Sammy J’s Breakfast Cafe

Roomy, friendly, good selection of diner menu options would give this tucked away café 3.5 stars. Pushed to 4, despite dry-​ish pancakes, thanks to the Yankee Potatoes (home fries with cheese, peppers and onions). Eggs, toast, bacon, coffee, homefries all cooked perfectly and as requested. As mentioned, the pancakes were disappointing — they looked good and they are large (10″) but after a few bites, we could not overlook their dryness. Could just be the recipe was tweaked this morning because of Memorial Day crowds.
We would give Sammy J’s another shot, because although our visit was a bit of a mixed bag, the positives outweighed the so-so’s enough for us to think the so-so’s were a fluke. Place was packed, so somebody knows this secret.
Bathrooms could use a spiffying and cleaning up, but the place itself overall was a nice mom and pop alternative to the IHOP/Denny’s chains and few diners/​brekkie spots nearby.

The food is excellent and the atmosphere is family friendly and breakfast is almost always ready in under 10 minutes! I’ve tried many items on the menu and have never been disappointed!

Nice diner, with a regular menu, pleasant staff and quality ingredients. Definitely, one for the breakfast list. They share space with an ice-​cream shop, which is a bit unusual, but provide great benefits to both, as they each have ample seating when busy. The style of the place is a bit out of sorts with the area, but still fun. The sign on the back doors reads «NO CLEATS», which tells all. This is a local haunt that attracts the locals.
If looking for a different sort of local diner experience, this place should go on the list.

They don’t take cards… Bring cash! Food wasn’t bad

that darling Jamie served us with a smile. CJ Just can’t get enough scrambled eggs. Julia likes her french toast. Cynda gets an english muffin and egg combo thing and smacks her lips loudly. Elaine always get the hash (connnned beef).i like the hash browns which arent always available if it is busy. I enjoy the oatmeal and blueberries (frozen). the veggie scramble had been a favorite. but asparagus or broccoli and cheese omelette well done is pleasing. the white cheese is creamy and pleasant tasting. i do wish they had tabasco to enhance the taste instead of the unknown generic basic salty water hot sauce. the Coffee is always good and they will give that much needed 2^nd cup. You get attached to the waitresses and miss them after they depart. Blueberry pancakes hit the spot. muffins aint bad either. Lotsa meat goin round. always happy if my omelette doesnt have the essence of «sossich» or bacon… so I’ll be back. sometimes the patrons get violent which is exciting. I was there when an old man was yanked off his stool and thrown to the floor. geriatrics out of control… but they know where to get a meal to fortify that still untapped nh energy. ooh Luscious!

Just got back from eating here with my mother and my baby after craving a good breakfast for the last 2 weeks. When we walked in we were yelled at to sit on the other side — only the other side didn’t have any open tables so she (regretfully) allowed us to sit at the booths despite it being 11 and time for them to close that side of the restaurant.
I ordered the big boy which comes with 2 eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, home fries and pancakes or french toast for $ 8.50. I added blueberries to my pancakes and substituted my ham for extra bacon. My mom got one egg, beans and toast with a coffee. When my food came I swear I had maybe HALF of a scrambled egg, all teeny tiny scraps of what appeared to be leftover from someone else’s order and I had the normal order of bacon– 3 small slices — no extra and no ham. The sausage was ity bitty and the home fries were seasoned well but mushy. Sounds like a lot of food right? $ 22 later, I nearly finished my meal and I’m still hungry — and I’m not a big girl.
I won’t be going back because the quality of their food is equal to dennys or ihop so you might as well just drive another minute down the road and get a good portion for less money. Also, I was really craving eggs and they gypped me. I want my egg!

Yes, Unilocal they are OPEN Sunday’s and it was comfortably busy. Very friendly and attentive wait staff. Portions generous, Clean, etc. The menu, fantastic variety of choices for all cravings. The Eggs Benedict outstanding and they made home fries like they should be; crispy on one side and tender juicy all over. Hungry yet!
An upbeat, great food location to start your day! You will be satisfied. You’d never know about this gem (parking out front limited so deceiving if it’s a happening place… more out back). Enjoy!

