Mary’s Kitchen

Always satisfied with the meal and the staff but food service could be a bit quicker. We usually go Saturday or Sunday mid morning and they are usually packed but it does take a little longer to get the food then expected even for a busy time; but we always go back for a great breakfast!

I haven’t been to Geneva for 20 years. The first place I looked for when I returned this weekend was Mary’s kitchen. I was so excited to see it is still here. The food was quick, hot, and delicious. My husband and I had 2 eggs bacon hash brown and toast. Server was pleasant.

This place is very cool, the food was good.
The proximity to the lake was great
The place is small, but that is ok.
The only downside is, it’s hard to find the first time you go there, the owners are great.

The cinnamon rolls alone are worth a trip here. Wait staff are kind and do a great job. Menu is simple, but all is made well.

We tried this place after biking the entire strip in Geneva on the lake. It is off the main road, but it’s a good place for reasonable priced food and table service in a town of mostly bars.

A lovely breakfast on the lake in this adorable little town. Very delicious omelet, above average coffee and a nice side of fruit. Service was what you would expect from a small town — attentive, sweet and laid back.

I’ve been here in the past, and recall leaving satisfied. However, this time I got the pulled pork sandwich and it was far below satisfying. Honestly, it tasted more like a sloppy joe than pulled pork. I wouldn’t completely steer people away from this place, but at least don’t get the pulled pork.

What a great little gem off the beaten path. We were in town for a family reunion and stumbled across Mary’s while out walking around. That was my first visit in 2010. I had the best perch sandwich I’ve ever had. (I hope it’s still on the menu). I live in another part of Ohio and have only been back to GOTL 2 or 3 times since then but we’ve made it a point to eat there when in the area. Really good food at a good price.

Good homemade cabbage rolls on Sunday. Good kids fish platter. Nice people. Good service

Just not sure about this place. I think they’re just short staffed. Took 15 minutes to clear off the table and an additional 40 minutes to get food. Order was wrong and food was cold. However there was only one waitress I saw for a pretty large serv

Excellent homemade food. Seasoned homemade fries are awesome. I had the BLT, it was great. My son loved the bacon double cheeseburger. My other son loved the gravy and biscuits which he said was better than Bob Evans. Will definitely come again!

For a seasonal restaurant with a home-​town feel, you will have to drive a long way to do better than Mary’s. The help makes you feel like you’re in their own home and the food is priced right. We go whenever we can and primarily for breakfast. We love sitting on the porch only a few hundred feet from the lake. Come once; you’ll be back again.

We discovered Mary’s Kitchen upon exiting the historic Buckeye Antique Shop across the quiet street. So yes, Mary’s Kitchen is located part way down a side street just off the «strip», with dedicated adjacent off-​street parking. We were lured in by the sign advertising the daily special — stuffed cabbage rolls.
We were, however, initially disappointed to learn the special proved too popular — they ran out. Our spirits were lifted when the waitress told us a fresh supply was 30 minutes from completion. We had the time, so we decided to wait it out. (Side note: we found it quite refreshing to have a waitstaff member practicing full disclosure as to known kitchen delays. How many times have we all sat down in a restaurant and waited an hour for the food to finally be served, yet the staff offered no advance warning. Thank you for telling us ahead of time — an informed customer is a happy customer.)
We were first served dinner salads, containing typical ingredients, all fresh and appealing. dressings were tasty. The dinners arrived when promised. The stuffed cabbage rolls were delicious. We received two cabbage rolls with a good-​sized serving of mashed potatoes. All in all, we had very enjoyable meals. Oh, and mind you, these meals were $ 7.99 a piece. No alcohol served, but the license is not far behind, we were told. We also saw folks eating the other daily special — turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes. Those portions were huge.
We’ll definitely return to Mary’s Kitchen on our next visit to GOTL.

Really wanted to love this place. Great retro setting, an old house, you can sit on the screened porch and eat with the sound of the lake in the background, nice servers, Fiesta-​ware, claims they have home cooked food, what more could you ask ?
I may be picky but I want real cooked food! Not frozen reheated but only partially thawed «fried» chicken. It was still ice cold in the middle but the chicken wasn’t pink so not really sure when it was originally cooked but obviously not the first cooking when I got it, it looked like the old frozen banquet chicken. Fake mashed potatoes, really how easy and how cheap are mashed potatoes to make from scratch yet they serve this processed junk that were lousy for even fake lol! Pay a dollar more and make them there from a potato or at least buy a decent fake one!!! Ended the meal with «homemade» pie with bright yellow artificially flavored pudding from a tube or can or someplace untouched by human hands that also looked not homemade but they said it was. Husband’s pork chops, which he normally loves so gets them any place that serves them, were just OK. He said they were tough and kind of flavorless but at least they didn’t look (and taste) like a frozen dinner served on Fiesta-​ware.
The pros: They do have specials so maybe those are actually not pulled out of the freezer and reheated, didn’t order them so I don’t know. The salad that was one of the sides actually was decent; the all to often served bagged, chopped, iceberg but carrots, radish, tomato, onions (and was told normally cukes but they were out of them) served in a brown wooden salad bowl like my mom used to have :)…but not nearly good enough to save the meal. Cute setting, nice to sit on the porch on a breezy summer night. They had real butter packets, not «butter blend» with the packaged rolls.
The big big con that kills the deal: I don’t use that kind of processed/​precooked stuff at home so I sure don’t want to pay $ 8−9+an entrée and get it, especially when it’s called «home cooking». UH, sorry not «home cooking» by anyone I would consider even a passably good «home cook» lol. Our meal was $ 35 with tip for what I could buy at the grocery store for under $ 10 and let the microwave do the work.
Maybe other meals are better and it seemed like they had some locals there (Maybe they know to just eat the specials? I saw the specials, one looked good, one not so much but the same fake potatoes) but I don’t really know why. Maybe you have to know what to order? Or they like TV dinners? Won’t be making the ½ hr trip again to try to find out.
I think the thing but really bugs me about this place is summed up in this. They say on Facebook page, «home cooked» and show an older woman «making» the pies, well at least whipping meringue (?). We passed no less that a dozen fruit and veggie farm stands on our drive out from Mentor so within ½ an hr easily. Yet for their strawberry shortcake they use frozen strawberries (couldn’t see the rest, looked like ice cream, don’t know what the cake part was). WHY??? You have fresh food within a stone’s throw and choose to use processed junk? I Just don’t get it but at least fess up and don’t call it home cooking so I can know not to think I am going to get a decent meal. I am pretty sure when it opened it didn’t serve this kind of stuff, why did you change it?