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John's Place Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Breakfast & Brunch Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
723 Pandora AvenueVictoria, BC V8W 1N9
(250) 389-0711
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Noise Level:
- Average
32 reviews for John's Place Restaurant
Review Highlights
"I had the Hungarian sausage eggs benny, it came with a..."
(in 6 reviews)
"...and adding cream cheese maple syrup makes them transcendent."
(in 3 reviews)
"I ordered an eggs benny with smoked salmon and asparagus."
(in 3 reviews)
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32 reviews in English
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Review from Clare M.
8/24/2011
In looking for a breakfast place after a night of heavy food and drinks, I knew that the hubs would have a certain breakfast in mind. It normally consists of lots of eggs, lots of meat, and lots of coffee, so we were on the hunt for a breakfast that would fit the bill. Yelp did not lead us wrong on this one. Again, we had a little bit of a wait, but with just the two of us, it was pretty quick...maybe 10 minutes.
Seating was really tight, but it gets you in quicker. The menu is HUGE. There are more options then I knew what to do with. Mike settled on the above, lots of eggs, and lots of meat, while I went the Smoked Salmon and asparagus eggs Benedict.
My food was AMAZING! I ordered the full order, but could have easily done the half. The only thing that I would have done differently was I would have ordered fruit instead of potatoes. The potatoes were good, don't get me wrong, nice and seasoned, but the fruit that they had was lovely looking as it passed by me to other tables. Lots of berries and mixed fruits. Looked SO GOOD.
Prices were good, food was great! The restaurant is filled to the brim with posters and pictures all over the walls. Seems like a great local family owned spot. Would definitely go back.Listed in: Visiting Victoria BC!!!!
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Review from Original E.
Toronto, ON
10/9/2011
A greasey diner with no boogers under the table, I'm sure u'll be impressed :)
Great value for ur money! I had the Hungarian sausage eggs benny, it came with a stack of perfectly cooked home fries, brilliant!
My wife had a waffle plate with chicken sausage and cream cheese syrup, that's pretty original.
Service was friendly, not annoying at all. I mean, hey, I'm chewing my fuckin food and I don't want to talk right now :(
Pictures all over the wall, Sapranos were right beside me, ba-da-bing!
http://www.youtube.com...
It set me back $21.00, not bad. -
Review from Mark H.
Victoria, BC
1/27/2012
Not very good in my opinion. Some people seem to love it here, but every time I go I get bad service, greasy food, and a long wait to begin my experience.
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Review from Brian D.
Victoria, BC
12/24/2011
Went here based on 4 star reviews, but was disappointed. Slow service, nothing special at all about the food. Not sure how two tables ordering after us got their food 5 minutes before us, but that's also one reason for the two star rating. The only great thing was the hot chocolate.
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Review from Robert H.
St. Lawrence, Toronto, ON
11/9/2011 1 Check-in Here
LOVE THIS PLACE. From the minute I walked in, EVERYONE was kind, polite, friendly and accommodating. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. It does get busy so be patient, the food and SERVICE is worth any time that you wait! Portions are perfect, my server was FANTASTIC!!! We don't get this in Toronto...LOVE IT HERE! The Chorizo party was most excellent! Do yourself a favour and enjoy the atmosphere, the food and the SERVICE!
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Review from John P.
Surrey, BC
7/9/2011
Had breakfast at John's Place on my recent trip to Victoria. I have eaten here since it opened 25 years ago. The original owner John is still passionate about food and he has kept most of the original staff. It's like going home for breakfast. They all know me and the combination of great food and familiarity is very rare these days. It's almost like the Truman Show. Happy to see them all still there. If you go, make sure you have the Lavazza coffee. It's a couple of coins more, but well worth it. John's Place is fantastic,and it was nice of them to have named it after me.
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Review from Kas D.
Vancouver, BC
9/17/2011
Tasty, extensive menu, and busy for a reason. The husband is still ranting, raving, and craving the back bacon eggs benny he had on cornbread. Oh cornbread, how I love thee, let me count the ways. I think he'd sail back to Victoria solely for the breakfast at John's Place. The staff were also on the ball, friendly and quick. The only pitfall was the wait....but it was so worth it!
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Review from Jen W.
Vancouver, BC
7/14/2011 1 Check-in Here
Wicked busy for good reason, excellent breakfast and happy, friendly staff! The waffles and pancakes are incredible, and adding cream cheese maple syrup makes them transcendent. Go here. You won't regret it.
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Review from Debalina D.
Victoria, BC
6/15/2011
Perfect place for breakfast! Lots of pictures on the walls to keep you entertained while you are waiting for your seat. I ordered the eggs benny and it was so good. I was stuffed after so I couldn't get any of their pie(which looks amazing).
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Review from Eric K.
5/8/2010 1 Check-in Here
I should have known that this wouldn't be a great brunch spot for me when the guy who recommended it called it a "greasy spoon".
I stopped by anyway today and tried the orange juice, giant cinnamon roll, and the exotic French toast. I thought the orange juice was pretty good. It had a decent amount of pulp and tasted reasonably fresh. It was definitely not filled with sugar since it wasn't too sweet.
