Jethro’s Fine Grub

Had poor customer service experience my wife was cold and went inside while table was being prepped and she was told to go wait outside!

I was really excited to try this place! The food ended up being just okay — was good, standard breakfast food but the service was mediocre and they weren’t willing to make substitutions without charging extra money. Instead of toast & hashbrowns, I wanted mixed greens but it was going to cost me extra. Personally I find penny-​pinching stuff like that a bit annoying, especially if you have any allergies or dietary restrictions. I had the cobb omelette and it was quite tasty, but the ratio of eggs to other fillings was poor. Overall it was an okay experience but probably wouldn’t go back as it was a bit unremarkable. Seems like it gets a lot of hype.

Just an average breakfast joint in Vancouver that got super popular thanks to Guy Fieri.
This location is similar to the Dunbar one: small space, only a few staff and a long wait.
I would only recommend the pancakes (Gold Rush) if you come. They are huge, fluffy and tasty. For savoury dishes like bennies, I would go to a classier establishment for better execution. I had the omelette and cowboy’s breakfast here and left less than impressed. The flavours didn’t work together and felt like a waste of money to me.
The two waitresses were incredibly friendly given how slammed they were. But I wouldn’t be back unless a friend really wants to give Jethro’s a try.

Had the eggs Benny. Solid choice. People usually come for the mountain of pancakes and is quite busy. Not the best place to have good conversation, crowded and constantly people waiting for tables.

Delicious and filling portions! Had the short stack. The two thick, fluffy cakes were very filling. Not sure how one could put down one of the large speciality stacks!!! Also had the crab cake benny, which was very tasty. Great service at a fantastic price.

This is a busy restaurant that people love to have breakfast and brunch here. My boyfriend and I waited for a table for more than half an hour. The size of the restaurant is small but packed with tables. Finally we got a table. The space around around table and chairs was tiny. We could barely move.
The waiters or waitresses were too busy serving all the customers. They were too concentrated at work that they had no smiles on their faces. I could not feel the friendliness at all.
We ordered a breakfast burrito and chocolate chip banana bread French toast. They were ok. The portion was big. Personally I would like to enjoy a delicious brunch in a comfortable restaurant with good quality and service on a weekend.

I like this place. It’s my go-​to breakfast place, and not just because it’s within walking distance of my house. The portions are huge, the prices are reasonable, and the food is delicious. The servers aren’t saccharine sweet like in a lot of restaurants, but this is a diner and they’re getting a job done. As long as I get my food in a timely fashion and they’re not outright rude to me, I have no problem.
I get takeout too, especially on hot days (no AC makes it a little uncomfortable at times), and it’s always just as good.

Really big portions, bring your appetite. OMG I’m so… full. I’m pretty sure I just exceeded my daily calorie intake big time.
I shall return.

I wish I looked at Jethro’s Unilocal review before we went here! The only thing nice I have to say is that the service was mediocre… I’m not sure why there is always a lineup outside!

I am genuinely shocked to see the bad ratings but when you read them, they’re pretty laughable. «Uuuuugh they only take cash. Like, what is this 1984?» «The waitress didn’t apologize to me as many times as I wanted her to so that I can feel better about myself.» my favourite: «No alcohol.» and «The 2 egg breakfast was ok.» Well sweet Jesus of course the basic breakfast will never be a 4 star because it’s just that, BASIC. You don’t like pancakes because they’re too «cakey», clue in to the word pancakes. You don’t like the line up? Well don’t mosey in at 11:30 expecting to be seated immediately especially since you won’t find that ANYWHERE.
This place is awesome. We go every weekend. The crab cakes benedict was phenomenal, the breakfast burrito was filling and the huevos rancheros was delicious. Give this place a chance, read the reviews and order something based on that.

