5 South Main

One would think that making a breakfast is going to be pretty much the same one place to the next not so with 5 South, each meal was prepared individually it is served hot and it is very very fresh highly recommend it as the number one place in the South Shore to eat breakfast you cannot beat the price nor the value

You’ve got to try this terrific restaurant !! We’ve eaten at 5 South Main at least a dozen times. It’s cozy, comfortable, the servers are very friendly, prices are excellent and the food is OMG delicious! I get the Southwestern wrap and it’s so large, I only eat half of. On warmer days, you can eat outdoors and watch the locals walk around the beautiful Cohasset downtown.
Enjoy!
Neil Wood

This is a nice, small café with friendly service and good food. We went here for lunch a few weeks ago for the first time and really enjoyed our meal. I was hoping to go back today, but sadly they were closed for the holiday. We’ll be back soon though!

4 of us arrived here this past Sunday morning. We noticed how small the location was so figured it would be a little bit of a wait. We were told it would be a 30 minute wait, fine, no problem. We sat right outside to wait since it was too small inside.
Once 30 minutes rolled around we went in to check with the staff since 2 tables were opening, 1 outside and 1 inside. The waitress working rudely snapped at us saying they told us it would be at least 45 minutes… false. Then she abruptly changed her excuse and said they skipped over our group since they didn’t see us and would get us seated next. How they missed us sitting out front is beyond me.
We waited a little bit longer outside, but as we watched a group who arrived about 40 minutes after us sit down at the table outside we went inside and just sat at the table that was empty but not cleared. We sat at the dirty table for a bit before it was finally cleared and we were given menus. We wanted to order right away since we had a good amount of time under our belts at this point and had already looked at the menu while waiting. We ended up sitting there for about 5 more minutes until we flagged down the waitress passing by to ask if we could order. Without stopping her pace she again snapped at us, «in a minute» without even looking up from her note pad. The four of us looked at each other and got the hell out of there, no way were we staying.
I don’t need people to kiss my ass when I’m out, but to have a basic respect for your customers would be nice. I’ve been to many busy restaurants and the staff still manages to be pleasant. This place was disorganized, unpleasant, and dirty, there was food all over the benches and floor. It’s a shame since the food looked good, but we will not be back and I will not recommend this place to anyone. There are too many other options out there I’d rather try, we ended up down the street at the French bakery for a breakfast sandwich and it was great! And the staff actually smiled at us, what a concept…

Fantastic breakfast place. Slow service because the kitchen is small. The cinnamon french toast is phenomenal and much better than the pancakes. Really good homemade granola.

5 South Main has THE MOST delicious breakfast! We had an omelette with home fries and the insane Cinnamon Roll French Toast — OMG! The atmosphere is very chill, the staff pleasant. My only critique would be somewhat slow service. But totally worth the wait!

Swung by here on a beautiful Sunday — they were all out of lobster (originally wanted the lobster BLT, Unilocal pics make it look delicious). Instead, I got the tuna melt. So good. A good amount of tuna, crispy buttered bread, and just the right amount of melted cheese. Delish! I took it to go — but the place is really cute!
$ 11 with tax — so yea, not a bargain sandwich but really good quality and they’re generous with the tuna (I actually took some off)
**UPDATE**: I’ve been here twice since for breakfast. I would not recommend this place for breakfast. Service is very slow — we waited an hour for our bfast. Then, all our omelettes were burnt (brown) — with no acknowledgement. Hashbrowns tasted freezer burnt. We thought maybe they’d offer free coffee for such slow service (mind you, we had a toddler with us so it was tough keeping her entertained for that long!)
Second time I went, I got the waffles. They appear delicious but are bland and doughy. My husband got the lobster grilled cheese and loved it. All in all, this is a great sandwich shop but we will not be going again for breakfast.

Terrific place to enjoy an excellent breakfast! Based on Unilocal reviews my girlfriend and I ended up enjoying two wonderful breakfasts here while on vacation recently. The menu offers a wide selection of breakfast options ranging from old favorites to signature dishes like the Eggs Benedict with crab cakes instead of ham (which I thoroughly enjoyed!). Wait staff is friendly and efficient, and aside from a wobbly table thing they’ve got going on, this place will definitely put a smile on your face.

This place is incredible. Was visiting from out of town for a wedding… the staff was friendly, the food was great, the experience was fantastic. My family still talks about the food and atmosphere.

I love the sandwiches here as they are filled with crazy things that maybe you would not think to put together. Absolutely delicious. I never had Pear on a sandwich before along with Brie and Turkey! It was so fantastic. I wish that the place was larger but that’s not something they can fix… unless they moved and then they wouldn’t be 5 S Main anymore… seriously you need to try this CUTE restaurant located in an adorable section of Cohasset. It’s fun to walk in all the little shops after a great lunch.

Great sandwiches. I usually call in my order for sandwiches. The signature 5-​South Main sandwich is awesome. Friendly staff. Fresh food.

