Tom Hams Lighthouse

A couple months ago, I was drawn into an argument about where the best breakfast (brunch) buffets are. I was a staunch supporter of the Vegas experience. To me, it's hard to do it better than the Wynn. But the closest competition is around the Las Vegas area - specifically the Vegas strip.

So the other side of the argument was - believe it or not - a local place called Tom Ham's Lighthouse. I resisted as long as I could but eventually made my way down to Tom Ham's.

I can see why they advise reservations. When we (threesome) showed, we had to wait for real estate along the bar. Well our barkeeper - let's call her Karla - was happy to ooblige. She basically addresses a group of dilly dalllying morning customers and ushered them along. We got our space, and made no less than 3 trips to the various food stations. It was literally incredible.

Everything was done very well. The omelette bar was stocked with variety. Everything from lobsterr to ham, to every kind of cheese you can imagine. And super friendly and efficient staff as well. There was a meat cutting station, and oysters on the half shell. There were all te normal breakfast favorites that you could expect. And there was a dessert window too!

I don't think there's another option in San Diego for Sunday brunch. And they don't just open up the limited dining area to hundreds of people. They keep it to a manageable size - so there's no loss of quality. For $30 I couldn't suggest anything better for breakfast in buffet style dining.

And if you're luucky enough to get sassy Karla as your bartender - then all the better. She was awesome, and so fast. The bottomless mimosa's were very wwell attended to. If you wwant more, read @jeph's review. His generous tipping probably secured VIP status for us the next time we get over there! But the experience was well worth it.

Highly recommended.

OK, brunch buffets aren't usually my thing, but after a zealous recommendation from a restaurant industry pro, my friend and I made a trip down to check it out. We knew reservations were advised, but we figured we'd try to crash. The manager at the front desk was super friendly in denying us a table, and offered us the ability to sit at the bar if we could find a spot. After a few minutes of waiting, the sassy-friendly bartender saw us waiting and moved some folks around to get us 3 stools. She was crazy but super fun.

Anyway, onto the food. The buffet will run you 30 beans, but it's worth every penny. The Mimosas are bottomless which was an unexpected treat. The buffet selection is nothing short of huge. They've got tons of great seafood, from Alaskan crab legs, oysters on the half, lobster claws, et al. On the other side of the room, there's a carving station and salad bar. A few feet over is an omelet station with tons of fixins. I personally had a lobster omelet which was great. There's also a station with traditional breakfast fare including French toast, eggs Benedict, and a host of the usual breakfast meats. All willpower was useless on this day as I went up for 3 separate plates.

I just can't say enough about the quality of the food. My favs were the aforementioned lobster omelet, the BBQ brisket from the carving station and the French toast. I felt bad only paying the $30, and would gladly have thrown in $10 more.

Obviously, I recommend trying the brunch at Tom Hams. If you want the stellar view, you'll want to make a reservation, but if you want some high-character service...check out the bar. The only thing I didn't love was the bloody Mary (San Diego has some great BMs, but this just wasn't one of them).

If you try it out, you can thank me for the reco ;)