Our waitress is one of the best we've had anywhere! Vinca wAs carefully attentive without hovering. Our order was correct and she kept our drinks topped off. The restaurant was clean (even the restrooms) and cute. It is small so everything is loud and the man in the chef clothing was loud and grumpy on the phone. In fact every word thundered even while I was in the restroom. As he gave Vinca directives for a later event, he was still loud and grumpy. He detracted tremendously from our enjoyment of lunch. The food was ok. The tomato bisque was good but too thick for my taste. I may go back someday but I'm not in a hurry to... read more

See all

Everything there is amazing and I would definitely go back there again! I love the eclectic feel of the place and the menu is filled with old time. Good time food. read more

This was a stop on our way back home from our mountain vacation and was exactly what we were hoping. Definitely a small location but the food is delicious. They made Mickey Mouse pancakes for our daughter that she loved and we had the breakfast burrito and classic American breakfast. Both were delicious! read more

The Garden Cafe - a dining room with tables and chairs - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Rutherfordton, North Carolina

My wife and I have been here a few times. Being locals to the area we really love the consistency of great food and hospitality. Hats off to the chef, spectacular meals every time we visit. The photo added is the Garden Croissant and a side of grits. read more

The Garden Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Rutherfordton, North Carolina

See all

Driving thru Lake Lure we were looking for a breakfast place and found this one in the middle of nowhere. At first I was a little apprehensive because it looks like a regular farm. However the place is totally charming. Great service and delicious home made food. Highly recommend it read more

The Garden Cafe - Breakfast burrito and some croissant delicious sandwich - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Rutherfordton, North Carolina

What a pleasant surprise! Mandatory stop on your way to or from Lake Lure. Food is farm to fork fantastic! We will stop again soon & even make it for a Friday night Fish fry. Blooming Tomatoe w/Chicken was delightful. #thedestinationmagazine read more

The Garden Cafe - Blooming Tomato w/Chicken Salad - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Rutherfordton, North Carolina

See all

I deem this the best breakfast place in Rutherford County. The restaurant has the cutest patio and garden set up. Waitresses were super friendly, real southern hospitality. I tried the Loaded Omlette with a homemade bagel. It was filled and delicious, you can tell how fresh all the ingredients are. The bagel was made there and served with a good helping of cream cheese. The sweet tea was sweet and never ending. Definitely plan to be back soon since breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. read more

Excellent for breakfast and lunch. Cozy atmosphere where you can sit outside or in. Well worth visiting! Food was excellent!

Awesome place, always made from scratch dishes and nice service Check out the art inside the restaurant and the home store next door--it has great stuff not easily found around the WNC area, truly unique decor and kitchen stuff! read more

Went back for breakfast. An order of a stack of 3 blueberry pancakes with bacon, light fluffy, loaded with fresh blueberries. French Toast with sausage. OMG!!! 2 large thick pieces of toast with a heavy cream/walnut and honey sauce in between the slices. It looks so filling but is surprisingly light. I ordered two eggs over, bacon hash browns and wheat toast. Everything is fresh and cooked to perfection. All the plates come with a fresh strawberry and orange slice. 3 coffees, a small orange juice and 3 meals came to $26. couldn't beat that at a lousy Denny's. ALL the food is homemade, fresh farm to table. Its a ride for us, but well worth it. read more

See all

We are so grateful to have the Garden Cafe as our "neighborhood" restaurant., just down the road from our summer place (at the intersection of 64/74 and McIntyre/Rainbow Rapids roads, almost exactly between Rutherfordton and Lake Lure). Highlights for us (and our neighbors) are weekend breakfasts and the Friday night fish dinners. Their Fish and Chips are scrumptious, and we usually upgrade to the sweet potato fries. Sometimes there are special events (follow their Facebook page), and the Gardenwood nursery and gift shop behind the cafe is full of treasures for home and yard. read more

