Sugar n’ Spice

All of these great reviews make me feel like I’m missing out on the party. I stopped in this morning for a late (10 a.m.) breakfast. There was a small crowd but plenty of available seating. I requested a booth but was told I couldn’t have a booth and was directed to the counter. I hate sitting at a counter. The entire time I was in there I noticed a small, half booth that would only seat 1 person and this booth was open the whole time I was there. ??
My server was friendly enough and I ordered an omelet, square breakfast potatoes, sausages and toast.
I’m sorry but the omelet had a very odd taste to it. I’ve never tasted anything like it before. Not a spoiled eggs kind of taste but an odd, unpleasant after taste which made me wonder if they were real even real eggs. I put Tobasco sauce on it but even that didn’t mask the odd flavor. Also, there wasn’t hardly any cheese.
The toast turned out to be an English muffin which was perfect. Not sure if this was a mistake on their part or if this is their idea of toast but I’m totally fine with it. I prefer English muffins over toast anyway.
The sausage was fine but the potatoes were over cooked and rather hard.
At this time I’m gonna have to say I was extremely disappointed after all the good things I’ve heard about this place. Even so, I’m going to give it another shot and try ordering something different such as their pancakes which I understand are excellent. If I have better luck next time I will update this review.

Don’t let the good ratings fool you, this place is highly over rated. The staff is friendly but it’s always super crowded and the place is so small it feels like you’re in a basement. Ordered takeout to bypass the long wait, shouldn’t have even bothered. Took a HALF AN HOUR to get 2 eggs and 2 pancakes. Would’ve honestly rather had friches, won’t be returning

If you like being up early, this place is right up your alley.
I had Sugar n’ Spice, a Cincinnati institution, one time about six or seven years ago and really liked it. It wasn’t until recently I got to have it again. I once tried going around 9:30am and couldn’t even get in the door, so I turned right back around and went home. A couple months later I was up around 7:30 on a Saturday morning and decided to give it another try. Around 8am, I waited just short of 10 minutes for bar seating, which ended up being pretty perfect. Since, I’ve been during the week and sat right down at the bar, read a book, and enjoyed the food I ordered.
Sugar n’ Spice is known for its «wispy thin» (I put that in quotation marks because I grew up eating actual wispy thin pancakes, and these are more accurately a mix of your standard fluffy pancakes and the crêpe-​like thin ones I grew up with) pancakes, and I have had their original and chocolate chip versions (both awesome), as well as biscuits and gravy, eggs, and goetta.
The food is outstanding; pretty reasonable, too, and there is plenty of parking in a lot out back even though the place is pretty small and usually crowded. Service has been good and the place is obviously busy at most times during the day (open daily from 7am until 3pm), so I recommend going as close to when they open as you can.
Fortunately for me, I like being up early.

I had such a fantastic experience here from the moment I stepped in. The restaurant itself was smaller than it looked from the outside because of the large bar/​countertop area in the middle, but they did a great job keeping a pretty quick turnover rate of customers.
The décor has definitely captured the mom&pop feel of a breakfast/​lunch diner, plus more! They’ve got little rubber duckies (for you to take too), random toys and stuffed animals and games scattered throughout as well so that you will never be bored. It added character and I loved that. All of the staff were super friendly, too!
I ordered the Mexican omelette and a small order of their original thin pancakes. both awesome choices. the omelette was gigantic and definitely enough to split between two people. It was soooo flavorful, nice amount of chorizo and the sour cream/​fix-​ins were placed so that you got a little bit of everything in each bite. I was also a fan of the pancakes, they absorb the butter/​syrup well since they’re so thin and moist. Just as I was already getting full, the manager came out with a huge plate of fresh bakes brownies for the whole restaurant to sample. and then he came out again 5 minutes later with mac&cheese bites too. it was glorious and evil at the same time as I was stuffing my face.
Bottom line — I will most definitely be back again and am wanting to bring friends here. It’s not the best food I’ve ever had, but it hits the spot for breakfast just fine and it’s pretty cheap. It was such a pleasant experience and I’m excited to come back!

