Sweet Lorraine’s Cafe and Bar

Breakfast was good.

This was my first time here since it became «Sweet Lorraine’s» and I was so impressed! Atmosphere is modern but still cozy. The food is unique, delicious, and plentiful. I had the chicken kebabs and they were totally yummy and not overcooked (tough to manage on a skewer). Their kids’ menu has several healthy choices and they could not be more accommodating of picky eaters and special requests. Our server was very patient and attentive. This will definitely be our go-​to spot on a Peddler’s Village visit. Really great food for the price.

Good service, nice décor but food did not match along with 3 flies buzzing around our food — salsa and buffalo sauce tasted as if it came out of can & sweet potato fries were likely prepared several hours before serving as well as soggy chips. Not at all fresh food — will not return.

What a disappointment. I have been to Sweet Lorraine’s several times, starting with lunch. Lunch was great, accommodating, good food, interesting choices, etc. Then we brought the entire family here for a luncheon. Thus began the downward spiral. The service was slow, the food was slow to arrive, and it was cold when it arrived. However, the server took care it it, new meals were served and we assumed it was a fluke. We returned again, had a very similar bad experience and decided to remove Sweet Lorraine’s from our restaurant rotation. Recently my husband and I returned and had a nice meal, decent service, and really, since the atmosphere is good, we once again decided to return with friends.
Big Mistake. We ordered 5 drinks. They arrived one by one. Waste of time for the server, and puzzling to us, since they were all either sodas or iced teas, and one glass of wine. We ordered 3 appetizers. The hummus and the mess o fries arrived first. The fries were cold. The spinach artichoke dip came just as we finished the hummus, and we informed our server about the cold fries, and she said, Oh, I will take them off the check. No offer to remake, no apology, nothing.
Then our entrees arrived. Our of 7 entrees, 4, yes FOUR were overcooked. My husband ordered the zip steak, and for $ 24, we expect a steak to be cooked correctly. He ordered it medium and medium steak should have a thick band of light pink through the middle. His steak was cooked through, consistently grey on the inside. No visible pink at all, clearly well done. As he was telling our server, I was cutting my toddlers grilled chicken. I needed a steak knife to cut into it, as it was way overcooked and really too dry to eat. We sent those 2 dishes back and I tried my tuna. It was so dry it was crumbling. No pink, no flakiness, it was literally crumbling. We also sent that back. My father’s baked chicken was also overcooked but at that point he said forget it and didn’t bother sending it back. In addition, my mother in laws
When my son’s chicken and my tuna came back, they were fine. My husbands steak, however was not, It was medium well. When the manager came over, she asked how everything was corrected, and my husband told her, I can’t believe it, but this steak is still not medium. There should be a band of pink on the inside, about 140 to 150 degrees, this steak has little to no pink, it is medium well, Inside of countless other less offensive responses she could have made, she said, «well, there is a bit of pink, see, right there» pointing to a very small spot of pink, «so I don’t think it is well done»
We were stunned. Never in a million years did I expect the manager of a restaurant to argue about something as basic as this. A few moments later, she dropped our check, telling us she took off an appetizer and took 15% off the check. She never came back, and we only saw the server once in passing, as she dropped off previously requested to go boxes (our dog ate over cooked steak that night)
No offer for coffee or dessert, no invitation to stay, we were basically present with our bill, and ignored.
We decided to go elsewhere for coffee and as we left, asked to speak to the manager. She came out, and we commented that we felt rushed out, and we never offered any coffee, dessert, etc. Her reply, which was that was out servers job, just felt like passing the buck, once again, and that we would not bother trying to speak to her, and that we could talk to the restaurant manager the next business day, and the director of Peddlers Village restaurants.
This experience could have been saved with a good manager, who thought of customer retention and how to go just a little bit more than your customer expects. Instead, she left us angry and irritated and frustrated with what was supposed to have been a fun night out.
I will update this review after I speak to the upper management.

The food wasn’t hot, overcooked, and not the way we ordered it.
The waitress was not the best and seemed not to care about the problems we encountered. The check was brought and we weren’t asked about coffee or dessert — not that we would order it after all the problems we had. None of us (7) enjoyed the meals. The best part were the two appetizers we had. The third appetizer was almost cold.
We don’t plan to hurry back.

