Willie’s Bakery & Cafe

Awesome food, went here for breakfast 2 of 3 days in Victoria. Had to come a second time because it was so good. The Huevos Rancheros were amazing. We debated whether Wille’s or Mole was the best breakfast. Will definitely return if in Victoria.

Just had a quick dinner at Willies thinking I would try out the non-​breakfast fare.
The atmosphere is great, historic building with modern touches but not over decorated.
Attentive and friendly service, as it wasn’t very busy at all. Very good, even asked if my career was muddy enough.
I got the caesar $ 5,
Chickpea and black bean veggie burger w/​fries.
Food was decent, but not great. Everything was under seasoned. From the fries to the burger.
I ended up adding salt and chipotle mayo to my fries and hot sauce to my burger, which made them more enjoyable.
Maybe they should stick to breakfast, or up their dinner game.

Meh. Half order of brioche french toast came with a thin drizzle of icing and a tiny container of berry compote — barely enough to cover 1 piece of toast. No fruit or other garnish on the plate, not even an orange slice. Pretty bland breakfast, unless you order additional sides.
$ 12 for 2 very thin slices of french toast with no fruit or anything else… not a great value compared to most other breakfast joints in town.
Service was fine, though we sat there a good 20 minutes waiting for our bill.
Probably won’t be back.

The food is great, the service is outstanding, the patio where we sat is sooo cool! A bagel witj lox and xream cheese was great, my son’s Chicken Club sandwich was awesome, and my husband’s BLT wrap was very good too. Wonderful place for breakfast and lunch!

This place was pretty cute. It has a very trendy décor and the staff are really helpful. I tried the Latin Benny and it was really yummy! I love Chipotle sauces and it worked really nicely with the food.
My mom tried the french toast with a berry sauce that she said was really nice. The coffee was decent too.
So all in all I would definitely recommend coming here. It was kind of a shot in the dark which turned out to be really great!

I was recently in Victoria because for work for 4 days and the place I decided was my go to breakfast place only opens at 8am, so I needed an alternate spot for one morning and this place was open before 8am and was less than a minute walk from the office.
I had a quick glance at the menu and decided that I wanted some pancakes so the 222 looked like the meal for me.
The meal itself was simple and pretty good. The eggs and tomatoes were well cooked but nothing special. The chorizo had a nice level of spice and wasn’t too fatty making it a nice addition to the meal. On to the pancakes; maybe it’s because I don’t eat them regularly and hadn’t had them in a long time, but man were these pancakes good. I left full, but I probably would’ve tried to down another couple of them had they been on the plate.
Due to the early hour, there only other guests were a couple who had already gotten their food when I arrived. That being said, the service was prompt and attentive, the food was out pretty quickly, and the bill came as soon as I asked for it.
It’s not the top of my list as far as breakfast places go, but if I’m ever in the area again before 8AM I’ll definitely be back. That being said, I also want to check it out later in the day to see what it’s like when there’s more people there and a little better atmosphere.

Wow. Just went to Willies bakery for a brunch for the first time. I ordered the Latin Benny. The food came quickly and looked good. All was okay until I bit down into a massive crunch to find a couple quarter sized egg shells in my mouth/​dish. I told the waitress and she offered to take the plate away. A few minutes later she came back with the words, «so I talked to the manager and yea. Sometimes that happens. Would you like a pastry?» No I would not like a pastry I just had breakfast. I want at the very least an APOLOGY, maybe a discount! She gave me 10% off.
Whoever is manager of this place does not know customer service. This sometimes happens? Eggshells in food does not happen. Any 8 year old can crack an egg. Get some competent chefs. Don’t tell your customers to F off when you serve them eggshells.
That was my first and last experience at Willies. Save yourself the pain of their apathetic, careless staff and go to one of the other amazing breakfast joints in Victoria like Shine, Blue Fox, Jam, Mole etc.

One of my favorite places to grab brunch in Victoria! Every time I’ve been it’s always been packed, but the staff is very friendly and on top of everything. The food is amazing and a generous portion and I’ve never received any over cooked eggs or omelettes.

Wonderful gem of a place. The Eggs Benedict is nothing short of perfection (their «favorite» one bacon, tomato and cheddar), which I have high standards for since Glo’s in Seattle has the best I’ve ever had. The hashbrowns were also delicious and I couldn’t quite finish them. Our server was polite, funny and attentive. Couldn’t help but leave a review since more people should try this place out.

Best eggs Benedict I have ever had in my life. The breakfast rush around 9am is crazy — try to beat it!

Awesome place for breakfast style menu. Very deceiving that it’s next to a Salvation Army residence, but it’s a clean area.
The menu of Egg based items is comprehensive and they are flexible to substitute. Great tasting coffee. Nice staff.

