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    LJ's Lil' Cafe

    4.5 (500 reviews)
    Open • 6:30 am - 2:00 pm

    LJ's Lil' Cafe Photos

    Business Info

    LJ'S LIL' CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - LJ's Lil' Cafe

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    The sandwich they advertise. The amount of cheese sauce and meat that's supposed to be on there compared to mine
    Kevin P.

    Extremely disappointed. I've ordered the Philly cheesesteak here twice before and really enjoyed it, which is exactly why I was willing to pay $18 for it again. Unfortunately, what I received this time was nowhere near the quality or portion I had gotten previously. We were told the order would take about an hour, so after waiting that long I expected a freshly made cheesesteak. Instead, the meat and cheese were completely dry, and the entire sandwich tasted like it had been made a long time beforehand and left sitting around. The cheese was dried out onto the meat and truthfully, it was gross and difficult to enjoy. The portion was also significantly smaller than my previous orders, with noticeably less meat and cheese. For $18 for a cheesesteak, this is unacceptable. If you're going to charge that much and make customers wait an hour, the very least you can do is serve a fresh, properly portioned sandwich. I've had good experiences here before, so I know they're capable of making a good cheesesteak. That's what makes this experience even more disappointing. An hour wait and $18 for a small, dried-out cheesesteak that tasted like it had been sitting around is absolutely not worth it.

    Amy P.

    The service here was very fast and organized. There are plenty of seating areas, and I would say they have the best breakfast burritos! The crunchy tater tots paired really well with everything, and all of the ingredients inside the burrito were fresh and perfectly prepared. I'm definitely coming back.

    Brisket Pastrami Sandwich
    Amy P.

    Wanted to give LJ's Lil Cafe a try after hearing about it on social media, and it seems like a lot of others had the same idea because this place was poppin' on a Saturday afternoon! We weren't expecting much of a crowd but were surprised to find a short line and quite a few people waiting for their food. The restaurant itself is small with only about 5-6 small tables and a tiny waiting area which was completely occupied during our visit. Despite the crowd, the food turnaround was pretty fair. We waited roughly 15-20 minutes which honestly wasn't as long as we expected. The breakfast burritos are HUGE and packed with super crispy tater tots which was a nice touch but definitely adds more carbs. Half a burrito was more than enough for me! I tried the Spicy OG Burrito ($15.99) which had chopped fresh jalapeños inside. Between the summer heat, eating outside in the car since there was no available seating + the extra spice, I was definitely sweating! Also tried the Brisket Pastrami Sandwich ($15.99) which was decent but nothing I'd particularly rave about. I'd stick with the breakfast burritos. Located near Lee's Sandwiches and a Mediterranean eatery. The parking lot does tend to fill up quickly, but there seemed to be a steady flow of people coming and going so finding a spot wasn't too difficult.

    Decor
    Shinead D.

    This place is delish! I had heard about it when it was in a shack near home depot and never made it there so needless to say I was very excited to try it. We ordered two burritos the OG and the one with chorizo. Both were absolutely delish, so full of flavor and so filling. I only ate 1/2 but i have a smaller appetite. My bf ate his burrito in its entirety. The place is a little small but huge shoutout to the staff for being very attentive and keeping the place clean. There was always someone sweeping the floors and cleaning the tables which was nice to see. We will definitely be back here. Thanks guys!

    Spicy breakfast burrito
    Andrew L.

    Place is known for their breakfast burritos so thats what I came here for. I ordered online and my order was ready when I scheduled it. Burrito tasted good and is quite large but you cant help but notice its mostly eggs and tater tots with not much meat. Since they charge a lot for the burrito its kind of hard to ignore. I havent seen many mentions of the serrano sauce here but it to me is their best sauce. Still it tasted good and thats what matters in the end. Might come back when Im craving the serrano sauce.

    Tater tots
    Jimmy C.

    The breakfast burritos and sandwiches are to die for. They are expensive, but damn are they delicious. If you ever feel like having a treat yo self kinda day, I would suggest picking up some food at LJs Lil Cafe. I usually get the same things - the spicy OG Breakfast Burrito, Brisket Pastrami, and the Queso Philly Cheesesteak. All of them are mouthwateringly delicious. You can't go wrong with any of them. I just wish it was cheaper so I could get it more often. $20 for a sandwich or a burrito is kinda wild but I guess it's kind of the norm these days with how crazy inflation is.

    menu
    Mollie P.

