Big John’s Cafe

Got up this morning and asked the wife about hitting Big Johns for breakfast. It was always a good way to start a Sunday. Sadly, we walked past on our morning dog walk before heading back out and saw the place dark. Completely bummed. Called… nope. Then a check of their homepage confirmed the news. Closed. We’re sorry that it didn’t make it. I tend to think the location was rather poor, as the food was quite good. Better than good, really. I would hope they can find a way to reopen somewhere… we’ll make the drive.
As far as any poor ratings on this café … I really can’t buy ‘em. One guy complains about the shape of a bun. Another gives bad reviews for the hours. And the long rant about a 80 year olds party with horrific service… naw. I’ve been there too many times to believe that whole thing. And if it were true that Big John treated the party thrower rudely… I’d bet it was the kind of customer than had it coming. The customer is NOT always right or within their rights. But the food was always a treat. Bye Big Johns… we’ll miss ya big guy. Good luck and come back … puh-​leeze!

Saw a sign on the window closed 1−26−10

Put plain? This is a LOT of breakfast. Not just for the money. Which is true. But for any reasonable amount of human consumption.
My buddy and I went to HANGAR 18 to cash in on Groupon I picked up and afterwards I thought I’d just Unilocal some breakfast nearby. Big John’s came up and the reviews were strong but just a little mixed. But given that the second highest rated thing was a Denny’s I thought I’d roll the dice.
I’m glad I did.
I can see where the reviews are a little skewed here. There ain’t a lot of ambiance to speak of. And the neighborhood is about as non-​descript as it comes. And when the food arrives, it’s good but not earth shakingly so. But god almighty, it’s big. BIG.
I got the Big Johns Breakfast Burrito. It was as big as a newborn. Inside was potatoes, chili, bacon, sausage, what looked to be a dozen eggs and a lot of cheese. And it was covered in gravy.
It’s the sort of food that makes you wonder if you should legalzoom a will before you get started.
On the other side of the table, my buddy Ay, made the mistake of thinking he was going for one of the egg specials AND the cinnamon french toast. THAT showed up with biscuits of a fat man’s fists. And MORE gravy.
And, serving us, was Big John himself. Who looked about as much like a cartoon of a lumberjack chef as it’s possible to without help from Pixar. He was genial, attentive and build like a six foot barrel with a beard. And John seemed to relish presenting us with our platters, each heaped high with pounds of food on them. Like he was daring us to try NOT to ask for a box for the leftovers.
A dare we both lost.
So here’s the thing. It’s four star food with five star portions and I’m bumping up the whole of my review to five stars to compensate for the idiots who don’t get the point of this place. Condemning this joint for not making culinary innovations and crapping on the wallpaper styles is pointless. It’s like condemning the Mall of America for not having the ambiance of the grove.
There are reasons you go to Big Johns. You go because there IS a Big John and he’s a hoot. You because there are no surprises in the food, like the best greasy spoons. And you go because the food is ridiculously oversized. LIke some Texan trying to win a bet about portions. Maybe I’m underthinking this, but anytime you find a place that makes decent food in portion sizes big enough that is makes more sense than GROCERIES…
…well then you’ve just found something special my friends.

The first time I ate here I didn’t like the spinach skillet I got. The spinach was canned, totally gross.
Today I went here for breakfast, I was craving ham & eggs. I must say they absolutely made up for the gross spinach. This was the biggest most delicious ham steak I’ve ever eaten. I’ve only been here twice now but the huge ham steak makes me want to come back for more. Great job big John!

Big John was there serving, but it was taste of Artesia night, so things may have been a bit off. The portions are large, and the service is very personal, but the food missed a bit. The Big John’s burger just did not sit well for $ 10. The bun was hard, and the meat pretty bland. The onion rings were great though! Pizza was alright, thin crust, plenty of cheese. I hope to go back and try breakfast out and see if they can redeem a bit.

