Barrett Junction Cafe & Mercantile

Don’t come here looking for any kind service, u won’t find it… my son and I made a road up there one sunday afternoon. .the gentleman that seated us assured me they have the best bbq on this side of the Mississippi so I went with the ribs. .the food took for ever… sadly the ribs weren’t that great, flavor was so so, wasn’t hot, and it was tuff has hell… no one ever asked how everything was or got refills… it took for ever someone to take my credit card and took for ever to get it back. don’t waste your time doing a road trip to here, you will be disappointed

We drive quite a way to have lunch here after church on any given Sunday. They sometimes seem a little under-​staffed, but the food is always worth the wait. The long drive is San Diego-​backcountry pretty. Good value for a reasonable amount of food.

This place is awesome. I have never been to a coffee bar that showed so much care for their customers. It really feels like you’re home when you’re here. Definitely recommend here and the food is exceptional. Great location too

Best fish and chips in San Diego County! I can’t wait to go back for the fried chicken!

Has been a Father’s Day favorite for the all you can eat fish fry for years… BUT. went this year and it was not a good experience The food isn’t the same. the rice pilaf has changed, the retried beans used to be great, but now now tastes like out of a can. Salad wasn’t fresh, and the famous hush puppies were over cooked. The service was horrible, no one was friendly, and It took along time to get service and longer time to get food. No music made a very uncomfortable atmosphere. What used to be a fun adventure to take that long car ride isn’t worth the trip, sadly anymore.

The servers are friendly but the food took forever to be cooked. I definitely recommend the fish and chips, for a minute I thought it was worth the wait. I might be back, the drive out was gorgeous.

Love this place. The best coleslaw and beans I’ve had. My fiancé and I eat there almost every week. Love the service and food. Employees are very nice

I come back here every year for the Barrett Junction Downhill Longboard race. This place is great and the people are wonderful. They are very biker friendly too.
I’ve ate here for both breakfast and Dinner. The breakfast buffett is great and they have a nice selection. It’s fun trying to beat a pack of skaters to a tray of bacon.
I’ve tried some burgers and the pulled pork for dinner. They taste great, but I think the pulled pork could use some more sauce. Mine was fairly dry with very little sauce.
The décor is nice, and damn near everything is for sale it seems. The carved bears are a nice touch too!

Dinner last night at Barrett Junction was great! We had fish fry and my son tried the bbq pulled pork. It was great! Lots of yummy food. The service was excellent. Will definitely go back again

It’s quite a drive from any freeway, but the drive out has some awesome scenery.
I’ve been there only for lunch. Each time the service was very friendly and hospitable. The food has always been tasty.
One of these weekends I would love to bring my spouse and/​or friends out here for a dinner get together. There’s plenty of seating plus a great banquet room for large functions and a stage for announcements or a band.

I went with my family to meet up with a couple that were friends of the family. Our friends had heard this was the place for ribs. The friends drove all the way from North County for the ribs. Luckily my family just had to drive from Spring Valley. The drive was beautiful. But the food was not worth the drive. The beans and onion rings were really good. I liked the hush puppies as well. Four of us wanted a BBQ Dinner, Half Rack. The waitress took awhile before she even came to our table to take our order. She took our order. Five minutes later, she came back to tell she was sorry but they were out of ribs. So she had to re-​take our order. That took a long time. She gave us A LOT of time and then took it. We at least had our drinks when she came to re-​take our order. Since I could not have the Half Rack Dinner, I choose the BBQ pulled pork. The manager had previously told us the BBQ was the best BBQ on this side of the Mississippi. It was a very long wait before our food finally arrived. It is not the best BBQ this side of the Mississippi. My mother does way better BBQ. My sandwich was disappointing. The coleslaw was okay. The onion rings were the best item. They do have some of the best onion rings, I’ll give them that. Three people had the three fish cod and thought it was okay. My aunt ordered a beer. It was a tiny glass for three dollars. We eventually got our checks. It took them a really long time to return the debit cards. The check was split by my family and our friends. One of the friends was mad that she might miss her appointment for a massage. The whole dining experience took forever. The service was some of the slowest service I saw in a very long time. One friend complained how he drove all this way for the ribs, only to find out there wasn’t any ribs. The manager had told him he should had called in advance. We quickly figured out this is a place for a sandwich and cold beer not BBQ. We’ll probably never go there again. But now the couple and my family are going to meet up for BBQ at my house and my mom will make some really good ribs, beef and pork.