    Holy wow. Finally made my way here, they have a parking lot but it gets BUSY, so does their inside seating! Please plan appropriately when visiting! Inside is covered with cute merch, decor and awards, they are very proud of what they do and have every right to be. Service is amazing. The girl who helped me was so kind, patient and informative. I got the cookie butter latte (seasonal) and the og burrito with the signature sauce. This combo is ab absolute 10/10. The cold foam on the latte is salted and coming from someone who doesn't usually like salted foam tops, this one was to die for. The burrito is already cut in half by default which is a HUGE plus, that sauce is incredible. I can't wait to get the opportunity to come back here.

    OG burrito
    Vincent N.

    Definitely one of the top breakfast burrito places in OC! I recommend ordering online and picking up, it could get pretty packed, especially during lunch time around noon. I went with the OG, for about $17 it is kind of high, but the burritos are huge and filling and can be shared by two people! However it's so good that you may want to get your own! Came with fluffy eggs, cheese, bacon, and Portuguese sausage! It also comes with their famous LJ sauce and you can pick another, chose the habanero and it was super spicy! But delicious! The sauces alone should warrant 5 stars! Definitely recommend trying out!

    Breakfast burrito
    Nikey L.

    This place is right across from me and one of the better breakfast burritos I've had! I got the classics with the sausage, fluffy eggs and crispy hashbrowns. The weekends can be a long wait for order pick up but it felt worth it. There were so many hot sauces to choose from and I tried them all. I love the classic red sauce personally. I recommend everyone trying it out here.

    Spicy OG burrito
    Jenny T.

    Finally got to come by LJ's early and my Spicy OG Burrito came out delicious! I love the gooey cheese, crispy tots, soft eggs, pieces of sausage, and green peppers. The Habanero "orange" sauce is spicy and I absolutely love it. I order a side of pickled jalapeño slices to eat with every bite. Service is friendly and efficient. Store is very clean and has these comfy padded seats. I really love this location, just the parking is difficult sometimes.

    Cindy D.

    The OG breakfast burrito was big enough to share and came with perfectly crispy tater tots, fluffy eggs and savory Portuguese sausage. The spicy sauce options made it even better. The menu is simple and there was quite a crowd at lunchtime but it was well worth the wait.

    Tater tots that would make any 5 year old happy!
    Renata L.

    I think I've found my new favorite post-surf burrito spot. I'm going to have to explain my new found love to my BF. I was looking for something conveniently located between South OC and the freeway when I stumbled across this hidden gem. First things first--the tater tots were fantastic: perfectly crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. My 5-year-old self would have been absolutely thrilled. I ordered the OG Burrito, and it did not disappoint. The meat was flavorful and plentiful, and the burrito had a great balance of ingredients without being overloaded with potatoes. The cilantro sauce was the perfect finishing touch, adding a tangy kick without any heat. Now, if my burrito-to-potato ratio seemed a little off, that's entirely on me because I may have eaten a questionable number of tater tots before diving into the burrito. No regrets. Everything was delicious, and I'm officially hooked. If you haven't checked this place out yet, I highly recommend giving it a try.

    Pastrami burrito
    Angela B.

    Located in a smallish shopping strip, LJs is easy to spot. There are quite a few other eateries in the row, so parking gets challenging during peak breakfast and lunch hours. I'd heard that they're known for their hearty burritos so I thought I'd go check them out. We arrived shortly after 11 and they were already busy with all but one table occupied. Orders are placed at the counter and your name is called when it's ready. Because they were busy, it took a bit for our order to come up, but it wasn't too bad considering how busy they were. From the Yelp photo gallery, their portions look generous, so my foodie friend and I decided to split everything. Today we ordered the pastrami burrito and Vern's Tots. As we suspected, the portions truly are generous enough to share {unless you're famished, then don't share :) } The burrito was hefty and packed with everything ~ eggs, cheese, pastrami, crispy tots, and the perfect amount of sauce ~ very tasty and filling. The Vern's Tots were *LOADED* with all the toppings! Very generous amounts of sweet, grilled onions, LJs house sauce, melted cheese, and bacon. Very filling and very decadent. A great little find and I'm looking forward to trying more of their burritos and sandwiches.