I love the super thin pancakes. They are truly worth the wait.
Eggs are cooked properly (over medium is truly over medium)
The side meats (bacon and sausage) are of good quantity.
They have a breakfast burrito that is killer.
All that said, I have not tried any of the lunch food but it looks good.
There are several tables, but you have to have two or more to sit at them, otherwise you are at the bar.
They usually have a wait, but they are gracious to require the full party is in attendance before putting you on a list. It is annoying, but so is seeing people sitting at a table for an extended amount of time because someone was late waking up.
Service has always been good any time I have been there. I can’t figure out how to get a duck anymore though.

This place is interesting, the food is good (diner) food and the decoration, games, and free samples keep it interesting.
Today my boyfriend and I ate there at 11:30 on a Saturday morning. It took us 30 minutes to be seated, which is understandable due to the small size of the restaurant.
However, it then took us 30 minutes after ordering to get our food. He had an omelet, and I had pancakes, eggs, and bacon. All pretty standard if you ask me.
This place is cool but only go if you are prepared to wait.

A friend from Northern Kentucky wanted to meet up for brunch and suggested Sugar n’ Spice. Do not let Avondale’s reputation dissuade you from visiting, this place is bright, cheerful, and homey inside. We went on a cold, snowy Tuesday, and the restaurant was still very busy. Luckily, there was only a fifteen minute wait for two!
Our waitress was sassy, patient, and attentive, and gave us time to catch up over coffee as we perused the menu. My friend ordered a greek omelet, and I selected chicken and waffles, my weakness. As we waited for our food we played Connect Four, which they bring to your table while you wait, it’s a nice touch. Our food arrived, piping hot, and was delicious. The chicken was had flavorful crunchy breading, and juicy white meat on the inside. It was served on the bone, but I didn’t mind taking the time to debone it. The waffle was also incredibly scrumptious, fluffy with a little crispness along the edges. Drenching both chicken and the waffle in maple syrup and hot sauce, brought everything together.
I had not seen this friend for months, and I really appreciated that the waitress never rushed us, even after we finished our meals. I should add that there was no longer a line, so we weren’t hogging a table, but she still made sure to fill our coffee mugs as we chatted for another 30 minutes. We left her a nice tip to thank her for her patience, and plan to be back!

Cutest little diner I ever have seen. My dad and I went here for just a quick breakfast to try something new. Great for two people, short wait. A family breakfast might take a little longer depending on what time you go.
The food was amazing and they really try and get you the best deal, like with the omelettes if a build your own would just be cheaper they do it that way. The pancakes a thin and whispy and the omelettes are big and fluffy. Just the way it should be. The bright colors are very welcoming and the service was good until the end.
They were definitely busy, but it seemed strange to me that the second my dad left for the restroom they cleared his place setting and set down a menus for the next customers. We were about finished, and just enjoying our coffee at that time, but I definitely felt rushed. Everything else was awesome. Can’t wait to get a little rubber ducky next time!

The food was amazing! I was in Cincinnati for work and decided to Unilocal some yummy places for brunch. When I saw how meat great reviews it had, I just had to go.
The place is pretty small, so fair warning you’re going to be waiting for a while. It also may look a little sketchy if you’re not from around there and have never been. But it’s totally fine, I swear! Our waitress was Chan. She was so so sweet! She took out some games and played with us while we waited for our food to come out. The food was so great! I had the wispy thin blueberry pancakes, one scrambled eggs with cheese, rain bread, and bacon. The pancakes were great, I highly recommend them!
The owner was there and he was wonderful! He came around and gave us free Mac and cheese bites and brownie bites while we waited for our food. All around a great experience!