Although both DULZURA CAFE and BARRETT JUNCTION CAFE served the same kind of old-​fashioned American cuisine and both had been in business since the 1940’s, we usually ate at Dulzura Café because it was closer. As it closed last year (the building is up for rent), today we continued a few miles further east on Highway 94 to BARRETT JUNCTION. My husband and I ordered the lunch (3 pieces) fish and chips. The fish (fresh cod) was moist and flaky; the batter fried crispy; the coleslaw freshly made. Instead of the chips (french fries), I had the rice pilaf. Everything was delicious. The server was friendly, helpful, and very capable. The place itself is homey and very clean. The restroom looked recently remodeled and was spotless. The drive to Dulzura from San Diego, especially via Otay Lakes Road in East Chula Vista to Highway 94, is lovely. A wonderful thing to do on a Saturday or Sunday. We will definitely return to try the pulled pork and ribs!

Stopped by for some lunch and ordered the 3 piece fish dinner. The fish was good but the salad was just cut lettuce with nothing with it and the beans were real dry with no taste along with the rice pilaf. My wife had the turkey club sandwich plate. The sandwich was ok but was on the small side and the frys were just ok, but the ketchup in the bottle was not a name brand that was listed on the bottle, tasted bad and was watery.

This is a cutesy, kitschy country diner type place. There are tons of silly decorations on the wall and a folksy-​type charm.
As far as the food goes, we both got burgers — me the Big Bite, she the Little Bite. The burgers were fine and about what I expected (though she didn’t enjoy hers as much). The onion rings were really good and really big. I think the batter is homemade. According to its website and menu, Barrett Junction Café is known for its fried fish dinners. It would be cool if the fish are from nearby Barrett Lake, but that the case — fish is from Alaska. We are definitely interested in going back and trying the fish.
Two final notes: There is a lot on the menu that is fried. If you don’t like fried foods, or the smell of fried foods, probably best to stay away.
I’ll close with the service. I was going to give a bunch of details, but I’ll keep it brief. The wait staff are kind and folksy and got the orders correct. Everything is slow though, from getting seated to the meals arriving. In conclusion, with the pace of service and the type of food, you should probably expect to stay a while. Definitely not a place to get a quick bite and hit the road again.

My usual fare is the fish and chips, 3 pieces of batter dipped cod with fries and coleslaw, always extra tartar sauce. Or the fish sandwich made with batter dipped cod and fries. Both are very delicious and very filling. Leon can tell you many a story about the history surrounding the café and Barrett Junction.

Oh My Goodness!!! Wandered in with a few friends after a day of 4WDing and may I just say it was DELICIOUS!!! Had a half rack, a few Guinness, and good company. I had to roll out of there. Phenomenal food, flavor, and flair. Fun spot to go and lookin’ forward to it next time!

Taken in the context of a backcountry roadhouse café, the four stars is well deserved. They proclaim they make the best onion rings. They are pretty darn good, that’s a fact. You can have the onion rings in place of the fries for a small up charge. The ranch dressing they serve on the side with the rings is also really very good. It is not the sweet stuff that comes from the popular pre-​bottled brand. This dressing has a nice tang.
I had the little bite hamburger, which is a cheeseburger after all. With the onion rings, it was more than I could finish for lunch.
If you want a real hand made onion ring, make the trip out to Barrett Junction.

This place is exactly the sort of roadside rest stop you’d want and/​or expect to run into on a lonely California road. The food was pretty much what you’d expect (fried and greasy), but that’s not the draw. Stop by for the kitschy Americana.

I didn’t actually go in, it was more of rest and stretch your legs before you get back on the motorcycle stopping point. But it looks kinda cute and kitsch-​y. And hey, apparently they sell rattlesnake eggs!