Know what I’ve learned about 5 South Main since my well-​apportioned breakfast wrap experience of 2012 (read below)?
They can poach an egg.
The toppers to my Crabby Cakes plate couldn’t have hit the measures of a proper poaching any more perfectly: tender albumen cooked through without being rubbery, a golden river of flowing yolk, and (this is key) proper drainage before hitting the dish. Nothing saddens a bastardized Benny like the tears of bathed ova sogging up your English stack. Ugh, man up EGGS!
I’ve also learned their new POS may call for an ticket mixup here or there. Show some patience iff’n you find yourself correcting a mis-​order of French toast. #skynet
Still as quaint and cozy as it ever was. And when I say «cozy,» it’s to the size of the space only. There’s no real protection from winter’s chill, so leave your coat on.

Had lunch here on a weekday with a friend and had a good experience. I ordered the turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich and she had the chicken salad sandwich on ciabatta and both were really good. $ 8 – 9 it seemed for most but that doesn’t include any sides. The waitstaff was nice enough but I wouldn’t say they were exactly warm and inviting. I’d still come back as it was good reasonably priced food.

Tiny place, if I counted correctly, max. 26 seats. Breakfast ALL day on Sundays. I had the French toast «sampler» ½ cinnamon FT and ½ cinnamon bun FT. (Yes, massive sugar overload). Both items are homemade and very yummy. Fresh, hot, juicy bacon. My only quibble is the «homefries»…they’re shredded style like hashbrowns. 2 problems this style, it doesn’t lend to good seasoning and they get Cold very quickly, no matter where you get this type, you have to eat them right away.

On a recent trip to visit family in Massachusetts, we decided to spend the day in Cohasset. It was lunchtime, and I was looking everywhere for lobster rolls (a must when I visit New England), when we happened to see a sign in front of the restaurant that they had lobster rolls. The restaurant is small with a few tables. While waiting for a table to clear up, I decided to check the menu which was also written on a big chalkboard on the wall. There was a good selection of breakfast and lunch items. Once we got seated, our waitress came to clear the table. The waitress seemed short and wanted us to order quickly and didn’t give us much time to ask questions about the items. After I saw that they had lobster BLT, I didn’t pay attention to the rest of the menu, much less what everyone else ordered… all I could think about was how big was this lobster BLT was going to be and praying it will be as good as the ones I have had in Martha’s Vineyard. There are different ways lobster rolls are made; one is with butter drizzled on top of the lobster meat, while others have the lobster meat mixed with mayonnaise (I prefer it this way), and always, the bread is toasted. When the waitress placed my Lobster BLT in front of me, I took the necessary picture and stared digging in. Oh my, the toasted bread with the chunks of lobster meat in mayonnaise with lettuce and tomatoes, topped with slices of bacon (bacon does make everything better)…mouth watering delicious! One of the best lobster rolls I ever had! The portion was a good size… and yes, I finished the whole thing! The others with me got tuna melt sandwich and the 5 south main sandwich which looked good but like I said, it was all about my lobster BLT.
The food came out quickly but the service wasn’t the greatest. Our waitress kept forgetting to grab our chips so we had to go to the counter and get it ourselves, and she didn’t come back to ask if everything was ok or if we needed anything else.
The restroom was located in the back by the kitchen, I really mean by the kitchen. You had to walk through the small kitchen to get to the only restroom the restaurant has.
Overall, the food was excellent and I definitely recommend the lobster BLT.

Great breakfast. Good options for kids when not super busy. Not a lot of seating, so you may need to wait, especially in summer. Plenty of vegetarian options, with various French toast, pancakes and omelets. I particularly like the granola, you can take it to go (nice hints of cinnamon).
Beware the window seats have heating/​air vents that can be overwhelming. We have had to put jackets over them to avoid sweating/​freezing. Portion sizes are on the very large size. My kids split an order easily.