Wow, I’m really disappointed after taking my mom here for their Mother’s Day Champagne Brunch. I can’t believe I cancelled my brunch reservation at the Stockton Inn and decided to bring her here instead. We are led to our table, but it’s not clean, so stand there and wait as it’s cleaned. The hostess places our silverware on the seat of the booth while the other person finishes wiping our table with a dirty rag. Is she aware that people place silverware in their mouth, therefore it shouldn’t be placed on a surface in which people place their butts? Seriously? Ok, so now for the brunch — if I say that it was fair, I may be giving them too much credit. Some salads, asparagus, rubberized scrambled egges placed as one huge rectangular chuck in the chaffing dish, bacon, sausage links, soggy french toast, soggy pierogi, green beans almondine, prime rib, and ham, and salmon. They also had what they called quiche, although it was a frittata with hashbrowns at best. Rolls from the week before and a dessert table, filled with plenty of grocery store bought cakes and cookies. Yup, all of this for only $ 28/​person and a tacked on 18% tip. Décor is eclectic, but not cool eclectic, more like tacky eclectic. Never again.

This restaurant used to be called the Spotted Hog, it REALLY needed overhaul-​décor, update. Must have sold it to the new owners, Did they overhaul inside or what??! Amazing décor, warm, stylish, fireplace in back, quite eclectic, nice bar, seating is nice, some booths curve around. The four of us went here after the festival lights, to get out of cold, catch a bite to eat. I split burger with my Traveling buddy, firehouse burger & we originally ordered soup 10 min later., waitress said soup was changed, only tomato, no sweet potato, so we ended getting salads. The wait was too long. The burger was good-​think most part we were starving. It Was OK, not the BEST-​burger, gave you side of kettle chips, no fries, Sketch –in Philly has better burgers then here. But they are a step up from previous place stood there.

Sweet Lorraine’s has a sweet location in the heart of Peddler’s Village and a pleasant interior, and nice servers (but slow service), a place that does not have much to offer beyond that. The Ceasar Salad that started the meal was nothing to write home about (where were the sardines?). I had a Reuben that was cold on the edges and lukewarm in the middle. The sweet potato fries were tasty but black on the outside. The dark coating did not taste burned but look unappetizing (still, ate most of what was on my plate). With the dining options available in the Village, I’d give another establishment a try.

The atmosphere and style of Sweet Loraine’s is fresh, casual, and fun — a perfect spot for a lunch date and catching up with friends. I’ve been here twice so far and actually ordered the same dish (tomato soup + roasted vegetable quesadilla) because I liked them both so much the first time! The soup was really flavorful and I highly recommend a cup of it, regardless of what else you’re ordering.
The problem I ran into was this: the first time I went to Sweet Lorainne’s, it was on a weekday for lunch. The service was great, the food and presentation were great, and my friend and I had a really good time. However, the second time I went, it was for lunch on a Saturday and the service was noticeably bad, my soup arrived *after* my entrée, and the entrée looked kind of sloppy on the plate — plus the little bowl of guacamole (which was so generous the first time) was entirely missing! I was half way through before our server brought me some.
I’d give Sweet Lorainne’s 4 stars easily if I had only been there for my weekday lunch. I’m even tempted to just for the atmosphere (which I really liked) and that tomato soup — but the poor impression that their weekend service left on me is enough to put them to a 3 star rating instead.

This is the second time I’ve gone to Sweet Lorraine’s Café and Bar. Both times the service was sub-​par and the food just a notch above that. Needless to say, I will not be returning.
The wait staff is poorly trained and extremely inexperienced. Each time, at least one of us had to return food to the kitchen. Our food was brought to us with a dirty dish on the tray along with our 2 plates from the kitchen. Yuck!
My daughter returned her plate since the sweet potato fries were cold. I returned mine because, when I asked for grilled shrimp instead of cocktail shrimp on my salad, I got slightly warmed cocktail shrimp.
The sweet potato fries and the vegetarian sandwich were good, once the order was corrected. The salad was OK.
Big disappointment!

Wow, I am so glad I did not read the reviews on this place, because I’m really picky and I would have never tried it.
First I thought the ambiance was funky and bright, so that was cool.
I was also pleased of the little (free) starter they gave us, which was a piece of foccacia bread and little muffin (for both me and the hubs), and this absolutely phenomenal marinara sauce. When I first touched it and it was cold I thought… ewww…but then tasted it and it was unbelievable. There were 2 people (not wait staff… maybe management) who had walked by and were very friendly saying hello how is everything going. After I tasted this sauce I stopped one of them and asked how the marinara was made. She (Heather) came over and told me what it was, how it was made, and then GAVE me some to take home. I thought that was awesome. and a big reason why I’m writing the review.
My husband and I only ordered salads… but they were delicous and GREEN… none of that iceberg crap some restaurants call ‘mixed greens’.
My son’s grilled cheese was on thick healthy bread, with lots of cheese and his appetizer was peanut butter and carrots and celerty. His grilled cheese came w/​delicious homemade french fries.
The only thing a little surprising is that the waitress charged me 2 bucks for seltzer water… which is always free in restaurants. However, she was new, and VERY sweet, and given the great service and good food, it’s easy to overlook.

