Fort Jesse Cafe

A quaint little gym in Bloomington/Normal. The food speaks for its self here, the decor. The choices were shrimp and grits, a chicken sandwich of the month, which was a Nashville hot fried chicken with a honey hot sauce slaw. (The fries were seasoned to perfection. We had a friendly server by the name of Taylor who was very informative of the menu and super friendly.

This place closes at 2 PM so come in early with an appetite and ask for Taylor! Tell them Keith-Donovan sent you.

A vibrant and joyful place to get your Sunday brunch sorted. Both the quality and taste of the food and the service is one of the best in the town. The only thing you have to keep in mind, if you’re planning to take you friends/ family during the weekends, it’s recommended that you reserve your seat ahead of time…

Omg this place was amazing. We didn't even think to get reservations and we're a little surprised when the hostess asked since it was 10 on a Monday morning, but that place was busy the whole time we were there. We got seated immediately, but I'd still def suggest reservations. My biscuit and chicken sandwich was so good. Everyone's food was amazing and perfectly cooked to order. Staff was very nice and helpful. Pics are the chicken and waffle, chicken and waffle Benedict, and two pics of my chicken and biscuit sandwich.

How. Is. This. Place. So. Good?! There food is so consistently good!!! If I could take this place with my back home in Michigan I would! The waffles are a MUST. Also I’ve never had hash browns so good!

I been to this spot 6 times. Everything I ordered, has been delicious. The atmosphere is awesome and the hospitality is perfect. Will be going back to enjoy another meal.

The location for this newest spot for my husband and I was a little unexpected. If your familiar with Cute As A Button's location then you can understand that finding this place was def not what we thought to look for it's located in a little strip location kinda off to the side of the road and if your not looking you'll surely miss you turn. Let me tell you traffic for this place during a Friday around 8 was not easy when we missed our turn. The resturaunt itself was pretty busy as well with just about every seat taken with the exception of about maybe 2-3 tables. When entering your greeted by a makeshift stand where you can then be seated. We waited about 5-7 mins before our order was taken which for us wasn't too bad since you could see it was obviously busy. Once our order was taken it was about 10-15 mins before we got our plates which I have to say the portions are amazing I def ended up taking food home. The food was delicious, hot and fresh. The pancakes I could have eaten twice over they were fluffy and thick. It was my first time trying a Bruschetta palette which I choose a scrambled egg, gouda cheese melted down on it, cheese curds and roasted tomatoes which were seasoned. I enjoyed every bit of my food. The waitress was pretty nice to a point at times I felt somewhat ignored when she asked my husband for a refill I later came to find out that I would have needed to repurchase another drink if I wanted a refill when I asked for my drink to go and it would have been nice to know that beforehand so I didn't feel that way during our visit especially it being our first time. Otherwise the staff was friendly. I will say if you are going there to have conversation I wouldn't say you'll be able to have one since the place is pretty small and compact it's about the side of a living room and dining room combined maybe a tad bigger with about 20 or so tables in it and they are pretty closely placed to one another so the conversation could easily be drowned out by the other conversations going on. Overall it wasn't too bad a visit and again the food was delicious.

YUM. This is my new breakfast place! It was quite busy when we arrived Sunday morning without a reservation, but due to a cancelation, we were seated promptly. Our server was delightful, food came out quickly, coffee was great (a big deciding factor for me in a breakfast place), and everything was so delicious! The menu is terrific. Get a little extra house-made hot sauce on the side!
Highly recommend.

This restaurant is very popular so plan your visit ahead to get a seat. Pulled up on a Thursday morning for some breakfast. Was seated after a 10 minute wait. Staff very friendly. During my wait I enjoyed the fantastic aroma wafting from the kitchen. The best way I can explain this place is….You know those good restaurants that have a constant stream of visually pleasing, fully plated meals leaving kitchen? This is one of those places. Think my meal looks good? I wanted to stick my fork in everything i saw leaving the kitchen. I’m actually going to try each meal on the menu! Look at my pics. This is the Ft. Buster - a biscuits and gravy plate. Made to order, and do I really need to tell you that it was delicious? Com’on.. look at the pics! It tastes just how it looks. Delicious! I’m going back!

Taylor was a fantastic waitress! She was very attentive! This place knows breakfast! I had the Cajun skillet with cajun shrimp andouille pork white cheddar 2 eggs bell peppers cherry tomatoes red onions served on the top of hash browns with wheat toast and house blackberry jam! Mo-Joe coffee and a glass of milk and water. The bacon cheese burger skillet is good as well!

Back at it again! Absolutely love this place, the service, the food, on and on!!! Mixed it up this time! My wife got the chicken and waffles! The syrup, butter, and all the flavors that go on the chicken bring you straight to flavor town! My mother in law got the GLUTEN FREE cornmeal pancakes and said that it was a flavor explosion! Also... we had a reservation and had a bit of a wait (which was not proble) but fort jesse hooked us up with a surpirse cinnamon roll. NEXT LEVEL! Don't miss out on this place if you are in Bloomington-Normal!

Another Great Experience at Fort Jesse Cafe today! Great food and great service! Best Breakfast spot in the Bloomington-Normal area in my humble opinion! Potentially best resturant period! Always an awesome meal whether you dine in or get take-out! If you are vegetarian/vegan I highly recommend the Southwest Tofu skillet. Out of this world good!