Poppa Joe’s

I have heard positive comments about Poppa Joe’s and wanted to try it. On my second attempt, I actually did receive the breakfast I ordered. While the staff is very friendly, the fact that the service is SO SLOW and the food is mediocre, I probably won’t return. I had the biscuits and gravy which is only made on Weds. and is highly recommended. The serving was huge but it was horrible… bland and flavorless. My friend’s breakfast was equally disappointing. The coffee and homemade jam was tasty though. Definitely not worth the wait.

We go in here a couple times a month. We live in ferndale and it’s a local spot. Service is always friendly. They serve your average breakfast. But it’s a friendly atmosphere, filled with history and nostalgia. We never have a bad time and food is decent.

I really wanted to love this place… I love to support local businesses! But the service here was the worst I’ve ever had in my life. It took us about 90 mins to have a Saturday morning breakfast… the staff was obviously overwhelmed which I felt badly for, but there was never any acknowledgement of the situation, apology, etc.
It took forever to place our order and then at least 45 mins to GET our food. And we weren’t alone… lots of grumpy, hungry people surrounded us. The only good thing is that I had a premonition about how long the food would take and left my husband and son to ‘man’ the table while the gf and I went and spent some money at the local Ferndale shops which are all delightful.
The food was fine, but NO food is worth waiting that long for. Pancakes were great… yes! Omelettes were loaded with yummy stuff… yes! But coffee was hard to get refilled and like I said, how joyful can you BE when you have waited for over an hour for breakfast?
I hope this was a rare occurrence and that Poppa Joe’s was just having a bad day… I have a feeling that’s not the case based on some other reviews. It really seemed like the cook made one order at a time vs. multipurposing the grill… great place for Gordon Ramsay to come in and help fine-​tune the process!

Eat here if you want a very good breakfast. Great omelette and good waffles. Be patient, there is only one person cooking, it is worth the wait.

This is really a «locals» place. They welcome everyone though. Discovered this place early one morning prior to riding motorcycles to The Lost Coast. Was only place open in Ferndale at the time. Food is really good. The place has a great vibe to it. Poker tables in the back. The folks there are very friendly. I have been back a few other times to ride the area and always make a point to stop here for a bite.

A great place to start the morning. If you ever saw the Heull Howser special on Ferndale, this is the place.
Coffee is a dollar and unlimited! Waffles are the size of your head so don’t order the large order. Biscuits and gravy are on Wednesdays. This is not a tourist trap restaurant with exorbitant prices! Good eats at reasonable prices. Kudos!
Ps. Don’t forget to add the homemade jams in your toast or waffles.

Fabulous little gem. We ate breakfast at Poppa Joe’s and the food was great and atmosphere was wonderful. The staff are very nice and make you feel welcome. A lot of locals come to Poppa Joe’s. It’s one of the oldest café’s in California and well worth a stop.

What a great charming and old fashion historic place for a wonderful breakfast. Rebecca was our server, she was very charming and attentive. Had the special of pumpkin pancakes… they were great. Highly recommend for a fantastic breakfast.

This is the perfect place for bfast the morning after we ran the Ave of Giants half marathon. Decently sized portions. Ordered the two eggs, hash and toast and the big pancake with choc chips. Everything we had was delicious. Crispy hash was amazing.
Good, friendly service. A little slow on the preparation and cooking but we weren’t in any sort of rush, and why would you be in a rush if you were in Ferndale? The interior looked like an old saloon filled with locals. If you’re in the area def stop by. They open at 6am!

Quite possibly the worst restaurant experience I’ve ever had. Waited for 30 minutes just to have our order taken, then well over an hour of looking towards the counter to see if our order was yet being prepared. I felt as though we were invisible during this waiting period, and because it took so long, we just ended up leaving. Completely insulting customer service, and as I didn’t receive my meal, I guess I won’t ever know how the food is because I don’t even live in Humboldt. Perhaps might try this place again if I’m town (but if it’s slow) to see how the food stacks up.

