Joe Brown started Joe Brown’s cafe as a soup kitchen in 1932 in the middle of the Great Depression. In the 1960’s he started making Carmel Corn and when Lloyd Center opened in Portland, Joe opened the Karmel Korn shop upstairs by the ice rink. In 1985, lew Carlton purchased the Cafe from Joe and started talking all the photos of customers you see on the walls. Over the years a lot of people have met their husband or wife here as it use to be a popular teenage hangout in the 1970’s. In 1988, a baby was born in our tiny bathroom and all the news channels came for the story! Lew’s sudden passing in January of 2025 has left a big hole in our story. Along with the team, I will strive to keep the cafe as it has always been.
Standard American fare for breakfast & lunch at this unpretentious diner with an old-school feel.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 817 Main St, Vancouver, WA 98660
Phone: (360) 693-6375
Website: http://joebrownscafewa.com/
Menu Photos
Order and Reservations
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Joe Brown’s Cafe
See our latest menu, find our hours, and order online directly from us. Locations in Vancouver, WA.
Joe Brown’s Cafe – Vancouver,WA | Menu,Photos,Reviews
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Reviews
Barry Watterson-Woods
Great food! If you leave hungry at all for the rest of the day, its on you. Huge portions, very attentive service and you feel quite welcome, as if you were a visitor in thier home. Keep up bringing the good good breakfasts to V town!
… moreGary Jacobson
I love this place! Its like stepping back in time the moment you sit down. The grandkids when they come down from Seattle always want to go eat at Joe Browns. They like sitting on the Bar stools and watch them cook! Food is always top notch notch. Best bacon in Vancouver!
… moreHawthorn Underwood
The food was really good. Large portions at a reasonable price, and everybody was super Friendly will definitely be back again.
… moreNathan Clobes
Great food and nice people! If you can’t find something you like, you are not a diner person. Will definitely be back again!
… moreNarine C.
This place is truly a gem. It is so nice to see diners like this still around with a lot of interesting history. They have a great selection of food. They serve breakfast all day. Their food is so good! We tried a little of everything we wanted to try, and it all tasted great. Their pancakes are really big and good and their hot chocolate is really tasty. We tried the chili fries and chili burgers too, and my, were they good! Prices are very good too for the portions. Will definitely be back.
… moreCody Jenkins
Its average diner food and thays ok, but it is low quality. Sysco foods is most of what it seems to be and again that was great byt now they cost as much as a diner making things from scratch and high quality. So my hinest review is. This is IHOP quality, big portions, in a awesome historic place, that is now way over priced. I miss taking my nice here but now its just not worth it. Great staff as well gotta say that part
… moreDelna Doomasia
Extensive menu which doesn’t make a hole in your pocket. Well priced and loads of choice to fit your appetite!!
Service was great too by the friendly welcoming ladies. Ordered the country breakfast as I wanted to try the biscuit and gravy and wasn’t disappointed!!
Such a unique breakfast and am pleased i ended up visiting this gem of a place.
… moreService was great too by the friendly welcoming ladies. Ordered the country breakfast as I wanted to try the biscuit and gravy and wasn’t disappointed!!
Such a unique breakfast and am pleased i ended up visiting this gem of a place.
Troy Price
This place has been around for a long time. Whenever someone mentions the word “diner”, I think of How Brown’s. Great atmosphere, terrific service, and really good food.
… moreSharon Vesely
Oldest diner in Vancouver and looks it, but in a good 50s 60s diner way. Nothing fancy but our breakfast was excellent. Very friendly staff and we talked with some interesting people. Seek it out even if roads are shut for construction. You can park relatively close and walk over. It is an experience with great food thrown in.
… moreElija Bandersnatch
Joe Brown’s is an icon, a classic, a journey to a different time… maybe the 60’s, maybe even earlier. From the tattered panoply of photos on the wall to the neighborhood feel of the crowd it is an echo of old movies and matter of fact waitresses.
Now the problem with icons is that they tend to be set in their ways like bugs stuck in Amber. The food at Joe Brown’s is dated, the burger was nothing to write home about. The vibe is great, but the execution should be executed.
It was uninspired. Boring bun, tasteless standard premade patties, and the tomato bland. Open da box, take out da food.
Now the waitress was great, the ambience on point, the location convenient, it was only the food that fell short. Nostalgia will only go so far to satisfy the questing soul.
It’s hard to say how this could be fixed, these things are complex systems with many parts. Better food might attract more yuppies and push out the common folk, the dive atmosphere might suffer, maybe we have come to expect too much. Maybe community is more important.
Obviously they are well loved by the Vancouver family. They have found a niche and changes might ruin that. Although personally I would appreciate better onion rings at least, or lemon with my tea… and a little more ice.
And maybe it’s just a problem with what I ordered and I should circle back for the breakfast menu. It’s a quandary.
… moreNow the problem with icons is that they tend to be set in their ways like bugs stuck in Amber. The food at Joe Brown’s is dated, the burger was nothing to write home about. The vibe is great, but the execution should be executed.
It was uninspired. Boring bun, tasteless standard premade patties, and the tomato bland. Open da box, take out da food.
Now the waitress was great, the ambience on point, the location convenient, it was only the food that fell short. Nostalgia will only go so far to satisfy the questing soul.
It’s hard to say how this could be fixed, these things are complex systems with many parts. Better food might attract more yuppies and push out the common folk, the dive atmosphere might suffer, maybe we have come to expect too much. Maybe community is more important.
Obviously they are well loved by the Vancouver family. They have found a niche and changes might ruin that. Although personally I would appreciate better onion rings at least, or lemon with my tea… and a little more ice.
And maybe it’s just a problem with what I ordered and I should circle back for the breakfast menu. It’s a quandary.