Five Forks Cafe

Williamsburg has, literally, DOZENS of breakfast places up and down Richmond Rd, sprawling from the Colonial area, through the Outlet Mall, and on to Busch Gardens. That said, most have a distinctly chain/​cookie cutter feel (I mean, how many variations can there possibly be of the Super Huge Ginormous Monstrosity Pancake House?!?) and serve roughly the exact. same. thing. After a handful of disappointments, the wife and I went on a deliberate mission for something with more character and a discernible pulse. Thankfully, our friends at Unilocal turned us onto Five Forks and we really haven’t looked back since.
Five Forks is a home town dive diner at heart with a casual, homey feel. The menu has all of the standard norms (e.g. egg plates, omelettes, pancakes, etc.) that are all tasty, but what really sets them apart in my mind is their incredibly diverse daily specials. On our last trip it was Jerk Pork with Fried Plantains, Scrambled Eggs, Hash Browns, and a Cheese Quesadilla (all for $ 9.99). The pork was tender and flavorful while the plantains were soft and just sweet enough to not be dessert worthy… not to mention, how many «hole in the wall» diners have a Jerk Pork breakfast special?!? Points for creativity AND quality!
My main detractors are 1) that the service can be spotty at times, both in friendliness and speed and 2) if you happen to hit them on a less than creative day with the specials, the menu is a little boring for the more festive palates.
All in all, particularly given options in the area, Five Forks Café is our go-​to for breakfast. Even if the specials are lacking, they have more character and flavor than most, and at incredibly competitive prices, and do not look, act, or feel like a chain.

Cheesy potatoes and corn pancakes were so yummy. What fun we had eating a Southern breakfast. Place is a madhouse because it’s so popular. Grits were delish! Service adequate and we got seated right away. Great meal worth waking up for. many choices on menu.

Great little southern 80s style diner. Almost like a hole in the wall comfort food establishment. Would definitely recommend for a quick breakfast. Me and my girlfriend ordered:
Chicken fried steak breakfast — The steak with pepper sauce was a typical comfort food breakfast. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It came with eggs, toast, bacon, and sausage. Sausage was one of the best breakfast sausages I’ve ever had.
Three egg omelette — Got it filled with American cheese, tomato, and bacon. The bacon was quality bacon. It was done well and very tasty. It also came with toast.
Also ordered a pancake — The pancake was huge. Probably equivalent to two at most other places. It was really fluffy and soft. Very delicious and high quality. Definitely one of the best I’ve had.

Great local diner food. I don’t know any local that has said a single bad thing about this place. Food is greasy spoon and portions a are good. Not fancy stuff but all the flavors you want for breakfast. Too bad America doesn’t have more of these mom and pop food spots!

Great service, very good food! Didn’t have to wait for service, and it was very personable service! The Greek fries were great! This it’s a dinner type place; don’t compare to high end, high dollar places. This place is a go to place for sure.

We loved the food and the server was great! The portions seemed large too. The food all tasted homemade. We had a brisket sandwich, a gyro, mashed potatoes and key lime pie. Such a nice experience and so reasonable.
I think we ate there a week ago on a Friday night.

Outstanding food and service! We really enjoyed the corn cakes with honey butter and the chocolate chip pancakes (which are huge!). Highly recommend this local diner for breakfast.

Okay, I’ve got to say this place has redeemed itself. Delicious, hot, perfect service! Five forks is back to five stars!

With all the local pancake houses & breakfast places to go to, it was pretty hard to pick a place to eat at. But my boyfriend said this was a pretty popular place so we decided to eat here.
When you first walk in you get the usual diner feel. It was pretty crowded but we got seated quickly since it was just the two of us. I ordered the popular corn cakes with honey butter combo that included two eggs & a bacon. I substituted my bacon for a side of hash browns instead. My boyfriend got the corned beef hash combo that came with a side of two eggs & toast.
The food came out pretty quickly which was nice because we were starving. The corn cakes were amazing especially with the honey butter! My hash browns weren’t all that great though. It came out cold and didn’t have a very appealing taste. Eggs were average. My boyfriend enjoyed his meal though.
Overall it was delicious & a staple of this area. I would definitely recommend coming here :)

THE BEST greasy spoon in Williamsburg. Love, love, LOVE this place. From the diner environment to the specials to the regular menu items, you absolutely cannot go wrong. It’s quality food, reasonably priced, consistent in quality, with stellar service!
My personal favorites are the fried chicken gyro with greek fries (zomg, greek fries!) and the club sandwich. My son loves the pancakes. Everyone else loves everything else; literally, I’ve never heard any complaints.
There’s generally a bit of a wait, so go with that expectation if it’s a weekend; but do go. You won’t be sorry. My one suggestion is that you go for breakfast or lunch and not dinner. Dinner is the only meal of the day that’s kind of meh.

This place was very crowded, which is usually a good sign! We were seated promptly despite the lunch rush. I ordered the two eggs, hash browns and toast and added a pancake. My husband got the platter of eggs, bacon and pancake.
I didn’t expect the portions of egg, hash browns and toast to be so generous! There were four slices of toast (sourdough, I think)! The hash browns were very good — you could taste the grease from sausage cooked on the griddle.
Overall, good food and timely service. @$ 22 before tip.

