I stopped in for a cup of coffee and breakfast with a friend on a late Friday morning. We found a nice table and were promptly greeted by a server ready to take our orders. We needed a minute to decide and so she returned after giving us time to peruse the extensive menu. The cafe is quite comfortable with a wall of shelves displaying books, nicknacks and antique bottles. I decided to try a cappuccino and a turkey club while my friend ordered a coffee and the breakfast burrito. Everything came out hot and rather quickly. We immediately dug in to enjoy a celebration of tastes. It was a relaxing and friendly experience. The food was good. read more

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This was our second time, and it was just as expected. Staff is very friendly and attentive but the kitchen is extremely slow. If you're in hurry or hungry this is not the place for you. The food is good but not worth the wait. I do understand it's summer time in the shorline but waiting a hour for pancakes is not worth it. read more

We stopped here for coffee on our way to the beach & coffee was mediocre. They didn't have many flavor options. read more

Paperback Cafe - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

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One of my favorite spots for a relaxed breakfast but delicious breakfast. I am certain this will change as we ease into summer and the shore towns get a bit more activity. Usually it is easy to snag a small table for just myself. I have had to wait a few minutes only once. As I said, this may be subject to change with the vacationers. It is a cheerful, family friendly environment making it a popular pick. They have a fairly large menu in addition to a rotating list of specials. Despite wanting to try something new every time I return, I am always pulled in by the breakfast bowl! It is a good sized portion of egg, shredded potatoes, and whatever special goodies they have to throw in. One week it was shaved steak with freshly sliced jalapeños (pictured). Another week the bowl had sliced bratwurst, onions, and a mustard drizzle. Definitely recommend a stop if you are in the area looking for a good breakfast and a bright ambience. read more

Paperback Cafe - Shaved steak hash bowl - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

What a delightful, charming, and delicious restaurant. We stopped by for a late Sunday morning breakfast this week. It was a busy place, but we timed it just right and were able to get a table outside right away. Service was very friendly, polite, and hard-working. I tried the Salvadorian Scramble. It was outstanding. Scrambled eggs, tomato, bacon, toast, avocado and some hash browns. It was supposed to have cilantro on it, but I didn't see or taste any. The coffee was pretty good too. My girlfriend had a banana pancake and some hash browns which she enjoyed as well. Parking is ample. The menu is huge and they have lots of specials too. It is also a coffee shop with danish's, muffins, and coffee cakes too. I really enjoyed it, and would go back. read more

We had a really nice meal here before our departure home. The prices seemed a little high for what we ordered but nowadays that seems to be the case everywhere. The place was quite busy but the service was on point. read more

Terrible service especially from one of the servers. She's rude and confrontational. There's plenty of better places in Old Saybrook where they treat customers well. read more

Best breakfast I have had in a while. Great service and a ton of gluten free options for my son.

Absolutely delightful experience at the Paperback Cafe today. Famished and lightheaded after a long walk, I stopped in to recharge. The lovely waitress warmly greeted me and I took a seat outdoors. Couldn't decide between the tuna melt or banana pancakes so I got both! I ordered the one pancake option. It doesn't sound like these two would go together but they absolutely did and they were delicious! I told the waitress how great everything was and she thanked me and looked so happy! Great food and vibes all around. Would definitely return when in the area. BTW this photo is of a toasted marshmallow latte from my first visit a few days ago. Today was my second visit there. read more

Paperback Cafe - Toasted Marshmallow Latte - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

Decent food (typical diner, breakfast food). Lots of breakfast options. Love the casual, relaxed ambiance. The food did come out rather slowly. I noticed this happening to several other tables too. The Eggs Benedict was fine. The hash browns were on the saltier side. The pancakes were a little too powdery/flour-y. read more

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Love this place so much. Been one of my favorite spots for over 20 years, and is as good if not better as it has always been. The food is so fresh and beautifully prepared, the service is phenomenal, and it's so cute and cozy in there. 10/10 would recommend any day of the week read more

