Cafe Genovese

This is your typical mom and pop place you would find up north, great food, great service, great experience

I feel so out of place giving this place two stars with all the four and five star reviews thrown around for this little diner located off the beaten path inside a small industrial park. We found this place on Unilocal traveling back home after a mini-​vacation, with the 4.5 rating with 33 reviews it wasn’t a hard decision to jump off I-​95 and grab a seat at the beautiful counter wrapping around the food prep area.
There is no doubt in my mind the high ratings are for the owners who make the perfect team, they are very friendly and outgoing and seem to be very attentive, more so if your a local no doubt but that’s ok the locals pay the bills. My review is strictly in regards to the breakfast the other meals could be exceptional but the breakfast left a lot to be desired in my opinion and was quite disappointing.
The scrambled eggs and omelettes are cooked on a flat top grill making it almost impossible to serve anything but dried out flat over-​cooked eggs (please use the omelette pans sitting next to the grill). The eggs were poured on the grill paper thin and completely cooked before being chopped up with a spatula and served for the scrambled and the omelette was similar with the exception of the cheese and meat added before being flipped and folded. The ham was completed dried out and the hash-​browns were frozen and flavorless and dry. The biscuit was just okay as was the toast and coffee which I only had one cup with no offer to refill. I am very sorry for writing this disappointing review but it was really that bad of an experience hopefully the owners will rethink themselves when it comes to the breakfast service, these short cuts and the need to cook a meal in a minute or two just don’t work for most who expect more…

This was a great find for breakfast on the road! Great food, excellent service and the prices can’t be beat. Very homey feeling — everything was perfect.

Stopped for a quick bite on the way to Jacksonville airport from St. Augustine. Nothing special here. Clean hidden local café with standard burger.

Wasn’t even aware that this place existed till this morning. Thought I had no good food options but fast food off of 210. Was told about this place and obviously tried it out and it was awesome. Great service. Great food. The waitress has a great personality. Service was prompt even though they were busy. It felt like everyone was a local and knew each other.

Kids friendly, family restaurant, everything was delicious like a home cook meal. The staff was awesome considering we were a group of 15 with 9 small kids!

We just had lunch here, ordered the black and blue burguer for me and the alpine burguer for my wife. For my son we ordered a kids hot dog.
Everything was excellent, we were impressed.
The burguers wre good, the buns were very soft, and she had onion rings for her side and i had fries.
We will definitely come back. It is a small place, everybody was friendly and you can tell customers not only there but they also spend a good time while eating talking to the staff and to other customers.
Great place!

Great jewel of a place tucked away off 210 in St Augustine. Had a great breakfast and the service and buzz at the bar was awesome. I’ll definitely be a regular moving forward.

Great family environment, great breakfast just like Mom makes. Fast and friendly wait staff who remember you on your second visit.

went for breakfast, ordered eggs over easy and ham, eggs were done very hard and ham steak was nothing more than a slice of luncheon meat. Home fries were commercial diced potatoes deep fried with little taste. Very confused by the other reviews have been to much better breakfast spots.

Stumbled upon this café through Unilocal.Little quaint place and excellent service! My fruit was fresh tasting. The coffee was perfect. Home cooked breakfast A++!

This was our first visit. Based on the positive reviews, my wife and I went there for breakfast. The restaurant was hard to locate — but our GPS helped. It’s slightly hidden off of 210 about ½ mile east of 95. It is set off the road in a commercial park.
Our first impression going in the door — it’s a local hangout for men who work nearby. We then noticed one other couple and one family already seated. We sat and were greeted immediately by a very friendly waitress. The a/​c felt very cold — uncomfortably so. The waitress said she always wears a sweater.
I had the «complete breakfast» — eggs, bacon, pancakes and home fries. My wife ordered a waffle. The eggs and bacon were done to perfection. The pancakes were fluffy — but without flavor. The syrup was Log Cabin. The «home fries» were a huge disappointment — out of a bag and deep fried, then sprinkled with a spice mixture that overpowered the potato.
My wife’s waffle also was disappointing — soft and «mushy.»
The atmosphere was friendly and appeared that many there are regulars. The service was excellent but the breakfast wasn’t good enough to bring us back again.

Great food and service. We were seated as soon as we arrived. Food is cooked in front of you. Food was excellent. Home style cooking. Very tasty! Prices were great too.

Nothing special and I was expecting that with over 4 stars on Unilocal.Hubby’s hash browns looked soaked in oil/​butter and were barely on the griddle (not the least bit crisped). My «breakfast potatoes» were merely the frozen ora ida ones put in the deep fryer. Hubby’s steak was pretty much inedible and I just left confused from all the great reviews.

Breakfast or Burgers Mario gets it done right. Good food, good atmosphere, great service. Hard to find a local place of this nature in Jacksonville — this place is a gem!

Sandwiches were great. We had the chicken parm and sausage & pepper. I suggest the sausage and pepper for sure. Tasted like white plains NY.

Great little hidden breakfast spot. They do a great job with morning basics! The staff is friendly and the wait is never very long. Best part about it being off the beaten path. If you’re on 210, you should stop in one morning. You won’t be disappointed.

Just discovered this little gem for breakfast. Everything was cooked to perfection, nothing overly greasy. Attentive staff and reasonable prices. It was nice to see all the regulars sitting around the bar. The home fries were delicous, great spices and not soaked in oil. We will be back again :)

Stopped in for breakfast/​brunch and was pleasantly surprised! You can order breakfast or lunch at anytime and the staff was friendly. We opted for breakfast and it was delicious! Food came quickly and straight from the grill, and was perfectly cooked. Definitely a hidden gem! We will be back in the near future.

I love this little place.
You are treated like family every time you visit.
Mario & Deb run this family restaurant. They are lean, mean, breakfast makin’ machines! Okay, not mean… :D