Joe's Cafe — Restaurant in Orem

I understand that people want to support small local businesses (as do I!), however, I believe honest reviews would benefit more than fake good reviews, so here is my honest opinion based off of my experience here. I wish there had been more honest reviews to look at before we chose to give this place a try (+ give our money).

We were really looking forward to trying this place, but it just didn’t live up to the hype. Right from the start, things felt off. It's a little hard to explain, but to put it simply, the staff seemed as if they didnt want us there. We got served water that tasted super chemical-y, and no one even asked if we wanted anything else to drink. We ordered and received our food (didn't even receive the correct orders, i should mention), and still, nobody asked us if we'd like anything else to drink. We had to wave someone down mid-meal and ask if we could get something else to drink. The waitress seemed caught off-guard by this, and almost walked off when we asked. She hardly spoke to us. It was really strange.

The food didn’t really help either. The grits tasted more like instant cream of wheat than anything homemade. For a small local spot, I was expecting something with a little more soul — both in the food and the service. The sourdough was not sourdough, it was just white bread. I'm not typically picky with food, but you could easily tell all the ingredients were very cheap pre-packaged food (for example, kraft or great value cheese slices on our omelets, you know the kind that doesnt really melt, and thats just one example). Not what you'd expect from a locally-owned restaurant. We didn’t finish our meals, and after paying, no one offered to-go boxes or anything. We waited around for a while hoping someone would come to the table to check on us and ask if we'd like boxes, but nobody did. We decided to just get up and ask, and we were directed to just grab them ourselves. The service was just so off-putting, really. I haven't ever experienced service like that. Just really weird.

If you're looking for a breakfast, brunch, or lunch spot, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. I wish I would have had the opportunity to read an honest review like this before bringing my friends who were visiting from out of town here. Maybe this review will help someone...

Joe's cafe is a great local greasy spoon. The breakfast food is constantly good and I dream about the buttery silver dollar pancakes every time I am counting calories. Some things to know before you go: 1.This place is not good for large groups. The restaurant is small, and narrow and the largest table is a 4 top. You can make it work but if you go on a Saturday morning, you could be waiting for a long time. This place is not very kid friendly. This is coming from a mom who isin denial about it, and keeps trying to bring her kids hoping that "this time will be different." Joe himself is sweet and will give kids free juice, and give you a hard sell on value of his grits for babies. The grits however are MOLTEN LAVA HOT and if there was an ingredient list of their contents the first ingredient would be listed as sugar, second butter, third grits. So actually not that great for kids. Additionally, Joe always have the music on VERY loud, which is not great for little kids. Cheap tippers beware. Joe is at the register. You go to the counter and he takes your order, and once your meal is done, you return to the counter and pay him. If you are dissatisfied at all with your order or experience, OR you follow the old held belief that you don't tip the proprietor he will tell you about it. He will say something, sometimes loudly, so be prepared to tip at least 20% if you don't want to get an ear full. Portions are HUGE. You will always leave with leftovers, so consider sharing with someone when you order. All of his pancakes come as silver dollars. The menu doesn't indicate this at all. A short stack is all any 2 people could ever eat. You get a MOUNTAIN of pancakes. Beautiful, buttery, delicious pancakes.

Finally, I love this place. I have to mentally prepare myself every time I enter, but I keep going back because it really itches such a scratch for good diner food. The huge breakfast meats, the fact that everything is soaked in butter, the delicious burgers and the loud and welcoming proprietor are all reasons to go back again and again. Also, did I mention...

Joe is a character and has a strong personality. My partner and I walked in and was greeted by Joe himself. “COME ON IN AND SIT DOWN BABY!” And “What can I get you papa” lol HOWEVER

I am annoyed we came to this place because we saw the reviews were so high. (Visited out of town) Only to come the realization that they are fake(it appears Joe wrote the fake 5 stars) and the food wasn’t that great.

He’s a funny dude and it’s hard to dislike his restaurant. Because you can clearly tell he is passionate and friendly. But the food is really not great. Which was a let down.

We were having a great time seeing Joe interact with his customers. His picture all over the wall having a good time in there. It was quickly squashed when the food arrived.

Greasy food, American cheese on top of a half burnt and half cooked eggs. And the grits that were forced upon my partner and I. They were the only decent thing we had.

He definitely has the southern “won’t take no for an answer” personality haha, which is fairly harmless. However, he can be a little extra. I could see this bothering some, but we loved his personality. (I read other reviews saying he was yelling at employees) we personally didn’t see that and saw him treating everyone with kindness

Joe wants you to have it his way…Like having us open our coffee we got at the cafe up the road and pouring his cheep drip coffee in them… which isn’t always a good impression for most customers I’m sure lol

If you just want to be met with some great personality and a cheap sit down cup of coffee swing by joes. Just don’t eat there. Sorry Joe… gotta be honest.

It also might be better practice to ask your customers for a picture and if it’s okay to post of social media before just taking it and doing it. Unless there was a disclaimer I missed at the door? We were fine with it, but developing some tack may...