Zada Jane’s Corner Cafe

So disappointed in my first visit to Zada Janes. Upon arrival I went in to ask do I seat myself and the waitress told me yes. I found a nice little outdoor table and read my book while awaiting the waitress. After 30 minutes passed and no one had even given me a menu or asked was I thirsty I decided to go in. The waitress got an attitude with me and seemed very irritated when I asked was there a waitress available to take my order. She sends me back outside and another waitress comes and takes my order I then had to wait another 30 – 45 minutes to get my food which was only a small grilled shrimp Caesar salad. Which looked pretty good by the way which I never got to taste because as soon as I went in for a bite guess what I find!!! Nasty hair in my food!!! Can you say disgusted! Then went I went and showed the waitress she had the audacity to get mad at me like it was my fault!!! I have blonde hair the hair in my salad was long and brunette! How about wearing a hair net next time!!! I’ll never go back

Go when it’s not busy and YOU’LL LOVE THIS PLACE.
Go when it is busy and you’ll wait forever for crappy service and crappy food.
I really want to provide a good review because I like the concept of this place… but…
The staff has a high turnover rate which translates into «there’s something wrong.» Earlier this year, there were several great servers that I became familiar with and made me want to return regularly. Another batch that I became familiar with have also since left. Now, I only recognize one and he’s never been my server so who knows. The food quality and consistency rises and falls without rhyme or reason.

Once upon a time, Zada Jane’s was a highly sought after brunch spot with long waits and iconic breakfast plates. Unfortunately, Zada Jane’s is now nothing more than a has-​been diner with exceptionally poor customer service and a kitchen staff that must be deaf, blind and dumb.
After a handful disappointing visits, I figured I’d give Zada Jane’s a final chance and called in an order on Memorial Day weekend– I mean, how badly could you mess up a takeout order?
When I arrived at the restaurant, I could see my take out boxes sitting on the bar counter with a bill that matched my estimated total all ready to go. After standing by the unattended bar awkwardly for close to ten minutes, I flagged down a waitress that happened to look up from a personal conversation in which she and several other employee’s attention seemed to be totally consumed. I let her know that I was here to pick up the order that was sitting in front of me at the bar. She very rudely challenged my assumption that the boxes that matched my order and cost were, in fact, for me, and told me to wait while she grabbed someone that could help me. Perhaps I’m in the wrong here, but I don’t find it normal or appropriate to be the subject of such hostility when I was certainly not the one that left my manners at home.
So, I waited. And waited.
Followed by more waiting.
Finally, someone competent appeared and completed this drawn out transaction. Finally, I did not have to beg the staff to acknowledge my presence. Finally, I did not have to argue with the staff to allow me to pay for my food. Finally, I could leave and be on my way.
When I arrived home, I opened the boxes to find that my order was wrong. I paid an extra $ 2.00 to include an additional meat option in my Booker T. Only one type of meat was to be found. In the other Booker T, the dish was made with an entirely different meat than I had requested. Breakfast cuisine isn’t hard. In fact, I’m not so sure as to why I opted to pay $ 20.00 for something that would cost $ 7.00 to make at home.
In all, if the next time I find myself craving an unhealthy egg dish served by a grumpy woman with messy hair and no bra, I will stay at home and ask my girlfriend to cook. At least the food will taste better.

We have given this place several chances, mainly due to the lack of other breakfast options in the area. Today was the final straw in a history of bad service.
Zara Jane’s has apparently successfully completed a nationwide search to find a staff who cares the least about customer service. Don’t expect refills on your drinks and expect to wait over an hour for your food once you order. If you have the gall to stand up and go ask what’s going on, no one ever has any clue. The kitchen is SO SLOW and the servers just DGAF.
The food itself is okay, it’s a little overpriced but not by that much.
In summary, if you want an okay, overpriced omelette, and you have three hours of time to dedicate, this might be the place for you. Just don’t go hungry.
As soon as someone else opens a breakfast place nearby these guys will have to shape up or ship out.

