JJ's Cafe — Restaurant in Columbia

Update 9/10/2023 On the plus side, the food was much better this visit and the staff are warm and friendly. However, this place could learn a lot from the other places in town when it comes to seating people. Something to be aware of is that they have two entrances, which adds to the confusion for the hosts. We arrived later than planned due to the demolition of a bridge on our route that someone at MoDot thought would be a great idea on the Sunday morning of Parent's Weekend at Mizzou. This delayed us about 45 minutes in picking up our son for breakfast. Still, we had plenty of time, or so we thought. We called ahead and asked what the wait was and were told "30 minutes." This was pretty much the same as anywhere else in Columbia on the Sunday of Parent's Weekend at Mizzou. We got to the restaurant and put our name on the list. 40 minutes later, I noticed they were seating people who'd signed in well after us. Someone had come up to help the host seat, but wasn't using the waiting list, just pulling people and seating people at random. Meanwhile, the wait list got flipped over and the last names on the original side got missed (three guesses where our name was ... and this happened last time as well, but was caught sooner) So, we called attention to the issue and with profuse apologies we're seated within the next 5 minutes. Our server was lovely and took our order right away. We let her know with our apologies that due to the mess up we had about half an hour before we needed to leave. She did her best, but the kitchen was backed up. It was about 40 minutes more before we got our food. Then we had to deal with the understandable line for the cash register. Having worked in food service, I know things happen, and do understand. However, now we are rushing to the airport and may miss our flight as a result of the delays. Of course, the bridge demolition is not the restaraunt's fault. The disorganization at the restaurant is. My suggestion is that they designate one side as an entry and the other as an exit. Don't bother with a wait list (or pay closer attention to it). Just line people up and take them in order like they do at Ernie's. There's the occasional larger party to accommodate of course, but it goes quickly and smoothly there and it is a much smaller place than JJ's. I would love to give them another chance, as the staff was, as I said, lovely and the food so much better this time. However, if we have less than 2 1/2 hours before we need to head to the airport, we'll go elsewhere.

They did a great job getting people in and seated despite the university family weekend crowds. Service was great. The food itself...

Contrary to the positive reviews, my experience at JJ’s cafe hinged toward dreadful. We were seated quickly, brought our drinks and then sat for 20 minutes waiting to order our meal. I had to track down our waitress to tell her we hadn’t ordered yet. Eventually, my wife ordered a hot open faced turkey sandwich, mashed potatoes with gravy and beets. I ordered meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and side salad … basic, safe orders … not so! My wife’s open faced turkey was turkey lunchmeat, fried and covered with a disgusting white pepper gravy, not turkey gravy. We only assume the mashed potatoes were hiding somewhere underneath, but after a taste of the gravy, she told the waitress to take the plate. My meatloaf dinner was large crumbles of something that resembled dog food, covered with a sweet barbecue sauce to give it flavor, mashed potatoes covered with a dark brown briny gravy and corn that was brown from being reheated, way too many times. My son is a Chef and he would be appalled to have plates like that come out of...

I enjoy this place. Friendly staff. Good food. Good prices. The coffee is not the best however. The coffee is the only dissappointment i have when going there. WARNING! You may have to wait to be seated on busy days! Just be sure that you sign in at the checkout desk when you arrive! They often have small bags of sweets available at checkout. There is usually a variety and they are good. In addition, they will frequently have potted flowers for sale and seasonal fruits and vegetables for sale at checkout. I have purchased all of these in the past. Bought 3 potted plants this Spring. All are thriving well. The prices are great and the items purchased were tasty. One bad drawback is when you checkout. The one older woman, who usually manages the cash register, is quite slow and very easily distracted. Cashout can be lengthy and tedious. This process can often leave a customer with a bad taste in their mouth after a great meal. She is a very sweet person but...