This past weekend Kelsey's opened back up. It's under new owners, after Kathy retired and closed down the business. I would come here maybe once a month for biscuits and gravy. It was always so delicious. When I walked in all booths were taken so I sat at the counter. Menu is small, they are going to expand it. Also hours are limited to 7-3 daily. Eventually they hope to have dinner. Tonya the waitress, worked here 17 years before it was closed down, she is back!! She is running the whole place her self, she is friendly and cheery and happy to be back here. It's good to see her again. Place looks exactly the same as it did before, looks like an old school diner. The things my family would order is Biscuits and Gravy, sausage and pancakes. So that's what I ordered to compare to the old days. The pancake was thin not fluffy like I remember. But it has been a long time. Biscuits were flat and not fluffy and gravy was not as I remembered, wasn't to crazy about it. Henry's cafe still beats them hands down. It wasn't bad, just not my favorite. Sausage was good. I think they need time to work out any kinks. I am giving this place a three for the food. Tonya is amazing and so attentive, she is a solid 10. I think with time it will get to where it was before. read more

See all

Food was barely edible. Salad was good however. Was surprised because it was rated as one of Tehachapi's top 20 Resturant's.

My daughter and I are really enjoying this restaurant. She is a vegetarian and I am not. The menu gives us many choices for both food preferences. The food is good and hot and delivered with a friendly smile. We have eaten there a couple times and both times were a great experience. read more

We LOVE LOVE LOVE this time capsule of American diners in the cool train town of Tehachapi! We've been here several times over the years and it's been recently been scrubbed down and the kitchen rebuilt. Everything else is original, and funky good! We like coming through this unusual town whenever we're heading to the desert, (Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, etc.) rather than go through the traffic of LA. This route is for lovers of vintage roadsides and hideaways! Check out Kelcys for yourself! read more

Sweet waitresses, great service, and delicious food. We especially liked the toffee cake with ice cream.

The food was not good. The service was not good. Not worth the "$10-$25" that you pay per person for the food. Take my advice, go somewhere else. You will be happier. read more

Terrible. $5 for 4 pieces of "fresh fruit" (1small slice watermelon, one slice of Orange, and 2 1" pieces of pineapple) and the pineapple had mold on it but I figured she just gave it for free so I didn't complain. $2 for a 4oz kids milk. I told the waitress about it and she apologized but could do nothing. This explains why the place was nearly empty. The food itself was also low quality and severally over priced. Give this good location to a good eatery please! read more

Great diner Cafe. We often have breakfast here, nice to see veggie options to substitute meat.

Good breakfast lunch place we stopped in town to go to Walmart everything was good thank you

This is a throw back diner type place. Lots of home made comfort food. If you are a PCT hiker this is s great bang for your buck breakfast. My chicken fried was home made and tasty with eggs cooked perfectly. Service was great and the place has overflow seating in the next room. read more

Kelcy's Restaurant - Chicken fried - American Near Me - Tehachapi, California

We had a large family group over Memorial Day weekend and had a very lousy experience. They should have told us sooner that the main cook didn't show and we waited an hour for our order. They did provide free chips and salsa while we waited, but each refill pitcher of beverages was separately charged. The food was poor and expensive. Sandwiches came on white bread toast. Better to order a salad. The funky atmosphere evokes olde tyme eateries, and with old style food--which means not very good. Best thing might be home made pies. 2 stars rating is generous. read more

We ate there this last Sunday. We had to order our food before they gave us a table. Once we sit down to the table they brought us plastic silverware I thought that was strange. When they brought our food they brought it in to go plastic containers. You try and eat this food with plastic silverware it's almost impossible. And when we placed our order they didn't tell us that it was going to be this way. And also the food was lousy. I don't know what's happening to Kelcy,s but that's not the same restaurant that we have been eating at. We will not go back there again. read more

Excellent breakfast. The Denver omelette was amazing. The staff was super friendly. And I love that the restaurant looks exactly as I remember it years ago. This is an example of California's gold right here in Tehachapi. read more

See all

The vegan patty melt was really good! Plus all the other vegan and vegetarian options are delicious. It's so nice to have vegan/vegetarian options that isn't bland steamed vegetables or just a burger. This as become a regular spot and it hasn't disappointed. read more

Good old fashioned plain food served hot by friendly folks. Nothing fancy, but what we ordered was tasty and exactly to our special needs requests. read more

Loved the food here! And Virginia, one of the owners, is so friendly. The photos decorating the dining room are part of history. We had fish and chips, and apple pie. Both were melt in your mouth good. I'm definitely going back for more! read more

