The Coffee Pot

Typical greasy spoon breakfast diner. My western omelet and home fries were very tasty, and the service was quick and the staff very friendly!
I have to give three stars because the blueberry pancakes my daughter ordered were not very good at all. They were actually pretty tough (probably overcooked) and were difficult to cut for her. They at least used fresh blueberries but the actual pancake itself had no flavor at all.
Hopefully this is just a one time thing. But being as it is walking distance to my house, its a pretty good spot for a quick Saturday stop.+

Tried the Eggcetera and it was amazing! The home fries were some of the best I’ve ever had! Bacon was crispy but also a little chewy! Small cozy little place but the food is great would definitely come again!

The waiters and waitresses were seriously incredible and so attentive. Five stars to the staff. But the food just wasn’t that great. The pancakes were unimpressive. The eggs lacked something… weird. I loved the small, cozy diner feel though; I just wish the food was better.

There are a few cardinal rules in the restaurant business. At or near the top of the list is «get the customer’s order right.» Much less rarely seen, but closely related, would have to be «don’t unilaterally change the customer’s order and serve him what YOU think is best, rather than what he actually ordered.»
This is why I’m giving The Coffee Pot 2 stars.
Before I explain, I will say this: the food I did get was fairly good. The whole wheat toast was actually top notch, the scrambled eggs were good and the home fries with sliced onions were pretty tasty. Essentially what you’re expecting from a greasy spoon type diner. That having been said, the presentation was a bit less than ideal. The home fries and the shriveled bacon were both shades of gray – not figuratively – they were literally gray on the plate. Not appetizing to see, despite the fact that they actually tasted fine.
The coffee was decent, which has to be mentioned given the name of the place. Although as stated in some other reviews, the mug was the thing that was past its expiration date. The glaze on the ceramic was chipped and worn away. I had to switch sides to drink out of it. Again, fairly good product, but poorly presented.
Now for the big problem.
I ordered The Don. As listed on the menu this comes with 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, grits or home fries (I’m not 100% sure that’s an OR but I think it is – and that matters here) plus hot cakes.
I told the waitress I didn’t want the grits. No problem, right? As far as I could tell it was grits OR home fries anyway. Even if I was mistaken, she left it at that and didn’t inquire further, leading me to think I had just picked from a choice of two options, but had otherwise ordered the full breakfast.
Not so.
When the order arrived it was just the eggs, meat, home fries and toast. I thought maybe the hot cakes would follow. But they never came. After a few minutes, the waitress delivered the check and informed me, in a polite and pleasant tone, that she had not charged me for The Don. She made it seem like she had done me a favor, which I found odd because even though I ordered it, she had not actually served me The Don. Of course she shouldn’t charge me for it!
I asked why, and she told me that it doesn’t make sense to order it without the grits and hot cakes.
I told her I only declined the grits, she just never brought me hot cakes. (That it was her error, not mine, although I said so more politely than that.)
She just looked miffed. Rather than acknowledging her mistake, or apologizing even, she simply replied «oh well, you would have been really full if you had the hot cakes.»
Which is kind of the point of going out for breakfast, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, breaking a rule as basic as this drops the rating way down. On the food alone, this might have been a 3 or 3 ½ star review. Issues of presentation, old mugs, etc would have kept it out of the 4 star level no matter what. But deciding on your own to simply change my order… that drops the place a full grade lower.
Some basic things have to be done right. Service matters. Despite decent food, the Coffee Pot failed to meet even this low standard.

Value and great cakes. What else do you need from a breakfast diner. Fast they are not, but again, they are short ordering your requests a few at a time. Friendly and attentive with the coffee refills. Potatoes were good, with skins on them traditional style. Also had the Banana Can pancakes and they were serious and heavy, the way they should be. I will return to this location soon.

This is my place for breakfast! For sure nice staff good food! Loving this little coffee pot. Gem I use to come when I was younger it’s def better now that I’m older price is good.

I really dig this place, its small and has a real Lakewood feel to it. Food is well prepared, staff is polite and inviting. Cant believe ive never been here all these years. Ill be back.

We went on Sunday at 9:45 am. No wait, sat at the counter. Prompt polite service. This place is not «dirty.» It’s no dirtier than my grandma’s kitchen was over on Olivewood and I ate her food and didn’t die. So let that go. My H and I each got the Jozi’s Fav. I got French toast, he got the massive pancakes. Excellent, perfectly cooked. Over easy eggs also perfectly good. Good coffee. We didn’t feel rushed. Total bill was $ 19 and I tipped 25%. Definitely will return.

The staff was friendly and very hardworking, but unfortunately didn’t have enough help which meant we had to wait over 10 minutes to order our food and 30 more minutes to get our breakfast. The food was lukewarm when we got it and the pancakes were mushy. The pancakes may be prepared that way, but it wasn’t to my liking.

I’m not sure why this place has such a high rating. Unilocal failed on this one.
The good:
It’s super cheap.
The bad:
* It’s dirty. Tables, floor, everything. My coffee cup was eroding on the edges, exposing the porous ceramic underneath, which was then stained with perfect lip marks. Wonder what the kitchen is like? Yum!
* The breakfast sausage links are terrible.
* The oil they cooked everything in, from the potatoes to the presumably Grade D deep fried caseless sausage links, was rancid. This happens when oil is reused, dirty or repeatedly heated and cooled. Nasty.
This goes in to the SYP! category. What’s SYP! stand for? The last two words are Yo’ Pants! Figure it out.

Best breakfast diner in Lakewood. Prices are just right, family owned and operated.