First of all, I’m a little shocked there’s some bad review on this place? This is my GO TO spot for brunch. I try and bring at least one friend who hasn’t been before, every time I go. The food is so so tasty and filling. The portions are fantastic for the very reasonable price there is. The bacon is delicious as is everything else, but that bacon though…
The staff are probably the best bunch of serving staff I’v ever come across. For such a small place that is always busy (especially on the weekends) the staff are so positive, happy and so helpful to every table. There is one particular server who’s name I believe is Roxanne, who is the loveliest and most attentive server I’v ever met. She remembers my very awkward order every time I go in, literally every bit of it! She knows exactly what I like and my food is always presented to so perfect each time (I say this because every time I eat somewhere for brunch my order always comes up wrong) she’s very sweet, funny and I hope her boss knows how kick ass she is! Thank you Roxanne for making me a wanna be a regular customer!!! Keep up the good work guys! :) GO JETHROS :)

Over hyped!
The portions are HUGE and great to share.
The food pleased my eyes more than my taste buds.
I want to give this place a better rating but to many issues. It’s a small place that’s super hot inside, waited 30min+ to get in so not worth the wait, I’m sorry to say.
I had the Gold Rush with a side of bacon it was too thick and very cake-​like consistency. They guys at my table had the Denver omelette and were satisfied with it. If I went back it would be to try lunch. I really wanted to love this place.

2.5/ 3 stars max
You are getting a large portion of just okay food here.
I have to say I ate a pretty underwhelming breakfast. I don’t know why this place would ever get a lineup.
Make a massive pancake and get featured on tv for it and all of a sudden ppl lose their shiz and lineup for an hour.
I was here today– first one in– not another customer for another hour. I woke up too early in life.
Tried the corn beef hash and fried chicken steak.
Corn beef hash was just sautéed canned corn beef– no hash browns and toast.
Chicken steak was kinda dry.
Toast came with jam.
At least marmalade was offered.
Redeeming qualities:
On the affordable side. At least I don’t have to spend much more than 15 $ all on for a big breakfast and free refill coffee.
Bottomless coffee for 2 $ (sensible price)
They offer marmalade. I heart marmalade.
They even offer raspberry jam and peanut butter. So simple but I like that too.
Other than that to food is pretty unremarkable.
I will continue my search.

I went to the Dunbar location about 4 years ago and was not impressed, so I wasn’t in a hurry to check out the Fraser St branch until someone else chose it for a breakfast date.
So colour me pleasantly surprised. The basic breakfasts are decent– $ 7 for 2 eggs, hashbrowns & toast, in such a huge portion I took home half the toast and potatoes for breakfast the next day, and I normally have no trouble finishing a 2 egg breakfast at other diners. A small order of pancakes is $ 5 and consists of 2 pancakes the size of large dinner plates, a centimeter thick. Add a side of bacon, and it is plenty for 2 meals. I also ordered a side of gravy for my hashbrowns and it was thick and rich, but quite bland. Had to add salt & pepper to make it palatable.
Is the food spectacular? No, but it is competently prepared and tasty enough. If you have a big appetite or are happy to share meals or bring half your meal home, the big portions make it a good value.

Hmm, I’m not rushing to come back here anytime soon.
We arrived at 12pm on a Monday, and it was about a half hour wait. Not that bad, we went for a walk to build up our appetite for the monstrous pancakes that everyone raves about!
Anyhow, we get seated but decided to skip out on the assortment of pancakes. They seriously just looked way too big (and the Asian in me doesn’t like to waste!), so we opted to share the La Nina and the chocolate chip banana bread french toast.
La Nina is a chili benedict with hollandaise, on flat corn bread, and sounded pretty amazing. The chili itself was tasty, and I was excited about the cornbread, but it just turned out to be a bit soggy and falling apart. I’ve had some good cornbread before where there’s a nice crispy crust on the outside. I think if they were able to cook it up with a crust, the texture would have been an added improvement… the chili was just being soaked up by the bread, which was falling apart, unfortunately!
The chocolate chip banana bread french toast was just OK to me. Nothing to rave about, a bit too rich and sweet for me. But I like the idea of it — I may have to try it out at home.
Overall, for a breakfast joint, they do have more interesting options here (if you’re looking for something thats not Denny’s, Ihop or Bön’s!). I feel like everyone is willing to wait through the long lineups because of the portion size that you get. Our entrees seemed to be a pretty decent size, its just that the pancakes are the main attraction and is the thing that draws the crowds in.
Maybe I’ll come back here with a few others to give it a try, but I’m definitely not in a rush. It is greasy diner food, but I wouldn’t wait more than 30 min for this, don’t think it’s worth it. Judging by the size, I think it would be hard to get more than 4 people in here (they have a small handful of 4-​seater tables, the rest are shared).

love the good service that accompanies the great food!
i won’t wait more than 20 min in line; that doesn’t really add in value to my meals — no matter where i eat. so knowing that this place gets packed, i usually aim to arrive around 9:30 am weekends (they open at 8 am even on weekends). i find that i usually beat the morning rush and i get to sleep in a bit (i’m a morning person).
the prices for the food are great. the portions are huge! my husband got the breakfast burrito and he only finished half of one. i got the apple cobbler french toast. and it was delicious. DO NOT mistaken the ball of butter for a scoop of vanilla ice cream… which i did. who puts ice cream on their french toast? apparently i thought they did. still all in all delicious, even after the ice cream fiasco.
one of my go-​to for brunch places.