Pancakes were perfect — thin sweet and flavorful!
Waited less than 10mins for a cramped half booth. The place was packed but overall cozy.
Speedy service and friendly staff.
Overall: would go back again

I can’t believe I had never tried Sugar n’ Spice until today! It was excellent! It’s a smaller space, but they do a good job fitting people in! We only had to wait a few minutes before we were seated and there was plenty to look at while we waited.
Sugar n’ Spice has been open for 75 years! Once you try the food, you’ll understand how it’s stayed around that long. I got the cinnamon spice waffle, turkey sausage and scrambled eggs. Everything was amazing. The cinnamon spice waffle was like eating a strange and wonderful gingerbread man/​waffle hybrid. I haven’t ever had anything like it! It was crunchy on the outside but fluffy and light on the inside — everything you have ever wanted in a waffle. My boyfriend got the breakfast burrito and said it was the best breakfast burrito he has ever had. The menu looked really compressive, they had sandwiches, omelettes, pancakes, waffles, and even salads (not sure why you would go for salad when there are waffles on the menu, but to each their own!).
The atmosphere was really fun! Definitely not a place to go to soothe away a hangover, there’s lots going on and lots of noise. But we loved it. This seems like a wonderful place to bring kids. They have toys (like connect four and Rock em sock em robots!) and cartoons on the walls. The manager ran around and gave out samples of their brownies, and goofed off with the kids who were there. He even gave people little rubber duckies!
A lot of people stopped in to pick up take out, too. It’s nice that there’s that option!
Everyone was friendly, the food was great, the service was fast, and we genuinely had a good time. I hope their next 75 years are as delicious as their first 75 have been!

FINALLY, I have gone to the ever so talked about Sugar N’ Spice.
Today my mom, her manfriend, two of his «kids» (They are in college) and I went to get brunch here. I knew it was going to be busy from reading other reviews but every place for brunch on a Sunday in Cincinnati is going to be packed. We went in and were told it would only be twenty minutes. So we stood in the small crowded restaurant and waited. It did not take twenty minutes, it ended up taking an hour. Which is frustrating but once you’ve been waiting for twenty minutes and smelled strangers horrible B.O., you may as well wait it out.
The issue is that it’s a really small restaurant. They have only so many booths that only fit four people and they can stick a chair on the end to make it five. The booth we actually sat in had an extender on the table, so it sat all five of us. They have a small bar, diner style area. You don’t get sat by the order you came in. You get sat by how many people you have, what the number of spaces are open, and then in order of how you came in.
So we had five people, everyone who had two, one, or three people anytime the bar opened got seated automatically. Which makes sense for them to keep the flow going, but it sucks for everyone else. I think I watched six different groups of people get sat and eat and leave in the whole time we were standing there.
While we were waiting, though, one woman kept walking around with cheesecake brownies and fried macaroni bites. This was nice, and she was really sweet and kept calling me «Baby Cakes». Haha. The food was really good too. The fried macaroni bites were delicious. After standing there for an hour though in a small warm restaurant, I wish they would offer you a glass of water. It was brutal staring at cups and pitchers of water sitting in front of me, and how thirsty I was. My thirst was SO real.
We were sat and we had glasses of water, but no straws, and we didn’t see our waitress again until she came back to take our order. So about ten minutes later. Then we told her what we wanted to drink, I asked her for straws and then ordered our food. I ordered the breakfast platter. I got scrambled eggs, sausage links, wheat toast and hash browns. The food was just alright. The eggs tasted kind of weird. The toast was super bland. The hash browns were mostly soggy, and the sausage links I could have done without. This was pretty disappointing after waiting for an hour and a half for food. I feel like when I go to Bob Evans for breakfast the food is better. However, you get a lot of food for a really good price at Sugar N’ Spice.
Also, my silverware had hardened dry food on it, and that grossed me out. Our server brought me new though so it wasn’t a big deal.
The atmosphere is really awesome here. I love all the retro designs, and all the people working here are really cool and nice. I think I’ll go back to Sugar N’ Spice again and get something different. Maybe off of their lunch menu instead of breakfast, and defiantly not on the weekend.
I wouldn’t suggest this place is you are going out to eat with more than four people.