You know… I WANT to love Zada Janes. I really do — the atmosphere is so chill, the outdoor patio is great, the wait staff is friendly and for some reason it’s always jam packed, which always makes me think I’m missing out on serious deliciousness inside.
But such is not the case. Full disclosure, we came 30 minutes before official close on Memorial Day, so maybe we got the «230 treatment», but still. It took 40 MINUTES for us to get our food. HANGER. I got the Booker T hash. The cheese was quite literally a congealed orange blob over the eggs which were so overcooked the damn thing was brown. My husband got some Grande breakfast, and you could tell they cooked the eggs and sausage first, then probably burnt the pancake and had to re-​do the pancake while the other food sat there. Because the eggs and sausage were cold mush by the time they came out… and Redo Pancake was STILL burnt!
So we’re grading off breakfast only, and they do offer Lunch and Dinner options. But IMHO, if you claim to specialize in breakfast and ya can’t get eggs or pancakes right, I sure wouldn’t risk my money on the rest of the menu.
We’ll continue to leave ZJ out of our CLT breakfast rotation. Maybe next year!

Wanted to take my out-​of-​town guests here for breakfast. One guest has dietary concerns and she wanted to see a menu before we went. Their website says they serve breakfast all day but the breakfast menu is nowhere to be found.
We thought if we could get a few answers about the food it would clarify if my guest could eat there but no one answers the phone even when its not peak business.
Guess they don’t need ours.

Waited over an hour for breakfast food, staff never apologized, food was mediocre at best

I love this place! The food, the vibe, the staff, the location, the patio, the art, music, ½ price bottles of wine on Thurs and Sun — All fab! I have been to Zada Jane’s MANY times. This is my go to place.
The only thing that holds me back from giving it 5 stars is that often, even though the wait staff are fabulous humans & very friendly, service can be very slow. If they could just step that up, this would be a 5 star place!

First time trying this place, arrived during a what seemed to be «dying down after a rush». However was very disappointed in the service of the staff. Getting seated right away was no problem, but the food literally took right at 30 minutes to receive our food! Coffee was weak not fresh, after ordering another beverage from the bar a «Bloody Mary» that took an additional longer than usual amount of time. The food tasted good however fail on the staffs side for not delivering the food and in forming us that one of the toppings for the dish, was out of stock, and if it could be replaced with something else! And yet an hour and something later here I am writing this and waiting on my check… I give a service rating of 2 stars and a food rating of 3 stars!

After always passing by because of people waiting outside to get in, we finally decided to wait and have a bit to eat over the weekend.
Overall the staff and service was friendly and warm. The food was good but nothing really stood out. They forgot meat in one of the dishes and kindly brought it out to us, but I’m not sure why this place is so popular. Everything seemed average to me and my husband. We can say we tried it, and I can leave it at that.

Our server Taylor was amazing. Supersweet super accommodating I will be back I swear just for her. Got a half price bottle of champagne for mimosas which was a great deal. $ 11 for the bottle and got four glasses out of it. So if you plan to get more then to mimosas go ahead and get the bottle. Comes with the orange juice. The food took a really long to come out about 45 minutes but it was pretty good it was fairly busy but not that busy to wait 45 minutes to be honest with you and Taylor was so amazing I will be back just for her. And the patio or she’s gorgeous. It was also nice to see if they let you bring your doggy only problem is that patrons bring dogs that are a little too in the space is not quite big enough for that I should probably accommodate those guests towards the outer seats.

The charm of Zada Janes is its cool vibe. The bar is not first come, first serve on Sundays. It’s seated like any other table. That being said, the wait was no more than 15 minutes. The food isn’t really special. My service was sub par, as I made special request and after looking annoyed, the bartender (an older lady) told me that if it weren’t Sunday, they would be able to do it, but it was just too busy. However what I was asking for just would’ve required the chef to substitute tofu for potatoes… I just got potatoes on the side and mixed everything together on my own. Whatever. It was comical how she was Not trying to hear it. She didn’t have an attitude, just wasn’t up for going out of her way. It also took a LONG time for our food to come out. Another person at the bar was visibly irritated. I had a mimosa, which was champagne with a splash of orange juice. We watched her make it, literally a splash. Just enough to turn the drink orange. No complaints from me. At $ 5, GREAT!

