Ida's Cafe

Photography by Fitz

Located on Roherestown Rd. in Lancaster, Ida's Cafe is probably best known for its breakfast. It's just down the road from another great breakfast/lunch place, The Pantry. Since we already reviewed The Pantry, it's time to see how Ida's rates in comparison. We do, after all, go to The Pantry almost every week.

We had breakfast at Ida's today, and it's certain that we will be going back very soon! Whatever you've heard about the greatness of their food is...absolutely true! It's a little place, with a seating capacity of 60. If you're eating there on a weekend morning, you're likely going to have to wait. Don't sweat it. It's worth it. We always love places like this - where the food is actually homemade and inspired by family home cooking. I had the cream chipped beef. Ordinarily, that's a very watered-down "greasy spoon" sort of dish. But Ida's has found a way to elevate it! It was far and away the best cream chipped beef I've ever had. It was creamy and surprisingly meaty. And my side of bacon was, well, it's pretty hard to screw up bacon. And this place certainly doesn't. Tami had the grilled sticky bun and a ham & cheese omelet. I believe this was her first time ever having a Pennsylvania style grilled sticky, and she absolutely loved it. I had a taste of it myself, and it was just ridiculous. It was so buttery and flaky and crazy delicious. Mmmm! Tami ordered the omelet as a test. If they failed to produce a first-rate omelet, they were going to be in serious trouble. But they did not come up short. Minor points were deducted because there wasn't quite enough cheese, but from a flavor standpoint, Tami offered rave reviews. All in all, we had a dynamite meal. We probably waited about 15-20 minutes for a table, but we had no complaints. And once we were seated, the service was friendly and fast. The food came out in a flash. The service was great in general - both the cashier/hostess and our server were super nice and very good at their jobs.

On to the FABS scale (again modified to omit our standard beer category)...
Food- Just about perfect. I look forward to going back and trying their lunch! 33/33 1/3
Atmosphere- Cute little place. Minor deduction for all the tables being on top of each other. 31/33 1/3
Service- You can tell this is something they value. 33/33 1/3

Total- 97 (out of 100). 

Given that we're in the area most weekends to buy groceries, it seems likely that we will become Ida's regulars. That was a damn fine breakfast! Maybe we'll have to resort to a rotating schedule between Ida's and The Pantry!

 
-Josh

http://www.idascafe.com/