Sugar’n’Spice is a breakfast favorite of my wife and I. Just south of the Lateral on Reading Road in Bond Hill, SnS’s location seems a bit odd; however, 75 years ago the neighborhood may have looked pretty different. When we first started going to SnS about 7 years ago, I was a little thrown off when we pulled up to a pink diner with mint trim. Once you get inside, it looks a little like the Brady Bunch kitchen and The Jetsons house had a love child that grew up to be the Formica counters and table tops and the sparkling bar stools. Round out the ambience with cartoon chefs painted in the walls and shelves full of rubber duckies and you know there is something different about SnS. In case you couldn’t tell, I love the look!
Now for the food… From the signature «whispy-​thin» pancakes (chocolate chip are my wife’s favorite, to a breakfast platter (with goetta of course!) the food at Sugar’n’Spice doesn’t disappoint. I’ve never ordered the wrong thing — it’s all good.
The current owner (or manager maybe) is often there giving out rubber ducks and making sure everyone is having a great experience. His staff are all recognizable and have been there for years. They all know the drill and everyone is friendly.
Of all the the places I frequent in Cincinnati, Sugar’n’Spice is the most diverse — racially, socio-​economically, generationally — you can sit next to any body at this place! I love that. If I had political aspirations, this place would be the «Jay Jay’s Diner» to my «Leslie Knope» and I’d be kick starting my campaign at SnS.
My only complaint is that the wait can be a little long. So, go in late on a Wednesday and miss the weekend crowd.

Sugar n’ Spice is very unique, cute and quaint. It is definitely a place to check out if you are living in Cincy. If you are just in town for a short visit, it’s not a must but cool if you have time.
To me the number one thing was the atmosphere. I loved all of the décor, the mugs, the plates, the bathroom was even adorable (but out of soap, yikes!). The manager maybe owner I’m not sure, he went around passing out little rubber duckies to everyone! That was fun!
We waited in line for over an hour which I believe is standard for this diner on Saturday/​Sunday mornings. Getting our name on the list was a little tricky, it was packed and we had to be pretty aggressive to make it up to the hostess, I actually felt rude but people were coming in behind us pushing up to get on the list so we didn’t have a choice.
The food was pretty good. The omelets are insanely fluffy. You have not seen fluff like this on an omelet before. The taste of the food was average though, which is not bad just not necessarily worth the hour plus wait. The owner was handing out samples while we waited so that was actually pretty cool.
Overall I would say if you are living here you need to try it at least once. If you are just visiting, it may not be worth the time. I’ll go back though :)

Sugar n’ Spice is just so CUTE! «Cute» is the absolute best word to describe this vibrant, colorful breakfast/​lunch diner. The bright pinks and greens inside, the collection of rubber duckies on the wall, and the old-​school diner clientele make this a place worth checking out. The food was good, normal diner breakfast food so nothing truly magical going on there, but it was served quickly and everything was prepared the way it should be.
I came here with a coworker bright and early at 7am on a weekday, so I can only assume that the people that come here on a weekday (mostly retirees, regulars dining alone, and a few guys getting a huge breakfast before a long day of work) are pretty close to the same group that will come on a weekend (minus people nursing hangovers). There was no wait for a table, but like I said, I was there right when they opened. We sat at the bar which was great for two people.
I would highly recommend the whispy thin pancakes. I ordered the breakfast special ($ 8 for two eggs, pancakes OR french toast, bacon OR sausage), and those pancakes were definitely the highlight. They were sweet, soft, and very thin so they were somewhere between a crêpe and a traditional pancake. YUM!
We casually hinted that we heard they gave away rubber duckies, and they brought the bucket of ducks over to us to pick one! If you want a duck, I think you have to ask.
Prices are a little higher than I would normally expect for a diner in the area, but the ambiance makes it worth it. Overall, a solid breakfast place.

