Excellent food. Great breakfast. Server was nice enough to warm up my own non-dairy milk. We had breakfast Sunday morning so service could have been a bit slow due to it being so busy. read more

Good local food, great people, and the food is amazing and not to expensive. You do need to bring cash to pay but totally worth it!

Poppa Joe's is a comfort food diner in a historic location in a historic town. Ferndale is one of the most picture perfect towns in the country and is a popular location to film for Hollywood movies. It looks like a popular local hangout for the regulars (65+ if you know what I mean) to meet up and play cards in the back. I was in Ferndale between Christmas and New Years so not much was open in town due to the holidays. Poppa Joe's was one of the very few places open. They serve breakfast food, burgers and sandwiches here at this no frills diner. The food was decent. I had the breakfast special with two eggs, hash browns and linguica sausage. The sausage was recommended by our waitress and it was very tasty. The hash browns were pretty crispy as well. I didn't order the pancakes but a table near us ordered them and they were the size of the large plates! read more

Poppa Joe's - Diners Near Me - Ferndale, California

The food was good, however the staff did not wear face coverings. It made us very uncomfortable in this time of COVID. We tried to lead by example and wore a covering while not eating or drinking. However the staff did not follow suit. Pretty disappointing when we had two small children that wore their masks. read more

Great good old 'hungry-mans' breakfast! Super friendly, kind staff. Amazing History that warm the heart. The ambience is from the 1800's and the character and charm is very nice. I highly recommend visiting Poppa Joe's! read more

Poppa Joe's - Diners Near Me - Ferndale, California

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The ham and eggs were delicious. Coffee was great. The people were very friendly which made the experience a good one.

Good food. Good people. Great town to check out. I particularly enjoyed the pancakes!

When in Ferndale I always eat at Poppa Joes, best breakfast around! Order anything and it will be delicious! Their ciffee is great and the waitress is always coming around for refills. Portion sizes are big, so keep in mind when ordering. They always have a special, so ask what it is. read more

I thought maybe the reviews were a tad wrong. I was the one who was wrong. What a great place. Loved listening to the many locals chatting and enjoying their meals. Decided to try their waffle special which was perfect. Eggs and bacon cooked like my momma did. The guys working behind the counter could not have been friendlier and offered wonderful service. Will definitely be a regular whenever we are in town. read more

Great place, great food, great value!!! The decor is delightful, transporting you into another time and place. It's almost like being in a friend's living room. Some sweet older men were playing cards in the back :). Must go! read more

I am in love with this joint. You feel the history & feel as though you walked into the past when you open the door. The floors are so worn from all the generations of patrons that they are warped in a magnificent way. The food is downright good. Good down home breakfast. My whole family loved it. Loved the locals playing cards in the back & loved that I recognized a couple of them from the Huel Howser episode. Really an experience. Must go! read more

Loved it! Picked this place for the ambience. Empty tins of maple syrup, old soda pop bottles, A&W glass mugs, heads of bucks, stuffed trout and a whole lot American memorabilia! Comes complete with a barber chair. After waiting for a minute, the waitress came over and cleaned a dirty table and asked what we wanted to drink. Great service! Hubby had coffee and I had a hot cocoa served in a very cool mug. Not a very extensive menu, however they do serve numerous American classics such as pancakes, bacon etc. We settled on a cheeseburger with fries. The hamburger was superb and huge! The fries were crispy and better than Mc Donalds! You have to admit MickeyD's does have great fries... If the you have minute, read about the history of the restaurant in the menu. Nice to know that the original owner/founder of the restaurant was from the Azores where my hubby's family is from. Ambience 5 stars Service 5 stars Food 5 stars I will come back the next time I am in town. read more

Holy cow, why isn't this place in LA? Well if it was, they'd charge way too much and the food would probably suck. So I'm glad it is in Ferndale. Poppa Joe's is fantastic. One of the best breakfasts I've had, I don't know what they put in their pancakes but they are really amazing. My daughter's french toast was delicious as well. Hashbrowns were prepared perfectly. Thick, crispy bacon. Friendly service, and a really fun location in an old saloon, full of locals. When the waitress gave us our food, she handed us a jar of homemade blackberry jam to go on the table. Local blackberries. YUM. I kind of wish the coffee had been better, but that was my ONLY quibble with the meal. And the coffee wasn't terrible, it just wasn't great coffee. Still, if that's the only drawback? I'll fill up at a local coffeehouse and order cocoa with my meal. read more

