Little Cheerful Cafe

Today was the first time I’ve ever been to Little Cheerful after many people had recommended it to me. The food was great, and the service was too until it was time to pay. I have never had a cashier hand me a calculator and tell me to split the bill myself. Apparently you «need to vocalize that you want the check split» and if not, you have to do the math on your own because it «makes it hard» for the cashier. Which is fine, but not exactly what I want to do, especially when you’re crowded between other customers basically sitting at the cash register. And they only take cash. But there’s an ATM in a little corner where people are waiting to be seated or other customers are trying to enjoy their meal. It was overwhelming and I was very surprised at the cashier’s attitude toward my friends and I. It completely ruined my experience, and for that reason I’m giving this café 2 stars and will probably not eat there again.
But if anyone wants to eat there with a group of people and want to pay separately, make sure to bring your own calculator to make it easier for the cashier who just has to take your money and puts it in a register. It’s a hard job to do.

Stumbled upon this little gem of a coffee shop and needed to stop for a quick lunch bite. Wait and cook staff were super friendly! Ate the best club sandwich I’ve had since moving to Bellingham.

With the plethora of amazing breakfasts to be had in Bellingham, I don’t find that the Cheerful is worth the wait or the price tag. The Benedict is reasonable.
Crab cakes over spiced to the point of obliterating the delicate crab taste. This coming from a spicy food fan but there is a time and place.
If the Cheerful was priced like a CHEAP diner there would be a bit more value in the visit.
I wouldn’t avoid this place outright but it just isn’t one of my favorites!

When I first moved to Bellingham, there were exactly two places to go for a great breakfast. They both had lines down the block on a Saturday morning, with the promise of hot coffee and yummy food within. Fast forward «##» years and there are a lot of new faces on the local breakfast scene, but The Little Cheerful remains a stalwart. This sunny little café right in the heart of downtown Bham offers a menu full of hearty choices, including omelettes, pancakes, and all of the usual morning fare. And they are welllll-​known for their delicious assortment of Eggs Benedicts, including my choice this morning: the Crab Cake Benedict.
Imagine, if you will, two perfectly browned REAL (not with a K) crabcakes served atop a toasted whole wheat English muffin… served with the requisite amazingly poached egg on top and a slather of house-​made hollandaise to finish it off in style. That, my friends, is what we had for breakfast this morning. And if that wasn’t enough, this Benny deliciousness was served alongside a healthy portion of fresh-​sliced avocado, with the Cheerful’s famous fried potatoes alongside. You want a good Benny in Bham? You’ve come to the right place.
And in case enough people haven’t mentioned it by now, they only take cash — so come prepared (or, there’s a cash machine near the restroom).

They have THE BEST pancakes and French toast. Pretty much everything here is amazing! I love the quirky vibes and that you must pay in cash. I always come here before I leave town for awhile or when I come home

Very very rude host who gives preferential treatment to friends. After waiting for an entire hour we were promised a table only to have it given away as we were walking to it. Not going back.

I hardly ever write a bad review unless truly deserving! I been to Little Cheerful a few times before and the breakfast is fine, but you have to wait and the service is lacking.
Today was the straw that Broke the camel’s back. I will never attempt to dine with them again. I waited this morning for over an hour and was next on the list to be seated, when one of the staff seated a friend as and the hostess was getting ready to take us to our seat. He stated rudely and loudly that they were «VIP’s»
The young inexperienced staff care more about making an impression on friends rather then good customer service. In the end we left and will never go back!

This is my favorite breakfast place in bham! I recommend biscuits and gravy, or any of the hash browns.

This place must be riding on the coat tails of years past. Way too long of a wait, wait to sit, wait for water, menus… 30 mins before I ordered food. Food was ok… I could have def made something at home in ten mins that would have been better. Server acted like I should be grateful to be there. Once the bill came, it was the first time during my meal I was told they only accept cash and was told to go across the street to an atm. My table sat while being stared down by servers and waiting guests as I went across the street in the rain for cash. I always over tip, being from the restaurant industry… I think I left two dollars. And one peak of the kitchen left me unimpressed. Multiple waitresses playing on their phones at the counter. Left feeling really disrespected and foolish to have to pay to feel that way.

Cash only. The selection of omlettes will keep you coming back for an early breakfast. The servers are usually prompt with getting your order depending how busy the place is. A tip would be to go towards closing time since there are less people for them to wait on. I do love breakfast food here, great old– fashioned American style food.

What a great little spot! The server was kind, attentive and always helpful. The food was reeeaaalllly good! They cook all the food right in the dining room, off to the side. Having worked in a few restaurants before, I can appreciate no kitchen secrets.
To top it all off, the owners sponsor a soup kitchen one night a week, at the restaurant. Anyone can come volunteer. I’m not sure what took me so long to come here, but I’m glad I finally did.
Btw: I had the French Toast and tried the multi cultural hashbrowns, California scramble, and Mediterranean scramble. All of them were so good.