We were looking for a new Sunday brunch spot. Although they do not serve mimosas or Bloody Mary, the food was totally worth it. The menu was not your traditional small town menu. Great omelette selections, and the lunch and dinner menu looks delicious. I ordered the loaded omelette and my husband ordered the Cajun omelette. Both were delicious and served with a side of sourdough toast. We also tried the hasbrown casserole! It beat Cracker Barrells!! We will definitely return. Only complaint, is that they are in need of more servers. We didn't mind since we were not in a hurry. They are advertising they are hiring. Small business trying to get back on their feet after Covid. read more

This place was incredible. Great staff , service was fast and friendly. The food was well prepared and delicious. Good quality and quantity. A very modern menu with old favorites done in a new way. Vegetarian options done to the point that as a non vegetarian I was almost jealous. If your going to be in the Lake Lure area , you will find no better option for breakfast and lunch. read more

We love this place. We have stopped in the last two summers and have LOVED it each time. The food is great, the biscuits are amazing, and they also have a little gift shop with great items. If you're ever in the area it is definitely worth stopping in. read more

Just recently reopened very good restaurant good food good staffing good prices I would recommend this place

Great place delicious clean lovely! We ordered a California Paninni and it was the best I've had so yummy !!! read more

This is an absolute must go for the area. One of the best breakfasts I've had. Apple cinnamon pancakes for me that were fluffy and delicious and cooked to perfection with a generous amount of bacon on the side. The classic omelette with all the fixings for my boyfriend and a biscuit with gravy to split between us. The gravy was maybe the best either of us had ever had and we were told it was made from scratch every morning. Tasted like a breakfast straight from grandmas kitchen. A big amount of food for a very great price!!! read more

The Garden Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Rutherfordton, North Carolina

We recently moved to the area and stopped in for breakfast with friends. Wonderful service, nice atmosphere and delicious food at a very reasonable price! We were not disappointed and will most definitely be going back! read more

Great place for breakfast and lunch. I've only been in the area A week and can't tell you how many times I've eaten here.He fish and chips are excellent... this is coming from a northwest US gal. I'm looking forward to trying the Saturday night pre-reserve dinner. The crew is very pleasant and personable too. read more

Excellent brunch experience. Great service! The eggs Benedict was exceptional! Very inexpensive for great quality. Will definitely return next time I'm in town. read more

The little cafe is in the middle of a garden center. Gives you lots of pretty things to look at while you eat. The food was great. Well seasoned and thoughtfully prepared. I had the biscuits and gravy with an egg and hubby had an omelette. Today they introduced a Cajun quesadilla that sounded so good we had to get one to go. Yummy! Will definitely be back when we are in the area. read more

The Garden Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Rutherfordton, North Carolina

I love the Garden Cafe and can't wait until they have indoor seating again. This is a very good restaurant with a great menu. Many different choices to please everyone. read more

Simply good quality food, reasonably priced with excellent service. Eat inside or enjoy the covered porch area. The walls and shelves are full of art for sale which provides and interesting point of conversation. The art and craft pieces continue in the associated store next door. read more

I just ate here, I got French toast and bacon. The food is at a level where if you were that hungry you could eat the same meal once a day for a week (Not that I know from experience) And other then the food when you eat there you know that your supporting a local business! One thing is the wait: now your never going to wait for more then 20 minutes but you know that your getting food that was just made and not junk that has been sitting in a kitchen for the last hour. If your in the area because you live here, your a tourist or your just visiting family (As I was) I would strongly recommend stoping by! read more

The Garden Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Rutherfordton, North Carolina

This place is so quaint and cute!!! We stopped in while shooting a country music video. I ordered a philly omelette and sweet potato fries. My daughter ordered the chicken quesadilla. The food was incredible and Home made from scratch. The sweet potato fries are the best I've ever had. It is quiet and relaxing inside and there is also an outside deck seating area. I highly recommend!! read more

The Garden Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Rutherfordton, North Carolina

See all

Great place. Love the atmosphere and the service. We got our food quick and it was delicious. Definitely a must go to while driving by.