Paperback Cafe - Steak hash bowl - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

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Such a cute and cozy spot in downtown Old Saybrook! When you walk in, there's a whole case of various pastries, and it looks like they have several gluten free options as well! I ordered a pumpkin spice latte that was to die for!! Sort of on the sweeter side of things- but I didn't mind. We ordered a tuna melt that came with a side of carrot sticks, and an avocado BLT special that came with a side of hash browns. Everything came out great! Definitely recommend a stop if you're in the area. read more

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It pains me to write a review like this but I no longer feel welcome and won't be coming back. This happened in early August and I've waited to write about it because I was advised by the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights to wait to see if there were others with this experience. I did find a community of people on message boards complaining about this same issue, so I'm finally speaking out. The food here is good, but the waitresses refer to all of the people as "guys" no matter their gender or the identities they hold. I (female) was sitting at a table with 3 other women, two of whom are human rights lawyers and in their 70s; they spent their entire careers fighting for equal rights for women in the workplace. Every waiter/waitress (mostly waitresses) who came over to us kept saying, "What can I get for you guys?" (You guys...as if "you all" are "guys"). This happened over the course of the hour and was relentless. "Is everything good over here, guys?" "How's everything tasting, you guys?" "Do you guys want the check?" At some point, my friend, God bless her soul, interrupted the waitress and said "we're not guys. we're all women. you wouldn't go up to a table of men and call them ladies as in 'what can I get for you ladies?' would you? In the same way, we will not be misgendered. Let's keep the patriarchy out of this and let women be visible on a Sunday morning when we are paying customers, just trying to enjoy our breakfast." But...alas....it didn't stop. So the group nominated me to speak to the manager and owner, a tall lady who I thought would understand--as a woman of the world who gets paid 80 cents on the dollar to the men in her life, who's been invisible in most professional settings, and who has fewer governmental rights than the men she knows--but this is where things actually got worse. When I brought this to the manager/owner, she got very upset and started yelling at me. Here are all of the issues: 1) first, she told me that calling women "guys" isn't misgendering because "guys is a gender neutral term." My friend just wrote a book on the history of patriarchal language and how it's been used to erase women's identities, so we asked her "really? how many guys has George Clooney been married to?" She didn't have a response to this since, obviously, we proved that "guys" is far from a gender neutral term. 2) The manager/owner said, "if this happened to me, I wouldn't feel this way." We kind of just stood there speechless. Customer service 101: don't invalidate the lived experience of someone else. It's not relevant how you would feel in this situation. We felt invisible in your establishment, and that matters because it happened to us. We have the right to feel the way we feel. (By the way, it's worth mentioning that while we were having this conversation off to the side of the counter, the owner said to a group of women who walked in, "We'll be with you guys in a moment!" We were pretty sure she said this just to stick it to us and show that she had no intention of making sure that women felt seen for being women - and not for being subjugated under male identities - and that she didn't care what we had to say about it. 3) Finally, the owner became so dysregulated that she yelled, "'I'm over this conversation!" and physically pushed past me to get out of the conversation. Such poor customer service here; to not be listened to, to be told that your experience didn't matter, and then to be abandoned and ignored mid-conversation... A better, more appropriate, and helpful response would have been to offer me to the chance to speak off hours, when the cafe wasn't so busy, and then to listen and take the complaints seriously. Responses like "I'm sorry to hear that you didn't feel respected or seen here" or "we strive to make sure everyone feels comfortable being themselves here" would have been better. It's an important skill for adults to keep their composure and regular their emotions, especially when they're in positions of power. Frankly anything would have been better than "I'm over this conversation." Women are a protected minority class in CT so my friends, the human rights lawyers, looked it up, and it is in fact considered discrimination to misgender people in the state of CT, especially when they ask, over and over, to be called by their identity. We would be happy to offer free anti-discrimination trainings to Paperback Cafe, but it seems unlikely that they'd take us up on it since the owner was "over it" and didn't seem to care about the negative experience of some of her patrons. (And by the way, just for some basic education, the word "you" is plural in English. So the waitresses can just say "can I get you anything" to the table and we would have understood. Or, "can we get you ladies anything?" Or "How are you all doing?" We obviously won't be coming back. We don't need to be reminded during our breakfast that women have fewer rights and visibility in society. DO BETTER. read more

