Lemon Grove Cafe - Youngstown - Take Out Order

Lemon Grove Take Out Cheeseburger

The Lemon Grove Cafe

122 W Federal Plaza
Youngstown, OH 44503
(330) 744-7683

A restaurant is only as good as its service. In Youngstown Ohio, the Lemon Grove Cafe is centrally located in downtown, perfect for local business employees to flock for lunch and take out. However, customers beware when you order take out.

Joe Pesci said it best, “They’ll fuck you at the drive through.”

Back in the middle of December, we decided to try a new place, the Lemon Grove Cafe. Being that we were busy for the Christmas holiday, we ordered take-out. I ordered the bacon cheeseburger, which came with one side, so I opted for the extreme chicken soup. I really had no choice, fries or chips were not an option.

We went and got our order and returned to work. I opened my white styrofoam container that held my lunch. As you can see, there was no cheese. A simple order and they cannot get that correct. Just imagine if I had ordered something special.

The cost of this feast was $7.50 including the side of soup. The price was adequate if the order would have been correct and packed right.

The burger was a half pound of beef, Catullo beef, a local meat supplier. It was adequate. It was well cooked. The taste was ok. The bun was a tad soggy, perhaps from the cup of soup that was leaking all over the container. The bacon was two strips, but alas, uncooked as you can see.

(Perhaps they could have wrapped the burger in foil knowing that a thin strip of saran wrap over the cup of soup would certainly spill on a car ride to avoid the burger from being soggy.)

The soup, called extreme chicken soup. Where to begin. First, the container needs help. Almost a quarter of the soup spilled out from under the saran wrap soaking the bun of the burger.

Second, the soup itself. No noodles, a few chunks of potato, carrots, celery, onions, and a couple slivers of chicken. Standard fare at best. Certainly not extreme. It may have been more, but alas the soup had spilled over the container and made a mess.

My first impression of Lemon Grove Cafe, well, the name says it all. Lemon. Even if they hadn’t made the mistake of an incorrect take out order, the meal was a little high priced for what you got. Seriously, no fries available with a burger, only soup or a salad? WTF!

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2.25 out of 5 shots and at this time does not recommend Lemon Grove Cafe for lunch or dinner.

Perhaps in the near future I will return and allow a second chance. Time will tell.

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