by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
Java Jacks Cafe is a great name for a coffeehouse. But the tiny, salmon-colored building on Church Lane in Tappahannock is much more than that.
Oh, there’s a coffee bar where baristas mix mouthwatering hot and cold brews filled with caramel, vanilla, mocha, chai and exotic spices, but it’s likely the food that makes for repeat customers from across the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.
The day my daughter, Rachel, and I made the nearly hour-long trek up the Northern Neck from our house across the Rappahannock River to downtown Tappahannock, there were several folks we recognized from Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland counties.
It was the first day for Phase II of the state’s reopening so the breakfast and lunch eatery was serving outside on its patio and courtyard and at 50% capacity inside. It was a sunny, mild day so we opted for outdoor seating and to our delight, a row of mature shrubs and a tiny garden pond blocked our view of the heavy traffic on Route 17 through town. It was quite cozy.
Although the cafe is small, it seats 54 inside under regular circumstances and will currently accommodate 27, according to owner Jeans Owens. The courtyard has seating for 12 and the patio seats 10. Guests there face a mural of a deadrise, steamer and sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay.
Owens and her husband bought the restaurant in 2018. It opened in 2006.
“We basically kept everything the same, the same menu and the same [staff], since it was working,” she said.
And indeed, it does work. The cafe is a popular eatery for young and old, serving breakfast from 8 a.m.- 3 p.m. daily and lunch from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Rachel and I arrived around 11:45 a.m. so I was still in breakfast-mode and she had moved on to lunch. We both ordered a cold coffee drink from Java Jacks extensive coffee menu. Mine was a caramel macchiato, decaf over ice with vanilla syrup, milk and caramel drizzle. It was served regular or decaf and hot or cold. Rachel opted for an iced latte. The drink menu also includes espresso, bottomless regular or flavored coffees, an assortment of lattes, cappuccino, teas, hot chocolates and smoothies. There’s even a shot of espresso over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!!
I wanted to try lots of items on the breakfast menu…a breakfast burrito, chipped beef on toast, sausage biscuit and gravy, steak and eggs, chicken fried steak, French toast, omelettes, bacon, egg and cheese croissant, and eggs Chesapeake, which was served with two poached eggs and a generous scoop of lump crab meat. So many choices. I went with a homemade crab quiche and added a fresh croissant and side of corn grits. The breakfast side items even included a piece of fried catfish.
I was not disappointed. My quiche was filled with crab meat and oozing with cheese. I fancy myself a grits connoisseur and found these to be some of the best I’ve eaten.
The lunch menu was just as extensive and included 16 items, along with the daily specials which included fried rockfish on a sandwich, salad or in a basket and a large strawberry walnut salad.
Rachel was drawn to the taco salad, which was served in a light, homemade flour tortilla bowl. She ordered hers with beef; it was also offered with chicken or shrimp and came with the usual fixins’ of lettuce, tomato, salsa, cheddar cheese and sour cream.
Our waitress, Sydney, also suggested a side serving of Java Jack’s sweet potato fries as an appetizer. Served with homemade apple butter, she said the fries were a customer favorite. They were fried just perfect, not greasy, a little crunchy and when dipped into the sweet, thick apple butter could serve as a dessert instead of an appetizer or side dish.
Speaking of dessert, we wanted to try a Basket of Jacks, which is six signature Jacks, similar to donut holes, topped with powdered or cinnamon sugar, but the popular treats were sold out that day. Instead, we got blueberry bread pudding, served warm and topped with a sweet cream sauce that included loads of whole, fresh blueberries.
The lunch menu includes several large salads, Rappahannock River oysters, fish and chips, a Reuben panini, burger, crab cake sandwich and homemade chicken salad.
One of the most popular lunch items, according to Jeans, is The Bird, a tortilla wrap filled with layers of oven roasted turkey, Swiss cheese, applewood smoked bacon and cranberry chutney. That’ll be included on my items-to-try list on my next trip to Java Jacks, which can’t be soon enough.