The cinnamon roll was not giant at all, it was not small but definitely not giant. It also used grilled or toasted style bun so it was a bit harder than normal. It gave the texture of pastry that has been sitting around for a day. It was not my favorite.
Here is the description of the French toast from the menu:
Exotic French toast - two slices of their homemade banana bread dipped in a sweet creamy mixture, grilled and topped with fresh bananas, raisins, cashew nuts and a touch of banana liqueur
I am a huge guy who pretty much always finishes my food and can eat five full meals in a day. I could not finish the French toast here. It was basically a huge gut bomb. And it wasn't because it was too much sugar, I've had more sugar before, it just had that buttery greasy not good for you taste and my stomach told me to stop.
As for the details, we were seated within minutes but the food took a long time to come out. On the plus side my buddy highly recommended the vegetarian burrito saying it was "fantastic". Maybe next time I will try that.
One other thing was awesome at John's, which was the music they played. They had a new jukebox in the back that seemed to do a good job of picking music. While we were there and paying attention we heard the Eagles, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sufjan Stevens, 50s music, and some decent rap.
I do know some people like greasy food when hungover. If that's you this might be your place for brunch after a long Friday or Saturday night spent drinking.Listed in: Victoria May 2010
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Review from Weirdie B.
Victoria, BC
7/13/2010
My first and last visit to John's place happened over the weekend. I'll keep it short and sour:
Service: Slow, uninterested, a little annoyed that we were making her work?
Food: Gross. Total gut bombs that gave everyone a wicked stomach ache afterwards. And when is it acceptable to give people half empty cups when they order coffee?
Verdict: John's Place: Cheap, yes. Satisfying, no. -
Review from Ian G.
5/11/2010
Nice comfy breakfast place!
I hate to make a snap assessment of Victoria, but since I only go there every 20 years and only stay a few hours that's all I can really do. The town seems evenly split between a tourist zone to the east of Douglas St. and a college town to the west. Happily, John's is just past Douglas on the east! It was packed on a Saturday morning but doing brisk business. It delivers exactly what it promises, a solidly good breakfast, nothing fancy. Slices of pie were ginormous and can easily serve two. -
Review from Austin D.
1/6/2009
Fantastic breakfast spot. Lots of fun photos and memorabilia on the walls to look at while you're enjoying your grub.
Really good coffee as I recall (but then again this is the PacNW, so coffee is great pretty much everywhere!) -
Review from Matthew L.
Edmonton, AB
12/24/2008
This is a solid breakfast joint. They make their delicious wheat bread in house and all of the ingredients are top notch. There's a lot of crazy Victoria-centric crap on the walls. And there's always a line on the weekends. There's a large selection of omelettes.
Despte the manly vibe, John's caters well to its vegetarian clientele. -
Review from Michael O.
6/14/2011 1 Check-in Here
Amazing! One of the best casual dining places I've ever been to!
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Review from Beth C.
Victoria, BC
11/5/2009
John's Place is a Victoria institution, and with good reason.
First: No, this wouldn't be my choice for a romantic or fancy fine dining night out.
But it would ABSOLUTELY be my choice for good food, music, friendly staff, happy patrons and a great time. It has a jukebox for goodness' sake, nobody's claiming it's Pierre de la Snoot's Maison de la Foof.
It's really good, though. The souvlaki and burgers are good. The pasta's really good. They have plenty of low-carb friendly meal options on the menus. They have good cocktails. The walls are covered in souvenirs, memorabilia, posters, photographs, flyers, and a really great One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest painting.
And the three things that I love John's Place best for: the basket of warm, peppery-herb crusted bread with whipped butter that comes with lunch/dinner; the eggs benedict; and oh, the cheesecake.
Top that off with a place that makes its staff so happy that many of them have been there for decades (Rodney's been there forever, Cheryl, Deb and more for absolutely ages) and I'll come back every time.
Make a reservation - other people like it here, too. -
Review from Brett C.
Toronto, ON
11/15/2009
Ever since my trip to Brussels I have a constant craving for good waffles. So when I heard John's Place had waffles served with cream cheese syrup I had to give them a shot when I visited Victoria.
I was not disappointed. The waffles were really good! And on top of the good food I also received friendly, prompt service. Overall a very pleasant experience that I would be happy to repeat. -
Review from Adelina W.
Richmond, BC
1/17/2010 1 Check-in Here
I've been coming here for years for breakfast, usually after a night out on the town and it has never disappointed. The lines are long so you'll want to get there early.
The most recent time I've been there, however, was in the afternoon on a Saturday. The service was even more friendlier than usual. It was relatively empty, but that is probably because of the unusual time. I ordered an eggs benny with smoked salmon and asparagus. The home fries were crispier than usual which I loved. What made this particular visit even better was the music! We were told it was one of their regulars selecting songs on the jukebox but there so many from the 90s etc - great conversation topics.
I'll definitely be returning at this time of the day - even better service, great atmosphere and even better food! -
Review from J H.
