Janet’s Cafe and Deli

Geat food large portions very nice setting live here my whole life didn’t know it was here. Dog friendly and special apple for Batman.

Overcooked poached eggs to an inch of their life. Water squirting out of the white part. Sauce seized and curdling. I brought to their attention and no discount was offered. I didn’t expect it, but you think they would have offered.

I had high hopes, based on all of the other Unilocal reviews. I had 45 minutes until I had to pick my son up from school, so I thought I’d try Janet’s. It’s right down the street from school– PERFECT!
The service was so slow. I told the person who sat me I was on a time schedule and they said, no problem. but it was a problem. 38 minutes (yes, I timed it– I was playing a game on my phone) after sitting down, my food arrived. I handed the waitress a $ 20 and asked for a box, I needed to go. I proceeded to wolf down eggs (since that’s not a food you can eat while driving!) and hash browns. They were not bad, from what I could taste.
The sausage links were AWFUL. They were spiced with what tasted like a pine tree. Two bites of those and I was done. blecgh.
$ 11.95 (plus coffee) for a brunch that I had to cram into my face. No thanks, I’ll pass. If you’ve got tons of time, go for it. It wasn’t all that busy either.
Overall, the prices seemed really high– We won’t be coming back.

This place is good if you just want something similar to a Denny’s or IHOP. The corned beef hash is out of a can (The cans were right outside of the bathroom shelf so you can’t miss it). At least they didn’t false advertise and tell you they are freshly made. The Chicken Fried Stead was also frozen and re-​heated. With that said, this place is not the best but it is also not the worst. Pastry does taste fresh so if you are there, give it a try!

Two blueberry pancakes and a cup of coffee, $ 13.71. Add a $ 3 tip and now it’s up to $ 17 for two pancakes and a cup of coffee!
Don’t get me wrong, the pancakes were good and more than I could eat but they were not $ 17 good!

Excellent breakfast. Love the biscuits and gravy!!! The pies look awesome too — but too full to taste. Will be back!!!

I’m from the south and have never had a good biscuit and gravy here in California. It’s what I always long for and eat like a maniac when I go home at the holidays! Today, I had biscuits and gravy at Janet’s and am amazed! I went because the Unilocal photos made it look good. A half order is seriously plenty of food! It’s delicious and huge! I also had eggs over medium and bacon and toast… Obviously I couldn’t finish. I over ordered lol more for later haha my husband had the country fried steak with eggs toast and hashbrowns and he says it is also very delicious! Give them a try :)

Love this place. The service and food is amazing. Recommend it highly. Portions are always more than you can eat as well as ice outside seating if you prefer.

Excellent home cooked style food served in very generous portions! Everything is made fresh to order. In this cozy café, you can get a hearty breakfast that you’ll be taking leftovers home in a doggy bag because the portions are huge!

Janets is probably my favorite café in the history of café’s. I’ve been here quite a few times and each time I left full and happy.
The inside dining room is relatively small but they also have seating areas out front and on a patio in the back. They’re always busy and booming with business, however the staff never fails to be very friendly and accommodating. They definitely work well under stress.
I’ve only had to wait for a table once, it was a quick 10 minutes and I checked out the menu while I waited.
The cinnamon french toast is to die for. I give it a 10/​10, 5 stars, 100%, you get the point.
Highly recommend everyone stops by and checks it out!!!

First visit and not sure if we will be back. It was just ok. Really like you were at a friends for breakfast, nothing special. I had half order of biscuits and gravy which was huge and the biscuits were dry and overdone on the bottom, gravy didn’t really have much flavor. Boyfriend’s pecan waffle would have been better is the pecans were in mix not on top. Hot chocolate was probably the best part of my breakfast. Oh! The bacon is REALLY good.

Looking some time while waiting on a car repair so hubster and I wanted to have brunch. As usual, looked to my fellow Unilocalers for advice on where to go. GPS was a little wacky with the directions and had us go all the way around the shopping center and everything from behind. Heads up, its in the shopping center near the coffee shop which is visible from Carlton Hills Blvd. On approach, there are a few small tables outside if you’d like to eat and people watch. The inside is quaint, maybe seats 30 or so. We were offered back patio seating but chose to stay inside because I was chilly. The menu is simple, with enough variety for anyone’s taste, but not so overwhelming that you’d have a hard time choosing (or reading it). I was taken aback by the prices. I am not a big eater and enjoy a simple egg with toast. There were no al carte options on the menu and I didn’t ask. The closest thing I could get was 2 eggs, hash browns and choice of bread. I went with the seasonal fresh pumpkin muffin. Hubby ordered French toast and a side of Italian sausage. The portions were decent, not huge. We ordered the hash browns extra crispy. It was only browned on one side, leaving the other side flat mush. The fresh pumpkin muffin, still warm out the oven was to die for. I thought it came with butter, so I sparingly applied it. Once I took my first bite I realized it was in fact warm buttercream icing and so I loaded up. Hubby rated good french toast as average and Italian sausage better. Overall, nothing really to write home about. I’d go back for the muffins and would try the pie with coffee. Add a coffee and soda, we spent $ 32. Far as breakfast, going to IHOP would be comparable taste wise and less expensive.

