I visited Joe Brown's Cafe for the 4th time this morning. It was quickly becoming one of my favorite places to stop for grub after delivering in Portland. I live in Tacoma and drive for a living, and I like to find really good places to eat and become a regular but that all ended this morning. I've always felt welcomed at Joe Brown's and even though I have to pay for parking to visit, the food has always been worth it. Today however, I was turned off from ever returning and it wasn't the food that caused my feelings. I parked just outside of the greasy spoon and paid my $2.60 for parking. I then went inside where they do not have any signs that state either seat yourself or please wait to be seated but I stood there out of respect, waiting for a bit of direction. One of the guys in the back near the kitchen waved at me and gestured to go ahead and sit wherever I wanted and so with that prompt, I took a booth near the window. While the guy who had motioned for me to sit wherever brought over a nice tall glass of ice water for me, the young waitress stepped up and informed me that I would not be allowed to sit in the booth I had chosen because I was alone and she wanted to keep it available for parties of 2 or more. It was a Tuesday morning at roughly 10:00am and the place had more than enough seating available but I obliged. I did however make a comment along the lines of "so much for first come first served" and that rubbed my waitress the wrong way. I then opted for a smaller, table for two directly in the middle of the tiny restaurant and began to look over my menu. I waited for what seemed like a very long time before she came back to take my order and after I had confirmed that yes, all I want is the Texas specialty omelet, she replied to me with "GOOD"! She didn't ask me what kind of toast I would like and therefore, I assumed, (my mistake) that my omelet would be sans bread and potatoes. Well, it wasn't. When I received my breakfast, it came with a side of hash browns and some sort of toast that I had no option in deciding for. I later took out my phone and looked up the menu to read that I should have ordered my omelet ala cart and for that I take responsibility as well even though, I still remember my last visit where I had to ask for the toast and potatoes, but I digress. Because I am now abstaining from carbs, I finished off just the omelet but then felt ignored because of the amount of food still on my plate. When the waitress finally came around again to ask if I needed a takeout box, I was finished and ready to go. She informed me that she would get my bill but returned a few moments later stating that their system was down. I had planned on paying cash from the beginning but what if all I had, had been a debit card? Would I have been stranded there waiting for some system to come back online? The waitress took my cash and returned with my change but did not bring me a receipt. My usual $12.99 meal has now been inflated to $17.99 with tax plus coffee so with tip, my whole breakfast came to $23.00! FOR ONE OMELET and a cup of coffee!!! I'm done! I've already stopped frequenting a lot of establishments and after this morning, I will no longer visit Joe Brown's Cafe! Terrible service, very high prices and neither of which does the food make up for! Too bad too because I can actually have that omelet ala carte on my carnivore lifestyle. Guess I have to keep looking. read more