John O’Groats Restaurant was opened in 1982 by Angelica and Robert Jacoby, with he as cook and she as waitress for a 20-seat counter place.  They served only breakfast and lunch so they could still have dinner at home with their 2 sons.  After 2 years they moved to a different location while son Paul Tyler was studying restaurant administration. He joined the business after college worked his way up to managing partner by 1994 and created some of the dishes served there today. Under Paul’s leadership, the restaurant expanded in 1995 and again in 2000 adding more square footage.  Paul was there the day we visited and greeted many customers by name.  His brother Carl has also rejoined the team.  You can feel the vibe of a family-run place with so many repeat customers and super friendly staff.  While Robert has passed on Angelica and Paul’s family are often on-site.  The place is spread over a number of rooms with one still offering counter service.   Blue checkered cloths cover the tables set with flowers and music in the background.   The food used quality ingredients that were prepared with care.  I hope I get to go back for another great meal there and that you also have the opportunity.

Set-Up

 

Food

The Club Sandwich was made with crispy bacon, roasted turkey breast, Jarlsberg cheese, iceberg lettuce, ripe tomatoes and mayo.  The turkey was house roasted not packaged meat and moist and tasty.  It was a classic club with just 2 slices of bread, and it was nicely toasted bread of a good quality.  The bacon was crisp with lots of flavor.  It was a wonderful sandwich according to my husband, who is quite the lover of club sandwiches.  The fries were a medium cut and nicely crisp with soft centers.  Filled with potato flavor that made me steal a couple to try.

 

One of the Combination Plates offered 2 Pancakes, 2 Eggs and 2 Bacon and I added a side of pure Vermont maple syrup.   The eggs were cooked a perfect over-easy and the bacon was crisp and smokey.  The fluffy pancakes were not too thick but not thin either and came with a mound of softened butter.  They had good flavor on their own but were even better with the maple syrup.   A perfect plate in my book.