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Pay what you want for breakfast at Johnny Rebs’ in Orange
April 16th, 2009, 12:11 pm · 20 Comments · posted by Cameron Bird
A tinge of guilt arrived with the check.
“Name your price,” it read.
All April at Johnny Rebs’ Southern Roadhouse, diners get to chew on that conundrum. Management at the Southern comfort restaurant in Orange (with a few other locations in Los Angeles) have turned the tables on breakfast pricing, Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and noon.
I stopped by Rebs’ around 7:25 this morning and parked in a sparsely populated lot near a couple of squad cars. Inside, I sat myself in a booth, and waited for a menu in the equally sparsely populated restaurant. A bucket of peanuts kept me company.
All breakfast items are fair game for the promotion. But being a near-herbivore, I ordered scrambled eggs with cheddar, four slabs of wheat toast, country-fried potatoes, and OJ — all would soon be subjected to my number-crunching, a server informed me.
A filled-to-the-edges hotplate and a mason jar of juice landed on the table before I could finish reading a laminated review of the place.
And boy, was it satisfying.
The eggs were fluffy and not overly cheesy, the toast toasty and the potatoes tender and mixed with grilled onions. Two orange rounds garnished everything. Across the way, two cops counted dollars, asking each other, “How much should we pay?”
As quickly as I entered, I was faced with that same question, though I had no one to bounce it off of.
“Name your price,” the bill read.
Above that, it read, “Amount of order: $10.31.”
I asked my server, Bree, if the restaurant’s gotten much traffic during the month-long morning promotion.
Last week was fairly busy, she said. This week’s been slow.
And what, on average, do customers pay for their meals?
Most people pay within $5 to $10 of the bill, she said. But a few shortchangers have taken $80 off.
With that in mind, I named my price. What did I pen? Well, if you’re wondering, I didn’t rip anyone off, but the precise value stays between me and Rebs’.
Verdict: Try it, but don’t game it.
Click here to check out Johnny Rebs’ full breakfast menu.
Johnny Rebs’ is located at 2940 E. Chapman Ave, Orange (click for map).
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im going
This place is the best. The kids love to shell the peanuts and throw them on the floor. The first time I took my daughter there, she looked at me with that “is it ok” look to throw the shells on the floor. They always have great promotions and are always “shelling” out to charities.
Went and paid nothing. Not even a tip. It was great. Probably won’t continue with that promotion too much longer though.
Nice, real nice. Of course they won’t run a promotion if people act like you. You went out to a restaurant, someone cooked for you and served you and you couldn’t manage to even pay 50% off? Real nice.
cameron, did you happen to find out how many customers pay more than the order amount?
hb_foodie.
That seems to be very rare, to my knowledge we have had that happen three times at the Orange location. But, we have had several of our guests pay the full menu pricing.
Dana
MGR Johnny Rebs Orange
Dana,
I have never tried your place - but when time/money permits - this promotion guarantees I will (and I will be fair about it if I come in for breakfast).
Thanks for the great idea and for doing your part!
I go there after being out of town on weekend photo shoots - Sunday nights for dinner. Fried catfish, fried okra, collards and cornbread. Reasonably priced and with a glass of bottomless sweet iced tea. They never have figured out the secret to hushpuppies (akin to golf balls or rocks) but everything else on the menu from the ribs to the bar-be-que is outstanding.
hb_foodie: I’m awaiting a callback from the restaurant manager to find out the answer to your question.
They do have the best Breakfast, try the biscuits and gravy mmm mmm good
I’m there tomorrow morning! What time do they open? thanks
Disgusted: They open at 7 a.m. and serve breakfast till noon. Enjoy!
do they do this 7 days a week or only during the week?
Monday through Friday (see above)
I have a rule about not eating at a restaurant so desperate that it has to give away food.
The restaurant isn’t giving food away, they are simply asking you to name your price.
” but some have taken $80 off.” Is this what you ment?
Johnny Rebs in Orange is inviting guests to name their own price for Breakfast “All they are asking is that people pay what they think the food and our service are worth,”
The offer is good from 7am to 12 .m. Monday to Friday applies to everything on the Breakfast Menu.
The management acknowledges that the plan comes with the risk of losing money.
“I hope that doesn’t happen, but doing this promotion is truly about helping people … families that otherwise aren’t getting out of their houses. It’s to stimulate the economy and get people out again,”
Me, I’m a scrambled and grits kind of guy (with tomato juice please.) This promotion will help defray the fuel cost from Portland. Thanks J.R.
Management at Johnny Rebs-
What a great promotion you are doing! Thank you for helping out those who have stopped going out to eat. I have posted in the past that many places are closing down because of the economy and people are stopping eating out, including me and that effects restaurants. If there are deals out there now people will go. I have never been to your restaurant and used to drive by it all the time on my way to Taco Mesa, but I will try to make it over there soon and maybe you will get a new customer! Thanks again for the promption!