While not the worst place in the world to get food, Taco Bell is a step up, and there is one a block away.
Me and two friends decided to give this café a try since we have walked by it many times but never actually went inside. We were greeted by Big John, who seemed nice enough and were told to sit anywhere we liked.
Shortly after two of us ordered hot chocolate and the other ordered orange juice. The drinks were brought out pretty quick, but I wish they had taken a bit longer since the hot chocolate ended up just being chocolate milk with whipped cream on top. I am not joking when I say that it was cooler than room temperature. Disappointing as that was, we decided to ignore that and just press on.
The items ordered were the Italian stallion omelette, a waffle and the short stack pancakes. Of the three dishes, the omelette was the best. It was actually hot and tasty. If you ignore the rest of this review and go to this restaurant, that item alone will be a safe bet.
I had the short stack, and well, how can you mess up pancakes? They were served warm, but the syrup provided were 2 small packets of high fructose corn syrup. At best, it was mediocre. The Original House of Pancakes down PCH is a better option for pancakes.
Lastly, the waffle came out cold and hard. It might as well have been a frisbee. Also The waiter never refilled our water.
Total price was about $ 28 and change with tax. Definitely not worth it.

This is one of my top weekend breakfast places. Great food, family friendly service (meaning that not only do I feel like family, but they give me grief like I really am). The portions are good sized (pancakes are HUGE), bacon is tasty, beverages abound. Really, what more do you want — good food, great service, good prices.
It’s our top family Sunday breakfast.

This place is good for breakfast. Large portions. Hot tea selection is non-​existent. But the service is good. Just don’t try and order an Earl Grey or Big John will look at you funny. They have Lipton though. Lipton!

I went here with my brother and friend. I live about an hour away and had read on Unilocal and the website about BIG JOHN’S SUPER BURGER challenge. I have a pretty big appetite so i was up for the challenge and thought it would be worth the drive and be a fun experience.
The place is a nice spot, quite different than i expected. Very cozy and friendly. Big John greeted us and explained the menu and specials. My brother and friend ended up ordering the Deluxe burger and I ordered the BIG JOHN. He looked surprised as i ordered it and explains it is 5lbs. No big deal to me… i thought.
UNTIL he brought the MONSTER out on a silver pizza tray! This thing looked like a cake and I have never seen a burger this big or any one single food item that big. Looked like an Angel Cake in the shape of a burger. With an hour to finish it, i got to work right away. John was really cool and said that only 2 people had finished it out of 1900+ people. That inspired me and half way through the burger within 15 – 20 minutes even he said i might have a chance at completing it.
With 5 minutes left I had the burger done with just a few scraps of the tasty lettuce and onions on the tray that he made me polish off as he sat at our table.
FINISHED! The challenge was mine! I believe i could do it again too! No beginners luck. The reason why i think this is because the bread, and meat was SOOO tasty! The veggies and stuff were the tough part, i just wanted to eat the meat and delicious bread!
My bro and friend devoured their Deluxe which looked like a Slider compared to mine and both of them bragged about how good theirs was!
AMAZING PLACE, GREAT FOOD, and BIG JOHN is a man of his word!
Go check it out and order the big burger. I’ll bet you can’t finish it.

I would have come here sooner if they were open for lunch on weekdays, but better late than never. What follows is a review of only the barbecue pork ribs.
I tried their ribs a while ago when a friend got take out. They were pretty good, better than expected for the South Bay. I’ve been going all over LA looking for good barbecue, so a good place near home would have been nice. My hopes were dashed when I finally went there myself.
The biggest problem seems to be a lack of turnaround. The baby backs I got today must have been two or three days old. They were dried out, tough, and only had a faint smokiness (though they did have a smoke ring). Being oddly chopped up and slathered in KC Masterpiece is not a total deal breaker for me (I still like that stuff!), but barbecue has to be fresh. I guess it’s the luck of the draw.
I also got some coleslaw and french fries. The french fries were kind of stale, too, so not much to say about them. On the other hand, the coleslaw deserves first place for the Most Mayonnaise in a Pineapple Coleslaw award.

First off, my girlfriend found this place and we decided to take an adventure. I was looking for a good hamburger, and so was she. We brought another friend and went.
Inside they’re super friendly. Big John is just a very nice gentleman. He talked with us, and explained his place to us. We decided to go for what we came for. Deluxe Burgers…
VERY GOOD. The bread was awesome. The meat was amazing. I was happy… then I decided to have dessert.
Yes, dessert. They have the best bread pudding I’ve ever had. So good. I saved some for breakfast, and just can’t brag enough about the food and the service of this place. Very mom and pop. I wish more places like this existed!.. and hopefully I find a few.

