Everything you could possibly hope for in a diner in a small Southern city (or whatever size you might think is most appropriate for Kinston -- it's sort of in the grey area of magnitude). The food is excellent, the service is kind and attentive (but not annoyingly so). The kitchen is visible from some angles, and you can really get a feel for the work and care that's being put into your breakfast. The biscuits are good, too (even though the other old breakfast spot in Kinston is more biscuit-centric). Eggs were perfect. The atmosphere is so soothing in its friendliness, and the other customers so endearing, that you won't want to leave. But, eventually, you'll probably have to leave. The only problems are the early closing hours (particularly on Saturdays) -- otherwise I'd be here a lot more often. read more

It was a nice, clean, efficient Cafe. We had breakfast. The staff was attentive but not hovering. If we are passing through we will stop again. read more

Great breakfast spot. Busy Friday morning, but you wouldn't know it. Everything from being seated, to getting coffee then our meal was fast, efficient and friendly! Biscuits were amazing. Just know, home fries are deep fried, not griddle cooked with onions. Pancake also good, but next time I would ask them not to cover with butter. If I was closer this would be a go to. read more

My sister and I enjoyed a Saturday morning breakfast at this happening spot. Be prepared to wait...but it will be worth it! Our breakfast platters were brimming with scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits and sausage gravy. So delicious. It's a friendly spot where the owner walks around and makes everyone feel welcomed. Clean, lots of seating and conveniently located! read more

Another stellar Saturday at LOVICK's in Kinston. Neets and I wanna call this our "breakfast home away from home". Everything was PERFECT! Had a great talk with the owner himself as well as several neighboring customers. GREAT PLACE - had the grits - bottomless coffee & new item to me (the Dough Sandwich Egg Cajun-style with and sausage and mustard in a Sandwich - Let me tell you - "It was top shelf!" We LUV this place!!! read more

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Great service and super friendly. You can't beat the southern hospitality and the food is very good.

My family came here in Dec 2024 from the coast. Finding a good place to eat not knowing the area is hard. We found lovicks shortly after moving here. This has been our breakfast spot ever since. The service is great. The ambiance is busy and crowded most days but your wait typically isnt that long once you enter the building. The waitresses, hot and others are nice. I usually get their Keto plate with Coffee or water. My family loves their variety of meats and the eggs taste so good!!! Stop by! It's a small town place with a small town feel. read more

Great diner for breakfast! Food and service were good. Warehouse meal was a good hearty breakfast. The grits were good but I prefer mine more creamy. The fresh link sausage had some spicy kick to it, so if you don't like spicy food, steer away from that. Pancake was more yellow than what I'm use to. I guess it had corn meal in it? It was still fluffy and great pancake. Coffee was fantastic. The atmosphere was very old school diner with seating area and a bar counter. They also had a sign that they do online orders which is almost unheard of for old school mom n pop dives. Highly recommend and will try lunch in the near future! read more

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I order the western omelette with home fries and wheat bread dine out. The food looked good and representable the way they will just serve in the restaurant. read more

Lovick's Cafe - Western omelette with home fries and wheat bread - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

Great food, great service and great friends. I highly recommend you eat there for breakfast and lunch!

We love love love Lovick's! This restaurant, along with Smith's Cafe, is the oldest family owned restaurants in Kinston, NC. They were started and still continue to be ran by family! The food is excellent and their staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They recently did some renovations to the building and it looks amazing. They continue to sell their famous dough burgers, which I'm not crazy about but a lot of people love them. I stick to their traditional breakfast and regular meals like hamburger steak. The next time you are in Kinston make sure you check out this morning food spot! You won't be sorry! read more

Lovick's Cafe - 2 Eggs, Country Ham, Choice of Side, (apples) choice of Biscuit (or Toast) - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

Not impressed with their greasy, "world famous" dough burger. We stopped for lunch with a small group. It seems to be the place where locals go. The staff and owners were very hospitable though. It's just this dough burger was something from depression-era period. Apparently you can stretch using ground beef for several meals by sprinkling dough with a scant of beef then dropping it in a deep fryer to cook. It was also "loaded", meaning it included their chili, mustard and onions. I put more butter on my toast than they give chili. Sorry folks, while your customer was top notch, the food was not. read more

