the future

We were seated right away, which was nice because Snooze was an hour wait… Food was average. Not in a bad way, it just wasn’t anything fancy, and I wasn’t blown away. Coffee was decent too. The wait for the food was really long. We really try to wait and not ask our server how much longer, but we had been there probably close to 45 minutes or longer with no food and we were wondering if something was going on. so I asked my waitress and just like that our food appeared. She gave us 5 dollars off our bill for being patient, it was a nice gesture. I’m not gonna say I won’t be back, but there’s a lot of other restaurants I’ll explore first before I return.

We were in on 3÷13÷16 at 10:45am It took over 5 minutes to even be acknowledged we were there. We were then seated and then proceeded to wait another 10 minutes and no one came by and offered to take our order or acknowledge us.
All the while several waitresses made eye contact with us. One employee was taking pictures of the several people standing waiting to be served. We got up and left. Obviously, management does not need our business. My wife and I wanted to try a new place for breakfast needless to say this will will be the last time we go there. It looks like a great place, but needs to work the bugs out of their service.
Try it your own risk.

The pictures on Unilocal don’t do it justice I tried this for the first time visiting Scottsdale and the food was fantastic I had a strawberry pecan waffle and it was so yummy I devoured it the food is fresh clean appetizing and the servers were so nice I would definitely come back if I was in the area.

Though I live in the area, I never go into this plaza so I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised and equally glad to be supporting a local business. I was impressed by the quantity of food provided for only $ 10! For 10 bucks I ordered a scrambled egg with choice of 3 veggies and cheese (add meat for extra $ 1.50), a large hashbrown, and raisin bread. Overall, my meal was tasty, though there was slightly too much salt in the hashbrowns and perhaps not enough salt in my omelette. The service was friendly and the owner made jokes with us (which I always appreciate!). The interior had a bright and fresh décor that had a seamless transition into the outdoor patio. Only real downside, the outdoor patio did not face the ocean.

This place is so cute! Warm, family based staff and, amazing food! Professional and delicious! Awesome visit! Such a great choice for brunch. Lunch and breakfast all day. Great big luxurious bar with thee best mimosas!

This review is crazy late. When I came to visit Phoenix months ago, I got lucky and found this place on Unilocal.First off, the gentleman that greeted and waited on us, was marvelous. He made the experience there really nice. We sat outside and enjoyed a good ass breakfast. The rendition of a mimosa was so good. I think it had vodka in it.
Now that I’m back in Arizona, I’m hoping to get to be able to go back to this place

I came here the other day with my boyfriends sister and oh my lord. It was phenomenal! My taste buds are watering thinking about the burrito that I ate there. And the salsa that they made. it was huge. It was the breakfast burrito. It had potatoes, red bell peppers, and egg and probably a couple other things and then I had the choice between chorizo, bacon, steak and chicken I think? I don’t know but I chose chorizo and it was so yummy with that. Even after I got full I just wanted to eat more. but couldn’t. It was so good. And they’re very nice. It’s a cute little place. I sat outside cause it was a nice day. Definitely recommend coming here.

I don’t usually do breakfast food but the chicken fried steak and pancakes here are awesome.
Portions are huge you get a lot for the price. Would recommend for anyone wanting a hearty mean with big portions

This place is amazing… great patio, bloody Mary’s, awesome food… a must try! And the staff is great too… very friendly and happy!!!

My wife found rays when another place we wanted to goto fell through because they we not open on Sunday.
We came about 11 am on Sunday. This place is big with nice outside area and large inside area. The owner smokes his own meats for lots to the items on the menu we were told.
My wife had breakfast and I had lunch. She tried the crepes were «ok» And the eggs Benedict was good.
She said the coffee was great. She had lots. Free refills!
I had the green chili cheese burger. Wow best green chili burger I have ever had. Perfectly cooked. The meat had a nice flavor. Pepper jack cheese which was melted into the beef. Yum! Defiantly not food service beef. It also had bacon and lots of mild green chills! Soooo good. They will also cook your beef to order. I had medium but you could also have gotten it Med rare. I will try that next time.
The waitress Izzy was super friendly and very knowledgeable about the menu. She suggested the fries and I also added onion rings to try. Both were awesome! Both were hand made. Great flavor on the onion ring batter. I asked for well done on both and they both were perfectly cooked.
Music is classic rock which we both love. Not too loud which is nice. The place was spotless including both bathrooms. Owner works at the restaurant and is very attentive and friendly.
Overall service was ⁵⁄₅ on a busy Sunday. My wife and I give it a ⁵⁄₅ overall.

I’m so thankful I came across Desert Rays one morning as my stomach was digesting itself from being so hungry, while sitting at my desk. Desert Rays has amazing, fresh-​made healthy breakfast (depending on what you order… ’cause those crepes, not so healthy, but oh so yummy!), and guess what?! They DELIVER!!! Yes, you heard right — you can order delicious breakfast while at work or wherever you are, and they will deliver it to you! How amazing is that!!!
I’ve ordered from here a few times and the breakfast croissant is so finger-​licking good, and the crepes are phenomenal! I have yet to venture out to order other items off their menu, but I’m sure they’re great… and I will order from them again. Their customer service is wonderful too — every time my food got delivered, the guys are the sweetest!

Awesome food friendly staff good prices good environment come check it out if food is awesome the staff is very friendly

Corn Beef Hash… for breakfast… with anything else… but just try it… not like your mamma made it! A-​maz-​zing!!!

Have been to this place twice, and each time had a great experience.
Both times I had ordered off the specials while my fiancé took the more traditional breakfast route.
Today I had the Beef Brisket and Eggs skillet. Basically a large helping of tender beef brisket, a few scrambled eggs with fresh veggies mixed in. Perfect combination Desert Ray’s! Had the country potatoes and pancakes for the sides. Country potatoes where good, and pancakes quite delicious.
Fiancée had the vegetarian Benedict, and judging by how fast she ate, it was very enjoyable. The poached eggs looked perfectly cooked and glad her English muffin was properly toasted vs being just warm like a few places had served them. Vegetables where fresh and another good point is the tomatoes where really red, which meant perfectly ripe.
Now when the food is this good, I can overlook some of the slight service issues. Please Desert Ray’s, train your waitresses to check on their tables. Had to get up and get my own ketchup. She was younger, so obviously hadn’t been doing this that long, but place wasn’t that busy. Stopped by at the end of breakfast but was personable and friendly.
One last small detail– and just because my fiancée was a bit thrown off. The servers all looked professional in their black polo shirts. After all, you are charging $ 12 – 13 for breakfast, so a clean place (definitely spotless) and a professional staff is important. So what threw me off was the gentleman who was the host in a green t shirt and orange cargo pants. When I first saw him, I thought he just came from the gym next door. Turns out he was the host or manager. (and was very helpful to all guests and friendly– cool guy)…Just saying when your in North Scottsdale, and your place is very tidy and professional, wouldn’t it make sense to reflect that?
Will absolutely come back and if your looking for a good breakfast spot, give them a try.

Good little breakfast place when you don’t feel like the old town scottsdale breakfast/​brunch scene. Very low key. Not crazy loud and overcrowded. Very very fair prices, big portions-​we should have shared. We tried the chicken fried steak and eggs. It was good! They make it in house. Good service from the gal we had and we were in and out quick! We used to come here for the chicken fried steak when it was the breakfast joynt and I would say it’s better now. The pancakes were good too-​soft and fluffy. Next time I’ll try the country potatoes the hash browns that we ordered were just okay, but we are picky with our hash browns :) All in all a decent place to grab a quick breakfast when you are too lazy to do it at home.