This Ladybird Kinda "Bugged" Me, But Was Overall "OK"

Ladybird Diner

721 Massachusetts Street
Lawrence, KS 66044
Phone number: (785) 856-5239
Website: ladybirddiner.com
Prices: $$$$

"Ladybird", by the way, is the British term for what we know as a "ladybug", the cute little red dome shaped things, and member of the beetle family, with black dots that will crawl up your finger and onto your hand, tagging along until they get bored and fly away to find another unsuspecting human being or facsimile thereof.

Anyway, Ladybird Diner is a busy place and got great reviews from respected colleagues, but was underwhelming in my eyes. I somehow expected more and have yet to find a great breakfast place (or lunch and dinner for that matter) in LFK. Big sigh. We stopped by about a month ago on a Sunday around 1pm and they were packed with a 15-20 minute wait, so we went up the street and ate. 

My spouse had a medical procedure and had not eaten for 33 hours, and I fasted along with her for moral support. So by the time we arrived at 9:30 this morning, we were FAMISHED, STARVING, HUNGRY AS A HORSE if you catch my drift.

 My wife loves their pancakes and hashbrowns, but went for a couple of doughnuts (and one to take home for tomorrow - $2.09/ea) and a side of hashbrowns ($2.49). She was happy as a lark, indulging her sweet tooth and getting a massive sugar and carb rush all for just $6.67. Such a deal! 

I, on the other hand, went the more traditional route. I rarely eat a big breakfast, opting instead for a cup or two of joe and some wheat bread with natural peanut butter and sliced bananas. However, 4-6 times a year a get a hankerin' for a full-on breakfast with eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and biscuits and gravy (B&G), so that was what I did. I ordered the Diner Breakfast ($9.99) and a half order of B&G ($5.49). The Diner was decent, nothing special, coming with wheat toast, and the eggs were cooked over-medium as I had asked. The three slices of bacon were lukewarm and petrified, obviously pre-cooked and sitting in a warming tray or nuked because they were difficult to cut with a knife and very chewy if you know what I mean. The hashbrowns were somewhat sparse, but crispy and savory just the way I like them.

The biscuits and gravy were another story altogether. A buttermilk biscuit and a ladle of country gravy cost no more than a $1 max to produce, so I have difficulty understanding a 549% markup. Ladybird is not the only culprit, all the breakfast places on Mass Street do it as do many others around the nation. $2.99, even $3.49, would be a fair price for a single biscuit and gravy for a $2 to $2.50 profit on less than a buck's worth of flour and fat. Enough about price. 

The order of B&G looked appetizing enough, but there was an odd taste to the gravy I could not quite put my finger on. Did they add honey mustard to the gravy? It sure tasted like it, so I asked to cook as I came back from the loo and was told that it was not honey mustard, but nutmeg. I was wrong, but the taste of the gravy was even wronger (look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls). Why can't I get some good ol' fashioned overpriced biscuits and gravy on Mass Street? This place adds nutmeg, another tops it with watery green chili sauce ... give me a damn biscuit and some freakin' normal salty and peppery country gravy for cryin' out loud!

Sorry, the country gravy has me talkin' like a country boy, so let me digress y'all. The service was "OK", not bad, but not very good. Maybe they were shorthanded because I only saw two servers running around to the 15 or so tables, but I sat and waited for a coffee refill for a good 10 minutes while our server ran back and forth avoiding eye contact the entire time. I know servers somehow expect that they deserve a 20% tip nowadays (there I go again, dammit!) no matter how well they perform, but I put myself through college waiting tables and am a bit picky when it comes to service. This young lady got a 15% tip, generous in my eyes, but I am sure she cursed me as we walked out the door. 

Sidenote: I rarely give less than 15% because I know these folks work mostly for tips to pay their bills and routinely give 20%+ for very good, friendly service. This service was neither, but not bad enough to warrant 10% or less as sometimes has to be the case. If I do tip less than 15%, I normally inform them of their shortfalls or leave a note if they are very busy in order to, hopefully make it a learning experience. In this case, I left my card and she can read the review (or not). If she does read this review, I hope she smiles more in the future, makes eye contact and ensures coffee mugs are full, and maybe makes a little idle chit chat so customers feel like we are appreciated, human, sentient beings.

