lucky's cafe

great food, perfect portions, nice backyard for brunch.

amazingly..... disappointing. overall opinion: if you like hoity toity overpriced small portioned food then this place is for you. for me, i'll never go back. better luck next time lucky's. =]

my full review is posted on my blog:
http://satola.info/2009/12/21/luckys-cafe-in-tremont-ohio/

as clevelanders, we know that we are fortunate to have such an amazing dining scene in our fair city. over the past few years, the rest of the nation has started to catch on as well. chefs like symon and sawyer are helping put cleveland on the map ( as ot

disappointing experience. strict no substitutions policy.. the charming atmosphere of the outdoor dining area couldn't bear the weight of the limited and inflexible menu served by a staff that made me feel like i was asking for too much wanting a side of scrambled eggs for breakfast.

lucky's cafe reminded me of places i've been in maine with casual picnic tables in the midst of a garden. our server started out charming and witty, but things took a turn when i wanted to order a dish called the shipwreck without bacon. she asked the manager and the answer was "no". i then asked if i could have a side of scrambled eggs with an order of pancakes. again the answer was "no" and the excuse was the small kitchen didn't allow them the luxury of substitutions.

my brunch companions thought the food was good, but overpriced. the blueberry smoothies were exceptionally good, but not worth it at $5.95 each.

i doubt i'll return to lucky's when there are so many other great breakfast places nearby (grumpie's, west side market cafe) where side orders are commonplace and the service is better.

not on the weekend!. if you are a vegetarian, vegan, or have any food allergies, stay away from lucky's on the weekend. while i don't mind at all waiting for a table for good food, the menu is extremely limited and the staff even more so. we met some friends for brunch last weekend and the staff rudely refused to not put cheese on my vegan son's child's platter. they also are unable to remove meat from any egg dish. i won't be eating here again. i understand having to manage a kitchen; but, this is sad, sad customer service for an up and coming diner. we ate the only thing we could, toast (de-lish!) and hightailed it over to johnny mango's for a real meal. i would highly suggest to lucky's that they offer additional vegetarian and vegan options or make exceptions for people with lactose intolerance or other food allergies.

outstanding. i went for brunch this past sunday and expected a long wait, but was willing to give it a try anyway. i took 4 people with me, because we had all heard great things but had never been. we did have to wait for about 30 minutes so we were very hungry when we sat down. one of my friends was already being a bit high maintenance because of this and the price he saw on one of the menus. all i can say is that it didn't take long to turn him around. the place was packed for a reason. the staff was informed and friendly. the coffee hot and plentiful and the food.............there isn't enough room to say what i want to say. i can't wait to take more friends. yes, it is more expensive then your neighborhood diner, but worth every penny.they hav officially ruined all other ruebens for me. it was amazing! the mac-n-cheese is still on my mind and the waffles took me back to a place when my grandmother was alive and would cook for me after picking apples off her tree in the back yard. worth the wait and worth the money. i will share more after my next visit.......hopefully this next weekend.

regretable, forgetable. with a craving for a corned beef sandwich...and the recent accolades given to lucky's for theirs, i ordered one for pick-up sight unseen, cost unknown (how much could it be?). i had been there before for a cookie...an expensive and not- worth-it chocolate chip cookie....so i should have been more wary. this sandwhich was $13.75 (gasp) and as i scraped together every last penny to cover it, the gal at the counter assured me that it was worth it because everything was homemade. what a disappointment. first of all, it was (and is-i'm eating it right now) very unremarkable. homemade bread or not, i like my corned beef on rye...if this is rye, it's a weak rye---that is soggy from the to-go box, at that. yuck. and the sprinkled parsley isn't winning me over. the corned beef is in dry chunks...not those mouthwatering slices that you get at the superior deli. instead of sauerkraut, the corned beef has a very poor showing of cabbage. i guess there is swiss on there too...hardly redeems this sandwich. the homemade thousand island dressing is better than the store stuff but it doesn't make the sandwich worth $13.75 as the staff implied. the small handful of homemade chips were ordinary in taste and appearance, the pickle spear (1/4 of a pickle) familiar and the orange section, half strawberry and sliver of pineapple were poor attempts at making this look upscale. as i throw half of this not-worth-the-calories meal away i am lamenting that i didn't go to my favorite sandwich shop here in tremont, la bodega...or make the treck to the superior deli for a real corned beef sandwich. i give lucky's cafe no kudos.