This is not the place to go if you’re counting calories. That said, this is pretty solid Italian-​American restaurant, which takes the place of the 2 or 3 other Italian restaurants that were in this same place before it. I hope it does well!
Gotta love the tag line:
«If Big John will not eat it, he will not sell it!»
FOOD FAVORITES:
–the Ravioli. So sue me; I’m a traditionalist.
–the Jordie Apple Pie (see photo). MADE FRESH TO ORDER like your own fresh apple pie. Yummy with ice cream, and really enough for 2 to share.
–I’ve always wanted to try the 32 oz. burger, but I’ll have to come back with a group to try it out. Here’s some of the PR from their website:
«NO ONE HAS EVER EATTEN [sic] THE WHOLE THING… THANKS TO THOSE WHO GAVE IT THERE [sic] BEST.
THERE WAS A TOTAL OF 1801 BIG BURGERS SOLD OVER THE LIFE OF THE BIG JOHN CHALLENGE.
EAT ONE YOURSELF IN 60 MINUTES AND EAT IT FOR FREE.»
(typos are not mine — I did add the periods, though)
INTERIOR: The dining area is sort of spliced into 2 sides; I like the side that is generally closed, because the paintings on the wall are more relaxing and «restaurant-​ish.» The other side is more «café-​ish.»
PARKING: They have a semi-​private lot in back, which for some unknown reason feels creepy to me (never had trouble there, but it’s awfully quiet…). Generally there’s enough space to park in the front, as well.
MENU: I would just like to say that you can’t be perfect at Everything. My friends and I are always distracted by the typos, misspellings, and stilted language throughout the menu. It’s kind of fun to go through and find the errors, but this really should not be the attention grabber that it is. The Café is good and I’d like it to stay around in this difficult spot, so I hope they promote themselves a little better.

Big John’s — Homemade and from scratch!
First time I encountered Big John’s Café, it was a breakfast.
A table of biker-​types, not the kind in speedo-​tight bike shorts, but the leather vest and heavy beard type of bikers having a pleasant chat. Some locals at another table.
A flat screen tv on the wall in the main dining room and another in the secondary dining room off to the side. Casual, homey atmosphere, feels pretty comfortable and laid back.
I’ve wanted to give it a try after driving by a few times on Artesia Blvd., and seeing all these specials on the windows. Something about BBQ.
Of course, wasn’t getting BBQ for breakfast, but thought breakfast could be a good judge of the place. Anything special to offer, Big John?
Ordered the Eggs and Heavenly Hash. The menu said that just about everything is made from scratch and that’s just the way I like it, the scratchier the better. Service was decent, and the breakfast didn’t blow me away, but it was tasty and full in portion and enough of a tease to make me want to return and try other things on the menu.
A few months later, I was back for dinner and tried a pasta dish, it might’ve been a special, and it was pretty tasty. The menu’s pretty varied, and I wanted to try quite a few other things including Big John’s Steak Pick of the Week and pizza, and of course BBQ.
By this time, I’m pretty much sold. The service was good once again. Big John himself roams around making sure his patrons are satisfied, and that counts for alot.
The next visit, on a Sunday, I was able to convince a large group of friends to join us for lunch after church, and we piled into the place around 1pm, over 10 – 12 of us, and I knew this would be the real challenge, being that several were die hard foodies.
The place wasn’t too busy, and so they were able to put a few tables together at the side room and we were quickly seated and ready to go. Very accommodating and convenient. We ordered everything from
tri tip sandwiches to pancake breakfasts to several of Big John’s deluxe hamburgers, which is what I had.
Unfortunately, it must be noted here that the hours are a little unaccommodating, seeing that they weren’t able to offer alot off the menu (items only available on evenings for dinner), we were restricted to sandwiches and breakfasts on account of it being a sunday afternoon.
Big John’s Deluxe burger is a 10-​ouncer. Which is larger than you might think. It states «No Wimps Allowed!» and for a reason. This isn’t your Fatburger Baby Fat here. This is a mega meaty handmade delight. And comes with delicious crunchy onion rings. Bravo Big John! I’d order this again anytime, but alas, I wasn’t able to finish it. I think I got about half of it and was full. I’m NO WIMP! Really. But that day, I guess I was.
There’s also a monster 32-​oz Burger challenge, which elicited ooh’s and ahh’s from everyone but noone was up to trying to get a free Burger by downing the whole thing within an hour.
Big John’s sports different specials throughout the week and I’d like to continue to try as much on the menu as possible, so my friends, keep this place alive! It’s a Redondo Beach gem, not far from the South Bay Galleria on Artesia Blvd right by the Salvation Army and Goodwill.
It’s generally not very busy, so you get served quickly, but it may be because the front of the restaurant is blocked by trees and is not very visible off of Artesia. There’s a huge narrow lot behind, where you can enter from the rear, but you need to drive around the block to find the parking lot entrance. Parking on Artesia and side streets could be hard to find, so do the lot in the back, it’s a cinch.
Give Big John’s a try and when you love it, Tell your friends!