CombatCritic Gives Ladybird Diner 6 Bombs Out Of 10 With Deductions For Exotic and Overpriced B&G, Cold and Chewy Bacon, And So-So Service... More Bombs Are Better!

Six Bombs Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16

Tabelog - Official Judge (Silver)

Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie





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Read Chris S.'s review of Ladybird Diner on Yelp



Ladybird Diner

Menu

Title: Lawrence, KS: This Ladybird Kinda "Bugged" Me, But Was Overall "OK"

Key Words: Ladybird Diner, ladybird, diner, bug, beetle, breakfast, lunch, Mass, Lawrence, Kansas, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Zomato, Tabelog, 

Translation for Civilians: G2G = "Good To Go"

Global Cafe - A "World" Away From a Great Cafe

Global Cafe

820 Massachusetts Street

Lawrence, KS 66044

Phone number: (785) 838-4600

Website: globalcafelawrence.com

Prices: $$$$

I have to agree with my fellow Elite and friend Scott T in his less than stellar impression of Global Cafe. We also sat for nearly 10 minutes while the two servers walked to and fro, ignoring us to clean tables rather than greet us and give us menus.

Once the server arrived, turns out she is one of the owners, we got a lukewarm greeting, menus, and an inquiry about what we wanted to drink. I said: "I'll have a coffee please", but she said, "let me get you a drink menu". I just ordered a coffee! Once the drink menu arrived, the $2.50 price tag for a cup of drip coffee seemed excessive, so I opted for ice water.

My wife ordered a short stack of pancakes, two large pancakes for $3.75 and an extra $1.50 for a tiny pitcher of "real maple syrup". I guess you get Aunt Jemima syrup and a high fructose corn syrup buzz if you opt out of the "real" thing. Anyway, the pancakes were pancakes, nothing special.

I had the Carnivore Omelet ($8.75) and a half order of biscuits and gravy, which were not on the menu, but advertised on a sign out front (with no price). The carnivore omelet came with ham, bacon, sausage, caramelized onions and sharp cheddar cheese, but very little of each and what was there was cooked into the omelet rather than folded on the inside. It came with "two sides" (toast, breakfast potatoes, cottage cheese, or sliced tomato), but the only enticing side was the potatoes, so I asked for a double order. I would hate to see a single side order of potatoes because the "double" side was extremely sparse and void of much taste. The biscuit and gravy came with green chili, an odd topping for biscuits and gravy (apparently a "New Mexico specialty"), so I asked for it on the side. The biscuit was small, the gravy thick, but rather tasteless (no sausage or bacon in sight), and the green chili thin (not thick as true green chili should be) and watery, but very spicy.

When the check arrived, it was not itemized, coming to a total of $19.08, so I assume that the single biscuit topped with mediocre country gravy and watery green chili ran around $4 ($19 - $3.75 - $1.50 - $8.75 - tax = about $4). At $23, including tip, I was not impressed considering that my wife had two pancakes, I had a mediocre breakfast, and neither of us ordered a drink other than ice water.

I have had much better breakfasts in town, so I doubt we will be returning here anytime soon. The interior is nothing special, the ceiling covered in flags of the world (hence the name I guess), and the service not very attentive, but semi-friendly. Therefore, ...

CombatCritic Gives Global Cafe 4 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Four Bombs Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16

Tabelog - Official Judge (Silver)

Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie





... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Title: Lawrence, KS: A "World" Away From a Great Cafe

Key Words: Global Cafe, global, cafe, breakfast, lunch, Lawrence, Kansas, Massachusetts, street, KU, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Zomato, Tabelog

Translation for Civilians: BOHICA = "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again"

Come Down From Your Roost For Some Hooch ... Or Breakfast ... Or Lunch

The Roost

920 Massachusetts Street

Lawrence, KS 66044

Phone (785) 843-1110

Web 920mass.com

After 36 hours without food and cameras shoved every which way (I'll spare you the details), I thought it was time for some carbs and protein ... the biscuits and gravy were awesome although a bit pricey at $7 for a full order!

I had the Kansan ($8) with eggs, bacon, home fries and English muffin. It was good, not spectacular, and a decent sized serving, but the bacon was a tad too crispy even for my taste.

