Fort Square Cafe

Absolutely TERRIBLE service. There’s 4 tables & a couple of seats at a counter. We sat at the counter for 20 mins & was never handed a menu, asked about a drink order or even given a glass of water. The guy mumbled «coffee?» I said no thank you & he never made eye contact again. Yet he found time to serve everyone else in there & make a fresh pot of coffee TWICE and changed the movie in the player. Finally had to get up & leave. Very disappointing b/​c the food looked & smelled good. Would have loved to have been able to actually order.

Best breakfast in town, small and cozy, Heidi the owner, cook is amazing at making what ever ur heart desires and Rusty the waiter well, ok then he is awesome too, u have to check it out

When we travel, my husband and I like to find the hole in the wall, local eateries. This is certainly one and we were thrilled to have found it. Small — only about 6 –8 tables — also a bar. The waiter was amazing — connected with his customers real well, whether he knew you or just meeting you for the first time. I had the omelet. It was so good — just what I needed to keep me full all day as we toured Salem. I would love to give it 5 stars but the only complaint we had was 40 minutes until our food was brought out. We ordered the omelet and 2 eggs and bacon. There were not that many people there to warrant the wait.

Astonishingly rude and bad service… though it looks like others had more positive experiences with Rusty, he had nothing but disdain for us. Others who came in later than we did were served much faster– apparently you have to be local to be treated with respect. We almost left, and probably should have. Not welcoming, to say the least…

I want to give this place six stars it was so good. The food was outstanding, I had the corn beef hash and it was the great. Although, the best thing was that we saw Heidi (owner and cook) make the whole thing. Sitting at the bar is the thing to do, talking to Rusty (the waiter) and listening to his story is fantastic. Definitely the place to go when in Gloucester.

On that little side street at the bend where Rodgers St turns into Washington St
The emphasis is most assuredly on the food here, not the atmosphere, which is home-​town quaint, but oh, the cuisine is ultra-​haute.
The muffins are somewhere between «excellent» and «walks-​on-​water». Breakfasts are superior. I’m saving lunch specials on the weekend for another review. Very limited seating, but a big free municipal lot is across the street (St. Peter’s Town Landing).
Heidi, the owner, and Rusty, the waiter (he will tell you his story), are supremely Gloucester friendly.

Outstanding breakfast at a good price.
Loved the Idaho Omlet and homemade hash.
I live here and keep coming back.
I’ve been to all the rest and feel that its worth the wait here for such high quality food.

I wanna give this place one star so nobody else will go and I can have it all to myself. Heidi, the owner, cooks fantastic food — all of it from omelets to smuffins (what’s a Smuffin? That’s for you to find out!). Service? Rusty is at the helm there and I have never seen better. Seriously. You’ll make this your breakfast home.

My wife and I are from the South and one of our complaints about NE food, is that it tends to be a little bland. I lived in New Orleans for a while and my wife was from the Gulf where spices, sexy flavors, and mouth watering appetizers were a part of every dish. What we loved about Fort Square, is that it brings the distinct and unique flavor of a true Southern dish, with the subtle distinctness of New England food. The food here is not overwhelming, but each dish is very tasty. The environment is very cozy as well; all that’s missing is a fire place and someone reading poetry to classical music in the background. The staff is personal, funny, and polite: another characteristic of the South, but they have enough sass that you know you’re still in Gloucester. Great place and by far, best breakfast place in town.

Great little diner. Delicious breakfast sandwiches and muffins. Most friendly atmosphere you could expect.
Big fan!

amazing Linguiça and fluffy french toast. reminds me of eating breakfast in a family member’s kitchen… and takes about that long as well. suuuuper slow service in a homey kinda place. full of locals… legit there is a household refrigerator in the dining room. but as long as you know all that going in… just sit back and enjoy the Linguiça.

Went here for a late breakfast. The irish eggs benedict was really good — it’s really the corned beef hash that makes it, it’s homemade and fantastic. Service was a little slow, but I think they were a little shorthanded. They have outdoor seating with a view of the outer harbor.

Holy Tasty Batman. Wife and I stopped in on 4^th of July to a packed, un-AC’d, hole in the wall greasy spoon, and had one of the best breakfasts we’ve had in some time. Delightful, friendly service, with amazing grub will certainly make this a mainstay for our North Shore eateries. FYI, get the Idaho/​potatoe omlette. That thing frigging rocked. Potatoes, sour cream, chives, bacon all wrapped inside a fluffy few-​egg wrap. Get it. No seriously, stop reading, hop in your preferred mode of transport, and get to this place and pick up one of these.