Place is good but not great. Nice seating and atmosphere. An "A" for creativity with the menu, but some dishes seem to be a big mash of the key ingredients. Had a nice eggs Benedict with salmon over a bagel dish, but hollandaise sauce was poured excessively all over the plate. When I informed the server of that, she said "first time I heard that before and were not going to change it." Not the response I wanted. Maybe instead, "we can make it with less next time if you let us know."? Portions are good. You won't leave hungry. Water glasses seem to repeatedly have that brook water aftertaste, unfortunately. Dishwasher and/or filtration needs an upgrade. Servers seem a bit overworked with short attentiveness. In fact, I would say 4 out of my 5 times going here, servers were not particularly friendly. Also, bathroom was filthy, toilet seat barely hanging on. Place needs an infusion of TLC, and unsure if I'll return. read more

Cute atmosphere, but food is mediocre at best. The pancakes are extremely dry and flavorless. They don't offer a variety of pancakes either. The kitchen is slow with making food, but the staff is friendly and helpful. I don't feel the need to revisit, we'll try something else next time we're in the area. read more

Great food, great location! I have been going for 25 years and Kate and Staff have kept the quality high. We love Janet!

I've made a habit of coming here every Tuesday. Food is always consistently great, the staff is very friendly and constantly moving to make sure they can tend to your needs, a great atmosphere, and all for a reasonable price. You would be doing yourself a disservice not checking them out. read more

Paperback Cafe - Cinnamon swirl French toast, iced maple latte, fresh fruit, side of bacon and side of shredded hash browns - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

Went here for breakfast this morning. Had a delicious strawberry and cream latte and an amazing omelet. It was their Verde omelet. Im really picky about hash browns and theirs were quite delicious. Adorable little place worth trying if you haven't yet. Service was great! read more

This place has really gone downhill. Ive been eating here, off and on, for many years. It seems that they don't even care about the quality of food anymore. Has brown were cold and under-done. Eggs benedict was soggy with cheap sandwich ham and a poor sause, cheap cut of meat and weak coffee. I won't be coming back. I think its uder new management now. It shows. The tourists will probably come but the locals know better. read more

Horrible service!! Came inside and weren't greeted for 10 minutes older woman approached us and was extremely rude. If I was the owner I would retrain staff. - An update to my review the owner is very unprofessional and rude sounds like she needs to be retrained read more

Blueberry bacon pancakes are fantastic!!! Nice strong coffee too!! Friendly wait staff read more

While in Old Saybrook and a lot of driving around, I realized I could really use a good coffee. I didn't feel like driving further, to a cute spot, so I went to whatever was the closest. This was Paperback Cafe, this is actually a breakfast spot, I figured it may as well be a decent place to sit for a minute with a coffee, and a tea for my friend who doesn't drink coffee. This looks like they deliver delicious breakfast, based on what other people were having. I ordered a mochaccino latte, my friend got tea, and we got a croissant to share. That's plenty, we just needed an energy boost. This place wasn't very busy, only about three tables were taken. For hot tea, they brought out a cup of hot water and a small basket of a variety of teas to choose from. My mochaccino looked great, in a nice cup, very frothy and rich. This was a bit bigger then I needed but it's ok. It was chocolatey and delicious. The croissant took a while to come out, it was a bit bigger then average, perfect for sharing. It was buttery and warm. We were sitting by a shelf full of little decorative nicknacks, one of them was a box of poems. You could read poems submitted by guests or add your own into the little notebook, what a sweet little touch, I love writing, but I do my best when I'm at home. This is a nice spot, but the service was surprisingly very slow considering we didn't get any substantial food, and it was not at all busy. I'll visit for breakfast when I'm in the area. read more