You know what, I really love this place. I really do. Boyfie and I go here every chance we get and it’s always exactly how we want it. Great coffee, great service, great food.

Busy breakfast joint || pretty decent breakfast and huge portion
15 minute wait @ about 10ish Saturday Morning. Not too bad. Sat outside & it was enjoyable. However, the seats are not comfortable.
Service was awesome. She was attentative & courteous. Food was better than average. Oh, the red salsa is bomb here. They service huge portions.

So after coming here a few times it’s time to write a review.
Janet’s is a small café with around 10 tables to eat at (I didn’t count them so don’t quote me on that). There isn’t a bar area or an area to stand and eat so you’ll have to put your name on the list and wait it out. The wait is usually quoted around 15 minutes (based on going on Sunday’s around 10:30−11) but odds are you’ll be waiting longer than that.
Luckily they are creating a seating area out back (patio style) that should be opening up within a few weeks.
The service here seems to be a hit or miss. Sometimes the service is fast and great and other times is slow and mediocre. It’s the same staff every time I come so you would think there would be more consistency with the service one way or the other. It is what it is but the dude with the tattoos needs to take some acting classes so that he can appear like he doesn’t wish he was dead rather than working.
On to the most important thing, the FOOD! Everything here that I’ve gotten has been great but the portions seems to vary from time to time. Sometimes your pancakes are the size of the plate and other times it’s the size of an iHop pancake (dinky winky). I’m a big fan of eggs benedict and while the country eggs benedict doesn’t have hollandaise sauce, it sure is delicious! It comes with nice thick biscuit halves, two sausage patties, two poached eggs, all doused in country gravy :)))) Oh and you also get a side of hash browns or fruit, blah blah blah. Throw some Cholula on that shit and dig in!!! The country fried steak is also good, also doused in country gravy :)))))
All in all if you’re looking for a good breakfast that will last you through the day then definitely hit this place up. But definitely be prepared to wait anywhere between 15 – 30 minutes for a table. But don’t worry, you can watch the guy with the tattoos look like he’s slowly die with every passing minute.

Love this place!
Brought the rest of the family here and it was great!
***** mushroom and swiss burger– it was cooked the way I like it (practically raw). Not many places do this.
I can’t tell you exactly what else we ordered because my eyes were almost closed the entire time I ate my burger!

The place is typically busy but doesn’t have a wait which is a good thing.
The food came out quickly and was fresh from the kitchen.
The place is an average breakfast/​/​lunch place. It serves it’s purpose of providing good food. I would give it a 3.75 instead of a 4 but don’t have that option.
The breakfast sandwich was good and came w hash browns, there was some confusion on the side of fruit we wanted, there are two options so be sure to clarify the size before you get overcharged.
Coffee is good too.
Patio is dog friendly
Upon leaving I saw pies and they looked like amazing pies. I will go back soon and try a piece of pie!

Best brunch menu!
Fabulous omelette & huge pancakes!
Great vanilla coffee!
Decadent cinnamon roll French toast!
Best breakfast I have Ever had… took 8 people with us… raves at the table!

Even though service can be spotty due to the way they manage their waitlist, it doesn’t take away from how great the food is and how big the portions are.
This is a great place for breakfast with the family on a Sunday or really for any day of week.
We’ve tried a few things after a couple visits and any omelette, pancakes or benedict will get you through the day!
Their Country Benedict is HUGE! And almost everything comes with some of the best and most crispy hash browns I have ever had. I have dreams about them.
On my last visit I saw an enormous salad come out of the kitchen so I’ll have to be back to try it for lunch!

Janet’s has been around for quite some time in east county San Diego. My first experience with Janet’s was up in Alpine at the Montana café, so generally I was very happy to see one in Santee when I was driving by for work. The restaurant its self is quite small compared to the other Janet’s I’ve been to, they do have a large out door seating area though, which is nice since its a great area for breakfast outside.
We came into Janet’s around 730ish, so they had been open for not long and the place was already filling up on Saturday morning. Our waitress seated us right away and was very quick and prompt to bring us our drinks. The coffee here wasn’t really anything special, but it was better than diner quality coffee. My friend and I decided to go with omelettes, it felt like an egg type of morning.
I created my own omelette (
) with cheese, avocado, bacon, and jalapenos. The hash browns and pumpkin muffin came on the side (pretty good deal for breakfast). The best thing they brought out was their salsa (
) which tasted fantastic on top of our omelettes. The salsa was spicy and yet didn’t have a salty after taste to it, it really enhanced the flavor of the eggs and veggies. The best part about it is they weren’t cheap with it, they brought out a big enough portion for both me and my friend. The eggs were cooked perfect, and the half avocado on top was great (another thing they didn’t skimp on). The hash browns couldn’t have been done better, crispy on top yet soft under neath, perfect hash browns.
I saved the best part for last, their pumpkin muffin (
) was absolutely divine delicious. Complete with cream cheese frosting on top, this muffin had tons of pumpkin flavor. A little crisp to the top yet moist and soft inside throughout. Janet does baked goods great.
My friend and I had a awesome breakfast here, the food was great, prices were decent and the waitress did really good attending to us. Glad to see Janet’s Café is just as good as the one I went to in Alpine long ago.