Jesse’s Place Restaurant & Bakery

If there was a way to give zero stars I would give zero. Ordered our food, waited 45 minutes, and those with pancakes had to wait another 6 minutes for them. Oh and all steaks come out medium well no matter how you ask for them.

I’m always a little torn on how to review restaurants that clearly are not at the same level as restaurants I’m used to. I’m not even talking expensive restaurants. I go to inexpensive restaurants that still have great customer service and appeal to me.
Jesse’s place is a little diner in downtown Rockford. The reason why we picked it was because it was open and we were going to the Harlem Globetrotters at 2 pm. It was about 12:45 pm on a Sunday and none of the restaurants in the area were open. As it turns out, they close at 1 pm on Sunday but kept it open for us. How nice. We were the only customers at that time. (I was surprised since there were some churches in the area I thought would come in for brunch afterwards). Anyway, Roly Poly, some thai place, and some chinese place were all closed. Therefore, we went to Jesse’s Place.
The sign on the outside was nice and modern and led me to believe that it may be nice inside. I was wrong. There was peeling tile within the first step inside the restaurant. The décor was severely outdated. Green linoleum floors, wood paneling, cracked maroon seats and pictures of farm landscapes. I tried not to look up at the ceiling tile, which looked dirty and cracked.
The customer service was good. She was prompt and kept my coffee full. Seriously, no joke I had taken 2 sips and she arrived to fill up the 20 ml of liquid I had just consumed. Maybe a bit overkill, but it was nice that she was paying attention, at least. I wouldn’t say she was nice, but friendly at least.
The food was fine. The pancakes weren’t small as the other reviewer said, though they weren’t large either. Probably about 4″ in diameter. Not silver dollars, nor plate sized pancakes. There was nothing special about the pancakes, nor was there anything wrong with them.
It was cheap, though. We both had the 2×2×2 (2 pancakes, 2 strips of bacon, 2 scrambled eggs). I had coffee and Fred had orange juice. It was $ 15 before tip.
I guess if you can get past the dirty looking, outdated interior and are just looking for breakfast whether or not the food is delicious, come here. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

My friend and I went into Jesse’s Place for a late breakfast on a Sunday. The restaurant is located in an inconspicuous spot downtown near the BMO. It’s lot over looks Davis Park and the river, very pretty outside… but the inside is a different story. Now I’m not impartial to dive-​y restaurants; frankly I like a place with a little character, but you have to make up for it in your food and service. Jesse’s Place did not.
The décor inside Jesse’s Place is dated, dark paint, ceiling tiles. It looks like a tornado may have ripped through and torn a bunch of photos off the wall. Their marks on the walls were still there. The only thing hanging next to me and my friend was a mirror that looked out of place.
According to the last review they were playing 80’s & 90’s music… this time it was Top 40… not exactly my idea of breakfast music. Upon walking in, we stood around waiting to be greeted which was a simple «any where you want to sit» with menus handed to us. The same woman was taking care of us, and it seemed like everyone else in a restaurant. Now granted, the restaurant looked practically empty, but this waitress seemed all in a panic. We waited a solid 10 minutes before our order was even taken. She forgot our drinks, but my friend didn’t really want hot chocolate out of a packet mixed with hot water and I could have passed on the coffee that must have been sitting for a few hours. The coffee at my office tastes better than that.
My friend has pancakes, just regular buttermilk pancakes. I guess I’m used to seeing huge pancakes while out to breakfast, but these looked pretty small. My friend said it was safe to assume they were made from Bisquick… not bad she said, but said she could have made it at home.
I’m not sure what I got. They offered this breakfast skillet with hashbrowns, eggs, sausage & cheese. I had asked if they could, to make that skillet but without sausage and substitute it for corned beef hash (I have a small obsession with corned beef hash). What they brought out looked sort of unappealing. The eggs had one small slice of white American cheese over one yolk and one small slice of yellow American cheese on the other. They kept the sausage in there, even though I asked without, and then there was barely any corned beef hash. It wasn’t terrible tasting, but just not really what I wanted.
Price was fine… average for an area breakfast joint. The waitress just seemed extremely flustered which exacerbated a bad experience. She complained about the owner (which I’m sure is well warranted), but just failed to pay much attention to my friend and myself. My friend and I were really disappointed. The place has much potential, but fails to reach it.

It was noon in downtown Rockford and we were hungry. Headin’ down to Jesse’s to have ourselves a catfish po’boy, Swedish pancakes and a ham and egg breakfast.
Jesse’s Place is a standard diner with sandwiches and the usual breakfast fare. The Swedish pancakes were wrapped around some strawberries and topped with whipped cream. I found them to be closer to the crêpe family but then again who am I to say I’m not from Rockford., It’s more of a dessert than a meal to be sure. The fried catfish sandwich was also delicious.
As for the ambiance — it’s a little hole in the wall with booths, a counter you can belly up to and another room. The front room has a refrigerator which needs to be repaired. I suggest you sit in the back room where there’s a bit more light and no buzzing fridge. However, there is a detuned radio playing the best hits of the 80’s and 90’s.
We paid $ 20 for three of us before the tip for the whole meal so it’s very affordable. The waitress was really friendly. I suggest you support these downtown Rockford businesses and stay away from the chains in sprawl city.