First off I want to say that I don’t think Big John got his name by being a vegetarian… that said… I will tread lightly on this review.
I have been meaning to try this place for a while and I should have tried it before I stopped eating meat but this place is just a few blocks from my home and I decided to check out their breakfast.
I came in through the back entrance and I was told that I could sit any where I liked so I sat at a booth next to Redondo’s finest.
Most everyone there was eating HUGE plates of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and potatoes but not me… I ordered the veggie garden burrito.
I knew it sounded a bit weird that it was egg whites, beans, rice and broccoli but I ordered it anyways.
It was ok… well ok with a lot of salsa and Tabasco.
BUT…everyone else seemed happy with their large amounts of food
I brought home an order of pancakes for my husband and he liked them especially because they were buttermilk pancakes.
Oh BTW you can order a pitcher of beer with your breakfast because the two guys next to me (no not Redondo’s finest) was drinking it with their meals.
Also there are a couple flat screens and they seem to be into sports showing by the Angels vs Toronto game on and the wall with hockey memorabilia.
[note]
I posted this in the morning and Big John sent me a response that night to some suggestions I had and thanked me for them so I am adding a star.

I am not a fan of the place at all. The first time I was there I ordered fried chicken the inside was still very cold it was almost frozen.Yuck. My boyfriend ordered a sandwich it was okay, so he wanted to give it another try, because we use to always it at the Italian place before Big Johns bought it, and they said the Italian food was the same.
So we went back, gave it a second chance well It is not the same he ordered Italian they changed the recipes just not the same he thought it was okay. I ordered ribs it was okay not worth the price. I heard the man behind me returned his fish it was BAD. Wanted to run then. The owner and the employees are very nice so I m sorry. I will not return. My boyfriend did laugh about the beer they had he will usually always order one did not want to pay for cheap beer.

So I know some other Unilocalers have dissed Big Johns on the fact that the décor is not that great, but me, I am just a foodie that writes reviews strictly on the food – isn’t that why we eat somewhere anyways? Let’s face it, if I can sit and eat I am a happy woman!
That said I have only been to Big Johns once and for some reason I was not feeling too hungry (weird, I know) so I ordered soup and a salad. The soup of the day was Gumbo soup and I just had a regular house salad. The soup was yummy, yummy! So much flavor and really filling. The salad was a salad – not much to say about it except the croutons were delicious, they tasted homemade which i love. The only negative thing was that the salad had a bit too much dressing (I suggest asking for it on the side).
My mom ordered an egg salad sandwich (ick, I hate mayo) but if I loved egg salad the sandwich looked really good and she said it was. I will absolutely go back!

Burger #130: The 32oz’er
Since the girl was working late one night, the chore of feeding myself was unjustly thrust upon me. But with one quick burger search in my zip code, something caught my eye, «32oz Burger.» Within a few minutes I was inside Big John’s Café ordering the Big Burger. I was hopeful that I could meet the challenge and finish it within one hour to get it for free. Now I’m no stranger to putting down over 2lbs of meat in a sitting:
I was all prepped to take down this burger, but when I saw it come out, I knew there was no chance I’d finish it.
My old nemesis, bread! Sure, 2lbs of meat is not a problem, but when you top it off with 3−4lbs of bread and veggies, it becomes a big problem. Trying not to let the impossibility of finishing the burger sway my confidence, I dove in. First thing I noticed was that it was a pretty damn good burger. The meat had the best kind of texture, loosely packed, slightly seared, and very juicy. It could have used a pinch more salt on the beef, but I’m a salt fan. Past the meat, the bun was almost the real star of the meal. It reminded me of fresh baked challah or a soft egg roll, it was slightly sweet but not nearly as sweet as brioche. In my mind, it was some of the best burger bread I’ve had. The other main challenge of the burger was the one or two sliced raw onions. I love onions, but eating that many raw was tough.
After about 20 minutes of eating, I had put down 5/​8ths of the beast and I knew I was done. Sure I could have squeezed in one, maybe two more wedges in the next 40 minutes. But there was no way I was going to finish all of it.
The leftovers provided me with three normal sized meals over the next couple days.
Beyond the food, the staff were all friendly and attentive. Big John himself came over a couple times to see how I was making. I actually came back this past weekend to sample the breakfast menu with the girl. She strangely ordered ham and eggs, and I got chicken fried steak. I now know, if you want a giant affordable breakfast, this is your place.
Ham and eggs:
Chicken fried steak and eggs, it also comes with two monster biscuits and gravy:
For me, breakfast was really good. The chicken fried steak was tender enough to cut with a fork, and the potatoes were very well seasoned. On the down side, the eggs came out with a bit too much white still runny, and soft biscuits and super thick gravy were a little too texturally similar. For the girl, the potatoes were too seasoned, toast was almost burnt, and ham was too salty. I had no problem helping her out with that ham though.
I am now a fan of Big John’s and will return for some of their daily specials.

