Jefferson's Cafe — Restaurant in Montclair

I was very excited to try this place considering I love Southern food and all the reviews. I don't know if something was off this Sunday or what, but this was definitely one of the worst restaurant experiences I ever had.

I went in to check wait times. I was told 10-15 minutes. The host took down my number and said I'd get a call. We walked in with no call about 20 minutes later. I was told my table was being readied. We sat about 5 minutes after that. However, they had neglected to give us menus, so we asked for them about 10 minutes after that. We decided pretty quickly, but no one came to check on us or to take our orders, even though wait staff did come in and out of the dining area several times. We had not been asked for beverages or given cutlery. The only interactions we've had so far were when we were seated and when we asked for the menus.

About 30-40 minutes after we've been seated, another table who were seated about the same time as us flag down a waiter, place their order, and also point us out, saying they think we're waiting to order. It is at this point that the waiter finally acknowledges us and tells us he'll be right with us. He leaves the room and returns a few minutes later to take our order. We place an order for waters all around and 3 entrees. Then the waiting game begins again. Timing it, it was another 30 minutes or so before we got our order. We did not get our waters until our food gets there, so we've been 60-70 minutes total without water or food.

Now I could somewhat forgive slow service if the food was what every other reviewer says it is. However, it was average at best. I ordered a waffle and bacon. I chomped on my bacon while waiting for syrup, which I had to flag down the waiter for again to get. The bacon tasted great, though could have been crispier. The waffle was good, but not what I expected. It was like a mochi waffle - it had a chewiness to it, no crispiness or fluffiness. Not unpleasant, but not what I expect from a Southern place, so I'm wondering if it had been sitting a while or was undercooked.

My husband originally wanted the waffle and chicken wings, but we were told the chicken wings take a while as they make them fresh, so instead he got the salmon cakes with bacon, home fries, and biscuits. The salmon cakes seemed to be some whitefish instead, the home fries were okay, but the biscuits were odd. They were extremely flat, and vastly different from each other. One looked like it was from a biscuit dough, just not fluffy at all, but the other looked almost like a flattened hamburger bun. They were salty and buttery, but the texture and look overshadowed this.

My children split a breakfast platter with scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries, and biscuits. The scrambled eggs were fine, if under salted.

I hate to waste food, so I asked for a box, which, after 5 minutes, I had to ask for again.

To pay, you go to the counter (like a diner). I waited several minutes as the waitress was having an issue finding the check for the previous customer, but once that was complete, I was rung up fairly quickly.

My husband and I are just left baffled by the experience. For a place with a 4+ star average to be so bad is just astounding. And it's not as if they were short staffed. There were 9 tables and about 5 counter seats total. For this, they had 3 wait staff, 1 host, and 2-3 cooks. For the size of the place, 1-2 wait staff/hosts total should be more than adequate to get every one taken care of. I started to take more notice of who was being taken care of and of when orders were served while I waited longer and longer. I noticed that after my order was served, it took another 30 minutes for the next order to come out. During this whole time, at least 7 out of 9 tables were filled, so it's not like it was a slow day. While I was waiting to pay, I noticed 4-5 empty plates in the pass through from the kitchen. In the 5 minutes or so it took to sort my check, not a single food item got placed on those plates. Breakfast/brunch food should not be this slow.

Overall, I...

I recently went to Jeffersonson's on my day off to treat myself to a usually nice breakfast. But this time I was do disappointed. I've been there several times in the past and it was one of the nicest experiences I've had in a diner. The staff was efficient even though a little stand offish. I still enjoyed the experience due to the great food But, this time it was extremely below average. The food dry and tasted like microwaved left overs. The server was horrible and unattentive. I asked several times for decaffeinated coffee and at first I was told they were out of decaf, eventually she came back and said we are going to put on a fresh pot. It wasn't like they were busy. At first I was the only person there until two other people came. I ate half of my food it was that bad. I chalked it up to the fact that everyone has one bad day. But then as I was leaving and trying to pay my bill someone came in and it was like I turned invisible. As I was saying thank you she turned her back smiled at the other person greeted her and disappeared. I was like ok and just decided some people just aren't nice. As, I was paying the bill that was throw on the counter I just paid in cash left a small tip and quietly left as the money was taken tip thrown under the counter. I said thank you got no response took my aggravation and went to my car and prayed it down. On a side note usually the owner was there on the weekend and the food is better and the staff is a little bit...

UPDATE: (2nd visit) Service improved 100%. Servers were attentive and professional. Menus and drink orders were placed immediately. Food was delivered in a timely manner. Coffee was topped off regularly and water was offered. Food, as usual, was superb! Good job listening to your customers' concerns, Jefferson's Cafe 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾. I'll definitely be back with the family I read the reviews before visiting so I was ready for the extended wait and the sub-par service. However, the reviews about the food were mostly positive so I decided to take a chance. I visited on a Sunday morning at 9am. It took about 20 minutes to get a menu and for the waitress to take our orders. Our food came out a little before 10am. I had catfish, grits, and biscuits. My Husband had corned beef, grits, eggs, and biscuits. The food was delicious, but the service needs a little work. The servers were friendly but I thought they could use some training on customer service and proper etiquette. Some things as making sure the drink orders are in immediately and the customers are provided with the menu upon seating. The table should be clean before seating the customers, etc. On a positive note, I will say that the waitress did make sure that my coffee cup was topped off frequently, which I appreciated. Overall, I would visit again but not on a day or time that they would be busy. It seems Sunday early morning is the perfect sweet spot to enjoy this...