Truly a farm to table nice little family breakfast place. Be sure to visit the small garden nursery and gift store there. Besides breakfast, we also picked up a few garden sculptures. The food was really good, fresh and tasty. Very friendly staff in the restaurant, garden center and gift shop. We were visiting from Virginia and traveling from Chimney Rock to Greensboro and happened to come across this nice surprise for a breakfast stop. Definitely recommend. Ken Radz read more

First time to visit and we were not disappointed! The cafe is super clean and the omelettes were so fresh and tasty! Highly recommend we will be back! read more

This place is a hidden gem The Saturday dinners are the best Our favorite place to go

The food keeps getting better and better. There is usually an interesting special to try. We roam through the garden while waiting for our meal. There are lovely plants and pots for sale. It's casual and welcoming. read more

Great service, great food. Large servings and hot to the table. Fun to have a meal and then wander in the garden gift shop. Love the ambience and location is perfect. Parking is plentiful. read more

Me, my mom, son, and niece visited this restaurant on our way home from our mountain vacation on a slow Sunday morning. We ordered within 10 minutes of being seated, but 50 minutes later we were still waiting for our meals which were eggs, grilled cheese, and egg salad. We asked 3 times why it was taking so long but no answers so we left after over an hour of waiting with 2 hungry kids. The manager was an angry defensive man and never apologized or tried to make our visit better. Bad business owner or manager, will not visit this restaurant or the adjacent gift shop again. Hope this guy doesn't own anything else! read more

Fantastic food and service, My husand I ate breakfast here twice this week and we're so happy that we stumbled across this place. It's very clean, they support local artist, and the food and service were outstanding. Would highly recommend stopping at this place for a meal anytime. read more

My kind of country restaurant. Friendly service and really good food fixed they way you like it. My wife had an excellent breakfast and I had a very good Philly cheese steak sandwich. The very clean facility is decorated with local art of various genres and the garden facility outside will be very interesting in the spring. read more

We love lunching here. Every time we arrive, we are greeted with smiles and seated graciously. The food is always good and arrives hot and fresh, our glasses never get empty, and service is prompt. Even though it's a little pricey for the menu choices, it's overall a great place for lunch with your other half or the girls. Worth the trip out of town. read more

Lovely venue, caring staff, fantastic prices... what else can you ask for? Oh! Then there's the food! Well, it's outrageously good. They make the best hash browns in the state. Scratch-made pretty much everything. Good chicken salad, 1/2 pound Angus burgers, stuffed French toast...you can't lose, it's all win. So go! read more

Great new restaurant, we loved our 100% Angus burgers! It was delicious and the service was amazing! Everything was fresh and the restaurant was impeccable. We will definitely be back to have the breakfast which looked yummy. Can't wait! read more

A very nice breakfast spot. Good menu with unexpected variety. I anticipated country cooking but this place has much more. The Mediterranean omelette was very nice: tasty spinach and not an excess of feta. Some artworks on display (for purchase) which were good quality and not overly expensive. The restaurant is small but not overly so (seats 30-50 I suspect). A pleasant drive from my cabin. They apparently have a Friday fish dinner and a Saturday classy eats night (the latter by reservation only). Give it a try; you won't be disappointed. read more

This place, so unassuming from the outside, is not to be missed!!! We had a FABULOUS breakfast this morning! A 3-egg omelet with fresh veggies, crispy bacon and delectable hash browns. Also the best pancakes I have ever had! I had the apple cinnamon pancakes which contained freshly grated fresh apples just the right amount of cinnamon and no exaggeration were an an inch high!!! The word fluffy is an understatement! All the food was freshly made and did take a few minutes, but not so long for the BEST breakfast I've had in awhile! Our server was pleasant and attentive. Don't pass this wonderful gem by. read more

We stop here on our way through town as we're leaving our vacation. They offered some tasty options such as pumpkin spice stuffed French toast brunch burgers and egg in the hole BLT sandwiches. Our breakfast was great, and they were very accommodating for our daughter. The blueberry monkey bread on the table was our favorite! read more