Ida's Cafe — Restaurant in East Hempfield Township

We were visiting the area to attend a performance nearby, and opted to try Ida’s for a late breakfast/brunch. First, the staff was very polite and attentive. I am on an eating plan, and I will own that it doesn’t make dining out the easiest experience. The counter person tried to accomodate my request for veggies with my eggs to the best of her ability by ringing me up for a veggie omelet but serving me scrambled instead (to get more veggies in it). I appreciated her help. Two of my daughters had chicken quesadillas and one had French toast. Their servings were generous. My eating plan allows for a serving of fruit, so I asked if I could purchase just a banana (banana pancakes are on the menu, so I figured they had bananas). Unfortunately, I was told that they had no way of putting that into their POS system, so I could not purchase one. They did offer me a $6.67 mixed fruit bowl that contained some banana slices. I ate what I could (it was more than my food plan allows), and sadly had to waste the rest. I can’t complain about the quality of the fruit. Overall, the atmosphere was quaint and it seems like a popular place. The flavor of the food was lacking (I asked my daughters’ opinions as well), but it presented well. Price is a bit steep. It was over $68 for four of us (tip not included). We got better food at a better price at our hotel restaurant the next morning. Also, be aware that cash price is lower than credit price. Not sure if that is a Pennsylvania thing, but haven’t run into it in Jersey...

Today is Nov5th and my friend and I were excited to stop by Ida’s for breakfast. I have been a customer for as long as I can remember. The food has always been delicious… and I sincerely mean this in the best possible way… I know things have changed there recently to accommodate staffing problems and I Don’t mind ordering at the counter but it must have been an off day for the kitchen staff because the eggs Benedict and homefries were not up to the typical Ida standard. I am not sure what the sauce was over the eggs but it wasn’t hollandaise sauce. In fact, It did not have any flavor at all. The home fries were not the Ida’s home fries I remember. These were small square “frozen in a bag potatoes”that were overcooked and hard. I totally understand that vegetables can be expensive but my breakfast was just not an Ida’s breakfast. I am hoping others did not experience this but without customer feedback how does a business know how they are doing? I will probably wait awhile before I return again. I am not giving up hope on Ida’s. I will return some day… at least to see if your home fries have...

Unfortunately our experience was less than good. Our waitress was great, food was mediocre, with the exception of the mold found on our French Toast.... Once we alerted the waitress she was extremely apologetic. The owner on the other hand never even mentioned or could utter the simple words of "my apologies or I'm so sorry" all she could say was "do you want something else".

My family member stated "toast will be fine"... once we received our bill she was actually charged more than my side order of toast. The owner said "that's because your toast price is included in your meal"... so $3 for a side of white toast is appropriate??? She began to actually argue with me and then all I could hear is someone in the back of the kitchen, who I presume was the other owner say "I don't care, just give it to them". I'm sorry, I didn't realize mold was an acceptable side for our breakfast. The staff seemed horrified at the owners behavior.

Please do not go to this establishment. The owners are completely rude and could care less about their customers experience. Burger King would have...