The Place To Be

This place really is the place to be for breakfast. Fast attentive service and quality food at a cheap price. It doesn’t get any better than this. It’s your classic Greek/​Lebanese style diner. At times you have to wait, but it’s always worth it.

PTB is the worst kept secret in Lakewood because despite its size, everyone knows it’s the best breakfast/​lunch in the city.
Small diner with big portions, cheap prices, delicious food, and super fast serving time. Friendly workers and family owned for generations.
If it’s your first time, do yourself a favor and sit at the bar — you’ll get a kick out of the 4 cooks who don’t speak a lick of English slinging hundreds of pounds of potatoes on the grill — literally MOUNTAINS of hash browns.
Simply the best and a Lakewood tradition.

This is one of our favorite stops. We are Sat/​Sun breakfast regulars, but popped in today for lunch. I had the best patty melt EVER — oozing with melted cheese and loaded with tender chopped onions. The Greek family/​owners a make you feel at home. As Maria said today, ‘the secret is we cook with love.’ Sagapo!

Always a great time for breakfast. I have never been for lunch or when they used to have dinner but I am sure the same quality service, friendless and delicious food would be there.

Best breakfast has to be their Gyro Omelet! It is served fresh, fast and with friendly service and a great price.

Great little diner. It had a great feel to it. It’s tucked away on a side street right off of Lakewood’s downtown main drag, Detroit.
The first thing you notice when you walk in is how clean the place is. Right away I felt great about it because of the cleanliness factor. It’s always the best first impression!
The menu is the perfect size. They have all the basics, regular breakfast plates, omelettes, skillets and benedicts. I chose the country biscuit and eggs with choice of meat. The biscuits and gravy were awesome. That along would be a satisfying meal. The biscuit isn’t dry (I’ve had some that are dry even covered in gravy) you could tell they’re made fresh. The gravy was thick and creamy with huge chunks of sausage. You also get two eggs any style and a choice of meat. They had everything from bacon to turkey sausage to ham steak.
We went at 9:30 and was able to get a booth right away. I’m not sure how busy this place gets but it’s a great local spot for breakfast.
Before you go: CASH ONLY! However, there is an ATM on site in case you forget.

Very nice breakfast place. Traditional diner items. Doesn’t accept credit cards, but there is an atm in the place. Chicken fried steak is especially good. Close parking near by, free parking in the mornings and weekends.

Love this place! We take the family all the time! The breakfast is so fast and delicious! My favorite meal is the gyro. A huge amount of meat and cucumber sauce is great!

Everyone around town knows this place and there is a reason why. I can’t picture a better place to get your breakfast or brunch.
It is a small place that reminds me of so many older diners that I have visited. The food is cheap and plentiful. Any breakfast food? You can’t miss with your choice. From French toast to eggs to pancakes, it is all good.
If you like small, intimate diners where you can converse with your waitress then this is the place for you.

This is a great Lakewood family restaurant! Open for Breakfast and Lunch. I have been here plenty of times. It’s my uncle Frank’s fav! It is always busy there due to its popularity! Wait was about 5 minutes. I had the Greek Omelet made with Spinach, Mushrooms, Onions, Green Peppers and Feta Cheese! Coffee was smooth and nice and hot! My mom has hi made sausage and gravy! Gravy was smooth and spicy! This place was hopping with waitresses and hosts working hard to serve us all. Great customer service!!! Place is a bit small. Too bad they can’t expand or relocate! But all in all its a great Place To Be!!!

Wow! This really is the place to be. We decided to try out a new diner on New Years Day. We were promptly seated, even though it seemed to be packed inside. I ordered the greek omelette and the gyro meat was absolutely perfect. The portions are large and the food is fresh. Our coffee was always filled to the brim and our waitress was attentive without frequent visits to our table. Great family atmosphere. I will definitely return!

Always good food. When it comes to breakfast food, you can’t go wrong. The menu is gigantic. They also have a giant lunch menu, but why bother when you can eat breakfast at any time of day. Amazing omelette, great skillets, even the wheat toast is delicious and smothered with butter. Ultimate comfort food.
Service is alright, hit or miss, not always the friendliest. They are fast though for the most part, even when it’s crowded, which it usually is on a weekend morning. It’s cash only, so remember that. And you pay at the register, not at the table.

There are very few good old fashioned diners that get it right. This one does. Fast, friendly, traditional breakfast. Unpretentious, and really clean. The only downfall is the meh coffee, although it’s always hot and your cup never goes dry. Give it a go unless your a pretentious food snob who doesn’t know what diner dining is all about.