Really nice service and food is done with passion. Prices are very reasonable and portions are massive. Also enjoy the charming service. Read others complaining about the service and it baffles me because I found the ladies cheery and fun. Coffee is very good and the home fries are also excellent. Room is somewhat cramped and boxy, much like the Dunbar location. Seems to me that this place would benefit from being in a more expansive, diner style setting.
So really, my only beef is the extraordinary lie on the menu about their wonderfully huge pancakes which come with «warm maple syrup». They don’t. They come with the Aunt Jemima style maple flavoured corn syrup stuff. I asked about it: «It doesn’t say „real“ maple syrup». Uh no, but it says «warm maple syrup». So what else? Does butter mean margarine because it doesn’t say «real butter»? Their excellent pancakes are let down by this horrible syrup stuff, especially when the menu entices with the promise of «warm maple syrup». To be fair, the short stack is huge and only $ 5, so surprising that it would come with maple syrup, but a) don’t say it does when it doesn’t and b) offer the real thing as an option for a charge, which I would gladly pay.
I really like this place, but felt conned by this misrepresentation. Jethro, do yourself a favour and make this easy fix. Serve the real deal. I mean, in Canada too? For shame.

Do you like your breakfast sausage cooked? Well, if you do this isn’t the place for you. This place left a bad taste in my mouth a few months back when I had a pancake that tasted like bacon grease (and not in a good way).
I foolishly gave Jethro’s another try. Round 1 — my breakfast sausage was raw. Sent it back. Round 2 — still raw. Round 3 — take it off my bill since it’s a sad day when a place that specializes in breakfast can’t properly cook a breakfast staple.
The waitress was slow and not overly apologetic. Plus don’t bend over backwards to comp my breakfast sausage that I didn’t even eat. Too kind.

On the morning we’d planned a big day hike on the North Shore, we wanted to tank up on a big breakfast. Unilocalers had mostly nice things to say about Jethro’s original location, and we saw that they’d opened a second location not far from where we were staying.
But this second location comes off as a bit of an afterthought. The little storefront is almost ascetic, with barely any décor or atmosphere to speak of. Pretty much a plain room with tables and chairs, and the storefront is on a stretch of Fraser Avenue that’s not exactly very exciting.
I’ll give Jethro this: He churns out some Big Daddy portion sizes. You’ll get your money’s worth of calories. And the ingredients seemed quite fresh.
But Jethro doesn’t score too high on the flavor scale. Even a dish like huevos rancheros, which you expect to come a nice, zesty ranchero sauce, is accompanied only by a lackluster pico de gallo. There’s also white rice, bland black beans, and a grilled corn cake, which together make this dish a carbohydrate bomb. It’s a little much. On the plus side, everything seemed to be cooked properly.
Service was very pleasant.

On a lazy Saturday morning a friend of mine texted me for breakfast. Since I had nothing to do and watching tennis on TV was getting boring I accepted his invitation. The 4 of us ended up at Jethro’s Fine Grub on Fraser Street.
I arrived at 1115. The line up was about 4 groups deep. I bit of a wait but certainly ok. The restaurant is small. I would say it has maybe 15 tables. I ordered the crab cake benedict. My main complaint is that we had to wait 20 mins for our order to arrive. The food was good/​ok, but these days its almost easy to find good food!
I’m told this restaurant has been around for a year. I was kind of surprised that they don’t take credit cards or debit cards! Come on guy’s this is the 20^th century! Have you ever heard of «plastic»!? I had very little cash with me. I ended up digging in my change purse to make up for my portion of the bill!
I think if I were going to open up a breakfast place I would do what Jethro’s or The Red Wagon does… all you have to do to be popular and successful is to dish out large portions! Just make your pancakes so large that they overflow your plates and hear all the zombies go ooowwoo wow ah!!!
Come on people just cuz there’s lots of it doesn’t mean its good!