Absolutely loved this place it is in walking distance from the Empress Hotel. The perfect location for breakfast. The service is exceptional all options on the menu are delicious.
The French toast are perfection the bacon amazing! The atmosphere is welcoming and relaxing.
The service is impeccable. I will visit this location on my future trips.

This place is a totally solid breakfast joint. Portions were plentiful, prices were reasonable, quality was excellent and service was delightful. The ambience is really cute and noise levels were low — easy to have conversation with your table. Came around 10:30 on a Saturday morning and got seated immediately. Our group of 4 all got scrambles — they were perfect. Scrambled eggs were fluffy, ratio of veggies, eggs and hash browns was perfect. They also served Franks hot sauce — can’t beat it. And the piece de resistance… They served peanut butter and homemade jelly with he toast. So epic. Highly recommended for a great brunch.

We make a point to eat here one or two times per trip but have noticed a big difference in staff and the Portions have gotten smaller and smaller over the last two years.
This place just celebrated its 128^th year on October 1 don’t mess with success it is not too late !

I spent a lot of time debating how to rate this place — so I thought I will start off with the easy part: the food.
The food is good. 4 stars worthy. It’s typical breakfast fare with eggs benedict, omelettes, skillets, pancakes, etc. Portion sizes are decent for what you pay for. Not overwhelming that you can’t eat it all, but not so small that you’re still hungry after eating.
What killed this place is the service… Okay, let me take that back. The servers were nice, friendly and tried their best. What I mean to say is management kills this place.
We get there on the weekend and the place is packed. We got our food after waiting for 40 minutes — but still hadn’t even received our drinks (black coffee and a tea).
The server apologized repeatedly and admitted «the service was awful». A minute or two later we see two of the servers begging the manager to close down some of the sections because they are over worked. Our own server was basically in tears. It turns out they were down 3 servers. The manager eventually agreed but a little common sense would have suggested he do that from the start (otherwise he will be even more short staffed).
I might go again on a future trip. The food was worth it. The place turns 128 years old this October… But if they keep running it how they are I’m not sure they will make it another year.

We went here for breakfast at the recommendation of our concierge and were not disappointed! We arrived around 8:20am and the house was fully 8:45, packed by 9. It seemed like folks were getting seated quickly, however. I don’t remember seeing more than 1 or 2 parties in line at a time.
Our waitress was friendly but not overly attentive. We actually had 2 or 3 waitresses help us throughout our meal.
I went with the Belgium Brunch — a classic with a Belgium waffle, 2 eggs and bacon or sausage (I went with the latter), and a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was good, but more of a lukewarm chocolate :) Everything was pretty standard diner food, but nothing to write home about.
My dad had the salmon omelette, which came with roasted potatoes. I can’t speak for the omelette (which I believe he liked), but the potatoes were tasty! Great flavor.
The outdoor seating looked really cute, but it was a little chilly this morning! Great location on Johnson Street, close to all the shops.

Good for a basic breakfast. Nothing terribly fancy, but they do what they do well. Honestly, the highlight was the super friendly staff. I’m always impressed when servers have great customer service even when they’re slammed.

Amazing food great atmosphere.
The French toast is fantastic and the bacon is cooked to perfection
Definitely going to come back

Eggs Benedict & Café Latte!
Wow, 2 words, LATTE ART! (I will post a pic later) They actually had drawn a human face into the foam of my latte. I was amazed. (simple minds? whatever, you do it!)
The eggs benedict hollandaise sauce is one of the best sauces in Victoria. A decadent bakery and brunch hotspot on lower Johnson. It doesn’t look like much but after trying it I can’t get enough, I go at least twice a month.
Like most places I usually grab a traditional eggs and bacon breakfast. The portions are amazing and some even come with small bowls of fruit.
There usually has to be an overall WOW factor for me to give 5 stars and this place just barely doesn’t meet that criteria. Very good, will return.

I don’t understand why this isn’t rated higher. Spoon’s diner, which I thought was just fine, gets more stars, which is nonsensical. We went for breakfast and every element was so spot-​on and perfectly executed. You’d think toast is just toast, but even that was amazing — I think it says a lot that an item that is usually an afterthought can shine. They just have that level of attention to detail and focus on providing really good food. That being said, the toast was hardly the best part of the meal.
I loved their breakfast potatoes, which were crispy and well seasoned, and their pancakes are thick and still light — they were amazing — but the star of the show was the bacon. We’re from out of town and they even gave us the basic recipe.
Our waitress was clearly overwhelmed, but doing her best and when a manager or similar came around to refill our coffees he stopped and chatted with us for awhile, giving us that bacon recipe, and generally checking in to make sure everything was great. I will definitely be back next time we’re in town. Also: that back patio is adorable!