John’s Quick Lunch is best for Breakfast

If you happen to keep track of the locations of the majority of Ottawa eating establishments that we have reviewed here in the last few months, you will have surely noticed that the greatest preponderance of them are in the East End of the city! Not that this should be particularly surprising, since that also happens to be where we live!

[ad name=”URBNSPN_iFrame”]If you check out the Googlemap on the right and place your cursor over the tags, you can actually see the places we have visited. At any rate, this particular Saturday morning, we were taking our French visitors, Michel & Joëlle to eat a true Canadian breakfast along with our friend Garey.

Joëlle, in particular was feeling some trepidation since she was not wholely in favour of a breakfast that included eggs and meat. As many of you may well know, a typical French breakfast consists of bread or pastries with jam and a cereal bowl full of coffee to dunk them in. Our son in law, Mikaël had been introduced to John’s a few years ago now and had given his mother strict instructions that she was to try it out or face the consequences on her return to France. And thus we headed off for the far West….

John's Quick Lunch

Where we went: It seems that John’s is somewhat of an Ottawa institution. When we first started frequenting the restaurant, probably close to 10 years ago now, it was already well established, popular breakfast spot on Wellington between Holland and Island Park Drive. Like the entire area, John’s has had a significant face-lift in recent years and is now bright and airy where once it was cramped and somewhat dingy. Don’t get me wrong, it can still seem pretty packed many a morning as people wait in line for a spare table. In any event, on this particular day, we had no problem finding a nice sunny table out of the main throng.

"I can't dunk my toast in that tiny cup!"

What we ordered: Of course, once installed, Michel & Joëlle could easily have opted for pancakes or French toast and thus kept within their norms, however, as you can see, to their credit, they took the plunge and ordered the breakfast special as did Garey, Dorothy and myself. When we go to John’s, we don’t usually bother even looking at the menu, since we already know what we are going to be ordering. 

What we got: They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I won’t bore you by trying to describe what you can clearly see. I will only say that although it’s obviously not haute cuisine, it IS one of the best breakfasts you will find for the price….

Summary

• Positives: Decor much improved since renovations, owners and staff always friendly and attentive.
• Negatives: Sometimes wait times for breakfast can be substantial!
• Recommendation: If you are really hungry and looking for a reasonably-priced, full breakfast, give John’s a whirl!

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