Old Milwaukee Cafe & Bakery

Great place for a mini road trip. Only 11 miles from my residence. Super friendly service! Wholesome food in a semi cozy atmosphere. Take a seasonal drive. Park nearby and run or ride.

Thank you to Sue and everyone at the Milwaukee Café for a great meal and their flexibility with my wife’s gluten sensitivity. Great meal, great place!

Stopped for breakfast.
Nice local restaurant with very reasonable prices.
Blueberry pancakes were great. Also had ham and eggs. Ham wasn’t great.
Service was excellent and the people were very friendly.
Fun talking with local residents.

Located in the hamlet of Milwaukee, in the township of Ransom, with a mailing street address in Clarks Summit, PA, this modest but appealing business is worth a trip from nearby Scranton and other «NEPA» areas. They offer inexpensive, good food in a charming setting a pleasant few miles and minutes from metro areas from Scranton to Wilkes Barre.
The «OMC&B» is housed in an authentic 1880s building that served many purposes over many years, including most recently a general store (whose owner retired…) and a pie shop/​deli (relocated to Dunmore). In earlier times it was a meeting hall for local farmers and no doubt other things as well. Given this, it was likely renovated often. Nevertheless, its country store feel and charm is still well preserved providing a nice destination point for a pleasant drive through an area of Northeast PA that many (even natives) don’t really know. It is also very convenient to both the Steamtown National Park in Scranton and the Anthracite Coal Mine and Museum in nearby McDade Park.
On street parking is sparse but adequate, since traffic here is VERY light (sometimes no car passes for 5 – 10 minutes!). In such and old building, the entrance is not handicap friendly, requiring about 3 steps to be traversed. Elderly folks are often seen here though so it is passable except in extreme cases.
The menu is modest, almost diner-​like in character but with fewer choices. It features a wide range of breakfasts and sandwich centric lunch choices. Daily and weekly specials are offered including soups and desserts. Currently there are eat in only wing night and pizza specials ($ 9.95!!) and pleasingly BYO is possible. Usually there are two weekly lunch and dinner specials, featuring sandwiches, soups, and entrees. Some recent dinners specials included pork and chicken dishes with potato and veggies, meat loaf, and spaghetti/​meatballs for $ 7 to $ 10. Ample servings for the price are the rule.
Our experience included lunches of one of the best tuna hoagies I can recall and some creative, tasty pierogies with a tomato/​basis cheese filling (3 BIG ones for $ 4.95!!), served with the traditional butter/​onion garnish.
Breakfast offerings include eggs, offered with optional home fries, and meats all well prepared and presented. Currently the eggs/​fries/​meat combo is under $ 5 and well worth it if you enjoy this dish. The pancakes are also excellent. A good bottomless cup of coffee and attentive service rounds it out nicely.
Baked goods are available. The few we’ve sampled have been very good. Creative and attractive cakes and pies are offered. Catering too… The kitchen appears to be well schooled and prides itself in even the modest offerings. Dishes are ALWAYS well prepared and presented. It appears to be capable of much more elegant dishes and are constrained more by the need to be modest and affordable given the location. If they could offer what they are capable of, it might be surprising. Perhaps if they can sustain the business long enough to gain a solid following this could happen, but the location is a tricky one given its constraints.
Items we haven’t yet tried include pizza, rice pudding, wings, hot dogs, pork BBQ, beef stroganoff, etc. but based on several visits we suspect they would be well prepared and presented for their modest price.
The «OMC&B» is a short drive from many places in NEPA offering «local’ charm (dress is very country casual…), a choice of basic but well prepared food, including option to BYO, at modest prices, with very personal and pleasant informal service. Heck… why aren’t they very busy? It is probably because no one knows they are as good as they are. If you seek something a bit out of the past, have had your fill of chain restaurants or pizza houses, and come with modest expectations, give them a try and see… you won’t break the budget here.