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Lou Mitchell's Restaurant
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- Neighborhoods:
- Near West Side, West Side
- Categories:
- Restaurants, Bakeries, Catering, Diners
- Cuisine:
- Traditional American
- Price:
- $
- Restaurant Special Features:
- Payment Methods:
- General Info:
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At a Glance
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100% ambiance
“Great atmosphere including public address announcements of customer's birthdays with requisite singing and servers who have been there for years, and they have a number of baked goods to take home.”
100% dessert
“(My wife loved the ice cream!)”
86% drinks
“If you like poor customer service with your coffee”
78% food quality
“Good food can be had cheaper elsewhere”
100% menu variety
“have been to the other location in Lincoln Park, and that is a good place, their food is great, but this place needs to overhaul some of their menu items.”
100% overall
“If you want the Chicago breakfast experience and to feel history, then this a good place start in the morning!”
100% return potential
“pancake house. Wife loved her waffle enough to order it on a return visit.”
61% service
“Each of the three times we visited, the place was 25-50% full and there was lots of time to chat with the wait staff and bus staff.”
80% value
“Everything that I enjoy about diners was in place, the cheap coffee and free refills, good counter service and tons of other people sitting around and reading the paper.”
75% wait time
“Our food arrived within ten minutes and received such good portions that I took pictures of our meal before and after to prove that we actually finished everything on the plate.”
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Lou Mitchell's Restaurant
What Our Expert Scouts Say
March 19, 2013
You'll get a doughnut hole when you arrive, and the charm continues with excellent service. The malted waffle is an ideal specimen.
0
Heart
December 24, 2012
A Chicago institution since 1923, there's a lot of history here. But the food is an equally good reason for heading here, not to mention free donut holes and Milk Duds handed out by the hostess while leading you to your table.
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Heart
November 14, 2012
The hype is warranted. Portions are gigantic, coffee is stiff, and baked goods are fresh. Old-school servers are great.
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Heart
Tips for Lou Mitchell's Restaurant
March 16, 2012
A Taste of Real Orange Marmalade. Early birds can find Lou Mitchell's fresh baked donuts with a golden cup of coffee with their eyes closed. Breakfast starts with a slice of fresh orange and a sweet prune, while you choose your best morning breakfast. Try the corned beef hash with potatoes and three eggs to start your day. Plus fresh toast and two choices of jelly or homemade orange marmalade the way my Grandmother made it. A real treat is to have hot donuts with golden coffee at the top of the morning at Lou Mitchell. Be glad is open early morning near the METRA Station.
0
Heart
May 04, 2011
Tropicana instead of Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice. Instead of Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice they brought me Tropicana with pulp for $4.95. When I asked waitresses is it Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice she respond YES and left immediately.
0
Heart
July 03, 2010
Great coffee!. We ate here twice last week while visiting Chicago . The first visit I was blown away with the service, food and the coffee was great! I love milk duds so that was a big score. The second day, not so much. Our server was horrible (and I mean horrible). Not sure how the coffee was that day because after asking for it 2 times, I never was served a cup of coffee. Not sure I'll go back the next time but definitely worth checking out, if you've never been!
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Heart
January 19, 2010
Lou Mitchell's Exceeds Expectations. The food was delicious, coffee excellent, service friendly and upbeat. I went off-hours (after typical breakfast "rush" hours so I can't speak to service for the average joe on the way to work but my experience was excellent and will go again next time in Chicago.
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Heart
January 02, 2009
Best Breakfast for families!.
If you want the typical breakfast diner place to go to, then Lou Mitchell's is the place to go, nothing fancy shmansey, and the food a AWESOME!! It's not expansive, but the food is great quality! and allot of it!
If you want the Chicago breakfast experience and to feel history, then this a good place start in the morning! Especially if you have a family and on a limited budget.
My thoughts are, there was my self, my husband, our three year old and a 14 month old, my mother and my mothers fiancee, my kids aren't your quiet bunch but do behave relatively well, and we were visiting Chicago and needed a place to eat breakfast and on a budget, so after looking on here and other web sites there were all mixed reviews, but the good weighed out the bad, and thought why the hell not! lol!