The old space is super cool, but the service was sloooooooow. Really slow. couldnt't get a refill on coffee. I think the "chef" cooks one meal at a time, no multi tasking. The food was serviceable. I asked the waitress for the history of this amazing old building..she stuttered throgh some half ass thing hat was totally made up and lame. Becasue when i left, there's a metal plaque affixed to the building explaining its entre history. I guess she never read it. Shocker. read more

Hole in the wall local type joint, but since it's a touristy town you'll be made to feel welcome. Solid diner food and great value for the price. Don't expect to have your ass kissed, but be nice to the staff and they'll do the same. If ever back in the area I will certainly hit it again. read more

Wow! We were going to drive up to the Samoa Cookhouse for a tourists breakfast, but I am SO GLAD our hostess talked us out of it and into a charming breakfast at Poppa Joe's! We met up with friends who were also staying in Ferndale for breakfast and were fascinated by this place. The decor is great with all sorts of ephemera from Ferndale's history (everything from old hunting licenses to a royalty check from the movie the Majestic and everything inbetween) and this was a wonderful location to watch the geniune locals interact with each other. Both my friends and I are from small towns, but nothing like Ferndale, so it was fun watching everyone greeting each other and catching up on the latest news. Then there was the food. Absolutely divine. My hearty breakfast was a vegetarian omlette, toast, and hash browns which were served with homemade blackberry or peach jam. Everything was hearty and perfect, providing a terrific start to our vacation morning at a very reasonable price. Do NOT miss this charming breakfast spot if you pass this way. read more

Hands down THE best breakfast in Humboldt. Nowhere else even compares. Service is awesome, nice people to eat with at the bar, the food is great. Even the lunches. This isnt just the best breakfast in Humboldt, it's one of my all-time favorites ANYWHERE. (HINT: order the breakfast sandwich) Avoid on the weekends tho. The main cook (the little old lady) only works weekdays. She kicks ass. Whereas the dude who works weekends is much slower and the food isnt as good. read more

Upon entering you immediately feel this place has been here forever and the same people have been going here forever. It may not be the best of the best but its probably the most authentic Humboldt county breakfast you can get other then maybe somoa cookhouse. It totally has the farmer logger feel but I would say they have better food served to order then the cookhouse. Its not a healthy place. They definitely don't skimp on the butter, thats for sure. Actually if you take a look at the grill you can see about a 3 pounds slab of good looking butter ready for the using. As far as recommendations, they make a damn good american style breakfast burrito. They have some pretty serious pancakes too and Im sure homemade waffles. This place is great for big groups/families wanting to kick back awhile enjoy each others company and eat a good american breakfast. read more

A great place to start the morning. If you ever saw the Heull Howser special on Ferndale, this is the place. Coffee is a dollar and unlimited! Waffles are the size of your head so don't order the large order. Biscuits and gravy are on Wednesdays. This is not a tourist trap restaurant with exorbitant prices!! Good eats at reasonable prices. Kudos! Ps. Don't forget to add the homemade jams in your toast or waffles. read more

We were at the Benbow Inn for a weekend and took a drive to Ferndale. Asked a local where's the best place for breakfast. She replied, "Poppa Joe's, but you may have to wait." We figured she meant wait for a table to open up. So we were surprised to see lots of vacant tables and counter seats. In we went. Kind of a funky (in a good way) old building, lots of character. But cold. We kept our coats on. (Well, it was a very cold weekend everywhere when we were there.) Waitress was fine and friendly, offering coffee refills. Which we needed. Food was quite good -- great potatoes, good bacon, wonderful pancakes, good eggs. So, why the two-stars? When the local said, "You may have to wait," I think what she meant was you may have to wait for your food. The restaurant wasn't crowded. There were some folks at the counter and three other tables of people. It took 55 minutes (yes, I timed it) before the food was served. This was a Sunday, so maybe the regular cook was not working. Or maybe one of two cooks called in sick. Whatever. And inordinate amount of wait time for simple breakfasts. Summary: Food is very good. The place has a lot of character. But I don't want to wait nearly one hour for food. read more

No frills juicy cheeseburger, crispy fries, Petey cooking at the stove and the group of old(er) men playing cards at the back table. This place is pretty cool. Prices are more then fair and the decor will make you think you are almost in a time warp. A great little place to stop for lunch while meandering around the redwoods. read more

Best breakfast in NorCal. The Portuguese sausage is so good. I wish we had this in Tennessee.

