Black Walnut Café

Great place good food what else can you ask for ! I love this place it’s very modern and the workers are very kind.

Great restaurant for that family that cannot agree on a single fare. Food is always delicious. Portions are just right. Atmosphere is casual and contemporary. Would give 5 stars but would like to see more quality control with the silverware. Management needs to get on the dishwashers to ensure silverware is coming out clean every time. I found dirty silverware on my past two visits. Not a deal breaker but just an observation.

Our food was delicious. However the wait time was ridiculous! We waited 35 minutes for our food.

I had breakfast for lunch today. It was delicious. I had the american breakfast. The flavor was great. The meat portion was on the small side but for the price I could have added more bacon without breaking the bank. My coworkers and I try to go weekly and next week will not be any different.

The food is always on point, but they were out of the San Pellegrino, and also the Reisling I ordered, neither of which was noticed until after I paid… Hence the lower rating.
The music didn’t seem to fit the atmosphere, though maybe that’s just a personal opinion. The music felt very retro, more befitting of a less classy establishment. With areas of dinner lighting and then other areas of natural lighting, plus the swanky chick food and bar, one would have expected a snootier selection of music.

This place is kinda confusing if you’ve never been before. It’s a casual counter service restaurant. When you walk in there are menus to the side and you pick it up and go order at the counter.
FOOD: I ordered the all American breakfast I think… it came with two eggs, toast, potatoes and bacon. The eggs were FANTASTIC! I ordered the eggs over medium and they were perfectly cooked! The eggs tasted very fresh and delicious. The toast was kind of hard but it was very good. I was hoping for the potatoes to be fried but they just looked like sad brown mushrooms. The bacon was too crispy, I don’t like mine too crunchy. Overall the breakfast was pretty good but I wish it came with more food. My friend ordered some kind of spaghetti with chicken and It came with A LOT I wish I would’ve ordered it. Her food looked delicious
AMBIENCE: It was very casual, I was actually surprised to see people have paperwork and items out! They have deserts but I didn’t get any. They have free fountain drinks. They also have a bar.
It is a nice place and I will probably be back.

Only three because of the wait and no table. Good food. Prices right. Will come back.

Ok, I think it’s safe to say now that I LOOOOOVE this place! Each time I’ve come, my order is correct, service is awesome & food is absolutely delicious to the max!
I absolutely love their self service coffee which always seems to be freshly brewed each time I stick my cup under there. Some of my fave items are the french toast, turkey croissant club, breakfast burrito & Philly omlette.
Even on weekends when there’s a bit more wait time, it’s still not outrageious or doesn’t ‘seem to be completely out of control. I would definitely take advantage of the Breakfast & afternoon happy hours. They offer great deals on some of their favoriate menu items.

I ordered the Salmon Benedict. It was full of flavor, and the egg was done just right. Now the English muffin was a bit hard and actually required a bit of work to actually cut through. But, that was the only complaint. So, Black Walnut Café, if you can fix that issue with your English muffins, you have quite a near perfect Benedict. Great stuff, and highly recommended establishment.
Be prepared to wait in long lines over the weekend after 10AM.

For starters, most of the reviewers for this restaurant don’t like the crowds and/​or the counter service idea. You know they have good food because this place does fill up so my answer to that is come early or late. You will have a much better experience here and won’t dread the long lines. Also, if you don’t like the counter service idea grab a seat at the bar and you’ll have full service, plus be able to get a good view of the tvs. Every dish that I’ve had here has been really good in my opinion. The pasta dishes and their burgers are my favorite choices. You really can’t go wrong with anything here though. On a side note, they do a really good job with their to-​go orders which you pick up at the coffee bar. This is a really good option if you want to avoid the crowds, and they have to-​go order parking too!
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Food quality: ⁵⁄₅

Wow this place is busy! My review is based on the set up of the restaurant mainly. Food was really good.
I don’t know about everyone else but if I am going to spend money at a restaurant I want to be served. This place is a great concept in theory but not very practical for people trying to enjoy a leisurely meal. You order at a counter and then wait for a pager to go off to pick up your food. Everything is self serve and not very orderly.
I will definitely be back but maybe for take out.

I’m so addicted to this place, I’m shocked the staff doesn’t know me by name. The service is beyond excellent. They make sure that everything is taken care before you sit down. The location is prime spot for quiet dinning. The menu is amazing… can’t go wrong with anything. My favorite is the darn good burger and French toast.
Worth a try!