Not going to waste much time being witty or thorough… call it diminishing returns. We had a family dinner at Sweet Lorraine’s and I can’t come up with many highlights other than I didn’t have to pay and the company was great. «5 Spice» calamari was boring, coconut shrimp soggy, the focaccia came with cold marinara. The tuna fajitas came with about 7 small nuggets of overcooked tuna, even though they asked me how I wanted it (med rare). The guac was an inedible drab olive purée. Robin’s Shanghai chicken skewers had raw peppers and peanuts sort of randomly tossed on top. She did like her peach fuzz drink and my coca cola was good. The server was nice and did check on several food allergy questions we had with the kitchen. Ok one highlight, we didn’t have to make a trip to the hospital for an allergic reaction. Yay!

i was really looking forward to date night with my husband here. unfortunately, we chose friday night. mistake. the village is crowded pretty much every weekend of the year. luckily, there was only a 20 minute wait for a table for two at about 7pm, so we got a drink at the bar. the wine menu wasn’t bad, but their beers on tap were pretty limited. the only microbrew was rogue dead guy and sierra nevada (if that even counts as a microbrew anymore). anyway, the bar was fine. we got a table next to the door — always an AWESOME time — note the sarcasm. but at least we got a table. as we were moving to our seats we noticed a massive rush.
for a starter we ordered the calamari. for some reason it’s called «five spice calamari,» and i’m not sure why. it seemed pretty run-​of-​the-​mill as far as flavor goes. it was nicely fried and lightly breaded. it came with three sauces, including a teriyaki, spicy duck sauce, and an aoli. the sauces were okay, they didn’t wow me though. for an entrée, i ordered the chicken and gorgonzola pasta. it was bowtie pasta, «julienned» chicken (not sure how that works — just call it extra dry chicken), spinach, dried cherries, and spiced walnuts. i was lucky that the dish didn’t actually come with the walnuts, because i forgot to tell the overly enthusiastic server to hold them. the dish didn’t need the dried cherries. they weren’t bad, but added an unnecessary layer of flavor to the dish. all in all, it wasn’t bad and i also plan on eating the leftovers.
my husband’s meal was not so great. he ordered the fish and chips. it came with american cole slaw, fries, and a cajun tartar sauce. i will start by saying that the fish was well cooked, light, and not too greasy. the fries were cold and wimpy. the so-​called cajun tartar sauce was essentially a colored mayonnaise. the cole slaw had too much mayo, and far too much celery seed. it was essentially runny mayo with shredded veggies in it. needless to say, he was so incredibly disappointed. so much so that he decided we weren’t getting dessert, because he «wasted too much money already» on dinner.
not only was the food less than stellar, but i think if i didn’t hear our server tell every other table that what they ordered was his «personal favorite,» i’d be more inclined to believe him.
ALL that being said, there is a huge deck outside. for some reason, even though there are free-​standing kerosene heaters around the bar, it was closed. i’m looking forward to hanging out here on a nice warm evening. i won’t be going back for dinner though.

The food is ok, waiters nice (that’s why they got some stars after all!) IF
you are lucky or patient enough to get a seat. And you never know. This totally depends on the hostess.
Take yesterdahy. Sunny August Sunday so we felt it would be great to have breakfast outdoors. Sweet Lorraine” serves breakfast and has nice outdoors patio– unfortunately, the hostess said, it is closed (Why? we asked someone of the waiting staff there. Nobody knew.)And closed was also a fireplace room (sometimes it is open for breakfast so it isn’t any rule). We were told by the hostess to wait about 10 minutes for the table. After 5 min of being ignored by «hostess», despite having seen vacant tables in dining area, we decided to have breakfast somewhere else.
It wasn’t our first time. I even though that they target only us with such discouragement. After car accident I am not able to walk by myself yet and my husband «walks me». Maybe they do not want «such people» there, I thought (I have never felt welcome there!). But once we were among lucky ones, dining on the patio, and witnessed hostess sending away 3 parties even though there were vacant tables.
i believe business students might learn from hostesses here how NOT to conduct restaurants business.