3/9/2011 1 Check-in Here
Great laid back atmosphere and friendly staff. Try the pancakes; Light and fluffy with a great taste.
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Review from vanessa G.
Vancouver, BC
11/9/2010
It's been a couple of years since i have been here, but i used to be a regular. We would drive from Sydney on our daily layovers just to have breakfast here. They are HUGE! and delicious. This is one spot i miss.
Listed in: Best of the best of our…
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Review from Mike L.
12/1/2009
A breakfast place should have great coffee. John's Place has weak, sub-truck-stop cardboard flavored brew. The French toast was cold. My wife's eggs were not cooked at ordered, not even close. We are puzzled by the popularity. The Blue Fox on Fort is FAR superior.
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Review from Monica A.
11/18/2010
We dropped in late one night for light dinner of soup and salad, and it was perfect! Cheap, easy, and served with delicious herb bread.
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Review from Glenn L.
9/3/2010 1 Check-in Here
Excellent food and service. Awesome Belgium waffles and poached eggs. Staff has been with them a long long time.
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Review from Jeff D.
3/3/2010
The wife and I took a day trip to Victoria during our Seattle trip last year. As we were wandering around the streets of Victoria, obviously looking quite lost, nice motorist pulled over and asked if we needed directions. We said not really, but we were looking for a good place to eat. He told us to go to John's and that it was the best. Well, friends, this is why you always talk to locals! (It didn't hurt he was a friendly Canadian). The place was great. The service, the decor, and the food were all amazing. Thank god for that nice motorist or we would've eaten at one of the tourist traps right by the harbor. Highly recommended.
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Review from kirk s.
Vancouver, BC
4/25/2010
great place for breakfast ,but there is a line up sometimes , the vegburger eggs benny I have dreams about sometimes , amazing meal probably the only reason I would ever move back to Vic for.
dinner is nice its a bit slower so no line up to get in fast friendly service , dinner comes with the most amazing bread and they give you glasses of water right way.
I have eaten here more then a hundred time in the 6 years I lived in Vic and have never once had bad service or a bad meal and is my favirot restaurant ion Vic -
Review from Stacey E.
10/30/2008
This is a good brunch spot and an institution among locals. Be sure to arrive early as there is often a lineup.
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Review from Kiran C.
10/2/2009
We had a great breakfast here while visiting. My gf and I both ordered different eggs beni's. I ordered one with homemade cornbread and homemade chicken sausage patties. I should have ordered the half. It was so much food that I couldn't eat the potatoes it came with. But it was extremely tasty. My girlfriend's had salmon and asparagus. It was pretty amazing too. I highly recommend trying this place out. There desserts looked awesome too. next time....
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Review from Ryan N.
Vancouver, BC
2/7/2010
I've never thought of going here for dinner, to me this is just a breakfast place... and it is a great one. They exemplary examples of all your standard American style breakfasts.
The decor is a bit gimmicky, but it's appropriate for this kind of place.
It's crazy busy on weekends, so expect a wait (worth it though). -
Review from Bob T.
2/15/2010
Ok, we like John's Place. The best thing about the place was that they offered us the chance to sit at a 4 top if we shared with two strangers. We met two AWESOME people from Yellow Knife.
We had french toast and the 222 meal. The Toast was really good. DO NOT eat the Cream Maple Syrup. You will become an addict. Seriously it's that good. You'll be mainlining the stuff in a week. The 2-2-2 was bad. Really bad. The bacon was tiny and the pancakes were cold and hard. The thing is, they made it right. Hot fresh perfect pancakes came out in a minute and they took the whole meal off the bill.
Oh, the service is REALLY slow. The line is long. Some people think that's a plus. Some don't like it so much. Your choice. -
Review from C W.
1/18/2010
We were in Victoria for a long weekend, staying in the Inner Harbour, and wanted to get away from the more touristy area. We came across John's Place on the Tourism Victoria website and thought "let's try that one out for dinner." The front desk staff said "that's definitely more of a 'locals' place," so we knew we were in luck.
Service was great, and the food was tasty too. Tortellini came in a very large portion, covered in a tasty cream sauce, and the salmon was nicely sized, cooked with a maple syrup glaze. We were both too full for dessert, but saw some fresh-baked cinnamon rolls coming out of the kitchen and took two to go. They tasted very good the next morning for breakfast.
The place was busy, but not packed, at 7pm on a Saturday in the winter. Meals were prepared quickly, and the waitress was quick to refill iced tea and water glasses.
We plan on going back and trying it for breakfast, and will post an update if we do. -
Review from Chris M.
Victoria, BC
9/7/2009
In my opinion, the best benny in the city. Long waits sometimes, but always worth it.
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Review from Scott L.
Vancouver, BC
9/25/2009
Chicken burritto ole was to die for -- I kept eating it off my partner's plate!! The eggs Benny were really good and they definately don't lie when they say there is real butter in the hollandaise. Very rich and eggs cooked perfectly to order. Friendly and fast service with lots of kitsch on the wall. Coming back again and again!
