Lucile's — Restaurant in Fort Collins

We eat out at restaurants of all types roughly four days per week, not including fast food, so we have plenty of experience with different levels of service and food quality. I had high hopes for Lucile’s Diner, but unfortunately, it was one of the worst breakfast experiences I’ve had. The only reason I’m giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is that it’s not fast food, but the overall service, food, and atmosphere were extremely disappointing.

From the start, the service was slow and inattentive. We ordered waters, a coffee, and a Bloody Mary—but never received the waters. The Bloody Mary was one of the worst I’ve ever had, and after three sips, we couldn’t drink it anymore. Despite this, we paid for it, which you can even see in the picture. You can see we never finished it. The coffee took forever to arrive, and we were told they were making a fresh pot, yet when we finally got it, it was cold, as if it had been poured from an abandoned cup.

For food, we ordered the Jennifer Benedict, the Cajun breakfast, and biscuits and gravy. After placing our order, two other groups sat down—a table of three and another of four—yet both received their meals before us roughly 15-20 minutes. We waited an extra 5 minutes after that before our food finally arrived, and when it did, the girl (not our server, maybe 19 years old) dropped the plates on the table without a word, as if it was a chore to serve us.

Despite the food looking great in pictures, the taste was awful. The French toast was undercooked and doughy, the Hollandaise sauce was overly sour with too much lemon, and our meals were missing the potatoes entirely. When we finally got our server’s attention to ask for them, they were cold. The biscuit was fantastic, but the gravy was mediocre at best. Honestly the only thing I enjoyed was the biscuit and the sliced fruit.

The atmosphere was also a problem. It was loud, which is fine, but a group of young women behind us (Maybe in college or just out) were yelling and laughing so loudly that we couldn’t have a normal conversation. To make it worse, they were saying highly inappropriate, sexual things, which is not something anyone should have to listen to over breakfast.

At the end of this terrible experience, we asked for a box and the check. 15 minutes later, a young woman who seemed to be a manager (maybe 20 years old) asked if we needed anything else. I told her we had been waiting for our check for 15 minutes. At that moment, our waitress finally appeared and excused the delay by saying they "were short-staffed because someone didn’t come in". This was frustrating because we had watched her chat with other tables in a laughing joyful manor, while ignoring us.

Lastly, we couldn’t shake the feeling that we were treated differently from the other customers. My partner, who is brown, and I, both dressed in professional attire, stood out in a place where most people were in sweatpants and hoodies. I am not saying we are wealthy compared to some of the people in this city but we do have standards when we leave our house. Fort Collins is overwhelmingly white, and so was this restaurant. Whether intentional or not, the stares and lack of attention made us uncomfortable, and it certainly didn’t feel welcoming.

Overall, Lucile’s Diner needs serious improvement—from training their young staff to improving kitchen quality control. The unprofessionalism, rudeness, and poor service made what should have been a great breakfast spot a huge disappointment. The standard for this city when it comes to breakfast is by far the Silver Cafe. Its not the best in the world but it is the best in this city. There are places her that are really good but not great compared to what we have had around the world but . . .really? Send your kitchen staff or managers to bourbon street in Louisiana and really know what proper creole is if that is what you are pushing. I'm just venting now. I normally give a bad restaurant a second chance but I think this might be a time where I feel it...

Disappointing and Unsafe Experience

I’ve hesitated to make this review for years now, but I can’t wait any longer.

As someone who works in the service industry and has fond memories of Lucille's in Littleton, it pains me to write this review. Lucille's Fort Collins has consistently fallen short in providing a satisfactory dining experience. I had the unfortunate experience of finding a large shard of glass in my drink during my visit to Lucille's in Fort Collins. Instead of receiving immediate assistance, I was wrongly accused of breaking a glass and placing it in my drink. The manager’s attempts to gaslight me were not only unprofessional but extremely frustrating.

This incident occurred on my 30th birthday, compounding the disappointment. The previous week, we were left waiting for over 30 minutes due to a server's oversight, only to be told it was too late to order food. The lack of attention and genuine care was disheartening.

Despite a manager later apologizing with a handwritten note, our next return was marred by incorrect orders and a manager admitting their mistakes before we even spoke. After a year, we gave Lucille's another chance, only to experience horrendous service and incorrect orders yet again.

Most recently, a takeout order worth $75 was a debacle. Sides were forgotten, an entire entree was missing, and when we tried to rectify the situation, the host argued rather than addressing the issue professionally.

I grew up frequenting Lucille's in Littleton, and it remains a favorite spot of mine. However, the inconsistent service in Fort Collins has been disappointing. Despite being a loyal customer, the issues persist, from forgotten orders to unprofessional behavior.

I sincerely hope Lucille's can take accountability for these recurring problems and make the necessary changes to ensure consistent and reliable service. It's my desire to see the Fort Collins location live up to the standards I associate with the Lucille's brand, just as I've experienced in Littleton.

Lucille's needs to prioritize customer safety, train their staff effectively, and address these recurring issues. My experiences have left me not only disappointed but concerned about the overall management and quality control at this establishment.

Lucile’s has incredible food, a lovely patio, and can be such a fun little place to bring family and friends. I look forward to giving them another shot, but hope to see significant changes in their...

Came in this morning with two friends, had a reasonable wait time of 15/20 minutes, and the displeasure of being “served” by Elena. With each step of our dining experience WE had to initiate with the server, not the server asking us, and had to wait an abnormally long time in between each of: ordering drinks, ordering appetizer, ordering meals, getting checks, asking (and not getting) boxes, and paying out. By the time we ordered and received our food, the table across from us (who came in after us) had ordered, received their meals, and finished. Our waters weren’t refilled once even though one person at our table had an empty cup the entire meal. Asked for ketchup and hot sauce, didn’t get them and had to grab our own off an empty, dirty table. Not a single plate was removed leading to stacks of dirty dishes and clutter overtaking the small table. Requested boxes with checks, never got them so had to leave our leftover food. The obvious disregard for our table was made very plain by the difference in treatment compared to the three tables around us. All three of those tables were regularly checked on by the server, while she blatantly walked right by us, all three had full glasses of water, not a single dirty plate, and each one had a faster turnover - meaning we watched all three tables be served and leave and filled by following parties before we left. When it came to leaving we waited a half hour for boxes and check pickups before going to the front and asking to pay there. Which I’d like to add, we were also ignored at the front by a multitude of staff, including the hostess before the hostess finally acknowledged us. 2 of us in our group, including myself, have previous experience as servers, and I personally tip a minimum of 30%. Today I tipped $3, and even that felt undeserved. I can’t remember the last time I’ve experienced service this bad. So to Elena and Lucille’s: we won’t be back, but an apology or acknowledgement is warranted.

After seeing a review with a similar experience I want to add that 2 of us (including myself) are Asian and felt as if this bad experience was because of racial discrimination. Along with noticing the better treatment given to all the other tables around us, we had noticed being the only minorities in the room. This is definitely not a place I’d feel comfortable bringing...