I’ve had some great meals at The Coffee Pot, but there are a few things that miss the mark that make me wonder why some things can be so good and others so mediocre.
The sausages. Why do they serve these things. I’ve had better sausages from a free hotel breakfast. There’s no skin and it’s very greasy and mushy. Like the kind you fondly remember from elementary school cafeteria breakfast. These are the worst part about The Don where you get a little bit of everything — everything else is on point (excellent bacon). I honestly would have rather paid the same price and had them exclude the sausage.
I’ve never had really good coffee from here. The last two times I’ve been there it barely tastes like coffee — just hot water. You gotta have that strong diner coffee, especially if you’re going to be called «The Coffee Pot». This is not a difficult one to solve — they’re just not using enough coffee beans for the water. Most gas station coffee I’ve gotten is stronger.
The Banana pancakes are AWESOME as are the home-​fries. The omelettes are made very well. They have a lot going for them.
Overall, they’re at 3.5 stars right now in my book. Stronger coffee would bump it up to 4 stars and better quality sausage would make it 4.5 stars.

Cheap and delicious. Coffee is endless. The food is simple, I got the Don, but I think they forgot the sausage when I said no grits. Or I’m not remembering the menu correctly. Not too upset about it. Had to remind them for syrup, got asked how the food was literally two seconds after the food was set down, just a generally lacking service. They were busy, but since that only includes about 8 tables, I’m not sure how the three servers could fall behind.
Eggs are going to come out unseasoned, but the home fries are seasoned and cooked with onions to the perfect taste. I actually loved these potatoes, as most places tend to just leave you with buttery and flat slices of potato. Pancakes are nothing special. Bacon was delicious.
I live close, so I’ll be headed back here after a night out drinking. It’s not somewhere I would take someone out on a date, but it’ll definitely cure the hankering for some hangover cure.

Very homey place to sit & enjoy the atmosphere. We walk in the door and instantly received a hello & a smile when we walked in the door. Great service & very prompt. I asked our waitress what was good & she didn’t hesitate to say everything. She proceed to tell me her favorites. I got 2 of her suggestions the sombero & banana can pancakes both were just fantastic! Their homefries are tasty… actual potatoes with onions and seasoning. I use ketchup on just about every kind of potatoes but sure didn’t need it on these home fries. If you like small cozy & friendly restaurants with great food this will be your new favorite brunch zone.

I find myself coming back to this place often, a gem on Madison. It’s an old-​school no nonsense breakfast spot. Let me explain…
It’s a small neighborhood diner — a narrow space behind the counter so the servers had to maneuver their way around each other whenever there was more than one person at the aisle. I could see through to the kitchen with two people working diligently on the food orders and a child standing and watching in awe. Coffee grounds and toast crumbles speckled the cramped counter-​top where the servers prepped food items and beverages.
The food: eggs and home fries usually slightly burnt, and a slightly over-​diluted coffee of little else in notable quality. Substitutions are readily available (egg whites, turkey bacon).
The service: responsive and courteous, even at busier times. The servers and cooks work well together as a team, hustling to get orders out while still exchanging small pleasantries with the customers.
All of this works for me as a vision of the small, family-​owned diner.
The biggest con for me is that parking may get a little tricky (street parking only), but I’ve always found a spot around the block that was reasonable.

Awesome small diner. Good food at good prices. Kids loved the blueberry pancakes! Omelet was top notch and the coffee hit the spot. Very small place so you get fast and personal service.

My boyfriend and I happened upon this place while walking home on a rough morning, and it was the perfect place to stop and take a breath.
The menu was simple and traditional, but very fairly priced. Our waitress was friendly and efficient; our food was well prepared and appeared on the table within a few minutes of ordering. I definitely plan on going back to this little diner.
Just watch your head if you need to visit the bathroom — it’s an adventure through the kitchen and into the basement!

First off– painfully slow service.
Secondly– my girlfriends coffee creamers curdled in her coffee. When told about this our server just told her to stir it it and that that was normal.
Thirdly– the place is a dump. Table was dirty. Silver was dirty. Water glass was dirty. It’s not divey, it’s not a staple, it’s not a greasy spoon. It’s gross.
Poor service and dirty. I will not be back.

This is one of my favorite breakfast spots in CLE/​Lakewood. No frills. No fuss. The Coffee Pot is a family run business with reasonably priced, consistently delicious food. There’s a few booths (2 or 3) and a couple 2 top tables, two 4 top tables, and a diner counter with 5 or 6 stools (one is always broken). Not much seating, but I’ve never had to wait for a table/​seat.
Parking is always easy with plenty of street parking nearby.
Prices are reasonable and the employees have always been friendly to me. I love reading the newspaper (minus getting the newsprint on my hands) and drinking a cup of coffee while waiting for my breakfast to arrive.
It’s not fancy, but it’s good.

Typically on any given Sunday, I’m on a mission for a greasy, filling brunch, and football all day later in the day. I know the Coffee Pot has been a staple Diner in the city of Lakewood, but I don’t typically make it out here and if I’m around, the group consensus is always the Diner on Clifton.
Nothing fancy or too cute. I came here for brunch and left satisfied, happy, and full. It’s your typical neighborhood family owned diner run by some really nice people. The portions of the food is definitely a winner. It seems like their breakfast menu options come in the right tiers for your level hungry. My order consisted of orange juice, coffee, bacon, sausages, potatoes, eggs, and pancakes. That’s all one order, nothing extra added and that’s a deal!
If you’re in the neighborhood and looking for a good meal, stop by and grab a bite. Definitely recommend the Coffee Pot.