I’ve only been here once but seems like a good place. Definitely classic diner feel to it. Went for lunch and had the open faced turkey sandwich. It was very good and I’d gladly order it again. See a lot of good things about their breakfast. They’re now open for dinner as well. Can imagine it’s hard to go wrong here and if imagine most of the food is very good.

This place is cool! Old school feel and great food to match. All the things that you hope for when visiting a place like this. If I’m ever back in the area I will certainly return. The hash browns are made exactly like you want them, pancakes are golden brown, and most importantly — the coffee is good. Not just some bland coffee brew, it’s actually good. Enough said — come heat here.

Absolutely wonderful, great service huge hamburgers so big and cooked top perfection. A little rough looking but who cares the food is what we’re going for. Had wine and beer, we when for dinner

THIS PLACE IS A MUST!!! It’s nothing fancy but the food is amazing! The food is by far the best I’ve had in Virginia. I had the open face turkey sandwich with mash potatoes and gravy and I swear it was the best I’ve ever had! I wanted to lick the gravy right off my plate. It doesn’t look fancy by any means but the food is above average of any diner I’ve been too.

My family and I were staying in a nearby resort for the weekend, and this was such a convenient choice for brunch that we ended up going two days in a row.
The first visit was great. I would’ve given them a solid 4 based on our experience then. We got there at around 10:30, and it was packed. We spotted a vacant table right by the door that was a little tiny for a party of five, but we took it, since most of us are on the small side, and made ourselves fit. We were too hungry to wait! We didn’t get the name of our server, but she took really good care of us. She and a male staff member, who appeared to be one of the owners, made sure we were comfortable, offering us an extra chair for purses, even though it semi-​blocked the walkway, and immediately taking away trays of condiments we didn’t find necessary in order to make more room on the table. My ten-​year-​old niece wanted to order a sandwich out of the lunch menu, which they weren’t even serving yet, but our server worked with her. I had some of the Old Bay-​sprinkled fries that came with her sandwich, and they were divine! I had the Greek omelette but asked for egg whites only and fruit in place of the pita bread and hash browns, and she delivered perfectly. My dad got scrapple, which was too soggy for his liking, but he said it was delicious nonetheless. We thought we found a gem of a diner in Williamsburg that day.
The second visit didn’t quite pan out like that, though. Again, it was packed, but a party was leaving when we arrived, so we were seated at once. We got a different waitress this time, and unfortunately, she wasn’t as pleasant as the one from the day before. She goofed on my mom’s pancakes initially but didn’t apologize and wasn’t as generous with my niece, who wanted the same exact sandwich. (To be fair, we got there a little bit earlier this time around. As a result, my niece had to settle on biscuits and gravy, which she didn’t end up eating much of, because there was too much pepper in it for her taste.) She was also rather short with us, which was understandable because they were very busy, but she had an air of rudeness that the server from the previous day never exhibited. She also failed to keep an eye on our cups and glasses and never came back to our table for beverage refills until we asked her to before closing out.
Overall, I still liked this joint. Modest, honest, lively, frequented by friendly locals. It does tend to get packed during brunch, though, so make sure you come early enough. The next time I end up in Williamsburg, I’ll probably return. I will definitely hope to get our server from our first visit then.

This is my favorite breakfast place in the entire world. Everyone is friendly, it’s a great value, and you can’t beat the real diner atmosphere.

We were seated promptly even though the place was hopping the other weekend. Great service and good little spot to grab some breakfast or lunch. The homefries and my omelette were delicious, you would be surprised how hard it is to find good homefries for breakfast! The servers were attentive and friendly and we never felt neglected or rushed. Great spot for a wonderful local meal!

I Unilocaled my way to thus lovely local foodie restaurant.
It was easy to locate and we met some wonderful Williamsburg natives.
We had the sausage biscuit and gravy combination with loaded hash browns (mushrooms, green peppers, onions, and delicious cheddar cheese). The food was amazing. We enjoyed fresh brewed coffee with our meal
This location is quaint and homey. You have a main waitress but they all work together to keep your coffee cup full and your food served piping hot. A nice flow of great customer service.
We drove an hour to try this restaurant and it was worth it. You will love anything you select. We saw people ordering a bit of everything on the menu, all smiles and giggles as we all ate as much as we could. Most people leave with rake — out dishes because the portions are huge.
You need to go and experience the food, service and love from the locals.

Diner-​tastic.
Fast, friendly service and solid breakfast food make this a good stop in the morning.
It’s a bit cramped, but bustling with locals and visitors alike. A plate of biscuits and gravy gets you a couple fluffy buttermilk biscuits smothered in peppery/​salty sausage gravy with surprisingly non-​greasy home fries on the side. Hot sauce is readily available, which is always a plus when choosing your greasy spoon destination.
Eggs are cooked properly to order. Pancakes are light and fluffy and not gummy, and corn-​cakes (crispy-​on-​the-​outside pancakes from a cornmeal batter) are a tasty variation on the usual. A bit too much salt in the grits for my liking, though. But hey, you’re gonna get out of here pretty cheap so I’m not going to complain too much, especially given that the rest of breakfast was pretty competently delivered.
Breakfast without the usual pancake-​house stickiness. Fast and cheap. Never a bad thing.