I really wanted to love this place...I love to support local businesses! But the service here was the worst I've ever had in my life. It took us about 90 mins to have a Saturday morning breakfast...the staff was obviously overwhelmed which I felt badly for, but there was never any acknowledgement of the situation, apology, etc. It took forever to place our order and then at least 45 mins to GET our food. And we weren't alone...lots of grumpy, hungry people surrounded us. The only good thing is that I had a premonition about how long the food would take and left my husband and son to 'man' the table while the gf and I went and spent some money at the local Ferndale shops which are all delightful. The food was fine, but NO food is worth waiting that long for. Pancakes were great...yes! Omelettes were loaded with yummy stuff...yes! But coffee was hard to get refilled and like I said, how joyful can you BE when you have waited for over an hour for breakfast? I hope this was a rare occurrence and that Poppa Joe's was just having a bad day...I have a feeling that's not the case based on some other reviews. It really seemed like the cook made one order at a time vs. multipurposing the grill...great place for Gordon Ramsay to come in and help fine-tune the process! read more

Amazing food! Just like grandma used to make. Kind people. Fast service! Fun atmosphere. Could not recommend more!

Meh. I've experienced better. (At the same time, Eeks...!) Went to Poppa Joe's based on high reviews. (I wanted to go to No Brand Burger Stand, but Poppa Joe's was closer to the main area we were visiting.) The waitress was sweet and prompt. My boyfriend liked his pork roast with mashed potatoes. That dish came with commercial sliced bread buttered with a very salty butter. It also came with carrots that the restaurant was out of, so the waitress gave a generous substitute of a cup of the split pea soup. I had a bowl of the split pea soup with diced ham. The soup came with the same sliced bread with salty butter and a small cup of very salty home-made croutons. The soup was very filling. I thought the pork was well-cooked. But there's really nothing special about the food and I feel like I could have gotten similar dishes at any diner in the US. On our way out, I took a peak into the glass-door refrigerator behind the bar counter and saw large packages of celery from Dole and meat from other big corporations. I think this place could really do better with local produce and meat, especially given its location near dairies and farms. read more

If you find yourself in Ferndale when Poppa Joe's is open, just stop. Don't read dozens of Yelp reviews trying to decide where to eat. This is the place. It is exactly what small town USA used to be when I was a kid. The food is good. The service is great. The atmosphere is perfect. You won't be disappointed. We stumbled upon it and had a great breakfast here. Ferndale has a bunch of stores on Main Street to browse as well read more

Had breakfast here. Portions are a pretty good size. You get your monies worth. Breakfast sausage omelette with tomatoes and mushrooms was good. The blueberry pancakes and eggs were good. Service was very good. The atmosphere was interesting as the place used to be a pool hall in previous years. read more

This is the perfect place for bfast the morning after we ran the Ave of Giants half marathon. Decently sized portions. Ordered the two eggs, hash and toast and the big pancake with choc chips. Everything we had was delicious. Crispy hash was amazing. Good, friendly service. A little slow on the preparation and cooking but we weren't in any sort of rush, and why would you be in a rush if you were in Ferndale? The interior looked like an old saloon filled with locals. If you're in the area def stop by. They open at 6am! read more

Abnormally slow for breakfast, lose a star That said, food was very good, fresh and tasty Portions very good value Waitress friendly and service focused. Old building, old interior, has rustic back country charm Would eat here again. read more

Our go-to place for breakfast! Big portions of homemade food. Sometimes there are long waits on the weekends, especially for larger groups.