I really wanted to like this places food more. I was very disappointed. I’m not a master chef home chef, but I make better breakfast at home. I like to try the basics to see if places excel at those. Unfortunately the 28 205 breakfast was lackluster. You can get better sustainable turkey sausage from the grocer.
The atmosphere is nice though. It’s very relaxed and calm. The staff is sweet and helpful. There’s a nice outside space that is always packed on sunny mornings. It’s definitely hipster lol, but definitely cool. The mimosas are delish and was the saving grace. I’d pass and just cook at home next time.
Edit: I ate the biscuit and it was delicious. The jam was pretty bomb too. I think maybe because it was cold inside and I had to rush to eat my food made the experience less enjoyable. A lot of people come here. I can’t imagine that many people have bad tastebuds.

I love to pop in and grab a coffee here. Last night I wanted to try a sit down meal. The meal read great, it was hard to decide on one item. I went for a splurge with the Breakfast burger which I order medium rare. My date also got the Meatloaf burger. The food took quite a long time to come out. We were the only guest in the restaurant which seemed like an open invitation for our server to invite herself to never leave out table. It was a bit annoying to be unable to speak to the person I can with 90% of the meal. She was kind and I don’t think she knew what she was doing but you have to take social clues as a server. Finally she went and got our food and my burger was beyond well done. Super dry and just completed over cooked. My boyfriend was supposed to have a slice of meatloaf on her burger but it was just a normal burger patty. The only true positive is the Chai Latte and the Jalapeño bacon Mac side item. It isn’t worth the price in my opinion. I have a hard time giving this place the 2 stars I think it really deserves because I truly love coming here for coffee.

I tend to avoid writing negative reviews b/​c ppl can be hard to please but this was necessary. After a few hit or misses with restaurants that offered vegetarian and vegan options here in Charlotte, I decided to try Zada Janes. My boyfriend won’t touch a vegetable and I absolutely live for them so this seemed like it could be a happy medium.
I walked in to utter Sunday brunch chaos but had fair warning (the website on the bottom of the menu page asks you to respect those ahead of you during Say&Sun peak hours) so it was bearable. There was no sign of a line so a waitress asked if I wanted to be added to the wait list for seating. I asked if they did takeout & she replied «sure. If you head to the bar, Tabitha will take your order.» Of course the bar area was crazy so I waited a few minutes, then Tabitha took my order. After a few patrons cleared I sat and waited. The crowd dissipated some.
After about 5 minutes, the waitress who directed me to the bar for ordering comes over and says «You ordered takeout? We need this space to seat customers.» EXCUSE ME? Customers. So what am I, a brown paper bag sitting here? I just ordered a meal. I’m paying for it. And YOU directed me here. Even another guy at the bar looked shocked & told her he was getting ready to leave so she could use his stool. She said «But» and I immediately got up and informed the woman who took my request and told her to cancel the order.
I felt management needed to know so I came back in to ask for a manager and Tabitha said that she was the manager. She did say she would write the waitress up and offered my meal on the house but I declined. I’m pretty disgusted that in 2016 things like this still happen.

I’d only ever eaten here for breakfast in the past. When we hit 1-​hour plus waits at Pizza Peel and Workman’s last night, we wandered in to Zada Janes. While there was no wait at 8:30pm and my party of 6 was seated immediately, the place wasn’t dead either.
Their dinner menu offers a nice variety — everything from $ 8-​$ 12 sandwiches and salads to $ 20-​$ 30 entrees. Their beer and wine list is average. They had 2 local beers on draught and lots more in bottles/​cans. Because we were feeling a little feisty and you can never go wrong with bubbles, we went with a bottle of prosecco. I ordered the green mind melt (a veggie sandwich) with Mac & Cheese as the side. The sandwich lacked seasoning and was just ok (maybe a C+) but the Mac & cheese was really good (solid A). I mean, the Mac had bacon. It had to be good, right?! The table shared chicken and shrimp nachos. Both yummy! The addition of zucchini and squash was a unique touch and made us all feel a little better about killing two plates of nachos.
Zada Janes has some stiff competition in the Plaza Midwood area but I remain a fan, especially when facing a long wait at other spots nearby. It’s a good, neighborhood joint. Wait staff are super friendly and personable. The atmosphere is laid back and relaxed.

