Lemon Leaf Cafe

Many moons ago, I attended an art show that was catered by Lemon Leaf Café. They provided small finger foods (sandwiches, crackers & dip, etc.) and at the time I was absolutely infatuated. I always had the intention of going to their location on the Blvd throughout the years and it wasn’t until recently that I finally had the opportunity. Despite the raving reviews they still receive to this day, I found it didn’t quite live up to the expectation they set years ago.
I stopped by for lunch with my sister at around 11AM. My sister had been many times before but always around dinner time. We seated ourselves at a wobbly table and had to move to one with a little more stability. I would also like to note the strips of paper lining the tops of each table seemed a bit cheesy. We were brought glasses of water and menus and eventually discovered on our own that we were supposed to go to the register and place our order. Which was only slightly confusing as they gave us the impression they provide waiter service.
I ordered the grilled chicken caesar sandwich with a side of pasta salad. I’ll start with the pasta salad. It tasted incredible! Unfortunately, I have to agree with Jonathan M., the portion was embarrassingly small. The sandwich was about 95% lettuce. Don’t get me wrong, I love vegetables. But given that the price is so high, I would expect them to be more generous with the chicken. I would have purchased dessert on my way out but the meal already exceeded my budget.
I was simply not impressed. The prices are just too high. I understand business can be tough on the Blvd. However, I suspect they can do a little better than ugly paper on their tables when they’re clearly trying to classify themselves as an upscale establishment. My overall assessment of Lemon Leaf Café can be summarized as: meh.

Pleasant ambiance in a low maintenance casual setting. Prices are very reasonable too. Order at the counter and the staff will deliver to your table. Staff professional and very attentive to refills without solicitation. Menu has plenty of variety which is an added bonus.

Wow! This place is very interesting. But it is a very good kind of interesting! Walking inside this fine restaurant you immediately notice how clean it is. From the ceiling to the floor this place is very clean!
Lemon Leaf Café is not like any other place that I have been to. Here you are welcome to sit wherever you please and are then greeted with the menu. The menu is very simple to read with wonderful options. Once you have chosen your meal, you then get up and place your order at the counter and will be given a number to indicate your order. In a few minutes your order is ready and fresh at the table! I ordered, the Berserko pizza and it had a wonderful pleasant taste. Our other dish was also filled with flavor being the Chicken Mushroom Fettucini. The staff was wonderful and does a great job keeping the customer pleased with their experience here at the Lemon Leaf Café! I will most definitely be visiting again!

You want a watery and lack of taste Italian food then this is right place for you, place was nice staff was friendly too but for food no thank you.

In the AV, it’s hard to come by a really good, independent restaurant, but this place is it! The food is delicious and the employees are very nice. I have tried nearly everything on the menu, and enjoyed it all! It’s a great place for a nice dinner out.
BEWARE: It’s closed on Sundays, so keep that in mind. :)

I really wanted to like this place but its just overpriced trendy-​looking food. The inside of the apple pie a la mode is just soggy hot apples; the outside is an extravagant façade. I think uppity hipsters will enjoy a place like this because that’s pretty much who the staff was made up of. They didn’t seem to care for our presence.

So, I was going to message the business owner directly but evidently she either doesn’t know what Unilocal is or use or else she simply doesn’t want to mess with people messaging here. I hate to give a poor review without messaging the business first, but in this case it wasn’t possible.
I’ve been coming here for years and love it. The food is good, it’s always clean, and it’s relatively fast.
However, after dozens of visits and 100s of dollars spent I take my family for dinner and order the bbq chicken pizza add jalapeños and pineapple (which is $ 1.50 to add) but I ask for it only on half and state that I will gladly pay the whole price.
I’ve not had it on there before and wanted to try it but didn’t want to commit to the whole pizza in case I don’t like it. I’m told no. Flat out no we can’t do that. Can’t split.
I say I don’t want to split. I just want it on half.
Nope. Can’t do it. Owner’s rule.
I then decide I want to message the owner. So this is really kind of a message to the owner. I want to see how she responds before deciding whether or not I am worthy to be served by them again in the future. Maybe I’m not.

Very much enjoyed the service and location. Food was good but I found the menu a bit confusing for some reason. Nevertheless an enjoyable experience. Lunch for the two of us was $ 35.

I love Lemon Leaf café, its beautiful when you walk in, like you’ve stepped out of the AV and are somewhere walked into a restaurant in Europe. The food is is perfectly seasoned and absolutely delicious! This place is a true gem here in the AV!

The best restaurant on Lancaster blvd. Took a date there for a casual lunch and she loved it. Scored me major points with such good food and ambiance. Pink pasta was the best. def be back.