    Spicy OG

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    Page 1 of 13

    Ask the Community - LJ's Lil' Cafe

    Are the tater tots gluten-free?

    Gluten is only found in wheat products. Tater tots are potatoes. Potatoes do not have gluten. Tater tots are usually not made with flour. So no, tater tots, fries, baked potatoes, and ANY animal food (butter, cheese, yogurt, dairy, meat, poultry,… 

    Do they do delivery?

    No!!

    Do they offer gluten free options (like just the filling in a bowl)?

    They can do no tortilla

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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    Oh man... This might be the best burger I've ever had…read more The katsu sauce is unbelievable. I had never heard of red garlic before here but those red garlic fries are delicious. Staff is always friendly and willing to bring the food out to the patio. I need to go here more often to try things besides burgers and fries. Nothing has let me down here.

    I came here with a couple of friends for dinner. Ordering was easy and there was a lot of seating…read moreavailable in the outside patio. I ordered their Topa Topa Burger, Okonami fries and a Dr Pepper to drink. We sat outside on the patio since it was a nice evening at the time. All our food came out pretty quickly and around the same time as we had ordered one after the other. My burger was delicious! All their burgers here are made from wagyu meat. Mine came with sliced avocado (pretty much half of an avocado) which was ripe, smooth and creamy. It also came with crunchy onion strings and their special Topa Topa sauce and of course some kewpie mayo and shredded cabbage. The cabbage was super crunchy and fresh. The buns were super soft and toasted perfectly. The fries were alright. The Okonamiyaki style was unique and the toppings were tasty. My Dr Pepper was a little too sweet, maybe it was more syrup than carbonated water. Overall the burgers here were great! I also got an order for my boyfriend later that night. Ordering to go was super easy. My boyfriend devoured his Spicy Miso burger. Service here was great as well. Would come back for the burgers!

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    Ojai Burger - Ojai chicken sandwich with avo = amazing

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    Hammer Burger - Classic Hammer Burger and fries

    Hammer Burger

    4.5(812 reviews)
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    I've been to Hammer Burger now at least half a dozen times. I had to go to Santa Ana on a Saturday…read moreand decided to take my wife there for lunch, after 1:00. We were lucky and found a parking space on Bush St. We both ordered the Classic Hammer Burger ($10) and a regular order of shoestring fries. I was surprised at how busy they were. The burgers come out fresh and hot. They are smashed thin and have a crispy edge. The slice of cheese is perfectly melted. There are grilled onions at the bottom of the burger and the top is dressed with thick cut pickles and a decorative drizzle of Hammer Sauce. One of the things I like most about this burger is the overall texture and the proportions of beef to the steamed potato bun. It's soft and melty and delicious. The fries are great too (thin and crispy) and they have a nice selection of house sauces. Their signature Hammer Sauce, White BBQ sauce, Garlic Sauce, Chipotle Mayo, Jalapeño Ranch and Ranch. I went around the world and tried every one. Customizing your sauce by mixing a few together is not a bad idea and likely a veteran move. I have had their sweet potato fries before and they are above average. I have also had their chili cheese fries and a cup of chili...not bad. Their Flatty Melt ($11) was the first burger I tried when going the first time. Unique and tasty. I've also had Spicy Smash ($11) that has a pile of grilled jalapeño's on top. It's hot so be prepared. They have a nice selection of beers but I haven't gone down that road yet. Lunch was so good, I bought my son-in-law a $75 gift certificate. The downtown area has really be revitalized and now it's fun to walk around.

    07.12.2026 Hubby and…read moreI decided to stop and try this place on our way back from spending the day in LA. We've seen it a few times because we've been around the corner at Loosies Pizza. The staff were friendly and attentive. We arrived right before the dinner rush. The place had TVs on and music playing. It seemed like a fun place to eat and hang out. One of the staff mentioned how they were packed last weekend with all the FIFA games. We ordered take out - a classic Hammer Burger, a half order of chili cheese fries, and a small order of onion rings. Sauce station was near the soda, you could get whichever ones you liked. Despite our 15 minute drive home, the food was still warm and really delicious. The burger had good flavor with and without their house sauce. The chili cheese fries were skinny fries with a cheese sauce and bean-less chili. The chili was filling and had a little kick to it. The batter-fried onion rings were (still) crispy and yummy with both ranch and the house sauce. We will definitely be back to fill our smashburger and chili cheese fries cravings! PS- The bathrooms were clean.