Lovick's Cafe - Our World Famous "Dough Burger" (not) - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

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First time there, but it won't be our last. Extraordinary breakfast couples with exceptional service and more than fair pricing make this a must stop. Everyone in the restaurant, both employees and customers acted like family who were happy to see you. We could eat there every day for the biscuits alone. Best buscuit I've ever had! Lunch srarts at 11 a.m. and we're looking forward to trying it next time. (They have biscuits at lunch too) read more

It has been a long standing business in Kinston for many years. Breakfast is great as well as lunch. It has a local gathering each day and always has a family type atmosphere. read more

Very quint cafe. Love the friendliness.great food ,the atmosphere is amazing very good service five stars read more

Lovick's Cafe - Lovick's - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

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We both ordered the Western omelet. They had a generous portion of bacon, ham, cheese, tomato chunks, mushrooms, onions and green peppers. I had the grits and biscuit as my sides. As a "grits snob" I was impressed with the texture and flavor.. My biscuit could only have been better if I had asked for home style gravy. It was good with butter and grape jelly. My wife had home fries and toast as her sides. The flavor was good, but she wasn't happy with the temperature- they were on the cool side. We both got orange juice and we're surprised when we were handed a bottle. The wait staff quickly got us two glasses with ice and we had more than enough juice for either of us. Service was quick, in spite of the crowd that was in the cafe. We were told that we had picked a good time (about 9:45 AM) to come eat. There had been a long wait line for most of the morning! We were seated within a few minutes of our arrival. The cafe was just like you'd find in most small towns across America. Nothing exceptional, just a touch of simplicity. read more

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Yes, it was good. All your diner basics for breakfast. Glad they had option for Turkey sausage. My server was slow on the coffee refills which is oddly annoying as once you drop off the plate is there really much more to do? The eggs and links came out first with the home fries on a :06 minute delay. Why not just wait and bring all out together? I had to flag down the busman for a coffee refill. I try to stay away from "slow service" or minor service issues but refilling coffee is a staple of a diners staff duties. I get I'm neither a local nor a regular customer as I live in another state; but I've seen much friendlier and attentive servers. They literally charged me .25 for Butter on my toast! Seriously? If you are going to nickel and dime your guests can you have the stones to say.... " It'll be an extra charge if you want buttered toast." That way I can have a nice laugh and kickstart my day with an outrage. Overall I'd definitely eat here again. Next time I'd just sport a mullet and generate a southern accent in the hopes of better service. read more

Best for breakfast! All the food is great., service is awesome. Highly recommend if you are in Kinston.

Great food and great service. We need more local places in the country like this. They have been in business for 82 years so that must say something. read more

Perfectly prepared southern breakfast, even after lunch. Like the ones our mothers made

Great food and service. I grew up in Kinston, but never visited this restaurant. I returned after being gone for 23 yrs and wanted to give it a go and it was so good, the potatoes were to die for. read more

Great down home cooking! Everything is always fresh and made to order. They have a wide range of dishes and daily specials too. Expect to wait on a Saturday morning but it will be worth the wait every time! read more

It's hard to beat breakfast here at Lovick's Cafe. Fresh sausage links, eggs, hash browns and a pancake. A simple meal but the taste is like no other. I always enjoy visiting from San Antonio sitting in the cafe and listening to the conversations from the locals. Family atmosphere created by amazing people. read more

Lovick's Cafe - a sandwich and fries on a table - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

If you are looking for a place with fantastic service this is your place. Everyone was so friendly from the moment I walked into the door. I went with the combo of two eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast or pancake and then a choice of side. The food was typical diner food but it is the atmosphere that makes this place special. read more

This is where the locals eat and visit. I went here for lunch. You know it is a locals spot when the server seats you and asks if you know what you want - without offering a menu! She did provide a menu and I ordered the daily special of meatloaf with mac and cheese, corn and cornbread, It was ready quickly. Good flavor in the meatloaf, filling portion size. I enjoyed listening to the elderly men at the table next to mine that were swapping stories of their days growing up in the area. read more

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Yummy food! This is a great restaurant with great prices. The food is delicious, and they have the good country ham!

