Jester’s Java

Food was amazing! High quality for the price. We were skeptical by the outside, but so glad we went in. Definitely worth it! Went back the next day. The staff are so kind and attentive.

Go for the eggs Benedict and French toast. Delicious coffee cake. Very nice service. Walk off your meal in and out of the antique shops on the street.

This is my go to spot for breakfast and lunch because it’s close to my house and dog friendly. If you like French dip’s this is the best in town. Went here yesterday with a party of three and three dogs. We arrived right after the lunch rush so service was unusually slow and they were out of a lot of things but the food was wonderful as always.

Jesters is an awesome little lunch spot… delicious soups like the wild rice and asparagus in a creamy broth that just melts in your mouth along with tasty sandwiches like the castle street club and a dessert such as the homemade brownie makes jesters one of my favorite places to have lunch… it is right around the corner from where I live, has such a genuine and comfortable atmosphere with a shady pleasant porch where they always accommodate my dogs with a water bowl not to mention the fabulous sides that accompany the meal… with choices like the black eyed pea or potato salad or a nice cup of fruit it is definitely a winner for a lunchtime bite to eat.

Jesters is one of my favorites. Owner Jamie, and his delightful staff, serve up southern favorites in a casual, comfortable setting. Some of their very best breakfast dishes are the black bean benedict, the breakfast sandwiches, the French toast casserole, and anything else on the menu. For lunch, I love their version of a French dip, and the sort yummy NewCastle pimento cheese deluxe… add avocado. They have the very best brewed coffee, and a selection of delectable baked goods. Everything is tasty, affordable, fresh, and fast. Check em out.

Jamie, the crew, and the friendly ambiance at Jester’s make every meal fun. The quiche is my fave along with the side salad and mini muffin. However, the best part of the meal is the dressing for the salad. The homemade lemon-​dill-​feta dressing will engage your tastebuds in a dance of joy! I highly recommend Jester’s Java and would give it 10 stars if I could.

This was an awesome local lunch spot! I had the veggie burger with avocado, great for vegetarians. I love the local, unique and awesome businesses like this one, the service was quick and our server was very sweet. I am so glad I had the chance to come here.

Best breakfast in Wilmington. Delicious quiches, out of this world eggs Benedict, my personal fav black bean Benedict. Try the Jessie for a twist on a typical breakfast sandwich. Staff and service superb!

Been eyeing this place for the last year. The only thing I regret is not coming here before today. My expectations were beyond exceeded. I got the spinach feta and tomato quiche, my boyfriends mother got the sausage cheddar and onion quiche, and my boyfriend and his father both got the strata. There wasn’t a single thing we could even remotely complain about. The home fries were cooked perfectly. The grits were cheesy and delicious. Definitely recommend this to anyone visiting or residing in Wilmington. Definitely will be coming here more regularly.

I went for lunch and ordered the quiche of the day which was a ham quiche. The food took a while but we went right at lunch rush so it was understandable. When it arrived the portion was surprising in that it was huge which made me very pleased. It came with fruit and a delicious muffin. I love everything about this café including how clean the bathrooms are. I highly recommend for breakfast or lunch!

Don’t let «Java» throw you off… the food at this cute little house-​style restaurant is awesome. This is our go-​to spot for weekend brunch. The food is fresh, portioned well, and the service is great. Your coffee cup will not go empty here. Be prepared to wait if you hit it with the Sunday church crowd but the food will make up for it.
Try the black bean benedict for a «healthy» breakfast. Then grab a muffin on your way out to reward yourself.

Take a look at today’s choice. You can’t go wrong here! They make everything from scratch. It’s been 2 weeks Andy husband is still talking about the jalapeño bagel!

Delicious little gem tucked away in downtown Wilmington. Best poached eggs ever — soft, not runny, yolk was wet. Bagels are from a local baker– high, soft, crispy on the outside. They bake their own muffins. Lemon poppy seed had lemon glaze with blueberries hidden at the bottom. The strata was cheesy, good layering. Portions are perfect — not small, enough to fill you up. Waitresses were polite and helpful. A few locals came in while we were there.

Great people, simple food done right with high quality ingredients. Everything on the menu is good. If you don’t like Jesters, then I don’t like you.

Un lugar muy acogedor y la comida muy casera, ideal para un desayuno o almuerzo en sábado relax! Por favor! Tienen q probar el million dollar pie, Ina combinación de piña y mandarina con crema batida simplemente DELICIOSO!!!

I’ve been meaning to tell you about Jester’s Café for months now! I’ve probably eaten here a half dozen times, and not once have I been disappointed. Before I talk about the meal I had yesterday while out for an adventure trip, let me first talk about the staff and service. One word. Great. Courteous and polite is what I expect from any professional waitstaff, but often times the hard-​working folks at Jester’s go above and beyond. Almost always there to greet you at the door, even opening it, like you were family coming back from a day out, with a smile and a genuine «hello there!»
The staff are helped out by a shorter-​than-​many, simple menu, which allows them to know more about each dish, which they’re able to share with the guests. I always hate having to thumb through several pages of menu, but you don’t have to worry about that here. The average lunch price is $ 8, and breakfast is between $ 6-​$ 7 per, two people can get very filling and satisfying meal for $ 20.
Yesterday, my choice of lunch was their sausage and red pepper quiche. Every day they have fresh house quiche and soup. They’re often not the same one you had last time, which is wonderful, in my opinion. I dislike being greeted with the same «special» every time I visit a place, kind of makes it not special at all. The sides offered a fairly standard, «home fries», which are really just roasted potatoes, grits, or a fruit bowl. I opted for the fries; they’re tasty enough, but nothing to write home about. I’m actually thankful for that because sides should be like that, tasty, and complimentary to the main.
–the rest is on my blog at

