Very good retro diner-type place. It's like Denny's or Perkins or whatever but with some local southern fare and just much better quality. Haven't been for lunch or dinner but their breakfast is awesome. They have counter seating, booths, and a table area in the back. We love their omelets, which come with three huge pancakes or biscuits. Sausage gravy with the biscuits is awesome. Lots of different omelets, pancakes, eggs, waffles, and other breakfast items. Being from NJ, this is like a classic NJ diner with friendly waitresses, decent coffee, big menu, etc. They even improvised microwaved milk when we wanted hot milk instead of coffee. Always happy to get a big breakfast here before hitting the wine trail! read more

Kathy's Restaurant - Steak omelette and everything omelette, both with pancakes on the side (included). - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

My family just recently moved to the area and Kathy's was a suggestion when I asked locals where to eat. Everything was great including the sweet tea. We will definitely be back :) read more

A delicious no-frills diner located 5 minutes from where i64 and i81 meet. The service was friendly, quick, and the food was served hot. The biscuits & gravy platter was homemade from scratch and filled me up. The eggs Benedict was made as it should have been- with poached eggs and smooth hollandaise sauce. Kathy's diner is well-known gem frequented by locals, which is always a good sign. read more

Kathy's Restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

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We were just passing through and we decided to stop here...The food is amazing! All the items ordered were on point. I'm coming back for sure. read more

The chocolate milk is kind of low in chocolate the creepy dolls in the little room just give me the creeps the pancakes are better but not the best read more

Kathy's Restaurant - The pancakes - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

From all I'd read and heard, Kathy's is regarded as a Staunton institution. So on the drive back from from a visit to see family at University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, it was as good a time as any to test things out for myself. The name may officially be Kathy's Restaurant, but the latter word could easily, and appropriately, be swapped for "Diner" and be perfectly fitting. The menu variety and selections, the booths, the counter, the servers, everything screams southern diner. Only the hours, and the dining room, separated from the booths and counter just inside the entrance, give the feel of a more traditional restaurant. Either way, what truly counts is the product coming out of the kitchen. I have been to more than one pretty restaurant with mediocre food... or worse. Each day of the week features a different special, and the Wednesday selection is the baked pork tenderloin with gravy, along with two side dishes. The tenderloin was cooked nicely but the serving size was surprisingly small, and the gravy could have used an extra burst of flavor. The mashed potatoes were underwhelming, coming off as unseasoned, bland, and somewhat watery. A good mash is not something that is going to blow your taste buds out of your mouth but the consistency and the flavor could use a little work. The green beans were by far the best side of the two but I will likely opt for two different side dishes on my next visit. My dinner selection was, in actuality, a breakfast order. The Biscuits, Gravy, Sausage, Eggs platter is a monster, and still not the largest breakfast platter on the menu (with that honor still bestowed on Big Mike's Country Breakfast... I can only imagine just how big Big Mike must be). With two biscuits, a cup of sausage gravy, two eggs, three sausage links, and home fries, this meal is for the hungry Southerner who is either having a cheat meal, choosing not to be health conscious, or simply in desperate need of a massive amount of food in one setting. The best part of the platter is the two biscuits after having been smothered in sausage gravy. Both components are clearly homemade and are made very well. The gravy is dark and rich, with chunks of sausage throughout, while the biscuits are flaky and fresh but not overly large. The sausage links and eggs are fresh and standard issue, being items that taste good but are only truly noticeable when prepared poorly. These were cooked nicely and served as a compliment to the gravy and biscuits. The home fries were a pleasant surprise because breakfast potatoes are easy to screw up and are often greasy, tasteless, and soft. The home fries at Kathy's were excellent, nice and crispy without being greasy, and minimally seasoned so that you are only dealing with a ton of salt by choice, not default. A little ketchup on top is nice but certainly not mandatory. Although the dishes above were good, the hype that surrounds Kathy's can be boiled down to one word: Pancakes. The online reviews, the word from the locals, the advertising, the signage, the focal point of the menus, it all points to how good the pancakes are. Kathy's even offers the pancake mix for sale at the counter. Despite the piles of food from the breakfast platter, no pancakes were included and I could not simply pass them by without a taste test. Thankfully, a single pancake is available as a side item. That single pancake turned out to be the best thing I had. Rich and fluffy, served with the same glob of butter whether it's a single cake, a short stack of three, or a full order of five, the basic pancake is exactly what pancakes are supposed to be. Kathy's also offers an array of pancake combinations, from the rich and almost dessert-like varieties to those topped with fruits and meats. Those are certainly on my radar, and will be tried at some point in the future along with the waffles and french toast, but it does seem awfully hard to beat the basic pancakes with butter and syrup. Classics are classics for a reason. The dinner selection on this trip did underdeliver but the breakfast items more than made up for the shortcoming, meaning that return visits are guaranteed and welcomed. This does, after all, strike me as more of a breakfast joint than anything, a point cemented by just how good the breakfast items are and the fact that they are available from open to close, something that I am sure is by customer request or demand. That said, it is rare for me to pass up a good burger and the grilled bacon cheeseburger on the lunch and dinner menu does seem to be worth a try. Even a bad burger can be better than a lot of other things. The west wasn't won on salad, after all. With that in mind, the difference in rating between a three and a four was the pancake. Next time, I will be bringing a sack of pancake mix home with me. For those with a hearty appetite and a desire for good, simple Southern food without the need for flare, Kathy's is a viable option to serve your needs. read more