Finally! We found THE breakfast place in Gloucester. Greta home fires WITH TASTE, and the most perfect fluffy, three-​egg omelette ever to pass these lips. Clean and simple décor, just like we like it.
We’ve tried other places, but the owners and servers were not as friendly and the food was tasteless.

I love this place. My husband and I have eaten here more times than we can count, and it’s now our «go to» breakfast spot. I haven’t had a bad experience here. It’s always busy, so it helps to avoid the rush times, like Sunday morning. If you have to wait, then take a little stroll on the nearby beach.
The owner is fabulous. He is literally one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. The entire staff (a whole 3 people, total) is fantastic. The atmosphere is one of the reasons we love it so much. It’s just a genuine place, making great breakfast. It’s a place that has mismatched coffee cups, likely bought from a shop or donated by patrons, instead of the intentionally and artfully mismatched feel you might find at a «trendy» eatery.
Love it.

Fabulous little café right on the water in Gloucester– great for breakfast and brunch as they close at 1pm. Every dish they serve is delicious and the atmosphere is cozy and true to the fishing village Gloucester really is. Be sure to sit at the counter as the owner also runs the place and has tons of stories and history to share. His brother was actually one of the sailors lost at sea that the movie The Perfect Storm was based on– Mark Whalberg played his brother.
Bottom line, great food, great service, great atmosphere, and great people working there– you can’t go to Gloucester and not visit the Fort Square Café.

What a great breakfast. Fort Sq Café never fails to satisfy me.
My favorites are the 2−2−2, Idaho omelet and the linguicia bowl. Also, the muffins and other breakfast baked goods are fresh baked on a daily basis.
As another Unilocaler mentioned, the kitchen is small. Think of the kitchen in your house, but with an extra microwave, a few toasters and the electric griddle. With about 24 seats, if everyone rolls in at once, it can get a little backed up. At least get a coffee and a muffin to go if you are in that much of a rush.
Fort Sq Café is plastic friendly and there is plenty of parking in the area.

Love this place. Gloucester has lots of terrific breakfast places, and being a big fan of breakfast «out,» I’ve eaten at all of ‘em. I put this one at the top of the list (with quite a few others close behind). I had the best omelette ever (an «Idaho Omelette,» hold the Idaho) — really light and fluffy but large, with lots of yummy ingredients. The waiter was super-​nice, fun to talk to, showed us his tattoo dedicated to his brother, Bobby Shatford, and tho’ not everything came out perfectly the first time, it was more than made up for with yummyness and personality. We chatted with some neighbors we hadn’t met before (all the way from Magnolia ;-) and left very satisfied. I agree with the other reviewer that things might get hectic when they’re slammed, but we went late and had a great experience.

This place deserves to get on the Unilocal map, with the caveat that more than a few orders at a time could well swamp the tiny and frazzle-​prone kitchen. Also, I try not to review an establishment based on just one experience, but having sat at the counter in front of the kitchen this weekend, I feel I have a better than normal sense of the breakfast offerings. Another caveat is that if this review were based on food alone, I would give the place 3 stars. Fort Square gets an extra star for being a down-​home, no frills kind of place where everyone seems to know each other and feel comfortable in their own skin. It’s a nice place to get a feel for Gloucester and its people (and having grown up here I say this not in the patronizing out-​of-​towner way).
The food: at least for breakfast, everything is cooked on a traditional four burner stove (with only 3 working burners [or perhaps on only 3 frying pans – I couldn’t tell which was lacking]) and flat grill. The offerings are fairly extensive and some of the specials are creative (I ordered strawberry french toast with cream cheese and ice cream without the ice cream). The kitchen can only fit one cook, who blasts out omelettes on high heat on the stove and smothers them with cheese from small supermarket packets, pops a variety of store-​bought breads into two toasters (because only half of each toaster works) and slathers them with butter, and cooks homefries, french toast, and bacon on the grill, all while running to the back kitchen to check on the soups and peeling potatoes for the potato salad, which people seemed to be picking up to-​go. There is a friendly and talkative waiter who keeps the cook sane and keeps things moving.
All in all, a good breakfast experience. Don’t come here expecting to be served gourmet food in five minutes or you will surely be disappointed. Relax, eat a leisurely breakfast, then go for a walk around the Fort. Parking in the big brick plaza area in front of the restaurant is free.