Wonderful restaurant. Nicely decorated. Clean. Excellent salads. Not a big fan of ordering at counter and then sitting but well organized. I will go back.

My first time here was on a Thursday morning and the place was pretty empty but that was fine with me, since i didn’t have to wait to order. The cashier was really nice and friendly and even recommended things i should try. I ended up ordering the chicken strips and waffles which was pretty good! My friend ordered lobster Benedict and she enjoyed it, we both ordered mimosa which were only $ 4 and they were good as well, the only thing i didn’t like was the bartender never acknowledged me when i went to pick up my drink. Overall I’ll most likely go back.

Took away 2 stars because, burned bacon. Asked for some «non-​burned bacon», and received more… burned bacon. Tried to eat it, but it was inedible. I’m talking literally black, charred bacon. Twice. Plus, it had some super ridiculous spicy stuff on it… maybe it’s supposed to be blackened bacon? No idea. Just wanted… regular, nice-​crispy bacon.
Also, the coffee is just not good. I tried both types, and it’s only ok. One was too bitter, the other was just not good. I can always tell when the coffee is bad by how much extra cream I have to add to it. Today, I probably drank more cream than coffee.
For a place to serve breakfast, I want great coffee. And bacon.

Meh. Decent food. Decent service. Decent beverage selection. Not a bad choice by any means, but for the price you can do better.

The black walnut is a unique experience, with spacious and comfortable seating areas including outdoor patio tables. The food was very good with decent portion sizes. Bar service was timely and good quality. What makes black walnut unique is that it is like a high end cafeteria — where you order your food upon arrival and then pick it up when it’s done. Considering the self service, which also means having to go back and for from the bar, the prices are too high. If the portion sizes (drinks as well) were larger or food extraordinary I could agree with the pricing. Considering all of the other options in nearby vintage park, I don’t see a compelling reason to go back.

Nice place for brunch. Pricing is mediocre, the only thing is that this place does not have maple syrup, or at least I don’t know of. It’d been 5 stars if there was maple syrup. Also, chicken and waffles dish is an a plus

Docs crazy turkey burger is delicious! Looking forward to coming back to try the smoked salmon Benedict breakfast. Beautiful restaurant and patio!

Haven’t ever gotten something from here that I didn’t like. However, I will say that you can order the same thing every time you go but the quality will differ each time. But even on the «bad» days it’s still pretty darn good!

Second time here and it has yet to let me down. Decided to sit at the bar. Huge comfy stools, I could be 600 lbs and my toosh may prob still fit on their stools.
Ordered salmon eggs Benedict w avocado. I thought it would be like a bagel w salmon lox but the salmon was cooked! So I tried to mentally prepare my brain for a firm hard or dry salmon but actually turned out to be moist and soft so I was happily surprised and content w my choice.
Friend ordered like a Spanish style omelet. It’s okay but I liked their style of hash browns more. But this is coming Frm a girl who likes Denny’s and I hop type hash brown a too. So I was glad the second plate had more hash browns.
My only bummer was the fresh grapefruit juice. Since we were sitting at the bar we can see the juice machines. To my disappointment my «fresh» juice came from a Tupperware container. I would understand more if it was busy but we were practically the only ones at the bar except one other person and the two juice machines they had were not in use as well.

The parking lot was packed when we arrived, which is always a good sign. It means the food must be good. Luckily we found an open spot in the back. Our friend had to parallel park since there was nowhere else left.
The first thing we thought when we walked in: wow this place looks fancy. It’s very spacious inside with wooden décor. It feels like a full service place, but here you order up front and have to come back to the front to pick up your food.
It felt kind of stuffy indoors. Maybe the AC wasn’t on? I don’t know. Houston winters are unpredictable. It was around 75 F in December when we went. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
There have a few vegetarian options. Nothing too exciting. You can get a salad, black bean burger, vegetarian pasta, and grilled cheese. The menu doesn’t have the vegetarian items clearly labeled.
Black bean burger — ⁴⁄₅
Like many veggie burgers, the patty fell apart as I ate it. However, the patty wasn’t as thick as many other veggie burger patties, which I liked. The patty was also good enough to eat on its own. I ate the part that fell out of my sandwich with the hummus that comes with the burger. The burger also comes with a salad with your choice of dressing. Maybe it was just because I was starving that day, but the burger wasn’t as filling as I thought it would be.
Vegetarian pasta — ⁴⁄₅
Pretty good. Nothing too exciting.
Garlic bread — ³⁄₅
The pasta comes with some garlic bread. Too oily. You bite into the bread and oil squirts out into your mouth.
Service — ³⁄₅
You are given a buzzer to come up to get your food once it is ready. One of our buzzers wasn’t working. So, my friend’s meal was sitting out for a while when she finally got up to ask about her food. They said they would remake the meal. It took about 10 extra minutes for the meal to be remade, and she got up again to ask about her food.

