Java Jive — Restaurant in Atlanta

Best biscuit and breakfast potatoes in Atlanta! Plus the fun retro diner vibe.

First of all, the coffee here is great. My boyfriend is a coffee snob, and he had three cups. I had a delicious latte, which came in an adorable glass.

He ordered the ginger bread waffle, which comes with a lemon curd, and a side of potatoes and bacon. We both love lemon, but he liked the waffles so much that he scarfed them up while barely touching the curd.

I ordered a ham and cheese omelet with potatoes and a side of bacon. The omelet was very good, and not too cheesy. The bacon was a little too thin and crispy for me, but it was still good. I would rather my bacon be crispy than chewy. The best part of the meal was the biscuit and the potatoes. Hands down the best biscuit and breakfast potatoes in Atlanta! The biscuit was so fluffy and perfect. The potatoes were cooked and seasoned perfectly. I literally ate everything on my plate, and it was a lot of food.

As mentioned, Java Jive has a fun retro theme. It features vintage dining room table sets, as well as a stage area with other kitchen appliances all circa the 1950s. Basically imagine that you're having breakfast at your grandmother's house, or in my case at my old dining room table that we had when I was a child. Albeit not very comfortable, it is such a cool atmosphere.

My only complaint is that the menu selections is basically waffles and pancakes, then scrambled eggs and omelets. I'm not a big fan of sweet items for breakfast, and I think scrambled eggs and omelets are the most boring eggs on earth. My boyfriend also said that they order from here for work all of the time, and they usually get them to make some combination of a breakfast biscuit, which is not on the menu. So, I'm sure if I had requested they could have made me a fried or poached egg. Also, I think it's important to mention that a limited menu ensures that the few things they make are going to be made very well, which I...

After driving by this spot for years, we decided to stop by for breakfast but unfortunately, we won’t be back.

Food: It was fine, nothing to write home about. Portions are a bit smaller compared to other breakfast places with similar price points. That doesn’t bother me personally, I don’t mind paying for good food. The Garden Scramble was a bit bland and I had to add salt to my grits. The ingredients were clearly fresh though, so I do appreciate that:

The reason why we won’t go back: The atmosphere. Please please please be aware that this is a CASH ONLY establishment. We didn’t realize this when we first came in and it was not mentioned when we asked to be put on the wait list. It didn’t click until I noticed that everyone was paying with cash. I did a quick search and realized that it was in fact Cash Only. In our panic, we didn’t failed to look around and notice the ATM in the back hallway, so my partner ran to the Publix down the street to get some cash. He was gone no more than 10 minutes. He came back in about 4 minutes after I was sat down, at which point the waitress felt the need to whisper-hiss lecture us about how we were not supposed to sit down if the whole party wasn’t there. Which, I completely understand, and I would not have had a problem if I was told that BEFORE I was given a table. But what is the point of pointing out a policy that we weren’t aware of after the fact? The place wasn’t even that busy, there were plenty of tables and no other customers waiting. It made the whole atmosphere every awkward for us. It turned us off from truly exploring the menu. We ordered our egg dishes, our water, paid and left.

Their cash only and seating policy is not an issue. We’ve eaten at plenty of Atlanta restaurants with similar policies. It’s the lack of communication of these policies to newcomers that’s the problem. It very much felt like if you’re not a regular, you’re...

Just not that great at all. They seem to rely on their trendy atmosphere filled with old furniture, signs, and stoves rather than on quality of food.

What I Had: Turkey Scrambled egg special with home fries, and wheat toast.

Why it was bad:

The food was just bland. It has seasoning on it - but the eggs and "home fries" that I am used to have other things in them to make them flavorful - like onions or garlic - these basically had no flavor.

The turkey in my scrambled eggs was lunch meat turkey - it just was. I was pretty shocked by this. Maybe that's normal idk.

The home fries were quartered potatoes that seemed to have been boiled, then fried to finish them off. These were def not home fries. Very small serving.

Wheat toast - junky kroger style wheat toast with junky jelly packets. If I wanted this I would go to Waffle House - witch I actually like quite a bit, but a lot cheaper.

Not good for the money. I could understand if Waffle House put lunch meat in my scrambled eggs, but I paid around $11 for a tiny plate of this stuff - no value for the money.

What was good:

Services was pretty good. The food came out fast - maybe too fast. Take some time cooking good quality food - I don't mind.

Coffee was pretty good too.

What I am Comparing it too:

I live in East Point and go to Thumbs Up-Diner for breakfast when I want to go out. We were in midtown and had always wanted to go to Java Jive because the building looked cool and we wanted to try something new. Plus, thumbs up had a line out the door - really their only drawback.

At Thumbs Up I would have gotten: Real turkey in my eggs, tons of fresh veggies, multigrain bread - biscuits made in house, jelly made in house fresh on the table - not in a packet. Home fries and skillet potatoes - full of flavor - absolutely no comparison.

Your probably thinking, this guy works for...