The ALL YOU CAN DRINK self-service coffee bar ($2) is superb with a nice selection of premium coffees and condiments to choose from.

The service is adequate, not bad, not great, with little interaction and a bit of a "high brow" feel. A breakfast place should have a warmer, more inviting, friendlier feel, especially in a small college town. Their prices are a tad high on most things, so I have to deduct a couple bombs when it comes to "value".  For example, $5 should be the maximum price for biscuits and gravy no matter how big the order is or how good they are.

Oddly enough, for a place that is only open for breakfast and lunch (7am-3pm), The Roost has a bar and will serve you rather expensive cocktails ($7-$8) or wine ($5), so if you are looking for a mid-day buzz along with your biscuits and gravy, this is the place for you!

CombatCritic a Gives The Roost 6 Out Of 10 Bombs ... BOMBS ARE GOOD!

Title:  Come Down From Your Roost For Some Hooch ... Or Breakfast ... Or Lunch

Key Words: The Roost, roost, breakfast, lunch, bar, coffee, egg, biscuit, gravy, bacon, omelette, menu, Massachusetts, Lawrence, Kansas, 66044, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value

CombatCritic Is Neither Laughing Nor Amused After A Visit To The "Mirth" Café

Mirth Cafe

947 New Hampshire Street

Lawrence, KS 66044

(785) 841-3282

 Website

 Facebook

Prices: $$$$$

Living just 3 blocks from the Mirth Cafe, yet never realized it was there! The windows are dark in this ground floor space of what looks like an office building and their sign is barely visible through the tinted windows. Once inside, a modern decor of wood, tile, and dark steel has none of the hominess I enjoy in a good breakfast spot (e.g. The Roost).

Mirth's "Big" Breakfast

We were quickly met at the door and seated, but it took 10 minutes for our server, Brittney, to arrive. A young man dropped off some water, but was off before I had a chance to ask for some much needed coffee. Once Brittney arrived, we found out that it was a "self-service" coffee bar, so we wasted 10 minutes for nothing. I scurried to the bar only to find a dirty mug on my first attempt. There was neither half-and-half in the creamer nor coffee descriptions (dark roast, etc.) on the 5-6 available carafe options, only "Columbian" or "Ramona's", whatever that is, “DeCaf” … blah, blah, blah. Splenda was available only in shaker form and I had difficulty locating it because packets were provided for all other sweeteners (sugar, SugarInTheRaw, Sweet&Low). Brittney appeared a bit dismayed by my request to show me where the Splenda was and even more miffed when I asked her to please fill the half-and-half carafe so I could enjoy my mystery coffee. There was no Stevia, a disappointment as I avoid sugar and recently stopped using artificial sweeteners.

The coffee was good and warm, but the coffee bar was splotched with spilled coffee, sugar wrapper ends, and sweetener granules. To my dismay, the first upside-down mug I chose from the batch sitting on counter was filthy, containing adhering coffee granules from the previous customer. I was fortunate that I noticed them just as I started to pour my coffee as I normally assume that the dinnerware in restaurants are clean, a bold assumption I know.

I had Mirth’s Big Breakfast ($8.25) with a side of country gravy ($1.75) for a total of $10, a bit pricey for not-so-big breakfast in my opinion. The “BIG” breakfast was not as big as advertised. The two “over-medium” eggs I ordered looked “large” at best, not “extra large”, and were closer to over-easy than what I ordered. The bacon was crisp, yet chewy just like I like it, but it was lukewarm and came in a clump of two or three pieces as it was difficult to tell how many ends I saw on the intertwined pieces which had obviously been sitting in a pan waiting to be dispensed to a plate. Which brings me to the potatoes. They were “home-style”, which apparently beans burnt, cold chunks with little if any seasoning. The accompanying biscuit was very small and the gravy minimal for the price ($1.75), coming in a “side” size cup, maybe 3 ounces at best, and barely covering the two small biscuit halves. It was “OK, but nothing special and not nearly as tasty or abundant as The Roost’s and there was no sign, either visible or tastable, of either bacon or sausage.