I have to say that I am super impressed with this place. I have lived in Bellingham for years and have sadly never come here before a few days ago. It was so good that I had to come back again today. The first time, I ordered a daily special skillet which was amazing. I am a vegetarian and they incorporated meatless sausage and yams into the skillet. It was sooooo good! Today I tried their Mediterranean scramble. It came with hash browns that were cooked with sautéed onions. Amazing :)
The staff is very friendly and the restaurant itself is super cute.
My only minor criticism would be that they don’t accept credit cards. I know that I am not alone in that I almost never keep cash in my wallet. I feel like it wouldn’t be difficult or expensive for them to get an iPad with a Square so that there could at least be that option for people to pay with their bank cards (even if they had to charge a little more for non-​cash transactions).

When you read an omelette to be filled with apples pesto prosciutto red onion spinach and sun dried tomatoes don’t you imagine a vibrant and delicious plate? Well you’d be wrong if you were ordering it here at little cheerful. The name is suiting though you’re only in store for a little cheer. Beyond the waitress being nice we waited for 50 minutes after ordering only to receive burnt and unrecognizable food. I would never recommend this place to anyone. Don’t be fooled by the amount of people waiting its just because they have been tricked to wait for their food for so long!

The options here were great! it had so many different types of hash and scrambles and more and they all looked really good. I got the steak hash which was good but I expected the steak to be more incorperated with the meal but it was literally 6 fat steak cubes thrown in, but on the bright side they had so many choices in hot sauce and other condiments that it turned out to be really good. The service was great, the place was cute, and the fruit platter was pretty. I’d come back to try different kinds of Hash.

Really a nice, cool place. We just stopped in for breakfast before touring WWU. For breakfast, you won’t be disappointed. Even the menu is fun to read. Because I didn’t want to be boring, I eschewed the oatmeal, for the hash browns. If you choose bacon as part of your meal, you’ll get a lot of it.
The ambiance is kind of hippy/​hipster (is that a thing?).

First time in Bellingham. Stopped at this place and the waiter was super awesome they gave us coffee in neat cups while we waited at prime breakfast time for a table. Food was awesome!

Best hash browns I’ve ever had! They’re not those gross, soggy, pre frozen kind. No. These are deliciously stringy (like shoe-​string fries) and crisp. Absolutely phenomenal.
My friends enjoyed their eggs and sides of meat (sausage and ham). I liked my fruit plate (I wasn’t feeling too hungry at the time). It was a nice variety of watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, orange, grape and strawberry all nicely arranged for about $ 5.
Great fresh coffee too!
I’ll be back when I’m famished to try more of their cuisine.
Nice friendly service.

The Little Cheerful Café is the perfect place to go to enjoy a weekend breakfast (or if you’re like me, stumble in at 1pm and call it breakfast).
The staff are always in upbeat, positive moods even when there is a long line out the door.
The food! The food is outstanding. Fresh, flavorful and… I can’t even think of enough adjectives to describe it. You will not be disappointed. I read some articles that described the food as «greasy» I would strongly disagree, I’ve never had a plate that could be considered greasy.
Yes, this place is a cash only establishment. They have an ATM on site and the surcharge goes directly into their soup kitchen fund. Speaking of awesome quirks, on the counter they have fortune cookies and tootsie pops! Right next to those, they usually have a jar filled with some money. Drop a buck or your pocket change in that jar if you do grab a treat– the money also goes to their soup kitchen.
Overall, you’re missing out if you opt out of the 20 minute wait. Grab a mimosa while you wait. You won’t be disappointed.

I love this place. The staff is friendly and treat you as if you are a friend and not just a customer.
The food is great. This is the only place I have found in town that has nice thick cuts of bacon.
The décor is funky and fun. The menu is full of sarcasm and playful attitude which is a good sign that these guys don’t take themselves too seriously.
This place is a nice flavor of Bellingham.

My friends and I stopped off here today around noon for a bit since ABCrepes was closed (why are so many things in Bellingham closed on Mondays)? We all had coffee and I ordered a breakfast plate with french toast, bacon, and a sausage patty.
The food was great, the coffee was strong and came in a variety of kitsch mugs you would find in anyone’s kitchen or at a thrift store. our server was friendly and all around we all enjoyed our meals. it was was exactly the kind of small town diner experience one would want to have.
The biggest thing that put me off from visiting this place in the future is that when you open the menu, there is a red stop sign picture that says «RULES» and lists that they do not accept debit/​credit and that they also do not split anyone’s bills. so for the three of us, we had to have one person write a check and figure the rest out ourselves.
the no debit/​credit I can understand as this is of course a local mom & pop type of café, but to not take the extra moment to just split your customer’s bill I find ridiculous. what’s more is that on the «RULES» stop sign on the menu, the tid-​bit about them not splitting checks is followed by «we have a calculator for your friends if they can’t do simple math». I didn’t find this funny or cute or clever — I found it extremely rude. You shouldn’t inconvenience your customers. how hard is it to simply ring up 3 separate meals? Why don’t they do this? and if that is your policy for whatever reason, fine. but don’t be rude and sarcastic in your menu. it comes off pretentious and snotty.