Hawthorne Cafe

We love our little Hawthorne Cafe great food great people

Excellant mom and pop cafe,price was right,pancakes are huge and

It was a beautiful cool morning. My daughter and I were on the road to Jacksonville Florida to see our Dallas Cowboys take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. What?! The Cowboys?! Yes, yes the Cowboys(hold the eye rolls) In 1973 my mom hung a Roger Staubach poster on my bedroom wall. From that day on and ever since I have and will be a fan. As any father would and should do, I past on the love of the game and team to my daughter. She’s now my football buddy even in her 20’s. It was driving along 301 that we happened upon this little marvel of a diner. Very convenient location as it was right on 301, so no turning and leaving our route to Jacksonville. The first thing that may throw you off is that it pulls up as PJ’s yet in the restaurant it identifies as Hawthorne Café and Catering. Just go with it. While the ambiance is simple and typical small town diner, it’s that very ambiance that gives you a feeling of small town America. I loved it! My daughter ordered a pancake with hash browns. I ordered the everything omelette, grits, and a side of sausage gravy. We both ordered coffee. The pancake was a tremendously fluffy buttermilk delight. The hash browns were, well small town America diner crispy yet soft hash browns. (I prefer my hash browns crispy, crunchy and yet soft). They were somewhat greasy but not overly and not enough to rob you of good flavor. My everything omelette was phenomenal! And I don’t say that haphazardly. It was hands down one of the best Omelettes I have had in a very long time. The eggs were nice and fluffy, not over cooked and not under cooked. The meats, onions, and peppers were excellent. The meats were actually…well, meats and NOT lunch meat slices. Chunks of cut up meat. Tender and seasoned to pure excellence. The onions and peppers were cooked and still held their crunch. Oh and they use real cheese not the cheese products so many omelette makers use. The omelette was stuffed full, not mostly egg and cheese. The chef definitely wants a person to enjoy the key ingredients of his amazing omelette. The sausage gravy was very good. A little on the less meaty side, I would have liked to have seen more meat in it but it was very tasty. The grits were good. Nice and creamy. All in all my daughter and I were very happy this little diner ended up in our path. The restaurant was also clean as well as the bathroom. Remember this is a small diner in a small town so the restaurant is simple and well used. So don’t expect to walk into a Perkins, IHOP, or the like. This is a local establishment that makes those chain restaurants wish they had Hawthorne Café’s or PJ’s Café’s, whatever you want to call it, caliber of excellent cooking. Make this a stop if you ever find yourself traveling 301 and you pass through Hawthorne. And one more thing Go Cowboys!!

It was a beautiful cool morning. My daughter and I were on the road to Jacksonville Florida to see our Dallas Cowboys take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. What?! The Cowboys?! Yes, yes the Cowboys(hold the eye rolls) In 1973 my mom hung a Roger Staubach poster on my bedroom wall. From that day on and ever since I have and will be a fan. As any father would and should do, I past on the love of the game and team to my daughter. She’s now my football buddy even in her 20’s.It was driving along 301 that we happened upon this little marvel of a diner. Very convenient location as it was right on 301, so no turning and leaving our route to Jacksonville. The first thing that may throw you off is that it pulls up as PJ’s yet in the restaurant it identifies as Hawthorne Café and Catering. Just go with it. While the ambiance is simple and typical small town diner, it’s that very ambiance that gives you a feeling of small town America. I loved it!My daughter ordered a pancake with hash browns. I ordered the everything omelette, grits, and a side of sausage gravy. We both ordered coffee. The pancake was a tremendously fluffy buttermilk delight. The hash browns were, well small town America diner crispy yet soft hash browns. (I prefer my hash browns crispy, crunchy and yet soft). They were somewhat greasy but not overly and not enough to rob you of good flavor. My everything omelette was phenomenal! And I don’t say that haphazardly. It was hands down one of the best Omelettes I have had in a very long time. The eggs were nice and fluffy, not over cooked and not under cooked. The meats, onions, and peppers were excellent. The meats were actually…well, meats and NOT lunch meat slices. Chunks of cut up meat. Tender and seasoned to pure excellence. The onions and peppers were cooked and still held their crunch. Oh and they use real cheese not the cheese products so many omelette makers use. The omelette was stuffed full, not mostly egg and cheese. The chef definitely wants a person to enjoy the key ingredients of his amazing omelette. The sausage gravy was very good. A little on the less meaty side, I would have liked to have seen more meat in it but it was very tasty. The grits were good. Nice and creamy. All in all my daughter and I were very happy this little diner ended up in our path.The restaurant was also clean as well as the bathroom. Remember this is a small diner in a small town so the restaurant is simple and well used. So don’t expect to walk into a Perkins, IHOP, or the like. This is a local establishment that makes those chain restaurants wish they had Hawthorne Café’s or PJ’s Café’s, whatever you want to call it, caliber of excellent cooking. Make this a stop if you ever find yourself traveling 301 and you pass through Hawthorne.And one more thing Go Cowboys!!

Like a slice of home. Great hospitality, great prices, good food.