Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Cafe Jag's

There is a new breakfast option in Wakefield, next to the railroad tracks. Cafe Jag's has only been open for a short time but already seems quite popular based on the crowds I have seen on most of my visits. Though they started off just serving breakfast, they have begun serving dinner as well. I have not been there for dinner yet so this review will pertain only to their breakfast service.

The breakfast menu has all the standards, such as eggs, egg sandwiches, pancakes, French toast, waffles and omelettes. Prices are reasonable such as $5.50 for a cheese omelette with home fries and toast and $4.99 for a Belgium waffle. If you are really hungry, you can one of their specials such as The Logger ($9.99), which includes 2 eggs, 2 slices of French toast, 2 pancakes, 2 slices of bacon, 2 sausages, home fries, toast, juice and coffee.

The food is mostly very good. I really like the French toast and the omelettes are excellent. They serve chorizo and it is delicious, a bit spicy and with lots of flavor. You can order it as a side, or get it in an omelette. The English muffins surprised me, being thicker than the usual muffin and quite good. The only thing I disliked were the pancakes. Though they are huge, almost the size of the plate, I found them too heavy and cakey. I prefer a lighter and fluffier pancake.

Service has been up and down. The restaurant does not yet appear to handle crowds well, making service sometimes very slow. On one visit, despite plenty of customers, there only appeared to be one waitress on duty and she was clearly overwhelmed. On another visit, despite a couple servers, they still could not adequately handle the crowd. This is something that they hopefully will address in the near future. As they are still new, I grant them some leeway in this regard.

I am glad to see another breakfast place in the local area and hope they improve their service issues soon. I am curious as to their dinner menu so will check them out soon and report back.

Cafe Jag's
33 Tuttle Street
Wakefield, MA
Phone: 781-246-JAGS (5247)

Cafe Jag's on Urbanspoon

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with your report for the most part. It is a beautiful restaurant and the food is great. I have had about 5 breakfasts there and all were very good. I believe the day there was only one waitress was a storm day and they did not expect to be that busy. I have had dinner in there twice. The regular menu is exciting and there is a special menu for the early birds which is nice but simpler. All the help I have encountered were very friendly and helpful The kitchen was very accomadating with my diet problems - lactose intolerance.

Anonymous said...

My Wife and i went there Friday night for dinner and wow what a dinner they gave us! This place belongs in Boston or New York. From the outside you would never expect to walk in to such a chic place with a well dressed professional staff. The decor is great all the way down to how personal the restroom is. What a classy place with better than exceptional food. Crabcakes are homemade and the best i ever had, my porterhouse was cooked a pefect med rare my wifes rack of lamb was said to be seasoned just right. And you must try there dessert offerings and i forget the name but its a specialty drink, pomergrante Martini or something like that. 4 thumbs up from us!

Richard Auffrey said...

I do sometimes question the validity of "anonymous" posts, especially when they provide such an exceptional review. Sometimes restaurant employees, or close friends of the restaurant, make such anonymous posts.

I don't consider it to be a "chic" place with "well-dressed" staff. It also does not remind me of a place that "belongs in Boston or NY."

I will eat dinner there in the near future and report back on the food.

Mark P said...

My wife and I are avid guests at Cafe Jag's. We found it simply though a friend that had bought a coupon for Jag's when they first openned this past winter at Restaurant.com. We had previously been dining at Turner's in Melrose as often as 3 times a week. Since trying Jag's we've become regulars both for dinner and for breakfast.

What impressed us most was the quality of seafood. My wife's family own a seafood restaurant in Maine. As a result, our standards are high. Turner's is still high in our book however for the diversity of meals they offer and the quality of the seafood dishes they sell for the price, you can't beat it!

As for the statement that this place should be in NYC or Boston, that's a bit strong. If it were, there's no doubt it would be just as popular. It's good food that's consistent and priced well, simply put.

Anonymous said...

I was going to say the same thing as Richard about questioning the validity of that post. There is nothing "chic" or classy about this place - especially the attire of the waitstaff. When I went a few weeks ago, one of the waitresses had a shirt that was too short, exposing her midriff. The food was throw together haphazardly, and the place was just a mess of people waiting to be seated, regardless of reservation. It's always understaffed, and if the food comes out wrong there's never a table visit or discount. I don't see this place lasting.