A quaint, clean, laid-​back, READ: slow, place for breakfast. This review was a tossup, on the one hand you have a couple of tasty, well-​executed sweet breakfast offerings, but on the other you have really slow service. If your the patient type, it’s the three stars; if not, probably two to two half. I was with the wife and kids, so the together time, READ: long wait, was palatable.
The four of us stopped in on Sunday at noon for brunch. I was starving, and being on the good ship low carb diet, chose the «Kitchen Sink» omelet. The menu describes it as «all the veggies, all the meats — wow.» The wow’s were twofold. Wow, it really does have EVERYTHING. Filled with every vegetable option along with large pieces of ham, fresh sausage and bacon pieces, plus two cheeses, I chose feta and cheddar (I don’t know why), the omelet with its hash browns and sour dough toast (I don’t know why either) was more than enough for two people. (There were leftovers.) The second «wow» is: Wow, it took twenty-​five minutes for an omelet. To 5 South Main’s credit every table and the counter was taken, but still almost half an hour?
The real standouts of the table were the two sweet choices (pun intended) ordered by my children. They both chose french toast. My daughter picked the cinnamon roll option, which is basically thick split cinnamon rolls, dipped in egg, thrown on the griddle and covered in vanilla icing. My son chose the «Myrtle Francais» which is even thicker Texas toast drizzled with both chocolate and caramel sauces and covered in chopped pecans. Both were very good; both worth going back for.
Neither kid even touched the maple syrup, which was real Grade B (I tasted it) and which should always be used over Grade A. The latter of which’s name in my opinion should be changed from «A» to «Grade Pale, Flavorless, Freudian Retentive.»
My wife rounded out our noontime repast with her order of 5 South Main’s «Crabby Cakes.» No, there wasn’t any avaricious crustacean, no yellow spongy fry cook, no malodorous cephalopod. Instead, two moderately bready, albeit tasty, crab cakes topped with grilled tomato slices and perfectly cooked poached eggs were set in front of her with home fries and multigrain toast (I don’t know about that one either). I tried them they were good. Worth the $ 16? Maybe.
The kids are dying to go back for what they got, and my wife and I will probably get the Kitchen Sink and spit it. I was told that 5 South Main serves breakfast all day, and I could see stopping in some afternoon for the cinnamon roll french toast and a cup of coffee. That is, if the sugar and carbs don’t send me in hyperglycemic shock.

I have walked/​driven past this spot so many times on the way to French Memories. If I wanted something for breakfast or lunch in Cohasset center, I had always felt that FM would get the job done; and it did. Plus I had this feeling that 5 South was just another one of their mediocre spots that can overcharge in a rich town. A restaurant like that just relied on its cutesy look to get you in the door and the food was just pedestrian. However, I wanted something different one day and decided to go against instincts. Probably a wrong decision…
I came for lunch and service seemed somewhat cluster you-​know-​what. It took a while for a waitress to get to me, and yet the staff wasn’t totally overwhelmed. There were a couple of clean small tables yet the waitress decided to make me wait for an unclean table to be cleared up and have me sit at that just cleared table. Puzzling.
I ordered the Three Layer Turkey Club, and while I did get a pretty sizable sandwich, the picture on the restaurant’s website is greatly exaggerated. You do get a lot of turkey and nominal amount of bacon. To the sandwich’s «credit», the roof of my mouth was getting a good scratching from toasted bread and struggling to fit the sandwich into my mouth. However, size aside, the sandwich wasn’t spectacular and was merely passable.
The price point and lack of sides disappointed the most. For $ 9, you only get the sandwich. You won’t get potato chips, salad, or anything on the side. All you get is a paltry slice of orange. I don’t even recall having a refill on water.
The floor of the restaurant was pretty atrocious, as I could see food and dust collecting around me. If you need lunch in Cohasset center, just go to French Memories instead.

Another case of a quaint restaurant run as a hobby. Up in scenic Cohasset for a wedding, decided to check Unilocal for a many-​starred local breakfastery. We decided to try this place because 1) it was generally highly rated and 2) there is nowhere else to have a cooked breakfast in this quaint seaside town.
We were seated and decided on a couple of omelettes: feta+spinach and tomato+bacon with a request that toast be dark and potatoes be crisped. This request apparently so unnerved the cook that it set back our order by 45 minutes and others who arrived after us were served well before we were. We were about to leave when our orders arrived. Of course, the potatoes were limp and cold (women complain about this often, I’ve heard) and the toast was the same and barely warm. The omelettes were generous, but over cooked.
I would have awarded more stars if only. If only the toast was warm. Of only the potatoes were warm and crisp. If only I had won the lottery. If only I was 18 again.
It seems clear that the cook and the tiny kitchen must find it difficult to manage even small requests.
If you do give it a try, dial down your expectations.

There’s always that one person you never really noticed. The one who’s just always been there, consistent… solid…but a bit forgettable. Your parents probably brought them up every once in awhile, «Why don’t you give _​_​_​_​_​a chance? He’s so… nice.»

Then one day Mr. Nice & Reliable throws you for a total loop. Like, walking into your local dive bar and finding that boring nerd from the office killing your favorite Clash song at karaōke. Or seeing your dorky neighbor pull up on his vintage Triumph looking all Steve McQueen. Ok. You have my attention.
I’ve been to 5 South Main a handful of times. I’ve been for lunch and for breakfast, always finding their sandwiches and breakfast menu to be tasty but as soon as I was out the door I had no strong memory of the meal. The interior is charming. The location, in downtown Cohasset, is perfect. The service is friendly. It’s all so… nice.
But this last visit? Total game changer. I like cinnamon. I like sugar. I like butter. I like bread (Ok, I love bread). 5 South Main manages to combine these basic crowd pleasers into the all-​time best French Toast I have ever had. They use fresh cinnamon bread from a local bakery, generously topping it with cinnamon sugar and sweet butter– making something drool-​worthy and so much more than the sum of its’ parts. Add maple syrup and I’m pledging my undying love.
This dish was so perfect, so surprisingly good, I’ll never deem 5 South Main forgettable again. This is now my absolute first choice for breakfast on the South Shore.