My wife had the Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy, which had much more flavor than the sausage variety and chunks of something … possibly the sausage missing from my gravy! It was much spicier than mine and I would have actually preferred it to the non-vegetarian version, a sad statement from a longtime carnivore. $5.25 seems a little high for two small biscuits and a bit of gravy, but it beats paying ten bucks for a mediocre egg dish.

Brittney was very nice for the most part and very attentive after she finally arrived, so no gripes there. We were mildly disappointed by the experience and Mirth Café will likely not become a household staple, unfortunate in that it is the closest café to our home. The décor and service was somewhat cold and impersonal, leaving me unimpressed overall.

CombatCritic Gives Mirth Café 6 Bombs Out Of 10 … MORE BOMBS ARE GOOD!

Key Words: Mirth Café, mirth, café, cafe, Mirth Cafe, Lawrence, Kansas, 66044, Massachusetts Street, Massachusetts, street, yelp, tripavisor, urbanspoon, CombatCritic, TravelValue, breakfast, lunch, eggs, bacon

Wheatfields: A Field of Dreams for Bread Lovers

Wheatfields: A Field of Dreams for Bread Lovers

WheatFields Bakery Café
904 Vermont Street
Lawrence, KS  66044

Phone: 785.841.5553
Web: www.WheatfieldsBakery.com
Hours:
Monday through Friday - 6:30am to 8:00pm
Saturday 6:30am to 6:30pm
Sunday - 7:30am to 4:00pm

I have been meaning to review Wheatfields, a bakery and restaurant one block West of Mass Street in downtown Lawrence, for quite some time, but this morning was the first time we actually had a meal there. I love a good, hearty breakfast, but because bacon, eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy are not as healthy as they are tasty, we normally only indulge on special occasions. With today being my birthday, we went for broke!

Wheatfields makes the most wonderful breads and my wife has been buying them since she started working at KU nearly three years ago. Our favorite is the raisin and pecan sourdough ($, a robust torpedo-shaped loaf with a thick crust outside and plenty of raisins and pecan pieces inside. It toasts marvelously and is delicious alone, with butter, or coated in my favorite delicacy in the world ... peanut butter ... YUUUUUM!

They have many other varieties, including sourdough, semolina with sesame and poppy seeds, and many others:

Baguette: The French standard. A crisp crust and an open, irregular crumb with lots of yeast fermentation flavor make ours a true classic. Great for sandwiches, crostini, or on its own. 

Ciabatta: As Italian as the baguette is French. Somewhat flat, somewhat rectangular, ciabatta has a wildly open crumb and a complex fermentation flavor. We add a touch of extra virgin olive oil. 

Country French: Our flagship Pain au Levain is naturally leavened and made with organic unbleached flour with stone ground wheat and rye. 

Kalamata Olive: WheatFields Sourdough, loaded with ripe Kalamata olives. Maggie Glezer (Artisan Baking Across America) calls ours “by far the best.” Available as either a regular boule or a “mini”: too big to be called a roll, too small for a loaf. 

Pain de Campagne is, literally, Country Bread, and is the traditional bread of the villagers and farmers of the French countryside. Historically, pain de Campagne had as much as 10% rye flour, was risen with levain and baked in a wood-fired oven. Ours is all of that, plus, we add some spelt (l'epautre) flour and season with sun-and-wind-dried Breton sea salt. 100% organic flour. 

Rustic Italian Round: Choose from our plain or rosemary loaves every day. Rustics are made of very wet dough that gets lots of fermentation time. The results are round crusty loaves rich in flavor with an irregular open crumb. Risen with bakers’ yeast and an overnight starter. 

Walnut Raisin: Thompson raisins and California walnuts in our naturally leavened Pain de Campagne dough. Toast it at breakfast, of course, but also try a soft goat cheese spread atop. 100% organic flour. 

Walnut Sage: Country French with walnuts and fresh sage. We serve our immensely popular “No. 9” sandwich on this bread. The sage and walnuts complement the turkey-cranberry pairing –our “everyday is Thanksgiving” bread. 

100% Whole Wheat: The heartiest in our Pain au Levain series, this loaf is about as fundamental as bread can be: 100% organic wheat ground between natural granite millstones and baked on the hearth of a wood-fired oven. Made with a natural wheat levain 100% organic flour.