I am so happy I followed my gut instinct on this one, the waitress we had was really friendly and after the my girls ate there breakfast, the waitress brought out some ice cream for my kids to have, which was so nice of her!
LIKE EVERYONE ELSE HAS SAID - GET CASH FROM THE ATM BEFORE YOU EAT!
If you are not really into the diner experience and more upscale restaurants then this may not be for you, but if you don't mind and just need somewhere to go eat, then this is for you!
Food is good, service was great, and all for a great price! I think for all of us we spent less then $45.00 for four adults and two kids.
PARKING - There is a parking lot around the corner of Lou Mitchell's, the guy discounted us because we were eating at Lou Mitchell's, and after we ate and walked to the lot he brought us our car.
0
Heart
October 30, 2008
0 Stars. If I could give this place 0 stars, I would! The service and food sucked. Go someplace else. Please!
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Heart
October 06, 2008
Neighborhood feel in the big city!. My wife and I showed up on a Monday afternoon looking forward to some home cooking. We were presently surprised to be treated to free donut holes and milk duds while we waited for a table. We were seated within minutes and proceeded to order from a friendly host. I had the Denver omelette, and my wife had the breakfast sandwich with sausage and eggs inside. Our food arrived within ten minutes and received such good portions that I took pictures of our meal before and after to prove that we actually finished everything on the plate. I was a little surprised that their interpretation of "hash browns" was more like thinly fried potato chips. The omelette was definitely fluffy and I left stuffed. The crowd was a mix between urban traveler, business person, and the average Chicago native. Don't go here expecting a fancy dining room. This is a very efficient, breakfast environment with lots of history, friendly service, and good food.
0
Heart
August 12, 2008
Comfort and Familiar. Even as out-of-towners, we were made to feel at home at Lou's. Very warm, inviting establishment - if you like this style of dining (which we do!). Very filling food - we ordered way too much - I swear they use eight eggs in one of their omeletes. Highly recommend the thin sliced potatoes with cheddar cheese and feta - share with the table!
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Heart
July 20, 2008
Keep Away from This Place. Bad food and even poorer service. Yeah, that sums it up!
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Heart
July 20, 2008
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER ENCOUNTERED! CASHIER SHOULD BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY..
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! When our group entered into the restaurant, we were very excited about trying the food since we were from out of town. The donut holes and milk duds were a bonus, but then once we sat down, it took the waitress 15 minutes just to acknowledge us and put in our drink and food orders. Once our food came out, it was just disappointing greasy diner food. Nothing more. They boast about being around since 1923 because of their quality food, but I didn't see any of it. I ordered a simple greek omelet and was served with a big vat of grease. Also, we had all ordered wheat toast and got white instead. We thought we'd send our toast back, but the waitress NEVER came back to our table to see how everything was. We started asking ourselves, what's so great about this place anyway? Is it the bad service or greasy food??
After our meal was complete, things got worse..Much worse. We went up to the cashier not knowing that we could only pay cash, and the cashier's attitude can be described in one word: DISGUSTING. I can't stress counting out your money for the cashier before you hand it to her because SHE CAN'T ADD!! She should be fired immediately for her bad attitude and lack of customer service skills. Maybe she should go back to school and learn how to add and subtract because honestly, a first grader could do her job better than she could. My friend had overpaid for her meal and she refused to give her her change ($20) back! We were all astounded as to how this place could still be in business with people like her working there.
***We ended up not leaving a tip for the waitress because we were going to use our change from the cashier, the $20, to pay the waitress. We felt bad about it, but the cashier, in essence, ended up stealing from the waitress in the end because she and the manager refused to give us our change.***
Please go to Meli Cafe, Le Peep, or Wishbone, and SKIP LOU MITCHELLS ENTIRELY B/C IT WILL LEAVE A BAD TASTE IN YOUR MOUTH.
0
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Lou Mitchell's Restaurant
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