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Cute little place. Under new management. The food is wonderful. Nice character. They have paleo and other healthy options for those that is important to. They were able to sub out some food options with no problem. Inside is quaint and outside they have a lot of little tables. Pets are welcome outside. read more

Average food in a not so welcoming environment, specially the owner the lady is definitely not to friendly to customers. What a shame it could be a great place but they need to be more friendly to people, and hopefully an upgrade to the menu. read more

Kate the new owner has continued the great tradition of this restaurant. Paperback is a great breakfast and lunch stop with amazing food and a wonderful wait staff. My family and I have Sunday brunch after church almost every week. This is a wonderful family owned and family friendly establishment. read more

Very glad we stopped here for brunch despite the 3 star rating. All of us in our party of four adults enjoyed our meals. I would have rated it 5 except my husband didn't think his hash browns were great. I loved my "Rachel" (a rueben sandwich made with turkey). Full variety of coffees to choose from. Friendly quick service, and our server got all our special requests right. We will be back! read more

Food was excellent. Service was great and very timely. They have a nice outdoor dining area. All in all, a great experience.

Great avocado toast. Added some jalepenos on it as well. Was pretty quiet in the morning and then picked up but still good service and good experience. read more

This spot is rustic, the tea and coffee is straight forward when ordering. The simplicity is is delightful and it is reasonably priced. You'll find yourself feeling safe with how they accommodate for the current time. Pancakes were amazing and from what I was told by my guest the Ruben was stellar. Just going by smell I would say so too. A must try for next time. I'll definitely be coming back! read more

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Staying in Old Saybrook for a night and tried out this place for breakfast. What a fabulous place! Had the Sierra De Peru! Open face English muffin with 2 over medium eggs, Sausage patty, spinach, red peppers with Parmesan cheese on top. It was awesome! Highly recommended. They coffee was good and they do have outdoor or indoor seating in a little shopping center in the business district of Old Saybrook. Maxie my waitress was right on top of it with coffee and my breakfast served hot and timely and she was always checking on me. Got my wife a Cafe Au Lait and banana muffin to go which she said was also very good. I highly recommend this place and will be back again on another visit. The rest of menu has some other interesting items!. I find many of the other 1 and 2 star reviews simply ridiculous. I found none of that! My order was so tasty! read more

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Always have a lovely breakfast or lunch with family and friends at Paperback Cafe. Food is tasty, service is friendly and efficient. Seating outside is a plus on a beautiful day! Favorites include Berry, Berry French Toast, Build Your Own Omelette, and Scrambled Everything for Breakfast; and the Tropical Chicken Salad, Murray's Grill, Tuna Melt and Pastrami Reuben for lunch. Also love that all lunch items are served with carrot sticks with Housemade Ranch dip instead of chips or fries!! read more

Great breakfast spot in Old Saybrook. At least twice a month, my family and I will take a walk down Main Street and stop in for some breakfast. The food is always great as is the service. In the warmers months, it's so nice to be able to eat outside! 10/10 read more

This place was okay. Not outstanding. The service was fantastic. It's a cute little diner, cafe in Old Saybrook. It's adorable inside. There's plenty of space and it is nicely appointed with cute memorabilia. It's very clean. I had an iced latte & eggs Benedict. The latte was good. The eggs Benny was very pretty. Eggs were cooked perfectly. It just wasn't outstanding. The hollandaise was watery & not very flavorful. I will try this place again maybe with a sandwich next time. read more

