We were told that if we were planing on visiting St Jacobs that we should try to arrive early, as it gets pretty crowded on the weekend especially with the wonderful weather in the forecast. Friends of ours had dined at the Stone Crock Restaurant on a previous trip to St Jacobs, so they suggested we have the buffet breakfast to start off our day. I’m one of those people who like doing a bit of research before I’m about to visit somewhere, especially when it comes to restaurants. The reviews I came across for the Stone Crock Restaurant online were less than desirable. However, our friends made the suggestion and we trusted their opinion more than some faceless person on Tripadvisor, who arrived just before they stopped serving breakfast and expected a fully stocked buffet.
We arrived a little after 8 am and there were already several patrons inside and according to the info I read online, they open at 8 am. I guess everyone were on our page and wanted to get a jump-start to their day with a good breakfast. Parking is free and can be found on the entrance to the right side of the building. But with limited spaces I could easily see this parking lot getting filled fast. Now I’m not sure if this is allowed, but we left of our car in the very same parking lot after breakfast and toured the small town of St Jacobs so we didn’t have to source other parking options.
* For driving directions, location and service times, please see below.
We we’re a party of four and were seated immediately as we arrived just after they opened as I touched on above. I did notice a rather long bench at the front where you wait to be assigned a table, so I assume it gets pretty busy during the later part of the morning. We were here for the buffet breakfast, but there are many ala carte options if you so choose. A very pleasant lady came over and introduced herself as our waitress and took our drinks order. Yes, the coffee is good and you will find yourself having that second cup. She explained that the buffet was open and that we were free to go up and get started.
There are two main buffet sections, with the “salty” stuff on one and the “sweet” on the other. The salty included eggs, bacon, different fried potatoes, sausages, toast, French toast, ham, quiche…you get the picture and on the sweet section there’s an assortment of desserts, fruit and breads. Can you guess which section I didn’t go to? I must warn you though, as you make your way between the sausages and french toast you’ll be captivated by the scent of apple pie. You’ll swear you’re in your grandmas kitchen as the lovely scent of baking apples combined with cinnamon sugar catches your attention and forces you to place a couple of the apple fritters onto your plate. I was told by Tony who’s been here before that I should grab a couple as these go very fast. For the cereal lovers there’s hot oatmeal and an assortment of cold cereal to choose from. I’m a big fella and I do put away a good meal and with all the options I was in my personal heaven. I started off with the eggs, deep friend bacon (lovely), sausage, hash browns and fried potato slices.
We topped up our coffee, enjoyed good conversation and the placemat under our plates was a map of the area so that helped us to further plan our day in St Jacobs. Caron, Marko and Toni are all dessert people so they went up and sampled the fresh fruit, the trifle (which did look yummy) and some of the other freshly made desserts they offed. When a table goes quite, you know everyone is enjoying the meal. I on the other hand went in for round two as I did zero in on the baked beans my first time around, but didn’t have room on my plate and I wanted another portion of the fried slices of potato which had a light seasoning on them. I’m a huge fan of baked beans and weather this batch was made from scratch or from a can, they were excellent. Very savory and the beans themselves kept their same and were not crushed.
The restaurant at this point was starting to get packed, but the way the tables are spread out into different rooms, you never get the feeling of being crowded. The interior gave you a sort of home style comfort with the wooden tables and chairs you’d find in most homes across Canada and the open airy feeling was very welcoming. We lucked out with a table by the window so we could see people coming and going in the parking lot and the natural light enhanced this dining experience.
As you looked around to the other tables you could see people enjoying good food and from the low chatter you could tell they were enjoying the conversations they were having with friends and family. Even the toddler at the table 5 tables away was enjoying whatever her mom was feeding her.
We were now fueled-up and ready to hit the streets of this historic town of St Jacobs. As we made our way back to the front it was then that I noticed the gift store on the right side of the exit. A great spot to pick up little trinkets to remember your visit to St Jacobs. I guess I missed this on entry as I was more focused on the alluring scent of sizzling bacon and the rich smell of perfectly brewed coffee as we entered earlier.
I’m not sure why this restaurant gets all the bad reviews online, but our group was very pleased by the ambiance, the service and excellent food choices. Fresh, well cooked and on point when it comes to serving temperature. Which I’m sure is hard to achieve when you’re serving food buffet style. Breakfast is served between 8-11 am, costs $9.99 per person and the selection is awesome.
Getting there:
St. Jacobs Stone Crock Restaurant
1396 King Street North
St. Jacobs, ON N0B 2N0
Phone: (519) 664-2286
Fax: (519) 664-1513
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