The Lunchbox

Was just at the square and decided to get a sandwich to go. Absolutely horrible. Club sandwich with no toothpicks so it fell apart. One piece of ham, one piece of turkey and it was fake meat like rubber. The person who made the sandwich wore no gloves and didn’t wash his hands. If I hadn’t paid for it upfront I would’ve left. When I got it outside and looked at it it was disgusting. I threw the whole box away

My husband finally got to go with me to this restaurant. He was in line behind all my friends! The place isn’t big so be prepared to wait if it’s busy. We lucked out and sat down right away. There are a few good things about this place.
1. The taxes are included in the price
2. The coffee is ground fresh
3. The wait staff is very friendly
My husband ordered the chicken fried steak plate and I got two pancakes with pecans. Huge huge huge. I could have ordered one pancake and been happy. They were a tad on the dry side but tasted great. My husband’s breakfast was very good and both our drinks were filled often. Great place to go for good food

Great little find off the beaten path while traveling south on I-​75. Great service, great food!

Went to the lunchbox today, first time trying it out. I tried the black and bleu burger… was awesome! My husband tried the patty melt. Unfortunately the patty melt was overcooked but the very nice waitress gave us a refund. We will definitely go back and try it again.

The Lunchbox is a great place to eat. Hamburgers, salads, breakfast, and even beers. If you go for lunch, stick around and wait for a table; it is worth the wait.
Great staff. Great location in beautiful historic OCALA.
Try it out. You won’t be sorry.

Awesome burgers! Try the sweet potato fries. Amazing. Wait staff is friendly and attentive!

Went day after Christmas and was very busy. Only one server working. I had the patty melt with curly fries… bread was almost black from being burned so much, which made the bread very crunchy to eat. Overall, the food was good for the price. I’m not too picky.

The bacon and orange juice were awesome. However the eggs were overdone and the entire plate was cool by the time it was served.

Unfortunately they were out of chicken fried steak 2 hours after opening. When I ordered something different, they threw out the ticket so my husband had to wait for his order. The biscuits are amazingly light and fluffy. The sausage gravy could use more actual sausage in it but it did have a great peppery taste which I love. The waitress was friendly and attentive and since the food wasn’t horrible, we are willing to give this place one more try.

Another great little restaurant I found thanks to Unilocalers! The Lunchbox is located in downtown Ocala and if you’re looking for great food at a low price, this is the place. All the prices on the menu already have the tax included which I found unique and convenient. They are only open from 7am to 2:30pm and they serve breakfast and lunch.
I decided to have breakfast and this place is very popular with the locals. When I arrived at around 9am, there were plenty of customers and the open kitchen was busy. The place is decorated with vintage collector lunch boxes and they do offer a decent amount of tables. The menu is diverse and like I said, prices are just right. They offer a cheeseburger called White Elephant which consists of a bacon cheeseburger between a grilled Tas-​T-​O donut, that’s on my radar for the next visit!
I decided to order the Steak & Eggs and for $ 9.00, I was totally satisfied! I received a medium rare Flat Iron Steak with two eggs sunny side up, hash browns and toast. The flavor of the steak was terrific, it was seasoned to perfection and it delivered a smoky flavor which I am a big fan of. The eggs were cooked right and the hash browns were toasty, just the way I like it!
Service was spot on, my server was friendly and she made me feel like a regular even though it was my first time there. You can tell that this place is family owned and that they appreciate their customers. It’s rare for me to find bad service in the Ocala area. There’s plenty of parking on the street and there’s also a parking lot behind the restaurant.

Great find in downtown Ocala. Breakfast was excellent and the recommended biscuit melted in the mouth. Service couldn’t have been better.
I’d give them five stars but must say the noise level, lots of hard surfaces, is a bit high. But then this was a Saturday morning and very busy.
Will definitely return.

First time here. Never even heard of it before. Just at the square walking around looking for a local place to eat lunch. Menu is simple. I chose the chicken salad croissant and a side of potato salad. WOW. Bacon in the home made potato salad??? Are you kidding me? It was fantastic! Very clever. Chicken salad was home made as well. Cranberries and pecans. It was equally as good. Service is home town friendly and fast. I will be back to try other dishes.

Multiple friends have done nothing but rant and rave about this place so my boyfriend and I decided to give it a shot! Hands down best omelet I have ever had! (that even includes my grandmothers!) upon walking in we were happily greeted by employees that seemed to be enjoying their job and having a great time. We had a great server and she had a even better personality. Even tho she was clearly busy she still took the time to help my indecisive butt decide what to eat. I have already picked out 5 things on the menu that I am dying to try.
Oh and did I mention that the whole menu is tax included at the perfect price.
If there’s and if there’s any bandwagon I’d want to jump on, it’d be this one :)

Loved the atmosphere here! prices are low, food is good. Tax is included in the price on the menu. Wish they were open later though

What a great gem in Ocala. Although I wish this place was open for longer hours, this is a great place for lunch.
It is busy but not too busy where you have to wait that long.
They have a large selection of unique burgers and sandwiches. If you’re daring, ask your waitress for her favorite. They won’t stead you wrong.
This is a great place to go for lunch, I will be back for breakfast and I will see how they are for that.

Pretty cool place. Between here and Richard ’ s around the corner I am a regular for about 5 weeks out of the year. I travel to Ocala on business for the local phone company around the corner. It’s an old downtown style place like you might see in little towns in upstate NY when I was stationed there. Pretty unique, fast and friendly service. I am a little bias because I prefer «Mom and Pop» type places over chains due to years of being on the road, but I would recommend it. It can be loud due to its long narrow characteristics and not very intimate but the food is good. It is open from 7 to 2:30. It’s not a place for too large of a group.

They work hard… I give them that. The food is amazing. The only thing is that I think they need more help. It’s a little tired watching the girls run… literary from table to table to serve people. #getmorehelp #hire it’s distracting. Plus, could be a liability … Not only that, they don’t give much «service» with a smile having to rush like that. Just some helpful advice.

The Bleu cheese burger is one of the best I’ve had in this town. Really good food at a great price. Don’t forget to check out the additional menu painted on the dining room wall!

Great service! Allie was the best waitress I’ve had in a long while. Delicious food! I made an off menu order and they were enthusiastic about making sure I got exactly what I wanted. Charming location! The view from the pleasant, albeit small, patio was of a charming classic old-​south downtown. Since my only complaint about this place is that I want more of it (food/​service/​outdoor dinging space), 5 stars can be the only logical outcome.
Nice job, The Lunchbox. I’ll be back for one of those ridiculous donut burgers soon!

Lindsey was our waitress. What’s special about this review is the service and the servers. The food was very very good, best burger and sandwiches we’d had which I’ll get to later in this review. Lunch out with the family, we are used to waiters and waitresses just asking us what my brother wants and or is trying to say to his speech. My brother has downs syndrome and Lindsey took the time, looked my brother right in the eyes, took the time during a very very busy lunch to engage him and work through the ordering process. Asking do you like pickles. he says umm no. do you like lettuce on your sandwich. umm no​.do you want mayo. umm yes.etc.
For us this NEVER happens. What’s special about this review and this visit is Lindsey and the staff. What excellent, home town service. We’d go back just for this.
No onto the food. Never frozen hamburger meat, freshly made special buns. It look longer than normal due the the crowd because of the Strawberry Festival. But it is a little on the pricey side not buy much, soo worth it as you can taste the quality difference.
The place is sort of a hole in the wall. You definitely wouldn’t go here for ambiance. It’s your basic diner old style place setup. But if you want good home town service with great food we would highly recommend this place.
We will be back !!