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Kathy's really is the best place for breakfast in the area. They also make a very good burger. Service is excellent-- friendly, efficient, and professional. The front half of the restaurant has the classic diner vibe. It's very enjoyable to sit in a booth, sipping coffee, and taking in the small town atmosphere. Great people watching and eavesdropping opportunities. My favorites from the breakfast menu are the pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs-- all of which are prepared perfectly. If you're going out for breakfast and you're not going to Kathy's, you should really re-evaluate your life choices. read more

Disappointing. For all the advertising about her pancakes, they use corn syrup. Yuck! So I ordered the ham and cheese omelet. Thin on both the ham and cheese. Not worth the price. Coffee could use a double brew to make to good. Come on Kathy... make the effort to use real maple syrup and I'm sure your customer patronage will grow. read more

Husby and I scoped this place out looking for a decent place to get breakfast on the cheap after two expensive dinners in town. This place needs more credit than it's getting! the inside is very retro-looking with typical diner booths decked out in black and red. I ordered the Junior Plate -- 2 pancakes, 2 bacon strips and an egg for $4.94! Pancakes were probably best diner pancakes I've ever had -- airy and a little spongey! Husby really enjoyed his sausage links that came with his platter. All in all our breakfast was $16.00 ! If you're looking for a good cheap breakfast, go to Kathy's. :) read more

Voted best breakfast in Staunton for a reason. Had eggs over easy with grits, hash browns, huge slice of country ham, biscuits and a side of gravy. No I couldn't finish it but I sure enjoyed trying. Treat yourself to Kathy's and you'll be glad you did. read more

2nd visit, food is ok , however not that good --we waited an inordinate amount of time! This morning, we waited 45 mins for a simple breakfast order. Top it off--one of the sandwiches never arrived! That person had to wait another 15 mins Won't be back read more

Yelp defines two-stars as "Meh, I've experienced better" and that is exactly how I'd describe my breakfast at Kathy's. I had a bacon omelet that came with only a choice of pancakes, toast, or a biscuit. Potatoes are separate. My omelet was somewhat small and looked very anemic -- sort of like something you'd get out of the microwave. Fortunately, it had a decent amount of bacon filling and a little cheese. The bacon was a little better than average tasting. I rarely get pancakes, but I went with them because Kathy's claims to have "gourmet pancakes." Perhaps my infrequent pancake consumption affected my ability to distinguish a regular pancake from a "gourmet" one, but honestly, the pancakes I had were nothing special. They were very light texture and came with a huge scoop of whipped better. (The scoop was perfectly round, except where it met the pancake -- it looked a little like a huge meteorite that crashed into my pancake.) It's unfortunate Kathy's doesn't provide better syrup for their "gourmet" pancakes -- your only option is the stuff in the sticky container on the table. Apparently gourmet pancakes don't require warmed syrup. My breakfast was decent enough, but I came away disappointed I didn't select another place to eat. read more

Saturday morning and my fiance wanted to find a local place for breakfast. The parking lot is always filled so we wanted to give it a try. Walking in and looking at the other tables the food looked pretty good. Service was good. Only a couple of servers, but the service was pretty fast and friendly considering. We decided on coffee for drink. I've never had great coffee in a diner, but this wasn't the worst of them. For breakfast my fiance got the steak and eggs, and I got the sausage gravy and biscuits. Steak was a really fresh cut of ribeye. However, we asked for medium and got well. It wasn't burnt to a crisp, and had good flavor, plus was still pretty tender for a well done steak. It came with 2 eggs, cooked over easy, home fries, and pancakes. The eggs were perfect and not greasy at all. Home fries were very tasty with a little crispy texture, once again without being greasy. The pancakes were pretty good with a good texture. They aren't the huge fluffy pancakes you might have come to expect from ihop, or even the mixes you might prepare at home, but more of a thin tasty cakey mix. The sausage gravy and biscuits weren't my favorite. The biscuits were yummy and homemade, but the sausage gravy was pretty rich and heavy. I'm not the biggest fan of sausage gravy so feel free to try. All in all, I will be coming back here. read more