Service was great, we were seated right away and a person got our drink orders. When we were ready she got our waitress . However when the food came, they did not have my meal. Something when wrong with the order. They did expedite the food and I got it in 5 minutes I had the Paleo Bowl. Grilled chicken, sautéed vegetables with garlic topped with two scrambled egg whites, and mushrooms,Served with a side of fruit. It was delicious, sausage was spicy and tasty, along with the rest of the food. I would of given it 5 stars, if they did not mess up on the order. read more

Paperback Cafe - Paleo Bowl. Grilled chicken, sautéed vegetables with garlic topped with two scrambled egg whites - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

What made Paperback special is no longer. Quality of breakfast food has diminished significantly. Service was ok, kitchen was very slow. Portions small, laughably so. Small grocery store quality bagel, sausage patty so thin and sized to fit the tiny bagel, less than a slice of cheese, and less than a single egg on the breakfast sandwich. Ambiance is still nice, only reminder of Paperback of old. Better breakfast options elsewhere in town. read more

We have been going to the Paperback for over 20 plus years. It was the go to place for breakfast and lunch. A nice place to relax and enjoy a good meal either inside or outside. The sad thing is that it has become a very uncomfortable and almost toxic atmosphere with the wait staff. It is clear the owners don't care about how the customers are treated because we understand that many of our friends have also complained. The wait staff, particularly one young woman, is rude from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. She is loud and condescending. We will not be returning to the Paperback and will be encouraging our friends to walk down the street to Mariana's where we have always been greeted by friendly and warm staff and the food is great. The Paperback will survive because of many tourists who don't know better will visit, but it will continue to lose locals who have gone there for years. read more

TL;DR - Just go to Mirsina's up the street. People actually speak with you and look at you at the same time. Ah 2020 - the year we were all knee deep in a global pandemic. Also probably the first time people in the service industry said "Thank you so much for coming in today, we really appreciate it!" and actually meant it! Not so much for this place...we stood at the door for ten minutes and did not even get acknowledged. Two ladies were working (one slender older lady and a younger woman with dark hair) and they were so rude. I finally masked up and went inside, and the older lady said "Are you looking for a table outside?" Not a good morning or a hello, and she didn't even respond with a wait time or anything. I was lucky to get her eye contact. The other chick literally walked by five times until I finally said "Good morning, excuse me, how long for a table for two?" She legit said "All of the tables came at the same time so couldn't tell ya." We met our neighbors there who were just finished their meal and we saw others who were just getting their meals, so don't think they got slammed all at once. Whatever, not sure why I'm wasting my energy on this place, the other reviews aren't all that great either. read more

By Sarah Crisp Paperback Café on a Sunday falls into that sweet spot between breakfast and brunch. Turn up after 11am and you'll be treated to jazz with your breakfast. I love Eggs Benedict and use that as a marker by which all breakfasts are judged, and I was not disappointed. The salsa and avocado made a great addition and the servings are generous. The husband chose a Sierra de Peru - a combination of English muffins, eggs, cheese, sausage and red peppers. He assured me it was equally as good as my Benedict - and he clearly knows! Sticking with Paleo? You'll have no problem here, as a full Paleo menu includes waffles, pancakes, and sandwiches - all gluten free. The cappuccino is a don't miss: made with love and a lot of Italian know-how; the perfect finish to this yummy feast. Best for: Cappuccino, service with a smile, Paleo & gluten free options. read more

Paperback Cafe - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

Stopped by this morning for a coffee and muffing. The muffins were on the counter and the counter was full of flies! Granted the muffins were under glass, just the flies sitting all over the glass cover and counter was just too much. Put up some fly paper at the very least. I am sorry but I can't go here again. read more

Cute spot. The eggs Benedict with the avocado and cilantro salsa is my favorite. The potatoes it comes with however are not good. Both times I ordered the dish the hash browns are crunchy (not crispy) but hard. Perhaps they are old- not sure. The service is friendly. Cappuccinos are good and the restaurant itself is clean and cutely decorated. read more