After deciding to give BW another try — I’m delighted to say that my experience faired better than the first… My meal tasted fresh, was piping hot, and the staff was super nice this go ’round…
I went to two different locations (by chance, while I was on another side of town) and I have to say — Cinco Ranch was far better than my closest (The Vintage). I took a visiting family member with me this time, since they do have a decent selection of vegetarian entrees (I’m far from even remotely knowledgeable in that area — I eat meat!), and I figured it was a decent choice anyway… Let me just say — she was non-​verbal most of the meal! Too busy stuffing her face with the Black bean burger that she didn’t talk much. Lol!
All things considered, I think I’ll be open to dining here going forward… ;-)

I LOVED this place first few times. However, this past experience will NOT have me back. The girl at register totally messed up my order and made it super awkward to be vegetarian — she kept trying to add TUNA to my salad as a sub for shrimp! Tuna is not vegetarian. Ugh. So awkward. Had to tell her to get he manager, but he’s very typical diet guy too and knows nothing about vegan or gluten free options. This place APPEARS to be healthy and is next to Whole Foods, don’t you know you’ll be getting some vegans and vegetarians here?!

This was my first time eating here. My fiancé and I chose to eat at the bar. Our bartender was very kind, bummer I can’t remember her name. She had short hair though. She took our orders and brought us our plates as well. Her customer service was awesome.
I built my own omelette, it was delicious ! I gave it 4 stars because my fiancé’s omelette was a little gooey in the middle. Other than that, I definitely recommend this restaurant! The orange juice was freshly squeezed, I literally saw them slicing up the oranges!
Bottom line, great customer service and the omelettes are awesome! We will be back.

Overall, I think this place is a hit and miss. I thought I would love the bacon grilled cheese, but I did not. But, that is because I do not like over toasted bread… hurts my mouth. However, my friends breakfast quesadia was awesome. I also enjoy the sugar free, caffeine free soda in the dispenser. Not many places how this.

Very cozy place to relax and get a decent lunch, breakfast, or brunch. I really love that they have armchairs and sofas for you to sit and eat. Ordering is pressureless since you do it at the main counter and get a buzzer. The food is pretty good, but maybe just a bit expensive.
Fish Tacos ($ 11.50) — probably some of the best fish tacos I’ve had. You get two tacos and the decision to have the mahi-​mahi fried or grilled. I got one fried and one grilled. Both were excellent with great flavor and texture, and were double-​backed by two unexpectedly-​good corn tortillas. The lettuce, cilantro, lime, and pico de gallo rounded out the fish taco well and didn’t make it overly soggy. Pricey for two tacos (even with a salad), but well worth the premium. ⁵⁄₅
Lobster Tacos ($ 15.50) — almost exactly like the fish tacos, but with grilled lobster. Unfortunately, I thought the lobster meat was bland and the tacos too soggy. Not worth the $ 16 at all. ²⁄₅
Eggs Benedict ($ 8.50) — only available before 11 AM or before 4 PM on weekends. Torn on this… the presentation was fantastic but the food didn’t quite match up. One egg was cooked perfect with a nice runny yolk, but the other was overcooked with a nearly solid yolk. The hollandaise, canadian bacon, and English muffin were just average. And the roasted potatoes were dry and tasteless, pretty much an afterthought. Overall not bad really, but it didn’t live up to expectations from the high-​ish price. ³⁄₅
Doc’s Krazy Turkey Burger ($ 10.25) — I don’t eat turkey burgers much but this might be the best I’ve had. Really soft, juicy turkey that almost melts in your mouth. And the 3 substantial slices of avocado make it even better. The sweet potato fries on the side were alright, just a bit plain. ⁴⁄₅

Overall decent food. I would describe it as a very nice cafeteria.
In school each station sells something different. Entrees, snacks, and drinks. They all run independently or semi independently from each other. Food is made of masses so it’s quick and uninspired.
Here you order your food at the main counter, then you have an option of buying drinks or coffee there or at the bar (alcoholic or coffee). They give you a number and you wait for your food. Now if you order a drink you have to wait at the bar to order or get your drink you ordered at the front (no one told us this). We were quite annoyed as our food had already come out.
Once we got our food it was no longer warm. We ordered the:
Chicken and Waffles. 2 of 5. Rosemary coated chicken tenders. Somewhat over cooked. Not juicy. Uninspired. Please don’t serve tenders if you can’t compete with Raising Canes. The waffle was acceptable, nothing special. Warm, and soft on the inside.
Creamy Tomato Basil. 2 of 5. Tasted like Sysco cafeteria food. Add 1 part Costco Basil Pesto to 1 part tomato soup. Voilà .
Caramel Latte 4 of 5. Very flavorful and delicious. Froth was kind of flat. Somewhat rushed.