Classic Breakfast ($5.99)

Breads range in price from $4 to nearly $9 for their holiday specials, including chocolate cherry ($8) and anise and grape ($4) which are only made during the month of December.

When dining at Wheatfields, you order at the counter immediately in front of you as you enter through the lefthand door (the bakery counter sits in front of the right), pay, and are given a small sign to place on your table so the servers can bring your order to the correct table. Drinks are help-yourself with three varieties of coffee (two regular and one decaf) and a small selection of fountain drinks.

Always keeping it simple on a first visit, I decided on the Classic Breakfast (#1 - Two eggs, freshly grated hash browns and toast - $3.95, with sausage links or bacon - $5.95) and a full order of the biscuits and gravy (#5 - Buttermilk biscuits, spicy sausage gravy - Full order $5.75, half order $3.75) to share with my wife. Not a big meat eater, she had the French toast (#3 - Three slices dipped in egg, Irish Cream, and cinnamon, grilled, served with pure maple syrup - $6.95). Some other breakfast choices include:

#2 - Frittata Sandwich ~ Potato, mushroom, green olive and spinach egg pie served on Country French with scallion cream cheese. $5.95 

#4 - Primavera Omelet ~ Roasted zucchini, caramelized onions, spinach, mushrooms, and herb chevre with freshly grated hash browns and toast. $7.25 

#6 - Locarno Omelet ~ Bacon, ham, roasted garlic, and Swiss with freshly grated hash browns and toast. $7.25 

#7 - Ciabattina Sandwich ~ Two scrambled eggs on grilled Ciabattina - $4.25, with Swiss cheese - $4.75, with bacon - $4.95 with Swiss & bacon - $5.45 

#8 - Breakfast Taco ~ Flour Tortilla, scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, herb cream cheese and feta. Served with chipotle salsa. $6.25

Biscuits and Gravy (Full Order - $5.75)

Our meals arrived rather quickly, even before I was done pouring our coffee and toasting the sourdough bread which accompanied my breakfast. My Classic Breakfast was good with the eggs cooked perfectly over-medium, the bacon crispy but not burnt, and the hash browns also crunchy, just the way I like them. The order of biscuits and gravy was HUGE with two very large biscuits smothered in a thick country gravy with loads of sausage. I was surprised that my breakfast and the biscuits were luke-warm considering the fact that they arrived so quickly, leading me to believe that they are not cooked to order, but are prepared in advance, kept semi-warm, and served buffet-style from the kitchen. The taste was good, but my meal would have been better had it been served piping-hot.

The coffee was hot, obviously fresh, and delicious! My wife's French toast consisted of three large slices of sourdough dipped in egg and fried with an overgenerous amount of cinnamon. At $6.95 for three slices of bread, a little egg, a dash of cinnamon, and a little (maybe Maple) syrup, this dish is overpriced by at least $1. Again, this dish could have also been warmer and it would have been nice if the accompanying cup of syrup had also been warm, but it seemed to be straight out of the jar (bottle or can). The cinnamon was overbearing, but otherwise the dish was good, not great.

French Toast ($6.95)

As breakfast goes, I have had better, much better, but we enjoyed our meal and may return for lunch or dinner to see how they do. Lawrence does not have an abundance of good restaurants, but being a fairly small town of around 90,000, I guess that is to be expected. Wheatfields is a very popular meeting place with great (not cheap) bread, excellent coffees, and "very average" breakfast fare. They seem to be doing well because the place was nearly full at 10:30AM on a Sunday, but I believe they would be bursting at the seams, as most GREAT breakfast restaurants do, if the food was cooked to order and hot. I would also suggest having the servers, who are already there to serve the food, take orders rather than creating a choke-point by having customers order at the counter and fiddle about with coffee, cream, sugar, drinks, silverware and napkins. The servers would likely also appreciate it, instead being tipped 15-20% instead of the loose change they receive in the jar by the register. A few smiles and an occasional "thank you" from staff would also be much appreciated.

CombatCritic Gives Wheatfields Bakery Cafe 6 Out of 10 Bombs ... BOMBS ARE GOOD!

Key Words: Wheatfields, wheat, field, bread, bakery, eggs, bacon, biscuit, gravy, food, eat, breakfast, lunch, dinner, Lawrence, Kansas, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value,