Decent seemingly family owned restaurant. Usually make my way to the Blvd when I feel the need to eat one of their veggie baguette press sandwiches. I think it’s one of the best items on the menu. However, lately the cooks have been getting lazy and the veggies are a little cold. If the veggies didn’t get warm enough to melt the cheese, it’s not a press, nor properly made! As mentioned by another patron, the side pasta salad (I.e. 4 pieces of bow tie pasta) is a little on the weak side considering their prices. It is for this reason, I couldn’t really give 4 stars. Their antipasto salad is pretty good too. Their pizzas are decent, I usually order the grilled prosciutto. Although I think it might look better than it tastes. Not sure what it’s missing, but pretty decent with a salad. Staff or owners I should say, are very attentive and nice.

Really good! Ambiance, the service and the food!
For first-​timers, you’ll have to go to the register to order, so it will be a good idea to have everything you want before you order — saves time for everyone. But don’t worry the service is fast and the foo dis great, so it’s worth the trip and the time!

Their torpedo wrap literally made me sick a few hours after I ate it.
And 5 pieces of bowtie pasta on the side doesn’t count as a «pasta salad»

Love love love this place. From the ambience, to the food, to the service, everything was awesome. We went on a Friday lunch, the place was pretty busy. But despite that, the food came pretty fast. Ordered the penne pesto pasta, and asked for shrimp instead of chicken. It was delicious!
Just a quick tips though. This is the place where you have to order at the register, and then they will bring the food to your table. So make sure you have all the things that you want to order ready if you don’t wanna make 2 trips.

I really like this place, but today when I ordered the Great Greek wrap, it only contained 4 little slices of chicken. It was $ 10.85. I’ve been coming since 2011 and it’s not the same anymore.

It’s been a while since I was here but I still can’t get this place out of my mind… and not in a good way. I visited Lemon Leaf with my sister, we both got an entrée and a dessert to share.
What I remember the most was how disappointed I was because I had picked where to go to lunch that day and the food was extremely overpowered by garlic. I couldn’t taste anything, not even the cheese in my ravioli, and it wasn’t just my dish, my sister’s was super garlicky too. I’m not sure if the chef was having an off day and added an over exaggerated amount of garlic or if the food often is sent out this way and no one ever speaks up. Either way I haven’t been back since, I go out to eat to eat good food, not to eat garlic cloves.
2 stars because the service was decent, so not everything was bad.

Lemon Leaf Café is one of those local eateries where you just want to eat everything!
Its a cute restaurant located on Lancaster Blvd. I can honestly say its actually one of the best restaurants on the Blvd. The art décor and gift shop vibe with a variety of there signature items displayed is a nice touch to the restaurant.
Every time I’m in town, I wouldn’t mind me some Lemon Leaf.
Most of my visits the service has always stayed consistent and the servers are very attentive.
Typically, when you walk in, you order, then you grab a table.
This particular lunch visit, We sat next to the dessert display and I literally was eyeing the display case during my whole lunch haha.
This visit we ordered the Humus and Pita bread to start, Turkey BAT, Prosciutto pesto pizza and the Southwest grilled chicken salad.
Everything was delicious! Portions are generous and great for sharing. I dont ever recall me ever having a bad experience or bad meal here. You basically can’t go wrong with anything you order. Just depends on your taste buds.
I always look forward to coming back whenever I’m in town and can always guarantee I will leave full and happy.

Great food… cool atmosphere. This place hits it out of the park! The salad was simply awesome. They have a versatile menu including some delicious looking pies. The service was really good and they accomodated my niece very well. If I’m in the area again, I’d love to stop by!

This has got to be one of my wife’s favorite places to eat. She comes here quite often.
First off, the service is awesome! All of the employees are friendly and helpful. The service is top notch and they come to check on you often. The service alone would keep us coming back.
The food has always been excellent. My wife loves their salads, but I’m a fan of their paninis. The four cheese pizza is always a hit with the kids.

Still absolutely love this place (best thin crust pizza in town), but I’ve recently noticed some green staff who don’t really ‘get’ the food that they’re serving, who just seem less knowledgeable about food, flavors, and pairings in general than they could be. Maybe they’re still learning, but servers always apologizing and getting lots of little things wrong is not something customers should have to deal with every time they come to have a nice dinner. That said, the food will always make up for such inconveniences here, so don’t change your recipes, guys!
Also, changing the layout of the tables/​seating, possibly adding more décor or structuring it around an actual design, would do a lot to make this dining space more intimate and inviting. As it is now you open the front door into this huge cold space and must walk through a bunch of big tables in the middle to get to the counter, while employees shout at you from across the room. A little change could do a lot to make the atmosphere more warm and cozy in here.
I love this place and want to see it flourish. Thanks for all the great food, Lemon Leaf!