Johnny G's Cafe — Restaurant in Toronto

Feb/2022:. Why? Went for breakfast and I was immediately hit with the strong odour of burning incense.

November 2021: New owners as of the first...again. I believe this makes it three in as many years. Plans to get a liquor licence are in the works along with being open later in the evening. As a Diner...if they stay this course...I would hope they bring back mashed potatoes (as in mashed potatoes with the hamburger & liver dinners.) Or as an option to French fries or roasted. Chopped steak & eggs along with steak & eggs would also be a welcome addition. Last time I ordered steak & eggs I was offered a steak sandwich with no clue as to what I was talking about. Along with loud Jazz music in the morning and thoughts of bringing various non Diner food options, it was obvious the owners of the day...as nice as they were...knew not their customer base. Plus having a co-owner in the kitchen who openly admitted he doesn't know how to cook didn't help the quality of what was sold. Bad business decisions were made in multitudes.

Best of luck this time around...as a regular customer, I mean that.

PS: Don't adjust your eyes, you're not looking at a mosaic or wall tiles (picture below.) The floor has been thoroughly washed. In 15+ years of coming to this Diner I've never seen them so clean or realized how nice the tiles actually are. It's the little things that make the meal all that much more enjoyable.

Aug/2021. Stopped by for a bit of a late lunch as the crowd had left and...Beware of the Karen...picture & vid below. Complains about everything, everyone so rude and states she'll never come back and will tell all her friends to do the same. If her "friends" are like her I am eternally grateful they'll be going elsewhere. Meanwhile occupying a table for three hours (which means she was there during the crunch...poor people) milking a glass of water, plugged laptop on the go and yelling on her phone like a Karen does, treating the place like her own personal domain. Queen Karen of Parliament perhaps? Certainly up for the honour. All the while spreading her domain (bags) to a nearby table instead of using any of the other three chairs at her table. Threatened to call the Police on me for recording her. I said please do, would love to get your personal info to lay a charge of causing a disturbance. Me thinks someone forgot to take their meds today 🤣

Update: Oct/2018. You want ham with your breakfast? Not a problem here. And it's not the paper thin stuff served down the street either. Thick and tasty.

Update: May 8/18. The owners have taken back their business and if the meal and amazing service I had today is an indication of things to come they have little to worry about.

Bad management, tasteless food and fluctuating opening hours are all gone. It would often not be open by 10AM leaving regulars waiting outside to wonder what was going on.

Johnny G's is BAAAAAACK! Have come here for all sorts of meals over several years but of late and aside from the friendly service, I have to wonder what is going on in the kitchen.

Good view to the outside world from the large windows overlooking Parliament Street.

Aug/2017: Grand Slam breakfast for $11.25 is a tad much in price. You can pretty much get the same thing one block down for $5.95. The service was friendly and expedient. Smile included. Someone needs to seriously address both food pricing and flavours.

Sept/2016: $13.95 for steak & eggs. Fair price for a fair meal. Real potatoes, good coffee & eggs done just right. Unfortunately I was served a steak that had no flavour, meaning seasoning. You know you've got problems when you need to use anything and everything within reach, including strawberry jam on your toast to help things along.

Note: The cook seemed bored out of his mind.

Oct/2016: Hash & Eggs with a different cook but I have to say the meal was as bland as the steak. A scoop of fried onions thrown in the mix would have made a difference. So would have cooking it in a frying pan instead of heating it in...

I’d give this place zero stars if I could.

I just contacted them asking if they could share their email address so that I can send my comments below about my order from today, and the person who answered my call said something incoherent about the website and hung up on me while I was asking for clarification.

First of all, I called because there’s no email address on their website.

Second, I ordered my food through their app, which wasn’t updating, though I received an email update which said my food would be ready in approximately 1 hr (I ordered 10:30-ish and pick up time was 11:20-ish), for an omelette and sausages. An hour wait time for a 3-egg omelette and sausages is pretty ridiculous. Especially when I come in, and it’s not busy with customers or take out orders lined up. It was literally just me and one person sitting in.

Third, the food was practically inedible. Their “home fries” were bland and undercooked, the sausages tasted as though they were fried in old oil and they used processed swiss cheese in the omelette and overall had the texture of rubber. And nothing was hot (ie, it must have been sitting there for a while, even though I arrived on time for my pick-up).

I’m very disappointed in what I received and my overall experience with this place.

I would not have left these comments here had I received a proper email address as I don’t like to leave negative reviews on small businesses, but being hung up on mid-sentence when all I was asking for was an email address was completely uncalled for and I wouldn’t want other customers to experience that.

UPDATE: The manager called me back after digging into this issue and provided me with a refund. He was very apologetic for the miscommunication, which I’m grateful for and look forward to trying their...

Johnny G's has been around along time ,and had several different owners. It's newest owner ,has put in a great effort to fix it up from its former self. New bathrooms,bench seating,lighting ,and paint. Breakfast is OK, but can be pricey for what you get. I know rent isn't cheap in cabbagetown. Breakfast is it's main source of income. It's newest owner ,is from Nepal, and has implemented a dinner menu that's from Nepal,and India. The dinner crowd is not really happening and has massive competition, from House on parliament which is a more upscale venue. We have a few other restaurant's and pubs that are competion as well. So my thoughts are he is trying to compete with places ,that are giving more atmosphere ,and better pricing for what I receive. Bowl of lentils,rice and lamb is 42 dollars approx,with tip,added to that. The prices for lentils, rice and side dishes I believe should be alot cheaper . It's not worth it in comparison to other places. I believe it would be better served by trying to be honest with themselves ,and getting more clients and serve more customers. What's the point of having an empty diner,and expensive food that can be found cheaper elsewhere,that's just as good. So not overpricing, to get people in and have a full diner that is busy would be better served ,than expensive ,empty diner. This would also help min wage staff make money ,create a busy happy environment. Fancy signs,and menues ,web sites don't compete with great pricing and good food. These are just my thoughts from eating their for past 2.5 years. I also miss the cheerful girls that worked there that have been let go. Volume creates atmosphere, which makes money for business,and staff. empty makes no money,makes sad atmosphere...