Veggie heaven!
I got the veggie nachos (black beans, zucchini, corn, salsa, guacamole-​no cheese) on black tortilla chips-​yum! Also had the vegan soup and roasted vegetables. The variety in the roasted vegetables was superior! (Note: The black eye pea salad and roasted sweet potatoes are not vegan).
The service leaves a bit to be desired. Seemed as though one person was trying to do it all. Maybe hire an extra server for the place. The knowledge of the one guy doing it all was… okay at best. If asked a question he was always unsure but would happily go and check.
The atmosphere was delightful! Cute décor and fun music. Parking is limited and challenging though.
They have wine, beer, and coffee with many Torino syrups too. Their vegetarian and vegan items are fairly well marked and they even have gluten-​free options. I would come again!

A few of my friends are regulars here so I was excited to finally give them a try. We arrived a little after 11am on a Friday morning. Apparently this place is always packed, but when we walked in the place was pretty empty. #win.
We were greeted immediately and got our drinks. I’d checked out the Unilocal reviews and checked out the menu so I knew what I wanted to get– Blazing Saddles omelet with home fries. I opted for egg whites and the salsa and sour cream on the side.
Cue the waiting music…
We seriously waited and waited for our food. At one point, I asked our waitress if the order was even going to come out. She said she’s check on it but we still waited.
FINALLY…the food arrived. That goodness it was hot. I was hungry enough to eat my fist I couldn’t bear the thought of having to send the whole thing back. The food was fine, nothing to brag about. I could have used a bit more chipotle seasoning on the chicken but otherwise it was just… fine.
If my friends want to go back here again, I’d go but I’m not adding it to my brunch rotation.
Oh…just a head’s up… parking is a nightmare. You’re welcome! :)

We have been here multiple times before and had an awesome experience. The bunny rancheros, duthers clucker and veggies nachos are a winner every time! We talked very highly of Zada to our friends and decided to take them there for brunch two Sunday’s ago. Ugh not a good idea.
Zada must of had an off day, because my friend ordered a mushroom Swiss spinach bacon omelet and the server didn’t tell us they were out of spinach and mushrooms till she brought the food out. Um hello?! Since the omelet didn’t have veggies she essentially got a half pig in her omelet. We had the remake the Omelet and go lighter on the bacon which took 15 minutes. Meantime everyone else sat while their food got cold and my chicken sandwich was over cooked which was disappointing. Anyways, when the check came the server said she removed the cost of the spinach and that’s all. Well I hope you would…
We always have had a good experience here, but it was embarrassing brining friends and it being bad, but don’t worry I’ll be back!!!
Recommendation: don’t wait till 1:30/2 to go to brunch ;)

I am not a breakfast person. Brunch, however, is a different story. Give me a yummy pancake and a mimosa at 12 pm and I’m a happy girl. I almost missed out on the deliciousness of Zada Janes brunch because when I first moved to Charlotte, I came here for dinner. I can’t remember what I got or what it cost, but I remember that I hated it! So when I went for brunch for the first time, I was hesitant. I am happy to report that I was wrong in my hesitancy!
I have only ever gotten the bunny rancheros with half chorizo and half chicken or the pancakes. I love, love, love it! My boyfriend loves the vegless avenger omelette and has never ordered anything else. On Sunday (and Tuesday, I think), wine is half off so we always get a bottle of champagne and orange juice to make mimosas.
There can be a long wait but it’s always worth it. Servers are always nice. As far as brunch goes, I have zero complaints and a million compliments!