Thrilled to have good vegetarian/vegan options. I tried the vegan patty melt and it was great. It's really nice to have so many choices and I plan to try more from Kelcy's. read more

I went there for breakfast this morning and the restaurant seemed nice that is until I bite into my meatlovers omelet that I paid 15$ dollars for and found not 1 but multiple strands of human hair I immediately spit it out and tell the host about it who informs me that there is nothing that could be done and I couldn't get a refund because it was already on my table, I certainly will never eat there again and warn others of doing so, I will also be making a complaint to the department of public health read more

Went on a warm July eve with a friend. Very old time diner feel in there (pretty original) including the chilled desert display where I we split a banana cream pie slice - was good, not best I've ever had, but good. They had coconut cream pie too and would try that next time. For dinner had a patty melt and it was nicely seasoned and flavorful. Crispy crinkly fries. Service was excellent and very friendly. I'd go back. read more

Very friendly staff, good food and great location for rail fans! Because of COVID they had tables outside for us to sit at, workers were very accommodating. read more

My husband and I loved coming here and were so sad when it closed. We would bring our family from out of town and treat them to the best biscuits and gravy! Since they've reopened with new owners we had to give them a try! We were immediately seated in a booth and had our order taken. We ordered the French toast special, Eggs with hash browns, and of course the biscuits and gravy. The restaurant had different decorations on the wall, but still had the historical look of an old diner. Our food was delivered fast, and it tasted pretty good! read more

See all

Food was kind of pricey for what we got and it's quality. Ambiance was lacking, interior has not been updated in years. Server was friendly and costumer service was good. Overall if your looking for a good place to eat with good food at a good price .... keep looking! read more

My husband ordered french toast breakfast It comes with cinnamon and the menu doesn't tell you that and we don't like cinnamon. He ordered eggs and crispy bacon the bacon was undercooked and the eggs were well done. I ordered a side of two medium scrambled eggs and they were overdone needing salsa. The staff was great and friendly. The place isn't busy they don't know why my eggs came several minutes My husband's breakfast. A disappointing experience read more

Never been to this restaurant before thought I would give it a try, as I entered it was like a time machine going back to the 60s. I guess that's how the owners want it, but if I was them I would upgrade the past is the past. Ordered breakfast when it arrived I was surprised by how small the portions were, very small plate and very small portions. The service was great no complaints there but the small portions were what I will always remember. I felt as though I was at a Denny's, I had high expectations for this place, sad thing is I won't go there again. If me and my companion are going to pay close to $30 dollars at least give me a decent portion. I would not recommend this restaurant. Try Spencers in Bakersfield you won't be disappointed. read more

A few friends and I decided to give Kelsey's a shot since it recently just re-opened. When we sat down we waited for someone to bring a menu. They eventually came over and said the paper one on the table was the menu. I thought, really, this is it? Not much to choose from. So I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings. The burger was paper thin with no flavor and the onion rings were just okay. I know we won't be coming back, it's just not the same. read more

Looks like a vi rage diner passing by. The food is good, the portions are big, and the staff is nice!

Walking into Kelcy's Restaurant completely transports you back in time, and while the booths do look like they need a little updating, the overall decor yields a homey sense of family and history. With both a diner and family restaurant vibe, I wasn't sure what I should be ordering. I went with the reuben with potato salad, and a strawberry milkshake. Service was very nice, though their system perhaps a little flawed, as the waitress was both waiting all tables and making my milkshake (which thus took a little time to make). The reuben was served piping hot, with nice grill marks on the bread. Together with the kraut, it was a decent sandwich. The potato salad was pretty bland, to be honest-- not entirely sure if this was homemade or store bought. The milkshake was a nice highlight-- perfect consistency, great strawberry flavor, and whole strawberry chunks. It was a huge portion I couldn't finish. Kelcy's is a good place to get some lunch. Make sure you order a milkshake! read more

I ordered the ham and eggs breakfast. Ham was thick, juicy and cooked perfectly. Hash browns were crispy, eggs perfect and delicious coffee!

