We only had time for one real meal on our daycation to Catalina Island. Having two young kids and my father, we needed to find something that would be an overall crowdpleaser. I can’t recall where we first heard of Original Jack’s Country Kitchen restaurant, but it seemed to be the perfect fit for our party’s needs: a solid variety of popular items on the kids menu and senior menu alike. Casual and kid-friendly. Classic Catalina restaurant. Check, check, and check.

 

The Location:

Original Jack’s Country Kitchen Restaurant was on a wide side-street right off the main drag of Crescent Avenue in Avalon. It took maybe 10-15 minutes to walk from the boat to Jack’s, and it’s a pleasant one along the harbor.

Though Jack’s is not a tiny hole-in-the-wall type spot, it’s not huge either. Nothing on Catalina Island seems to be in fact. That may be because there don’t appear to be ANY chain restaurants allowed there. We didn’t see a single Starbucks, though they do serve Starbucks coffee at Scoops Ice Cream (see my full review here). This lack of commercialism is part of Catalina’s substantial charm and otherworldly feel.

When we arrived, there was already a 20 minute wait for tables. We were given a generic ticket with a number written by sharpie and told to wait for our number to be called. The host seemed a bit overwhelmed, but I also assume this kind of crowd is pretty typical for a weekend there. Thankfully, they have benches lining the outside of the restaurant for people to sit. Of course, my kids wanted to roam, so we walked up and down the street towards the beach and back while keeping an ear open for our number to be called. There’s so much going on in this part of “downtown” Avalon (I’m putting that in quotes because it’s more like a village than a town). The kids didn’t seem to mind the wait at all since they got to explore and people watch.

 

The Interior:

The tables inside the main dining room where we were seated are tightly packed together. No one seems to mind, and this adds to the old timey ambiance. The walls and shelves are COVERED, and I mean like there wasn’t an empty foot of wall space anywhere, with kitschy collectibles, movie posters, and other framed throwbacks to the 20th century. I’m not sure if there was an exact theme to this decor. Above our heads were framed drawings of what looked like the private homes of classic entertainers like Bob Hope. Above the window pass to the kitchen were sculptures of African American musicians. With some posters of sassy slogans mixed in for good health. It was all very eclectic, and interesting to look at, and definitely uniquely Jack’s.

 

 

Spotted in a restaurant on Catalina Island 😂#truth #funnyquote pic.twitter.com/EoctBdp47U

— Eco Friendly Mama (@EcoFriendlyMa) June 10, 2018

The Menu:

The lighting wasn’t great in the restaurant so I apologize for the glare on the menus! But here they are if you’d like to see the full list of offerings:

 

 

 

 

The Food:

While Original Jack’s Country Kitchen is pretty far from being an organic “health food” restaurant, there were several aspects of their menu that a green-minded family could find appealing:

 

• Jack’s only uses Niman Ranch Certified Black Angus beef, which are certified to be humanely raised by small family farmers/ranchers, and adhere to a list of 10 sustainability practices.

 

• They use all natural farm fresh Jidori free-range chickens, local from California, and brown eggs from cage-free hens.

 

• Jack’s features seasonal toppings on their waffles. During our visit, it was all about strawberries.

 

• Organic ketchup. I’m not sure why as that was the only organic item I spotted in the restaurant, but this was the only ketchup option on every table.

 

While the food wasn’t exactly inventive, the portions were large and tasty. Believe it or not, here’s the breakfast waffle from the KIDS menu!

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned in a caption above, my dad also ordered a slice of the apple pie. He dug into it so quickly I didn’t have a chance to snap a pic before it was all gone. Guess that means it was pretty tasty!

 

The Experience:

Original Jack’s Country Kitchen was a solid brunch/lunch option in Avalon for our family. The meal gave us enough energy to last the rest of the day…that is, until ice cream time!

This post is the second in a series about our recent daycation to Catalina Island. If you’d like to read the first one, please click here for a review of Scoops, some seriously delicious handmade ice cream. Once the full trip report post is live, I will link back to it here!

• Avalon
• Catalina Island
• Daycation
• Original Jack's Country Kitchen