Skip to main content

Lucky's Cafe

Greetings,

     I have been watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives for a number of years now. I'd say at least 10 years. I keep a little notebook of all the places I want to try and the food Guy Fieri ordered. I love finding locations when I'm traveling and trying them out. I even have a scrapbook of the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and Man vs. Food places I've gone to. I feel that it is time to honor my absolute favorite location so far-Lucky's Cafe in Cleveland, Ohio.


     This restaurant is pretty small, but when the weather is nice you can sit at the picnic tables outside next to the garden. The food is farm-to-table. The vegetables, herbs, and fruits are grown in the garden or bought from local farmers along with the meat and eggs. There is a seasonal house-made jam that I ALWAYS buy a jar to take home for $6.50. (The jar is small, but seriously, just do it.)



     They're only open for breakfast and lunch. Beware of the weekends, the wait times can get pretty long, especially when Indians and Browns games are happening. The average wait time on a Sunday that I've experienced is 25 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on how many people are in your party. You can also order ahead or to-go at the front counter.


     I've only had positive experiences with the staff. They're always friendly and ask if you've been there before. If you haven't, they'll tell you about the food being from the garden and local farmers. I've never felt rushed, even with a long wait time and a lot of people waiting outside the restaurant.

     They have a full coffee and espresso bar. It's kind of pricey, but I love the fact that the speciality espresso drinks don't taste like sugar. They use local honey to sweeten them. The mocha here (pictured below) is the best one I've ever had. (Here's the coffee list.)


     I am not the only one who is a huge fan of this restaurant. Chef Michael Symon accompanied Guy Fieri on that particular episode of Triple D, and he's also featured them on The Best Thing I Ever Ate. His favorite? The biscuits and gravy, which is also my favorite. (Top picture below.) I've never had a dish that I didn't like. Everything is just so fresh and full of flavor. There's always a few seasonal dishes, and I suggest you try them. I recently strayed from my beloved biscuits for the seasonal Ratatouille, and it was AMAZING. (Bottom picture below.) The pesto sauce is nut-free (YAY!), and the veggies are served over a bed of perfectly cooked grits with two sunny-side up eggs. My mom loves anything that comes with Como Toast that they make fresh and serve with the home-made jam. (Check out the menu.)




     This is the one restaurant that any time I travel home to Cleveland, I HAVE to go. Whenever I move back, I'll be there almost weekly for sure. Now I will say our resident Debbie-Downer thinks it's too expensive and would rather go to Bob Evans, but I value quality over quantity in this case. 100%.

   

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Exploring Historic Downtown Ashland, Ohio

Hello!     I recently was feeling nostalgic and wanted to visit my old college town to see how it has changed for better or worse. I am an alum of Ashland University and I periodically miss those days, though they say you can never go back. If only. One of the things I loved about attending school there was being out in the quiet country. There was no hustle and bustle or noise of city life (or a more populated suburb). I miss the sense of peace it brought me. However, in recent years, they have built it up near the highway. More chain restaurants, apartments, and large corporations. I'm happy the college students have more options because some were really needed, but it definitely has made it noisier and ruined some of the country feel. I'm happy that the historic downtown closer to the university is being preserved with it's stunning architectural buildings and new small businesses. I wanted to take a look and see what downtown Ashland has to offer, with the help of ano...

Primanti Bros & DeLuca's Diner

Hey All,       This month is a double feature in Pittsburgh, PA. We were in town for the P!nk concert (which was spectacular, by the way) and decided to hit up two places featured on Man vs. Food: Primanti Bros and DeLuca's Diner. Both are located in the Bar District downtown, but Primanti Bros has expanded to other locations around the state as well. These were both featured on Season 1, Episode 3 of Man vs. Food, but Adam did not do a challenge at either location. They were both his other visits prior to his challenge at Quaker Steak and Lube.       We went to Primanti Bros the first night in town. This is actually my second time going, the first was the Marketplace location downtown years ago. I have a thing for original locations, so this time I insisted on going to the Bar District. It is down a side alley street a little past the fish market. We had to wait outside briefly upon arrival, about 5 minutes, while they waited for some customers t...

Mother's Day with Cravings by Chrissy Teigen

 Sending good vibes to all the moms out there. 💕      Mother's Day weekend in Ohio was full of heavy rain, cool temperatures, and comfort food cravings. Instead of going out, I decided to make my mom a day's worth of food from Chrissy Teigen's Cravings cookbook. I own both of her Cravings cookbooks and I'm highly anticipating the third because I have not made a recipe from either book that wasn't flavorful and hit the spot. Don't ask me which recipe is my favorite because that is an impossible question; although I will say in a life or death situation, it's probably in the Thai inspired section. You can order her cookbooks (and her mom's) off of her Cravings website , or at most bookstores.       In honor of Mother's Day, this is where I say a tidbit about my mom. She is the hardest working person I know. She's worked long shifts for as long as I can remember while also keeping the house clean, taking my brother to his hockey tournaments out-of-...