Great hidden little gem in this art district. We happened on it this morning searching for a great brunch, and were glad to find it. The Lovely Bride chose the crab quiche, and I tried the ham, sharp cheddar and sweet red pepper. She chose a fruit bowl and I a bowl of cheddar grits as our sides.
The quiches were tasty concoctions with just the right amount of cheese, meat, and vegetable with great combinations of spice. The crusts, while flaky (as per the blurb) were not homemade, but weren’t bad. (The Lovely Bride has raised pastry crust to an art form, so maybe I’m just spoiled.)
The French Roast coffee was hot and fresh. It would be good to warn folks that you don’t serve a medium brew, though. The Lovely Bride likes light roast, and couldn’t get enough milk in hers to enjoy it.
The atmosphere was great, even if it was a tad loud. Things got quite crazy when the family of 6 arrived (with four kids under ten!). The dad, thankfully, would take out the worst offenders as various ones threw tantrums. In that small room to the left as you enter, where there are four 4-​tops, that’s a lot of screaming in one small room. After they left, we felt like starting over, but there were folks waiting. Be aware that at these prices, with this level of casualness, you’re going to have those families, so don’t freak out. If it means that much to you, find the higher-​priced places with dress codes.

As the latest installment in the renaissance of downtown Wilmington, the New Castle Arts and Antique District – the section of Castle Street roughly between South 3^rd and South 7^th streets – now sports a number of eateries to feed the combination of silver-​haired churchgoers and hungover rogues combing the neighborhood for eats on a Sunday. Jester’s Java, located at 607 Castle St., seems to appeal to all of the above, making it one of the area’s more popular brunch and lunch destinations.
Jester’s gives the expression «making one feel at home» an entirely literal twist: it’s housed in what was obviously once a residence, and the current inhabitants seem mainly to have left it that way. The street-​facing front porch is ideal for warm-​weather people watching, with three interior rooms corresponding to a living room, foyer and main dining area. The inside décor reflects the name with purple, diamond patterned wallpaper and jester themed paintings and bric-​à-​brac. It’s like going to your weird, artsy friend’s place for a meal.
Menu offerings can best be described as comfort food with an edge – a substantial cut above the greasy-​spoon diner. Jester’s egg-​and-​cheese-​heavy brunch menu features daily homemade quiches ($ 7.50, broccoli-​and-​tomato and smoked sausage were this week’s offerings) and soup ($ 3.50-$ 5.50, seafood gumbo was the daily special) along with mostly in-​house desserts. Lunch features a wide variety of sandwiches (from a traditional grilled cheese to an exotic spicy black bean burger) and specialty salads with both the usual and homemade dressings.
We came early for the brunch menu, starting with a lovely cup of dark roast and a standard hot chocolate with whipped topping. Main course selections were the Jessie sandwich ($ 3.95, avocado, tomato and melted smoked provolone on a jalapeño bagel) and eggs benedict ($ 8.25, poached eggs, lox and hollandaise sauce over a toasted English muffin). We liked both the meal selections, but the star of the show may have been the accompanying redskin potato home fries, which were possibly the best in the universe. Our server was friendly and efficient, though likely new to the staff, and the portion sizes were solid enough to make dessert seem unnecessary.
Jester’s worked for us, both in its own right and as an antidote to the dreary sameness of corporate chains. All menu prices include tax, making it one of the very few places that can provide a quality sit-​down meal for two, everything included, for $ 20. Jester’s even gets coveted healthy bonus points for combo options and fresh fruit sides that allow for engineering calorie counts into diet-​compatible ranges. A warning to stragglers: because most items are made fresh daily, many menu choices are unavailable later in the day.

Nice little place, I wish they had more outside dining. Strata was too salty for my taste, french toast casserole was very good, and all the sides were great.

My mom and I enjoyed a lovely lunch. I will say it was very loud and my moms silverware was dirty, that was easily remedied.
I had the French Dip, it was delicious especially the bread. I would definitely order it again. I didn’t care for the black eyed pea salad but that’s just a matter of taste.
My mom enjoyed the days broccoli and cheese quiche, it was served nice and hot and a generous portion.
One last thing is that you do not get soda refills for free, they sell them by the can.

I was beginning to get despondent.
Nobody seems to be able to make coffee and a good dessert in Wilmington.
Don’t let anybody fool you.
The food standards can be pretty… well…nevermind. I’m trying to practice a bit of positivity here.
Suffice it to say, I was pretty down in the dumps when I rolled up to Jesters.
It’s located at the tail end of Antique Alley in Wilmington.
My friend and I were desperate to see if anyone could do a latte like they meant it.
We didn’t find a latte. But we did find Jesters spoke the language of a nice brewed cup of coffee.
And better yet?
The spoke fluent dessert.
Hello Gorgeous (Muffin)
Hello Handsome (Brownie)
Pleased to make your acquaintance.
I will be back for a second date real soon.
P.S.
Jesters, your staff… wonderful. Met three of them on the day we came in after voting.
Really really warm and friendly.
Update
I met another amazing muffin today. Lemon Poppyseed/​Strawberry.
You may not know this about me, but i am a muffin slut.
And this one is worth adding a couple of extra pounds for.
The slightly crunchy top. The light fluffy middle. The marvelous crumb texture.
And the delightful blend of flavors. Neither overpowering the other.
OUTSTANDING.
Today also involved a croissant breakfast sandwich. The egg was nicely done, the sausage I could take or leave. I was a tad underdone. Just average. The croissant was a little heavy.
My friend had the QOD – Quiche of the day. Divine. Don’t ask me what was in it. I tend to forget 3 seconds after the wait person has rattled off the ingredients and today I was too busy wolfing down to remember for you. I am so sorry. You will just have tot take my word for it and go for yourself!