We stayed at wintergreen on the top of the mountain Kathy's was about 18 miles from where we stayed I would make the drive again everyday food was on the money the price is right restaurant was very friendly they accommodated our every need and the prices were very reasonable. read more

Kathy's Restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

Lightest fluffiest pancakes I have ever had. My granddaughter had lemon blueberry pancakes; breakfast is my favorite meal and this oneof the best in a long time. The staff was extremely busy but my coffee cup was never empty! read more

Great buckwheat pancakes and deep fried cauliflower! Hollandaise is homemade, execution of Benedict was perfect. Friendly staff and fast turn around on food. read more

This is a good place for breakfast if you don't want to spend a ton of money. I've never made it there any other time of the day. The food is pretty good. I've never had a problem with the service. I like taking my baby there on Sunday mornings while everyone's still in church - the service is excellent then, he likes to watch the waitresses bustling around, and we can get out before everyone else shows up. The only complaint I have is that they advertise nothing but fresh ingredients, and that's definitely NOT the case - as another reviewer mentioned, the fruit salad is out of a can of heavy syrup (with some fruits entirely unidentifiable), and the strawberries on the waffles are clearly canned or frozen. It's diner food, so it's not healthy, but sometimes that's what you want. read more

AMAZING hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, and delicious and HUGE chocolate chip pancakes! -They have breakfast and lunch items. -Service is fast and very friendly. -The restaurant is clean and old fashion (really cool) -I have gone back and would recommend! read more

I ordered the Reuben Sandwich, and it was the worst Reuben that I ever had. The corned beef and sauerkraut were practically non existent. The only thing that there was enough of was the bread. read more

We were in town for the Magic and Mischief Festival and needed a quick breakfast that was better than our hotel's. We had the buttermilk pancakes and the corned beef hash omelette. Food and service was good. read more

My boyfriend and I were on our way back to DC from a weekend getaway at Douthat State Park this morning when we decided to stop at Kathy's. We were starving and getting cranky so I looked up diner's. Kathy's reviews seemed legit so we decided to stop. The food was delicious and after spending so much money that weekend, we were relieved to not have to spend a lot to get a nice meal. I got the Eggs Benedict and it was delicious - my boyfriend got two eggs, two pieces of bacon, two pancakes, and home fries all for like $7. The service was superb and the wait staff was very friendly. We left with happy hearts and full stomachs. read more

TLDR: The Owner/manager was extremely rude and belligerent. Charged me for food that I did not order after I reminded them several times including when they put it on the table, that I did not order it. I was assured that it wasn't an issue and would be fixed but it wasn't. I ended up paying extra for food I did not order. Much of the food was gross and pre made/ dumped out of a can. We stopped in for breakfast at Kathy's. The waitress was very nice, but was also new so she didn't know much about the menu. There were dozens of dead and dying flies all along the big windows that form the front of the building. They are directly next to you so you can look out of them while you sit there but the dead flies laying all over the ledge are gross. I ordered the "Big Mike's breakfast" which was supposed to consist of eggs, grits, biscuits and sausage gravy, home fries, bacon, sausage, and ham. I was also wanting a pancake to go with it so I ordered a side of one pancake. Others at the table ordered a waffle, but we were told they were out of waffle batter so he ordered French toast and muffins, and another ordered cheese sticks with fries. When the order came, my breakfast was missing the grits, the French toast didn't come at all, and the pancake I ordered ended up as a plate of three pancakes. As she sat the 3 pancakes down I reminded her that I only ordered 1 pancake and she said that she had hit the wrong button when putting in our order and that it was no big deal and she would take care of it. She also said that the French toast didn't get put into the computer as a mistake on her part and she would put it in now. I asked her if we could have an extra plate so I could share one of the extra pancakes with our 7 year old while he waited for his French toast since everyone else had their food. She was very nice and brought us the plate. She then informed me that grits didn't even come with my breakfast and grabbed a menu then apologized when she read that it clearly stated it did come with them. She then came back and said they were out of grits but would bring another side. I had her bring bacon to go with the pancake while he waited for his French toast. Finally the French toast came but the muffins did not, she had forgotten those as well, she did go back to get them and finally we had almost everything we ordered. As I ate my meal I noticed that the gravy was out of a can, the biscuits were some kind of frozen pre made things, the ham had a funny taste and the sausage was the precooked, strange textured stuff like McDonald's serves. I ate my eggs, potatoes, bacon, and the two pancakes that were left by her mistake and was full, but knew that I'd never order that breakfast again because over half of it was low quality garbage. So now the bill comes and the $2 add on pancake that I added to my $12 breakfast was $7 and was listed as a short stack. I reminded her that I had ordered only 1 pancake and that she had said she was going to fix it. She was very nice again and said she would have it fixed at the register. I walked up to the register to pay and a different older lady with black hair came up to ring me out. I mentioned what the waitress had told me and what I had ordered and the black haired older lady immediately got a nasty attitude/tone and said "well you ate them didn't you?". It took me a second to register that she was blaming me for their mistake. She was very rude and said "I can take $1 more off but that's all I can do, you ate them". By this point I was pretty irritated that she would act like this so I asked if we were paying the bill based on what we ate or what we ordered? I then said if the bill was based on what we ate that she needed to take half of that "Big Mike's breakfast" off because it tasted like garbage and I couldn't eat it. If the rest of the food wasn't so nasty I wouldn't have even been able to eat the second pancake, which is why I only ordered one to start with. She just looked at me with a deer in headlights look and I knew she was just a nasty ignorant woman and that arguing wouldn't help so I paid the $50 and we won't be back of course. It's unfortunate because I love a good diner and we thought we had found a nice place, but boy were we wrong. read more