I love their breakfast on Saturday mornings, great food and plenty of it on the plate.. no skimping on their plates

Not sure what the locals think, but anyone traveling from the northeast looking for a delicious and inexpensive southern breakfast will find it here! We opted for take out because the cafe was a bit crowded. The biscuits and gravy were delightful as was my lobster omelet and grits. read more

The place was packed! Always a good sign. Food came fairly quickly and was delicious! The coffee was 10/10!

The breakfast is pretty good and the staff are friendly. The service is good and they staff normally knows what their regular customers want. read more

Steve runs a great restaurant!! If you want the best breakfast in Kinston then Lovick's is a must go to when you are in the area. They are famous for their dough burgers and my mom and dad absolutely loved them! The staff is always super friendly and very helpful. They are always busy so get in early. read more

Very nice people. Very hometown feel - seems like people walk in and know each other. Definitely filled with the older generation. Seems like a lot of retired folks eat breakfast there. So, if you're looking for a hometown diner experience, you can come here. But if you're looking for good food, maybe not so much. We got the egg bacon sausage hash brown and either pancake or French toast platter. Bacon had little flavor. The hashbrown was a toaster hashbrown maybe fried in old oil, the eggs were average, the pancake was average, the French toast was good but not hot and the coffee was average diner coffee. The sausage was huge and actually pretty good. Not sure if it's local but the best part of the breakfast. We are here because we cud walk from our hotel, but probably wouldn't eat here again I don't think. Nice experience, average food. read more

Lovick's Cafe - Platter, everything was average in flavor but the sausage was really good. Hash browns ended up being pre-made instead of shredded. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

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The food was delicious and our waitress gave us the best service ever! This was our first time coming here and we will definitely come back! Thanks so much Mrs. Diane!! read more

Lovick's Cafe - Scrambled eggs and bacon - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

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Good country food, stuck to your ribs kinda meals. Make sure you check out the specials! Just a good wholesome down home experience. read more

Lovick's Cafe - a notepad on a table - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

We really enjoyed our meals here. It is a friendly Cafe with good food. We had 2 breakfasts and 1 lunch. (My husband ate breakfast all 3 times.) He had the eggs, grits, sausage, bacon, and a pancake he said was the best he'd had in a while. I had French toast and a side of bacon. They cooked the bacon crispy just like we asked. It was great! For lunch I had pork barbeque, cole slaw and mac and cheese. Mine was a platter with 2 yeast rolls and a large portion of barbeque which I couldn't finish. The cole slaw tasted homemade and was great. The Mac and cheese is only offered twice a week and was great! Very homey atmosphere, good food, good portions, and very friendly waitresses. Well worth a visit! read more

There is not enough good things I can say about this place. I also wonder why I hadn't stopped in here sooner. First off this place has been open for 80yrs. That means they must be doing something right. This place is a good old fashioned down home diner. This place is nothing fancy just simple. Seems like these days we need more simple stuff. First off this place was very clean and very well kept. Next the customer service to me was really great. Every employee that I was greeted by was truly sincere. You could tell they cared about the business. I was also greeted by the owner. I got to chat with him briefly. You could tell he loved the business and cared about his customers. Now on to the food itself. I decided to try out some breakfast. I was not disappointed either. My eggs were perfectly cooked. The link sausage had a nice bite to it and not overly spicy. And my grits were great too and not dried out like other places serve. I also saw some of there lunch plates they served and there portions to me looked huge. You definitely won't go hungry.I wish I could give this place more than five stars. Now I know not everyone may like this place but I sure do. And if this place wasn't a little to far for me to drive to. I'd probably become a regular there. read more

Very disappointed. Went there for breakfast. Scrambled eggs were like leather and service was not great. Would never go back

Went in and had to wait. Okay no problem....typical for a good place to eat. We sat down and the waitress says "I will be right with you!" 20 minutes later we sit with no menu or anything. Crappiest place to go. Don't waste your time going to this dive. read more

Great local flavor in Kinston, North Carolina Lovicks seems to be where all the locals go for breakfast highly recommend for breakfast.. read more

Lovick's Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Kinston, North Carolina

Mom & pops style restaurant. Medium size place with standard menu. Nothing special here, just fast and cheap food. Wish it was more. read more