Jo Jo's Place

Not to be confused with Jo Jo's Restaurant to or even J&J's Family Restaurant, Jo Jo's Place was where we decided to stop for Breakfast in Pittsburgh today. 

This place is about a mile or two past the busy shopping area out at Robinson, and if we didn't already know about it, there's not a chance we would have found it by just driving by. Seems there's some renovation plans with the front of the building, compared to what you see on the front of the menu. Perhaps some expansion is in the plans??

From the road

Front getting some TLC? 

The inside decor wasn't much better, the tables are old and strangely arranged, presumably in an attempt to squeeze as much seating in as possible in a small space. Apparently this is a great local favorite, because the tables were filled with families, couples, and bigger groups of folks just getting together for breakfast and bottomless cups of coffee. A sign on the wall said it was voted a reader's choice for some kind of favorite restaurant. So even in its odd location, it seems to have a big following.

The menu is filled with clever names for typical greasy spoon breakfast combos, like "Cassie's Quickie" (1 egg, cheese, and your choice of bacon or sausage on a toasted English muffin, served with a hash brown patty) and a house special "The Mr. Jo Jo" (1 egg, 3 bacon or 2 sausage patties, lettuce tomato, onion, and cheese on a bun, served with a hash brown patty). I was unoriginal and picked "Pappy's French Toast"  described as "3 slices of thick texas toast dipped in our own French Toast batter and grilled to perfection, served with hot syrup, butter and powdered sugar" and Husband had the "Big D Defense" which was 2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, home fries, and pancakes.

A lot of food, yes, but it nearly all got eaten! The delectable descriptions absolutely matched the deliciousness of the food - I especially enjoyed the home fries. Not too greasy and just the right amount of onion for breakfast. And the service couldn't have been friendlier. You just got the feeling that people were happy to be here, either as customers or employees. 


Even though this place isn't all that far from the big mall, it really feels like it's off the beaten path. But a better tasting breakfast has yet to be found in this neck of the woods.