lucky's cafe

i knew when the server offered me a smoothie with "locally grown" fruits including bananas that this experience was about to suck. $70 later, my boyfriend and i left distraught, trying to figure out how we spent so much money on the first meal of the day. the food was average, the server was rude and condescending, and i felt like we had to hurry up to make room for the massive amount of people breathing down our necks waiting for their turn to spend a paycheck on an average breakfast. i'm still trying to find those localclevelandwinter bananas...

we ate here while visitingclevelandand had a splendid experience. this locally sourced fare is amazing! we were a large group and ordered many different dishes--all were phenomenal! and the service we experienced was pleasantly attentive. we will go back next time we're in town!

the positivelyclevelandfollowers directed us to cleveland's quaint tremont neighborhood to start our day. lucky's cafe tremont top: lucky's garden / bottom: lucky's pastries and baked goods left: blueberry fizzy / top right: bruleed steel cut oatmeal / bottom right: pecan bacon i liked everything about lucky's cafe. its thriving garden, bustling atmosphere and interesting menu are the right combination. upon recommendation of the positivelyclevelandgals, we got several orders of the pecan bacon (cured bacon, crushed pecans, and brown sugar) for the table, and in the end there wasn't a piece left. because it blew our minds. for my breakfast, i selected the bruleed steel cut oatmeal (winter fruit compote, eggs en croute, house-made multi grain toast), which was superb.

dddelicious. after seeing this place on ddd, my friend and i added it to our list of destinations in theclevelandarea we wanted to go to. we were not disappointed. i've read a lot of negative reviews about service etc. but i have to say our server, steve was attentive, entertaining and knowledgeable.
we ordered the mac & cheese and a cuban. we were told it's best to eat the mac & cheese with the side apple sauce and not just as a side dish, ie dip the m&c into the apple sauce. having never thought of that before we were game and not disappointed. it was great!

the cuban to me was just another sandwich, i wish we had ordered a 2nd order of m&c rather than share.

i will agree on one thing, the prices are a wee bit high. $14 for m&c is a bit steep, with the extra $2 for bacon it was a pricey dish. knock it down to $10 with the bacon and you have a major winner.

would i go back, yes, would i recommend it to friends, yes - i will warn them about the prices in advance though.

thanks lucky's, if we're ever inclevelandagain, we'll make sure to stop by.

ready to drive back toclevelandon weekends for breakfast there. we went toclevelandon sunday sept. 23 and had to stop at luckys. saw it on dd&d a couple years back and knew if i ever went toclevelandwe had to eat there. we got there around 10:00am and had a 20 minute wait that was pleasantly spent talking to other customers, the owners mother, and someclevelandbrown's fans. we are from pittsburgh and steeler fans and they were still nice to us :)! the 2 girls ahead of us on the wait list said they had no problem allowing someone else sit at their 4 top so we did. i must say the people ofclevelandare sooooo friendly. patrick waited on us and he was great, so helpful and attentive. when he asked what, i wanted i said i've know for the last two year, the biscuits and sausage gravy, of course. the food was wonderful. on the way out we talked to the owner's mother again, such a friendly woman. it was my boyfriends birthday so she gave him one of their wonderful red velvet cupcakes. we ate it on the way into cleveland, even though we were already stuffed. lucky's was a little pricy for breakfast but well worth it. i'm ready to drive back some weekend just to have breakfast there. i read anther review on here from a diane that liked it and praised patrick. that review isn't me. name and day is a coincidence.

dissapointment. on a family trip through the midwest we spent a day in cleveland. during the trip we decided to seek out places featured on triple d. so while inclevelandwe stopped at lucky's for lunch on sunday. we arrived around 11am and the placed was packed! it must be good, we were excited! we waited 1hour 40minutes. the signs in the restarant say that guy f. had the mac and chees as well as the reuben. the service was greta, everyone including the manager were very polite. well, after our 1 hour 40 minute wait and the anticipation of trying the two dishes. they were out of the mac and cheese! how in the world...as a restaurant...could you run out of one of your signature dishes?! you are featured on triple d and drawing crowds how can you run out!? what a dissapointment! i would not reccomend going on a sunday during the crazy busy brunch time, no guarantee they will not run out. one other note, there is no kids menu. so if your kids do not like fresh made all natural foods you might choose another place. of course it was our son who wanted the mac and cheese... well, he waited the 1 hour 40 then waited for us to eat before he got lunch elsewhere.

"i got lucky in tremont!" (twice). i watched the episode of diners, drive-ins, and dives with guy fieri and heather haviland who is the owner and chef of lucky's cafe in tremont.. her ruben sandwiches are incredible. everything is homemade or homegrown and the sandwich melts in your mouth. i don't live inclevelandbut the 40 minute drive each way is well worth it. i have not been able to make the return trip home with my to-go meal intact. the aroma of the food makes me salivate and it doesn't stand a chance!
the meals, the servers, and the chefs are all excellent.
i look forward to my next meal, it was truly scrumptious!
thank you matthew and heather, i shall return!

exactly what's wrong with theclevelandfood scene. we went to lucky's last october after visiting the zoo. it was my wife's birthday and she had wanted to try lucky's since it was on ddd (not always a good indicator) we parked and walked in. not to busy for a weekday, and several open tables. we were told we could have a seat anywhere. the kids wanted to sit at the table by the front window. ok.

we sat at the table. there were several other empty tables. there were business people there. there were moms there with kids. there were a few older couples. we sat. there were two women standing behind the counter. no on made any move to greet us, take drink orders, acknowledge our existence on this planet. nothing. we sat.

after about fifteen minutes the guy clearing the next table said someone would be with us. we sat. the two women ten feet from us behind the counter made no move to acknowledge us, and actually started to look kind of hostile. my wife was starting to get frustrated, she really wanted to eat there, but finally said "let's go." we stood up, put on our coats, and headed for the door. only then did i hear "is everything..." but didn't hear the rest as we were out the door.

so obviously this is not a review about the food, but about the service (or lack thereof) from the other reviews i've read, that seems to be the common factor at lucky's. i tried contacting them via e-mail, but got no response. my comments on another site (rhymes with kelp) were removed, and i expect these will be too at some point.

service such as this is why people go to chains, which the ncg's despise. at chains, they at least give you the impression that they are happy you chose them. they get you in, take your order, serve you, and keep the chit chat to a minimum. at places like lucky's, they expect you to feel lucky (ironic) that they have allowed you to dine there. lucky's is the first place inclevelandi've been made to feel that way, but i've heard similar stories about other places. i wouldn't go back if it was a free meal, and i wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. war on the ncg's (you know who you are)

ps. we ended up at the steak and shake in steelyard commons and enjoyed it thoroughly.

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 putclevelandon the map ( as ot