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| - For those wondering why anyone in Lakewood would choose to eat at a chain breakfast restaurant when there are umpty-umph tasty independent restaurants, bars, diners for breakfast, etc. here, if you need to "eat out" with seniors or kids who like to have a standard menu to pick from and don't want to drive clear out Center Ridge Road to find a place, this Bob Evans is for you. It fills the gap left when the IHOP in a different part of the 'Wood moved out a few years ago and was replaced by yet another Mexican joint. You can take your 80-year-old dad, visiting Great Aunt Sally, or little cousins here, they can order the same Rise n' Shine they get back home in Indiana, the restroom probably won't look like a rejected Stones album cover, and you will have less 'splaining to do than at an indie place about eccentric patrons and help ("Mommy, why does that man keep saying f___"?) or about why the regular at the next booth ordered the same as your elderly relative but received a visibly bigger portion of meat and extra gravy since she's buddies with the local diner wait staff.
This Bob Evans, being new, is spiffier than most, and the menu, like I said, is average but consistent. If you stick to the standard offerings, the prices are generally no more than a couple dollars higher than an independent diner, and the portions are usually large enough to require a to-go box. The greeters and counter staff tend to be super-friendly and "on"; the wait staff are sometimes good, sometimes meh (and the person serving you usually seems to change at least once mid-meal - either they work really funny shifts or they have a strange way of dividing up the work). Since it's a Bob Evans, we expect a certain amount of bored service and simply adjust the tip based on the level of engagement we get.
One nice thing they do is have designated charity days when, if you mention a certain local charity or show a flyer, they donate a percentage of your bill to said charity. We like to go on the days that benefit the Lakewood animal shelter. There are other ones too and a calendar on display showing the different days (or you can check their website). Wish more businesses would "give back" to the community in this way.
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