The Place To Be is a local diner in the Lakewood area that people have been going to for years. I went last Sunday prior to church with my beau and his dad. I’d never been before and I can’t say I’ve been missing much.
The diner is old, while clean, it is old. Service was prompt and your typical diner gal service, «What can I getchya?». Coffee is crap (not unexpected) and the menu boasts traditional diner fare.
I ordered 2 eggs, toast, and bacon. It came with hash and I was happy and satisfied with what I ordered. Toast comes out prior to your meal, so if you prefer it warm & with your meal, ask when you order for it to be brought with your meal.
Prices are to be expected and I couldn’t complain.
Would I go again, sure. Would I make a special trip, nah. I wasn’t impressed overall and I can get diner food closer to home.

I’ve been here a few times for breakfast in the last couple weeks and have yet to be disappointed. The server we have had, wish I knew the name, has always been fantastic. She isn’t too overbearing, and she isn’t too absent despite usually being the only server very early in the morning. She is always on point with refills and checking back with you even when it’s busy.
As for the food, it has great taste and value. I tried the pancakes my gal-​pal got and they were awesome. So awesome I had to come back a few days later just to order them specifically. They are really filling even if you get a short stack. The batter is crazy, I get this taste of vanilla or something that’s added to it that really makes it taste awesome. Always gotta get the home fries with ketchup.
Besides that, I’ve really only gotten that one where you get eggs, home fries, a meat, toast and juice for like 8 $ or something. Tastes great and came out quick. Definitely would like to have an omelette next time.
So yeah. Cash only, but you can get quite a bit of quality made food for a good price. I’m leaving it at a very high 4 for now with a 5 pending when I stop in for lunch one of these days and try some other stuff. The turkey bacon club has been calling my name lately…

I really like TPTB. I’ve only tried the breakfast there, but it’s always been tasty. Last time I was there I had the Greek Skillet, gyro meat was well seasoned and tender. Fair prices and a nice family run atmosphere. Service had always been on point for me.
Only thing keeping it from 5 stars is that they don’t take cc… It’s 2015 people

The Place to Be is a small diner in Lakewood. You can tell right from walking in that it is a family owned restaurant and the staff takes great care in remembering who it’s regulars are (in fact, they might have found a couple new regulars in my boyfriend and I with our recent visit).
We went for breakfast, I had just got done working night shift so I was very hungry, and we were not disappointed. We were seated right away and given menus, and they were very extensive menus. I chose the pancakes and some hashbrowns and my boyfriend chose one of the skillets.
It didn’t take long for our food to come. They gave me a big container of warm syrup for my pancakes. I was surprised that the pancakes were rather yellow when I cut into them, but looks aside, they were absolutely delicious. I could get a strong taste of vanilla when I bit into them. They were a very generous portion (I was starving after my shift so I was able to eat ALL of it). The hashbrowns weren’t bad, I just think they could have used a little more seasoning.
The service was perfect, they weren’t too overbearing. They showed up just the right amount to ask us how our meals were and to refill drinks. Sometimes that’s a better service approach because it allows you to enjoy your meal a little bit more
The only thing that’s keeping me from giving this place a five star review is that they only accept cash payments. I’m not sure if there are certain logistics of being able to accept debit/​credit card payments, but that’s not enough to keep me from coming back.

Biscuits and gravy, eggs over easy & bacon. Enough said! Great little dinner with amazing service and atmosphere. Definitely «the place to be» for breakfast in Lakewood.

Went here when my go-​to breakfast place was closed.
It’s a great mom and pop diner. There is lot parking right behind it or you can drive North on Warren a bit and park along the street.
You get a great amount of food for the price. The food came out within 5 minutes of ordering. The diner wasn’t too busy, but it had enough people that I expected it to be a longer wait. The omelet I had was the perfect amount of peppers, onions, ham, and cheese. Got a lot of hash browns with it, too. My buddy ordered the cinnamon french toast. It was nice and thick bread, and it had the perfect amount of cinnamon. The waitress was around constantly filling up our coffee.
Definitely gonna come back here.

If I had to chose only one place for breakfast in Cleveland– this is my pick.
The Place to Be isn’t full of surprises, there is no hollandaise or kale lurking anywhere and the hashbrowns are plain jane– but it is reliable, fast, friendly, reasonably priced, and always serves good diner breakfast fare. Really… that simple.