The old space is super cool, but the service was sloooooooow. Really slow. couldnt’t get a refill on coffee. I think the «chef» cooks one meal at a time, no multi tasking. The food was serviceable.
I asked the waitress for the history of this amazing old building. she stuttered throgh some half ass thing hat was totally made up and lame. Becasue when i left, there’s a metal plaque affixed to the building explaining its entre history. I guess she never read it. Shocker.

Abnormally slow for breakfast, lose a star
That said, food was very good, fresh and tasty
Portions very good value
Waitress friendly and service focused.
Old building, old interior, has rustic back country charm
Would eat here again.

This place was so good, that we had to have it twice on our trip! I loved how everything was super fresh and made to order. NOTHING was pre cooked until it was ordered. This meant it took a while to get our food, but was worth the wait. It is located right on main street in an old saloon. There are card tables located in the back of the place that are occupied by ‘old retired dairymen.’ Super cool. Good portions, good prices, and amazing location. I can’t wait to go back!

This is an experience! It took a while to get out breakfast, but we enjoyed the wait. The grill is in full view, so you can watch the expert grill cook prepare your food. The staff was friendly and the atmosphere was exactly what you look for when visiting a small rural town.

GREAT bacon&onion 3-​egg omelette! Coffee is hot, fresh & plentiful… only reason for 4 stars rather tngan 5 is you had better not be in a hurry to receive your order. As far as I could tell it was 1 guy working the grill solo. It’s worth the wait, though, and no one is trying to rush you out the door. If I ever am back in the area I’ll definitely go again!

Upon entering you immediately feel this place has been here forever and the same people have been going here forever.
It may not be the best of the best but its probably the most authentic Humboldt county breakfast you can get other then maybe somoa cookhouse. It totally has the farmer logger feel but I would say they have better food served to order then the cookhouse.
Its not a healthy place. They definitely don’t skimp on the butter, thats for sure. Actually if you take a look at the grill you can see about a 3 pounds slab of good looking butter ready for the using.
As far as recommendations, they make a damn good american style breakfast burrito. They have some pretty serious pancakes too and Im sure homemade waffles.
This place is great for big groups/​families wanting to kick back awhile enjoy each others company and eat a good american breakfast.

Water that tasted like dish soap and food that was going to take an hour without notice. After a half hour of sitting there without food we cancelled our order which would have taken another hour and left. Seems to not be a place if your hungry. The server was polite though.

Poppa Joe’s is a comfort food diner in a historic location in a historic town. Ferndale is one of the most picture perfect towns in the country and is a popular location to film for Hollywood movies. It looks like a popular local hangout for the regulars (65+ if you know what I mean) to meet up and play cards in the back.
I was in Ferndale between Christmas and New Years so not much was open in town due to the holidays. Poppa Joe’s was one of the very few places open. They serve breakfast food, burgers and sandwiches here at this no frills diner. The food was decent. I had the breakfast special with two eggs, hash browns and linguica sausage. The sausage was recommended by our waitress and it was very tasty. The hash browns were pretty crispy as well. I didn’t order the pancakes but a table near us ordered them and they were the size of the large plates!

We were at the Benbow Inn for a weekend and took a drive to Ferndale. Asked a local where’s the best place for breakfast. She replied, «Poppa Joe’s, but you may have to wait.» We figured she meant wait for a table to open up. So we were surprised to see lots of vacant tables and counter seats. In we went.
Kind of a funky (in a good way) old building, lots of character. But cold. We kept our coats on. (Well, it was a very cold weekend everywhere when we were there.)
Waitress was fine and friendly, offering coffee refills. Which we needed.
Food was quite good — great potatoes, good bacon, wonderful pancakes, good eggs.
So, why the two-​stars? When the local said, «You may have to wait,» I think what she meant was you may have to wait for your food.
The restaurant wasn’t crowded. There were some folks at the counter and three other tables of people.
It took 55 minutes (yes, I timed it) before the food was served.
This was a Sunday, so maybe the regular cook was not working. Or maybe one of two cooks called in sick. Whatever.
And inordinate amount of wait time for simple breakfasts.
Summary: Food is very good. The place has a lot of character. But I don’t want to wait nearly one hour for food.

Best breakfast in NorCal. The Portuguese sausage is so good. I wish we had this in Tennessee.