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    4.1(278 reviews)
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    Come support your local small business…read more Saturday lunch, pretty busy inside, menu is pretty large with breakfast items, various type of burgers, sandwiches, Mexican, and teriyaki items. Ordered a cheese burger, chili cheese fries, and a combo plate. Combo plate came with 2 taquitos, 1 asada taco and rice/beans. Taquitos were crispy,asada was was seasoned well and big. Burger was tasty with the standard fixings and pretty big. Chili cheese fries were crispy and the chili is homemade. Overall a great local burger joint with a lot of options.

    Came here for a late lunch. There was lots of convenient parking. The building looks like an old…read moreschool Taco Bell. You order at the counter. The young lady that took our order was polite, courteous and professional. The restaurant looked very clean. As I ordered, I could see some of the kitchen. What I could see looked neat and clean. Our food came out relatively quickly. The same person that took our order delivered our food to our table. We had a hot dog and fries, à cheeseburger and fries and a chicken bowl. Everything tasted good. Nothing special but it was hot and made for a solid lunch. The chicken bowl was so big some needed to be taken home. The soda tasted a bit off. The soda dispenser seems like it needs some attention. Johnie's was good enough that I will come back.

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    Bosscat Kitchen & Libations - 12 Hour Beef Short Rib

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    Wife and I stumbled upon Bosscat randomly and had lunch a few months ago. I saw the Whisky Room and…read morethought that would be the perfect spot for my retirement dinner I wanted to have with a few of my partners. I was not disappointed! I worked with Casey in Private Events and he made the magic happen. Had a welcome cocktail, 4-course dinner, dessert, and a Whisky Flight tutorial. Jacob was our Whisky expert and server. He absolute rocked it! Even had a close up magician swinging by for a little entertainment. Highly highly highly recommend. It's not cheap, but very much worth dollar spent. Trust me, you won't be disappointed if you decide to do a group event there.

    My coworkers and I have been to Bosscat previously for happy hour and enjoyed the drinks, sliders,…read moreand fries, so when we happened to be in the area on a Saturday morning, we figured why not stop by here for breakfast/brunch and mimosas. Unfortunately - all of us agreed the brunch items are NOT good. See pictures of eggs. The eggs in the omelette as well as the scramble were rubbery and spongy. Very similar to the motel eggs - there is no way they were made with real eggs in the shell, most likely pasteurized liquid or powdered egg mix was used. We were so disappointed with the eggs, we still talk about it to this day. The breakfast/brunch items with eggs were not worth $16. The menu even stated, omelette has 6 eggs and the scramble has 3 eggs so it seemed as if fresh eggs were being used. Needless to say, we didn't finish even half of the food. Would not return for brunch again. I did email the Orange location directly 4 weeks ago when this happened and never received a response.

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    We finally tried the El Brewjo food truck that was at Everywhere brewery a few weeks ago. They are…read moreknown for their classic smash burgers, but they also have unique options that were very enticing. We ended up ordering one of the classic smash burgers and one of the spicy jalapeño burgers. Both exceeded our expectations and really couldn't have asked for anything more. We will be back. It was standard food truck pricing, which is always a little bit more on the expensive side, but it wasn't outrageous and the burgers lived up to it.

    Pop up at different locations each day of the week. They were at Everywhere Brewing on Saturday…read more Got to try them out! $12 for the Plain Jane: Smashburger with cheese $17 Lasso Burger: Smashburger with cheese, onion rings, and bbq sauce $5 for tater tots I thought the burgers were good but not amazing, after hearing them getting 2nd place in a burger competition I did have a little bit of high expectations, but I thought the burger was just missing flavor and seasoning, buns were a little cold but did have a good softness to it! The burger patty was also left thick and not as smashed. I felt that this burger could be much more elevated with a thousand island sauce. The tater tots were really crispy and had a nice sauce! For $30+ for two burgers it's a little bit on the pricey end and I just felt it didn't hit the mark. But still a pretty decent tasting burger!

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    El Brewjo - Pop-up at Everywhere Brewery on 10/27/2024.

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    El Brewjo - Walk of Shame

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    Tater Tots w/Brewjo sauce

    LJ's Lil' Cafe - breakfast_brunch - Updated October 2026

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