Lombardo's Cafe

I stopped in here before I checked out Louie's and this is a great all-American kind of place. A bar where you can bring the kids and get them ready for their life of alcoholism . Kidding aside, there were some nice folks to talk with, good drinks to be had and the smell of fried food permeated my nostrils and my clothing.

I never thought of myself as a breakfast person. Today, I realized my aversion to eating before lunch has more to do with lighting and people than it does food.

Lombardo's is a bar. Nothing about it says "cafe." It's dark. The servers are edgy -- not young, BS edgy like the women at Kuma's. These are hard-assed women who have seen some poop go down.

Anyway, breakfast isn't cheap, but it isn't pricey. I had the scramboli, a Lombardo's signature dish combining home fries, eggs, diced tomatoes, peppers, cheese and ham with a side of toast. I split it with my date, and it was enough to feed us both.

Coffee was good and kept coming. To my frustration, it was served on a very wobbly table, no doubt knocked askew by one of Lombardo's famed bar fights. Yeah, they have a lot of them on weekend nights.

In another nod to awesomeness, the bar's TV was showing "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" while Christmas music was playing from an unknown source. And the building next door burned down, which simply was heralded as more parking for everyone!

Anyway, here's the point: I really like places that are the dominant location for a particular type of product. In LIma, it's Kewpee for burgers, BW3 for wings, Fat Jack's for pizza, The Chateau for hangovers and Lombardo's for breakfast.

My love of mindless, totalitarian commerce probably indicates I should be in the miltary or a Communist regime, but that's another story.

After a night of boozin' it up in downtown Lima, we needed some good, morning-after drunk food.  Enter Lombardo's, recommended by the kind woman who over-served us the night before.  

From the front Main St. entrance, you kinda wonder if the place actually serves breakfast.  The neon sign blares "Lombardo's Liquors" in big ol' letters with a very tiny "& Food" next to it as an afterthought.  But we were not led astray.  While Lombardo's was most definitely serving the booze to some of their morning drinkers, they also serve breakfast all day--and it seriously IS almost all day, as the kitchen is open from 6am to 1:15am.  The place is a dive, so we're not talkin' fancy brunch food or anything, but if you want some eggs, meat and home fries, you've come to the right place.  Justin had some scrambled dish (probably called a Garbage Plate at many other establishments) that came with two slices of American cheese on top.  Again, not fancy, but just right for sopping up the previous night's debauchery.

Coffee is good, food is decent and cheap, setting is divey.  One server was a total doll and the other looked as though she'd had a rough go of it.  Lombardo's wasn't totally awesome, but it certainly did the job and I'm glad we got to experience it.  I would totally hit it up for a late night breakfast if I'm ever in Lima again.