We love finding an old-school diner, especially the one still in an original dining car. We found another one in Rhode Island! This dining car–style restaurant serves American breakfast and lunch. The name Jigger’s come from the original owner, who’s nickname was Jigger.
The inside is small, as expected for a dining car. Narrow and long, with curved ceiling. Always loved the way these dining car looks… Each booth had a wood pole for customers hats and jackets.
We started with a cup of Downest Coffee ($2.99), and yes, they are bottomless. What we didn’t know was that they had Flavored Hot Coffee of the Day!!! And on this day, it was Eggnog on this day! NOOOO!!! I inquired about the flavored coffee with our server, to see if it was made with flavored syrup. She told us that it is made with flavored coffee bean… So, we couldn’t just get some syrup added to our coffee. But then, she came over later and let me have a taste of the eggnog coffee a bit! Thank you! And it was quite tasty!!!!
We were there for breakfast, and we got two of their famous and popular items. The first one was Gingerbread Pancakes ($6.59/per 2 pancakes). It was indicated as “Jigger’s Favorite!” on the menu. It was topped with their homemade Sweet Cream and Powdered Sugar. They were super fluffy and moist, and quite big! It had strong gingerbread flavor, but not overpowering. Really nice, better than I expected! Sweet cream tasted like cream cheese frosting. Awesomeness!!!
The second item was what we really came here for…Jigger’s Famous RI Johnny Cakes ($4.99/per 2 cakes). It was indicated as “a RI traditional favorite!” It is made with Keyon’s RI Stone Ground Corn Meal. It is eaten with butter or syrup. It was very…well, cornmeal. I tried it with just butter so that I can get its natural flavor. Crispy outside with soft inside. The inside of the cake was fluffy and kind of whipped-type texture. Interesting and tasty!
We also ordered a side order of Homemade Corned Beef Hash ($6.29). Ever since we got homemade hash from Lou Rock’s Diner (also here), we were hooked on old-fashion-diner hash. I must say, the hash here was not as good as Lou Rock’s, but still pretty darn tasty and hearty. A bit on a salty side, but not too salty. Mushy texture that was so comforting.
Since we missed out on the Eggnog Flavored Coffee, we decided to get Eggnog Muffin ($2.99), which was one of the Muffins of the Month. It was quite large! The server asked us if we were going to have it there, in such case, they could griddle or microwave it. How nice! But we were completely full, so we took it to go. We had them later, and it was tasty and fluffy, but not as moist as I wanted it to be. Maybe because we didn’t eat it right away? We enjoyed it regardless. Not so much eggnog flavor, but it had nice sweetness to it.
They have bathrooms all the way in the back. With the size of the restaurant, it is no surprise that the bathroom is small too, but clean and organized.
We had a nice breakfast here, we had high expectations and they delivered! Our waitress was very nice, welcoming and polite. At the time of order, she asked us if we wanted everything cut in half (since we were sharing), or if we wanted them as, is with extra plates. How considerate! We would like to go back again and try more of their tasty breakfast!
Jigger’s Diner – 145 Main St, East Greenwich, RI 02818