I’m so happy that we have this location so close to home! We love to come here for brunch and sit on the patio. You will not be disappointed with the food or service here. Saturday and Sunday’s are busy but food is ready quick! They also have a nice selection of wine and freshly squeezed mimosas to pair with your meal.

What a great visit last night! We have came back several times since my last review! I thought I’ll write a review for the dish we had! My husband had their turkey burger– Absolutely delicious! You cannot taste that it’s «turkey» burger! It taste rather sweet.
I tried their Black walnut Chicken salad– definitely better this time! I replaced their dressing that it came with something cleaner with olive oil, lemon, and pepper. Taste delicious, still! We topped off dinner with gelato! Always so good here! We enjoy coming here and sitting outside when it’s not sooo humid! Everytime this place gets crowded!!! We came for dinner at 6pm.

In terms of an efficient café experience, it certainly fits the bill. There’s no waiter service, per se, instead you order at the counter and take a coaster with you that will vibrate when your order is up. So, it’s a little self-​serve in that regard, but the upshot is that the turn-​around on table seems to be pretty fast and you’ll seldom have to wait for a place to sit.
Food was fine. Nothing to write home about, but not bad either. Honestly, my chicken cordon bleu Benedict and its’ holodaise sauce looked the best out of all my companions’ dishes.
They do serve Bloody Marys, but only after 10AM on Sunday. There’s also wine and beer available.

I came to this location for the very first time for Brunch during Easter weekend and my expectations were met.
Location: I personally do not like vintage park but this is a great location for locals and it’s near wooded areas and some descent scenery. The restaurant itself is spacious and has both indoor seating as well as patio, and there is a bar inside as well!
Service: Their system was strange at first but it made sense later I guess. The girl who took our order was helpful and kind towards us and we appreciated it a whole lot. The food is somewhat worth what you pay for.
Food: My boyfriend got the grilled chicken croissant and I got the grilled cheese and tomato soup combo. I’m not sure if we were starving or if the food had truly hit the spot in both our stomachs AND hearts. The chicken was grilled too perfection and the croissant balances out all the ingredients. My grilled cheese was gooey, just how I love it. The soup is more of a broth form and it is a teensy bit spicy but it helps «wash out» some of the cheesiness from the sandwich. We got a cookie and chocolate cream pie for dessert. WARNING: pie slices are huge and although we saw it with desire from behind the glass window, we were too full to fully devour it all. Also, it’s too sweet so don’t expect the «cream» in cream pie to fool you. All chocolate chip cookies are great and this one also made the cut.
I would love to come back again and try different things off their menu!
*** Their music selection is gold, just letting you know.

I came here for a lunch with a friend. When I walked in there I liked they had instruction on how to order. There’s a pile of menu on the table. Pick your food, walk to the cashier order and pay, get a buzzer, get your drink, and sit down wait for your food. Atmosphere is really nice and casual. Tea is really bitter. It probably seeped too long or its the bottom. I ordered a Anderson ’bout time chicken burger on wheat bread. Chicken is little dry. But I love the fresh ingredients: tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, and avocados. The wheat bread is toasted it gives a nice crunch. And side of fries.

Don’t know if you want breakfast, lunch or brunch? Maybe you just want a drink or two?
No problem… Hit up Black Walnut!
Effin yum! That’s all that comes to mind when I try to think of a way to explain BW. The atmosphere is casual but nice at the same time. The service is excellent for not having a waitstaff. I have not been disappointed in a dish yet.
BW please add an unlimited Minosa brunch to your menu and you can officially be bae. ;)

A nice café feel with an expansive menu and great ambience.
I went for the custom omelet with peppered bacon, turkey sausage, cheddar, swiss, potatoes and a english muffin. In addition, a freshly squeezed orange juice and an ice water.
I’m not sure why the reviews are up and down… Maybe the service is spotty sometimes because of the overall setup?