Took my mom to kathys on Sunday, they were very busy.i ordered the blueberry/lemon pancakes my mom got blueberry waffles. We both got a side of bacon. The food was of the hook! So delicious pancakes were light and fluffy bacon was cooked perfectly. Susan B. Waited on us and she was awesome my coffee never got past half full. The whole staff moved like a well oiled machine. This was the best food and service ive gotten from any restaurant in a while.thank you! read more

Good ol' fashioned diner with attentive staff, good prices, and bountiful food. We stayed at the RV park nearby and went into town for a meal. She's known for her pancakes so you know we got those. The whipped cream was REAL cream the Cole slaw was awesome and the breakfast anytime is a crowd pleaser. read more

Normally I love Kathy's, but today I had a bad experience. I called in and ordered a late breakfast and all I ordered was biscuits & gravy and a sweet tea. The menu shows the price at $8.25. When I walked in to pick up my order, I wasn't greeted and had to stand off to the side for about 5 minutes. Once I was rang up, I was charged over $20 for this and when I asked why, I got told "it is what it is" and she wouldn't have anything else to do with it. I normally take family here when they're visiting from out of town, but will definitely find somewhere else to go after this. Not only was the price variance frustrating(more than double what was listed!?), but the lack of customer service/explanation afterwards is what really bothered me. I'm all about supporting local businesses, but I certainly won't be back for a good while. read more

Kathy's Restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

Do not understand how Kathy's keeps getting number one breakfast in the Valley. Every time I have gone the food has been cold and very mediocre. The omelets are thin more crepe-like. The people are very sweet but for my liking, the food falls short. read more

Good food, great service, inexpensive, and a interesting and eclectic atmosphere. Home cooking style food was very good and our waiter took amazing care of us- many interesting things to look at and a varied menu made for an excellent lunch. We would go back! read more

It's an old diner type restaurant. The staff were personal and friendly although they weren't quite positive on the prices The website we saw said the soup was homemade. It's not. When we walked in we were told it was $2.25 for a cup of soup and then we were charged $ 4,25 for 2 ozs. of canned soup. outrageous. We had the country ham and grilled chicken, both were over cooked and dried out. They literally cut the chicken breast in half and served half of a breast. The vegetables were nothing to speak about except the mashed potatoes and baked potato. When we informed them the meals were terrible, we were offered a dessert but refused. Don't let them seat you down by the kitchen because the busboy slams dishes and glasses around. read more

LOVE Kathys. Stopped going to Cracker Barrel in town because Kathy's is just plain better!

This restaurant really has gone downhill as far as food quality goes. We went for Father's Day today, the meal was so bad, we couldn't finish it. The price was $45 for 3 people to eat, money wasted. We left there and went to McDonald's. I am only giving it one star because I had to. read more

Nothing tasted good besides the toast. I ordered an omelette that was not well-cooked. When we let our sever know, she didn't do anything to fix the problem. The lady at the front didn't even ask if everything went well. Not a do-over but if you really like toast, you should go! read more

These reviews lied. Or we just had terrible experience. Waitress was older than my great grandma with zero personality, no smile, no greetings. Got omelet..feel like everything in it was frozen not fresh had to pay more for cheese wth.. coffee was yuck , never again . read more

Overcrowded restaurant during pandemic. Parking lot full. Pandemic safety measures in question.