If you’re looking for fancy eats, this is not the place. But with a couple of kids in tow – or your steady Thursday night date – Big John’s is a terrific place to grab a friendly bite.
On our first visit, the kids and I stopped in for takeout after a Little League game. We had lasagna, a patty melt and a container of spaghetti with meat sauce so huge we needed two hands to lift it. Gourmet? No. But everybody cleaned their plates.
Two nights later, my beau and I are debating our dinner options. He feels like having a «mountain of spaghetti,» so we head to Big John’s. Along with the pasta we have a very drinkable Lodi Cabernet and for dessert, something called a Jordie Pie. It’s like turnover, only lighter, filled with perfectly sweetened berries, and dusted with powdered sugar. Yum.
Better still, the three other couples eating there are shooting the breeze with each other. One woman stands, approaches the table next to hers, and demands to know what they think of the dessert. «Great!» they say and she says, «See? I told you.» In the adjoining room, kids are watching SpongeBob. I know, I know – TV in a restaurant. But the adults were interacting while their kids were eating peaceably. I call that miraculous.
Breakfast a few days later was equally delicious. Apple pie pancakes the size of manhole covers are a ridiculous $ 2.75 each. The skillet with chorizo, chiles, potatoes and eggs shows off the toothsomeness of each individual item.
Sometimes what you want is food that tastes like a real person cooked it. in an atmosphere that says it’s OK to come as you are. If that’s you tonight, this is the place. Leave some room for Jordie Pie.

Big Johns Café replaces an Italian restaurant with… an American and somewhat Italian restaurant.
Living in Redondo for some years, I’ve gone to Cucina Calabrese a few times. The décor was definitely Italian, nice table cloths and decent Italian food. It honestly doesnt seem like Big John’s Café changed anything other than the name outside (in big bold letters) and threw up some LA Kings memorabilia.
Understood that any restaurant that is closed for renovation is lost income, but BJC seems like it doesnt know what it wants to be… I suppose one should only judge it by the quality of the food (I’ll get to that), but with the nice table cloths with the old Italian street scene mural covered by a big flat screen on Nickelodeon… its a mess décor wise.
The food choice was «diverse». The menu has pizza’s and hamburgers (with an option for one of those HUGE $ 25 32oz (!). burger challenges on the menu) and a list of pastas and other Italian foods, along with ‘signature’ meat loaf and even mac and cheese.
I did try the meat loaf. It was decent meatloaf, two ¾″ cuts. The meat was more ground than I prefer. Otherwise tasty alongside their «smashed potatoes» (chunky mashed potatoes).
Most my friends ordered hamburgers of sorts of mixed reviews. Said the bun kinda fell apart and the ground meat was too ground (i guess like my meat loaf). Not quite worth the price they say but still edible.
I do hear the pizza’s are good. Cucina Calabrese had good pizza’s before too, so I imagine they use the same oven. Maybe next time we’ll have to stick to that.
Btw, the only beer they have on tap is Pabst Blue Ribbon, for whatever thats worth…

We stopped here on a whim because I work so close and I wanted to see what was up.
I wasn’t terribly impressed by the décor and the waiter was kind of a jerk. The place was incredibly dull and quiet and I just wanted to make some noise and wake these people up.
The salad looked like it was turning, the crutons almost broke my teeth they were that hard. But I did like the addition of garbonzo beans in the salad.
I ordered the bacon burger and it kinda sucked. The onions were to strong and there was too much crap on it. But my boyfriend got a burger on a home made roll and it was good. We also shared onion rings and they were awesome.
Gordon Ramzy Should come help them because they aren’t half bad.