45 minute wait for breakfast from the time we ordered to the time the eggs and toast came.
This made me remember why we stopped coming here.

The food is good but the wait staff… if all of them combined made a single brain… I’d be very surprised… sometimes you just can’t fix stupid

Dawn took excellent care of us. Mom got the HUGE banana pancakes and fruit cup. Sis and I got the Big Boy breakfast (pancakes, bacon, sausage, ham, eggs & toast) which left us with VERY BIG bellies and full wallets (about $ 30 for three of us).
Bottom line: Enroute to Salem or the vicinity? PLEASE stop here for a proper breakfast and invite me along. Seriously, it’s a wonderful place. you won’t be sorry!

Disappointing to say the least. Had to wait ½ hour for food which was mediocre. When server complained about the cooking staff, Houston we had a problem. The time we made getting to Canobie lake park was taken away. Find better!

I had the breakfast sandwich. The bacon was crispy and english muffin was fresh. We also had the corned beef hash and eggs also well prepared. The staff was super friendly. Great place for breakfast definitely will come again.

Went there today for lunch. Friendly atmosphere and waitresses. The food is great. I had a tuna melt that was to die for. The only thing I found kind of funny was they show «hand cut fries» on the menu. When I asked for them the waitress said, we don’t have them, you have to call ahead of time to see if we are going to have them at lunch.
WHAT? Everyone has told me their hand cut fries are just wonderful and they don’t have them every day? The owner needs to the his act together and change that.
When you have an item in a restaurant that supposedly is that good, you need to have them all the time. Never mind this «call ahead» junk.
I’ll have to remember this if I ever go there again for lunch. Maybe my next time I will have to try breakfast. Hope I don’t have to order the eggs ahead of time. LOL

Decent food, regular prices, nothing special. We got our food very fast and it was nice and hot. Overall, the food needed more salt, and if the waitress could have stopped talking so loud, she might have been able to hear the slurping of me trying to drink water from my empty glass.

Nice service. Delicious food. We have been here several times and love it every time.

We like it better than being elbow to elbow in Maddies. Cons — The coffee is not the best, the atmosphere is not anything fancy. Pros-​The food is very good, especially the home fries. Service is quick especially if you sit in the front room, warmer there too. Very good prices. Park in back, you can go in that way. Saves squeezing into the few spaces out front.

Decided to go here rather than Maddie’s. The breakfast was OK. The scrambled eggs done right, home fries, sausage and toast good, blueberry pancakes adequate. This was fine all we wanted was a basic breakfast. What we did not want was a loud waitress who’s voice rocked the building. She was nice but not overly attentive. The noise level in the smaller side room was high enough… I would not sit back there again. Please tone down the bellowing voice it’s breakfast people want quiet.

Second time here.
First time was in the morning when they were super busy. Service and food were great. Parking was a little tough. They only have about 6 spots in front, but there is a second much larger lot right behind the store with an entrance so you can get in without walking all the way around; but even this was full. Luckily only had to wait a minute for someone to finish eating and free up a spot.
Second time was yesterday around lunch time and it was surprisingly quiet. Still great food and service. The only thing even close to wrong was that the kitchen forgot my side order of eggs. The waitress did notice this on her own without me saying anything. We had Chocolate Chip and Banana Pancakes. Both orders were huge and delicious.
I’ll go back for sure.

Great atmosphere, super friendly staff. Portions are huge, food is tasty. Did I mention portions were huge? The place puts IHOP to shame with huge pancakes. Atmosphere: WWII posters, plus some other old timey posters to decorate the walls.

I have b-​fast here occasionally.
The atmosphere is nothing fancy but they make up for it with the food and portion size. They have real good specials & the prices are attractive too. I’ve never had bad service.
Skip Bickfords and IHOP and try this place. You’ll be surprised you get real food not that corporate «food» those places dole out. Order pancake and eggs at those places and then order them here; you’ll see what I mean.
The only downfall of this place is if they are busy the parking can be a challenge. I’m not a big fan of the coffee but that is just my personal preference.