Five Forks Cafe

It doesn't have to be fancy in order to be awesome.

Five Forks Cafe
Style: American Diner
Website: http://www.fiveforkscafe.com/

My Rating: 5/5

Likes: Friendly servers, awesome diner food, fancier than normal diner specials, lots of creamer on the table, they have the old men "usuals" who come every morning

Dislikes: Parking is not so hot, it's so popular that if you don't get there early for breakfast on the weekends, you will wait (and you need resistance so you don't hop over the counter and stuff your face with pancakes right off the grill... seriously)

When you have an officer who comes home at 6:00 am from the night shift, he often wants to eat. He just doesn't want to eat a bowl of cereal all the time either. He wants greasy diner man food. When this officer has a foodie for a wife and will pretty much ride any excuse in order to get a good stack of pancakes and some hash browns, then they end up at Five Forks Cafe... a lot. 

I love walking into Five Forks Cafe because there are always the same two servers there who greet you. Everyone is friendly. It is hard not to be friendly in this atmosphere of laid back diner lovers. Every time we go here, there are two or three old men there. This time we went, we saw them sitting in booths next to each other and they were carrying on a conversation as they read the newspaper. The funny part about this is that they were both sitting in the same direction so one was looking at the wall and the other at his back. Brad secretly wants to be like the old men... but we need to get him a newspaper instead of reading the news off of his razr maxx.

Brad reading his "newspaper" while subconsciously wanting to be like an old man.

The first thing that I love about Five Forks is that they have an excellent coffee service. As you sit down, the two wonderful servers ask what you want to drink. They are used to people saying coffee. They bring two good sized mugs full of joe and there is already a huge bowl of creamer on the table so that we can use as much creamer as we want. At 7:00 am, this is a wonderful thing.

Although when I first started coming here, I used to try a few different things. They have excellent omlettes and waffles. They also have really neat specials, too. Sometimes they have things like Sweet Potato Pancakes or Sirloin Tips with mushrooms and onions. 

But my favorite is always the same. I have gotten this every single time I come: Banana Pecan Pancakes. You can ask for them in a combo. You can order them a la carte. You can dowse them in maple syrup and admire that they are larger than the size of your face. They are amazing. They have lots of pecan pieces and large sliced bananas in them. Sometimes I order them with a side of hash browns. Their hash browns always taste a little bit like onions... and sometimes peppers... or whatever it was that they just cooked on the grill. I love this because it is the total diner experience. Today I ordered them just plain, but you can also get them LOADED.... soooo good.

Two Banana Pecan Pancakes (falling off the plate on the other side) with a side of hash browns

Brad usually orders the same thing, too. He likes corned beef hash served with fried eggs and toast. They prep their own corned beef in house so it is always fresh. They also serve THE BEST rye toast. Although you can choose from a variety of different types of toast, why would you when rye is there? The toast is thick cut and already buttered. They give you two full slices of toast cut in half. This makes it perfect for Brad to give me one of them (before he ruins it by putting jam on it) when I share my hash browns with him.

This is always the best breakfast in town. If you're in Williamsburg, go here, but go early. It will be very difficult to sit outside and wait for a table when you know of the culinary goodness that awaits you inside!