best hot chocolate ever. and that's saying something, because i've had a lot of hot chocolates in my lifetime. i never noticed anything for kids, or even a light snack. expensiveish but good. i'll be back

good food and service, expensive. i went to lucky's cafe the first time yesterday and liked it a lot. the mac-n-cheese was good, along with my eggnog latte and lemon tarts. the service was good. the food is expensive, though, so you pay for having a fancy chef in a tiny place. it was worth it though, and they have some interesting things on the menu i want to try next time.

love the food. just wish the coffee was better!

ruined by the food network. used to be soooo good. now lucky's is overwhelmed by traffic, and i am totally underwhelmed by their food lately. i neverminded paying 12 bucks for the 'canoe wreck', a tofu veggie scramble, until last time. i got half the food and less than half the flavor. boo. i miss the old lucky's.

expensive for what you get. i was taken aback when i saw the prices for lunch. the mac and cheese was really tasty, but $13 for a lunch entree in such a casual coffee-shop atmosphere seemed too much. i like the idea of the "made from scratch, all local" thing, but the way it was delivered seemed like a gimmick. put that on a table placard so i can read about it - it's not necessary to sell me on the food verbally before taking my order. we sat at our table for about 10 minutes without anybody bringing us menus, even though there were people behind the counter just talking, and it was not crowded. the food was good, and i like the idea of the place, but i won't return.

great food. i've had the canoe wreck, the waffles, and the omelet, all of which have been delicious. each time i've gone i've had radically different experiences, including how you order, how you pay, how fast the kitchen moves, and whether or not there is even a server. this past sunday was the best.. great server, happy, fast, ran crazy for us (they were coming down from a very busy brunch) the food came out fast, the coffee was hot, and it was all very very good. but when we went to pay we had the strangest conversation with the women at the register over our price. we bought a bag of coffee which bumped our price incredibly high, and when my husband acted surprised --she acted offended! then she went on about how this must be our first time there, we weren't from around there, on and on. i told her no, we lived nearby, and we had been before.. and she then went on about the show and their new found popularity. i'd like to see lucky's step it up and become and more efficient cafe due to their popularity. not become pretentious and rude. like i said, it was the best service and food i've had yet.. we'll see how they transition.

love the food, hate the service (lately). i want to write a great review for lucky's cause i remeber before it all exploded it was such a cute spot to grab a coffee and scone and chill. forget that now, you can barely even get in the place anymore!
went for brunch on nov.1st and waited 45 minutes to sit. i'm fine with that, it's a busy sunday, so we grabbed a couple lattes from the bar and hung out outside on the picnic tables for a while. got sat, and it went downhill from there.
the service was so bad. our waiter came over to greet us with this big long speech that was so not necessary and a waste of his very highly demanded time per my opinion. we ordered waters and soup to start. then order our brunch. meanwhile, we got the soup from someone other than our server, still no waters. nobody came to check on us, or ask if we needed anything to drink despite the fact that there was nothing on our table. we flagged down the "hostess" to ask for water, and asked for our waiter so that we could add bacon and an espresso to our order. he never came. we got our food, without any of the condiments promised from our waiter, and asked the kitchen runner for an order of bacon. i asked the table next to me for salt, pepper, hot sauce. halfway through the meal, our waiter popped over, and we ordered the espresso, and got our bacon order. 20 minutes later we were done, and we still had no espresso. he came over with the bill which included the espresso on it, and noticed that we never got it.
i love lucky's and i hate that the service has become like this because of the crowds. but it's no excuse. you were on national television and you knew this was coming. the staff needs to step it up a notch here and learn how to move with a sense of urgency. other then that, the food was amazing, the kitchen was timely, and the lattes' were great. i will return, and hopefully they'll have found their groove again by then.

good mac & cheese. i can't speak to the whole menus as i've only had the mac & cheese, but it was delicious!

my only complain would be the service. my boyfriend ordered a special and they brought him out the wrong meal. our waitress was slow and inattentive despite the fact that the restaurant was not busy at the time. i ordered one of their pastries as an appetizer and we never received it.

the food is good if you have the patience for slow staff.