A Herald reader suggested we try Jake’s Cafe On Second Street.
I went to the Snohomish diner on a lazy Saturday, arriving at about 2:45 p.m. and stood at the entrance mesmerized: The walls were covered with Betty Boop, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and the Blues Brothers. I couldn’t wait to sit down and take it all in.
But, it turns out, I’d have to wait.
“Sorry, we close at 3,” a server said in a nice but firm voice.
I went back a few weeks later on a Sunday, this time around 1 p.m. so as not to take any chances.
The place was bopping.
Our party of six spanned four generations, two states and two continents: My husband, Max, and his dad, Jim, visiting from Ohio. My son, Ian, and his wife, Ayako, and their 4-month-old baby, Momo.
We came with a wide palate.
Great-grandpa Jim has to have a waffle for breakfast, even if it’s at lunchtime.
Ian is a 24/7 burger guy.
Max gets on periodic kicks where he tries to eat healthy.
Ayako likes to try new things not in her Japanese upbringing.
Baby Momo, well, she just wants action with her bottle. She liked all the shiny things on the walls and that the waitresses were talking to her.
There were conversations going on all around us. This isn’t a place where people stare at their cellphones or chase Pokemon. They laugh and yak. They feed off of the energy of Elvis and Marilyn.
Our menu choices:
Bacon cheeseburger ($9.75) for Ian.
Vegetarian omelet ($11.50) for Max.
Strawberry waffle ($10.75) and ham &eggs ($9.95) for Ayako.
Belgian waffle ($6.75) for great-grandpa Jim, who at 84 is old enough to remember ’50s diners in the ’50s — and he’s still alive to tell about it despite, or maybe because of, those daily waffles.
For me, the club sandwich ($11.95).
Earlier, I checked out Jake’s Cafe online and had seen photos of this amazing sandwich and couldn’t get it out of my mind. Actually, everything looked good in the online pics of heaping plates.
Our food arrived within minutes. Wow! How did they whip custom orders so fast?
It was hot and fresh. There was nothing pre-made about it.
The food portions were just like the pictures. The omelet was as big as Max’s head.
“The omelet was fluffy and good,” Max said. “I bet they put eight eggs in it.”
“They give you a whole mountain of fries,” Ian said.
My ginormous club sandwich, divided in quarters, was so big I had to divide and conquer. It was delicious.
Ayako’s waffle was a cake covered with whipped cream and strawberries. She couldn’t eat it all, so Max graciously stepped up to the plate to help her out. And he finished off her ham.
Jim’s waffles were steeped in syrup. “Them are good,” Jim said. “Oh, yeah.”
He didn’t need Max to clean his plate.
Jim like seeing the skydivers from the window. That’s not something he is used to seeing from the window of his diner in Ohio.
“This a good place to take your grandpas,” Ian said. “It has enough to keep four generations eating together, happy.”
Momo squealed her delight.
Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterbrown.
Jake’s Cafe On Second Street
709 2nd St., Snohomish; 360-563-0896.
Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
Vegetarian: Eggs, waffles and sides
Alcohol: None
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