I agree with all of the 4 star & 5 star reviews. I have eaten here lots of times & always forget that they don't serve lunch on weekends. So, here are their business hours: M-F 6AM to 2PM. Sat & Sun 6AM to noon. Also, their Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/PoppaJoes/. No website or on-line menu. read more

Old School Goodness. Griddle Goodies - unashamed - unassuming - small town - hard working no nonsense or fluff breakfast. Big but not stupid portions - the right amount of food to fuel a hard day's work. The decor and atmosphere are unaware - collected tidbits from its story - more concerned with showing up and serving food than showing up and dressing up. Friendly but not pampering service. Great jams, diner coffee, plenty of salty and plenty of sweet. Oh yeah.. and fat is flavor baby. read more

My sisters and I were strolling down main street Ferndale when we stumbled upon Papa Joe's. This place is strait out of the past, with its rustic decor and old timers playing cards. There's a sign stating "Papa Joe, pays all sales tax!" Can't beat that, no sales tax, ever!!! Anyway, so we settled in, I ordered pork loin, w/eggs and home fried potatoes. My sisters both ordered biscuits and gravy (not my fav). My pork loin was too salty, but cooked perfectly and almost melted in my mouth. I would definitely eat here again. Next time I will ask for very little salt . . . read more

So I heard about this place from the other people that yelped it. It was easy to find on the main road. As soon as I walked in, I thought I had the wrong place. Poppa Joe's is a restaurant that used to be a saloon. The first thing you see is what looks like a bar and barstools. But please don't be fooled. Things like the dining tables actually being poker tables with a tablecloth on top actually make this place more charming. In fact, there were 3 guys playing poker in the back of the restaurant at one of the tables throughout our entire meal. Our server was super friendly and brought things out to us very quickly. The food is cooked behind the bar. A lazy susan in the middle of the table is well stocked with syrup, ketchup and delicious jams. I ordered french toast and hash browns. My $1.50 side of hash browns filled an entire large, oval plate. My french toast was the best I ever had. No joke. Everyone I was with seemed to enjoy their food too. My mom told my sister who goes to HSU that she should bring all her friends. I will definitely be back. read more

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Ambiance. Check. Local characters? Check. Good, simple food? Check. Ok. This place was the best thing I could find on yelp between Arcata and anywhere south of Arcata. turns out it was also on the show "California Gold" which my mother-in-law watches nearly every night. Score. When you first walk in it's dim and long and you think, WTH? so you grab a seat amongst the (obvious) locals and check out the menu provided by the sweet waitress. Now, I'm gluten intolerant and usually I just go with eggs and hashbrowns. Pretty safe. BUT I ordered pancakes. Don't know why but I'm glad I did. They were the best pancakes I've ever had. And I've probably eaten thousands of pancakes in my life. Even the m-i-l ate the one I gave her- and they are huge. Like 12" across. they're better without syrup- and Syrup is one of my food groups. When we were leaving a bunch of cowboys walked in which just totally made my day. That and the old guys in the back playing cards...at 9:30am. I'll go back even though it's about a four hour drive from Berkeley. Skip the coffee. read more

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It was the perfect day, gray and a little damp. for a grilled ham and cheese. I scored a perfect grilled sandwich and my husband had the meatloaf & mashed potatoes. No crumbs or gravy left on either of our plates. Great job, we will be back! read more

Water that tasted like dish soap and food that was going to take an hour without notice. After a half hour of sitting there without food we cancelled our order which would have taken another hour and left. Seems to not be a place if your hungry. The server was polite though. read more

Had lunch there today. I had the BLT with onion rings, my daughter had the Turkey Club. Not bad, price was good. I guess they are known for their breakfasts but we were there at noon and not interested in it. The waitress was pleasant and attentive. I could not help but focus on the windows looking outside. Filthy. If they cleaned up the place a bit, it would be more attractive. read more

Pappa Joe's hashbrowns are to die for! Great small town local joint. Cash only, though so be prepared. There is a bank atm across the street if you forget. Don't expect fast service. Waitresses are very nice, but there is only one cook. You go there for the experience, not for flash cooked food. The homemade jam is great as well! read more

We got breakfast to go, before hiking the Lost Coast. The coffee and breakfast burritos were awesome. So awesome that we had to come back the next day. They open at 6am, no other place was open that early. Friendly, and fast service. We'll be back next time we're in town. read more