Sugar N’ Spice has a small space to work with, but they make the most of it with an open area in the middle for the waitresses to move around. It is primarily counter seating.
We were quoted about a 20 minute wait when we arrived Saturday mid-​morning, but we probably didn’t wait half that. It’s a cramped waiting area, so that’s good. However, it was kind of downhill from there. It took forever for our orders to come out. We waited well over a half-​hour to get our food, and I was feeling downright hangry. Also, it was a chilly fall day, and they apparently still had their a/​c on, so it didn’t help to have to sit their shivering for that long. The waitress kind of acknowledged that it shouldn’t have taken that long, but she wasn’t especially apologetic.
My husband had a Greek Omelet, which was very large and flavorful. I had the Banana Pancakes, which are light and thin with a cinnamon flavor. An employee regularly walked around with a plate of samples — brownies and mac and cheese bites. This was a nice bonus — however, me being the germaphobe I am, I couldn’t help but think that it would have been nicer to distribute these in a way that didn’t have customers just picking food up from a communal plate. Toothpicks, napkins, something of that nature?
All in all, it was a much slower experience than we had anticipated.

I really cannot say enough good things about this place. I suggested it to my girlfriends for a Saturday morning breakfast, and they fell just as in love as I already was. I tried (and LOVED) the Greek Omelet last time I went here, but forced myself to branch out. By recommendation of our awesome waitress, I had their most popular dish, the Mexican Omelet… and quickly found out why it is their most popular dish. First of all, ALL of their omelets are MASSIVE (like, I now have leftovers in my fridge for later, and I’m not even mad about it). Mine was packed with chorizo, and I’m pretty intolerant of spice, but this wasn’t spicy at all. The more I dug in, the better it got — eventually discovering the middle was oozing with sour cream deliciousness. I would HIGHLY recommend it.
During my first visit, I wasn’t handed the bucket of duckies, so we were all a little thrown off by the gesture. It’s legitimately hundreds of varieties of rubber ducks to choose from (I, obviously, went for the pink unicorn ducky). Turns out, the owner WANTS everyone to take one home with them each time they visit. Sort of random. Sort of weird. But totally awesome at the same time.
And now I’m salivating just thinking about those leftovers…

Sweet Breakfast, is for no reason you are the most important food of the day, and you are acceptable to be eaten any time of the day… and Sugar n’ Spice knows how to do it right.
First you are greeted by a very charm and cozy building and servers. The place is always full, but is worth the wait! While you wait, the owner (i think is the owner) walks around with bites to eat and makes conversations to make time pass.
There breakfast is amazing, from the most fluffiest omelettes you will ever eat, to the I’m starving and need a lot of food rib eye platter. Everything is well seasoned, made to order and always fresh. My personal favorite are the waffles and wings, they combined everything that is good for brunch.
Also, who doesn’t love a restaurant where you can leave with a rubber ducky???

This place is fabulous and such a unique gem. It’s hard to miss with its pink and yellow coloring. The staff is sweet and knowledgable and the food is outstanding.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because it gets UNGODLY packed and you have to be ready for a wait. I’d highly suggest sitting at the bar instead of waiting for a table.
Get the breakfast burrito. It’s huge, filling and flavorful. I’ll be returning next time I give myself enough time for the long wait.
Local, fresh and better than First Watch.

Holy cow, these omelettes are huge!
But really, Sugar N Spice feels like home. Maybe because I lived so close that I was here a lot this past year. Maybe because I brought my family here 4 or 5 times. Maybe because where I grew up, diners abound.
Here’s the thing: if you don’t arrive before 9 AM, you’re screwed. I’m talking 30 – 50 minute wait crammed against a wall with a bunch of other people. The only bonus is that if the owner is there, he is handing out off menu items to make it worth your while. Mac n cheese bites, mini strawberry ice creams for the ladies, brownies…
I can vouch for the blueberry pancakes, the Greek omelet, and the huge but pricy quesadilla. They had a sweet potato waffle, but that has been replaced by «cinnamon spice». It’s very sad. Coffee is meh, hot chocolate is good. The best thing by far though: the SYRUP. I swear it gets delivered by angels straight from heaven. Put it on everything. Then get more.