Jim's Cafe — Restaurant in Greenville

My Mom has lived in Greenville nearly all her life and had never been to this Cafe. My sister and I read the great reviews on Google and without hesitation decided to come, my Mom too. My Mom told us that when she was growing up, this restaurant used to not serve African Americans so she's never considered coming here. When we walked in, we were greeted by the waitress who was serving someone else's food and the hostess. We also received warm smiles from the other customers there who seemed liked staples of the cafe. I got an instant "hey y'all, make yourself at home" feeling when we walked in.

The employees knew the customers by name and vice versa. As the customers left, their farewell greeting was "see you next week by the grace of God".

We received prompt and friendly service. And the food!!! Aside from my own family cooking, IT WAS THE BEST BREAKFAST I've ever had at a cafe or restaurant! The pancakes were devine as I drenched them in melted butter and warm syrup. The bacon was perfect! Here's why everyone loves the hash browns. Because they're REAL! Real potatoes shaved into a hash and then fried. Not that powdered potato batter mess... Just everything was delicious. Oh! And the grits! Delicious! Delicious! Delicious! Everything!

At the end of our experience, my Mom processed that she had some feelings while being in there, but very glad she went! And is looking forward to returning again! It felt like some healing and some reconcilation. Next time I'm in town,...

The sign in the door reads "No masks allowed, no hoodies allowed". And not a single person was wearing one. 6/22/21

Ok, the only reason I'm here, only reason I've even heard of the restaurant or the town, was Alton Brown's second "Feasting on Asphalt" special from the "Good Eats" days. He had pancakes w/beef tips because they didn't have chicken & waffles. I'd have been happy with either. Neither is available.

The lady who seated us seemed to want to be anywhere else doing anything else. Fortunately, the other lady took our order and had a perceptible sense of humor and tolerance of humans. Menu is straightforward, we went with a club sandwich & biscuits & gravy, sweet tea & a lemonade. Can't get much more Southern. (One menu item was a "clump of tuna". Avoided that.) The biscuits were a bit over-toasted but the sausage gravy was good as was the sandwich & fries. The bathrooms are....something else. No locks, no handles, look like they're 40 yrs old. Clean-ish, better than many a convenience store but in need of some serious work. Was 4 stars...

Do yourself a favor and make it a point to stop in here to eat if you are ever passing through Leland.

Jim's Cafe has been in business at this location since 1909. The family that owns and operates this business is the fourth generation. This family has owned this business for over 90 years!

The food is pure Southern home cooking at its best. The Southern hospitality is as good as it gets.

We arrived today at 12:30. It was packed with locals. All eyes were on us as we entered because they were trying to figure out who the strangers were. By 1:30, it was pretty cleared out.

They have daily specials, and we overheard the server telling some late comers about some side dishes that they were out of already.

It was Wednesday, and we both ordered the daily special. You are given a choice of two meats and three side dishes. I got the chicken and dressing. My wife got the beef tips over Rice. We both thought we ordered the best dish. The sweet potato casserole was to die for good. It was right on par with the Cherry Cheese Pie.

So glad we made...