I was so excited Kelcys was opened back up! But, it wasn't the same at all. Kelcys used to be booming for breakfast but it was like a ghost town. And I know why. The service was good, but the food, the food needs a lot Of work. When we got there we sat ourselves at a booth, waited to be greeted by the waitress but the couple that walked in 2-3 minutes after us got greeted and poured coffee before we were even acknowledged which took another 2-3 minutes. My coffee cup was covered in old grease and was extremely sticky, so I opted for some Orange juice. Which came in a cold mug it was delicious. But the water tasted horrible. We placed our order, veggie omelette with hashrowns well done and sourdough toast well done, and I ordered bacon and eggs with had brown well done and biscuits and gravy. Mind you their biscuits and gravy were hands down the best in town. We not if our food was ready and kept waiting for it to be brought to our table. We watched it getting cold as our server was busy doing other tasks. She finally delivered it to our table after about 5 minutes of it sitting on the shelf. Biscuits and gravy were warm, omelette was ok, my bacon and eggs were just warm, the hasbrowns were barely cooked. The toast was perfect. We asked if we could get well done hash browns. She apologized and said she'd tell the cook. So we're almost done with our meals by the time she came back with our hasbrowns which you could tell had been tossed into the fryer. But they were crispy! Lol all in all we probably won't be back, hopefully this establishment can step up to where it once was. Also the prices are more expensive then they were before and the portions are way smaller. It was $29 for two small breakfasts a coffee and an orange juice. Not including the tip. I'm ok paying that for good breakfast but I could of went to Henry's and got the same thing for a little less and brought home leftovers. read more

See all

Server was pleasant and that is the only reason they received two stars. Took a very long time to receive food & it was ridiculously over priced and NOT good. read more

The vegetarian split pea soup was absolutely delicious and I would go back again just for that. The vegan cheese on the patty melt is very tasty as is the vegan thousand Island dressing. It's hard to believe they are vegan, they're that good. We chose fries with the patty melt and they were crisp but could use a little more time on the fryer. The patty melt also had onions and was perfectly cooked with my only suggestion that they be served on some fries as the bottom bun with a little bit soggy from sitting on the plate. I would not order the buffalo cauliflower or recommend it. That menu item is what we were going for but found the inside consistency of the cauliflower was frozen and soggy instead of crisp. The outside coating was crisp. The 8" plate was only half full with cauliflower of various sizes and for $6.95 is not be worth it. Fortunately Esther being a great server took it back and and we got a fresh veggie wrap. The veggies in the veggie wrap were so fresh and crunchy and delicious. Hummus was also inside the wrap and it was good but I will add avocado to it next time to give me some good fat has it needed some fat. The wrap was kind of lightweight and I was hungry shortly after eating the wrap. The side of fresh fruit was very fresh. Esther was a good server and very efficient. read more

It's dated but cute western. We had breakfast and it was like dennys and service was great. We like stoping and eating here when we can, also because it's close to the train which we like to see. read more

I love the breakfast burritos and chicken or turkey sandwiches. The staff is polite I just wish the would be more fast

Kelcy's has always been a family favorite and we were excited to try their new dinner menu! Let me just say that it did not disappoint! We tried the cilantro lime chicken, chicken fried steak, and vegan chili all of which were absolutely amazing! I always appreciate a restaurant that gives you fresh, homemade food instead of some cheap, frozen alternative. We got our food to go but in the time we were in there picking it up the staff were very sweet and helpful, double checking to make sure we had everything we need. I love what they have done with the back seating area and how they kept the classic feel inside! Definitely a great choice for anyone in town and with such a great variety in their menu anyone could eat there now! read more

See all

Excellent breakfast. Good eggs Benedict. Friendly servers. New cook, Frank, does a great job.

Fantastic place for breakfast or lunch. Nothing fancy, but it has that old time diner feel and the staff are super friendly and provide excellent service. The food was awesome and the prices reasonable. Beats the hell outta Denny's. read more

Service was slow. Food was okay, but my pancakes were definitely not fresh at all, i could tell they made them ahead of time and keep them warm in an oven or something, definitely wouldn't recommend. read more

They advertise home made pie. I'm sorry, dumping gooey canned cherry filling into a pie crust doesn't equal a home made pie. I love diners, but the decor is so dreary. The place seems like it needs a good scrubbing. Dirty. You're better off enjoying the cool sign from outside. read more

My wife and I have been coming here regularly for the past few weeks since they reopened and I have to say that we are very impressed with the food, service, and golden oldies playing in the background. Their prices are reasonable, staff is friendly and quick to keep your coffee topped off. My wife has to get the fresh squeezed orange juice everytime we come for breakfast. read more

Wish this place still had the reputation as the old days when this was the place to go for a quality breakfast. I'm not one to jump on and write a negative review but my last 3 or 4 experiences don't even rate 1 star. I don't know what's worse: the food or service. The food is cold and bland lacking anything that could be mistaken as flavor. The service is just as bad--coffee ran out often, and was cold when actually refilled. Don't waste your time or money. read more