All of the coffee and chai lattes are good!!! The service is also really amazing!!! They are all very nice!!! read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Mehhhhh. I was expecting something a bit similar to first watch but instead the vibes was closer to a Waffle House. Don't get me wrong, i love Waffle House so no shade here butttttt sleepy bee did not meet my expectations in the slightest. Waffle House is actually better than sleepy bee. The place was not clean... and I can see past a little messiness during a rush but the cups were even dirty, menus were stained and messy as well, and then the restaurant itself didn't look well maintained. The food was below par. I ordered the worker bee which is a traditional breakfast but my sausages were hard as rock.... The eggs were def sitting for 15 minutes before they got to me. &The potato's were okay. I would pass on this restaurant. read more

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The restaurant had a great vibe! It felt exactly like what "Sleepy Bee" in cafe font would be. :) The waiter was very attentive and friendly and the food was good- potatoes were the best. read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Eggs, bacon, toast - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Hands-down one of the best breakfast spots I've been to in Cincinnati. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere made the experience even better. I ordered the pancakes and the Worker Bee breakfast plate, with scrambled eggs, bacon, roasted potatoes, and multigrain toast. The menu has a ton of creative options, and you can tell they care about sourcing local, high-quality ingredients. Whitney took care of us and she was excellent, attentive without overdoing it. Service like that makes all the difference. If you're looking for a spot with amazing food, great service, and a cool atmosphere, Sleepy Bee is a must-visit. read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Inside - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

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This place is so cute! We were here a few years ago and liked it so much we came back (we are not local to the area.) Love the cute decor and whimsical atmosphere. I wish they had more merch (t-shirts) for sale, I would buy one, but both times they only had 1 or 2, neither of which were my size. Staff was friendly both times we were here, and food was good. A bit of a wait (about 1/2 hour) on a Sunday about noon. The "waitlist" option on the website was not available. Not sure if that was due to the restaurant or due to the Toast app they use. Would definitely come back! read more

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Food was bad. Their smashed potatoes have a gross sweet buttery sauce. The toast/bread is some nasty 9-grain type of stuff. The chorizo scramble tasted gamey and greasy. How do you mess up breakfast this bad!?!? Not sure how this place has such a high rating...the ONLY good thing I had was the cinnamon-roll pancake and orange juice. read more

Quaint little breakfast joint in Cincy. Nice atmosphere, staff was great (although they seated me all the way in the back, weird, plenty of opens spaces up front, looks?). Service was top notch as well. The food, definitely bland, I had to season it and add hot sauce to it as well to give it some flavor. The smashed potatoes were disappointing, since they give you two tiny little potatoes. read more

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Sleepy Bee is a great breakfast spot. Service is good. Food is fresh and delicious. I had the avo toast with a side of Eclerlins goetta. Both were quite tasty. We had a party of 6 and had no issues with the noise level. Other members of our party had blueberry pancakes and the worker bee. All enjoyed their meals. Definitely recommend. read more

Hey just back here to Sleepy Bee again! We had another wonderful experience for breakfast. Funny story...I wanted to order the Chorizo Scramble but instead, and without thinking I ordered the Forager Scramble. So I expected chorizo and red pepper but got asparagus and goat cheese. Now I'm not too picky, I enjoyed the Forager instead! :) Gives me another reason to come back when staying overnight in Cincy to try the chorizo scramble. My wife enjoyed her breakfast burrito. The Bee Cake was delicious. Made from almond and quinoa flour, I believe. Of course the place was hopping with a positive energy. read more

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This place is super cute. I was excited about their vegetarian meat options, but unfortunately they were all out when I was there, so when I ordered the salad without the chicken they did offer to make it with an egg, which was ok. The honey latte with oat milk was delicious. Service was friendly and efficient. read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Easily one of our favorite brunch locations in Cinci/NKY. The food and service are consistently good, and we love that they source ingredients locally. Their mocha latte is amazing and I'm a big fan of their apricot Greek yogurt. My husband swears by the Broakley sandwich. If you're planning to go during peak/weekend hours, I recommend using No Wait or arriving early as they are typically quite busy (and for good reason!) read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

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My wife and I had our second brunch at Sleepy Bee today. We went the first time a few years ago while in Cincy and had a good meal so we gave it another try. They're a nice stop downtown for breakfast/brunch/lunch. It's basic breakfast stuff but well prepared. My wife likes the pancakes. She had the Nutty cakes, chocolate chip pancakes topped with fresh peanut butter, and suggests getting that on the side. It's a lot! I had a basic breakfast with eggs, goetta, toast and potatoes. Plenty of food. Fresh squeezed OJ. Be prepared to wait a bit if you go on a Sunday morning. But it opened up around 12:45 for immediate seating. The staff did a good job. The decor is Bee-themed and enjoyable to explore. read more

I'm disappointment because this place has so many stars on Yelp and it mid to say the least. My food was served cold (potatoes and toast was toasted for like 60secs lol). My omelet was okay but they didn't even cook my spinach with the egg it was a topping. read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Avi Scramble - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Cool ambiance, friendly service, and quality fresh ingredients to table food. Good selection of brunch dishes. Kids gets coloring menu page & 2- double side crayons ( super cute). Good price for high quality ingredients read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Cool backsplash - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

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Close to our hotel and great reviews so we stopped in for breakfast. Overall mediocre and expensive. $50 for breakfast for two. I got the worker bee- bacon, egg, smashed potatoes and toast. Potatoes were very soft, weird to have mashed potatoes with breakfast. Thought they would be crispier. One was just sluced down the middle so it was a baked potato. Husband got the chorizo scramble. Eggs were very soft and chorizo tasted more like italian sausage than chorizo. He said it was eatable. He complained for him portion sizes were small. He ate my baked potatoes and toast. It was all just ok. Nothing amazing or worth the price. Also they offer a "jam" for the toast that is barely thicker than raspberry water with no sugar and very little flavor. Just not our jam. Ha ha. So dont think we'd go back. Although, our neighbors got a pancake and it looked good. read more

This restaurant deserves the title of "the BEST IN CINCINNATI". Chill and bright atmosphere. Always packed, very popular. Pancakes were huge and fluffy . Even the gluten-free pancakes came out fluffy and very tasty. don't forget the syrup and other sauce they added to the various pancakes. they were delicious to the core and ingredients are all sourced locally. Avo toast were unique, came with so much healthier ingredients. Sandwiches stacked high and yummy. I was full on half of it. Definitely can be shared. We also like the puréed seasonal soup and all the coffee drinks. Service was SUPER ... down to earth attitude, knowledgeable of the items on menu, friendly and efficient. Value: worth every penny. Reasonable for the quality of the ingredients you can get here. read more

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Found our new breakfast spot! The food was delicious and affordable. The inside was super cute and on theme without too much. The waitress was extremely friendly and answered all of our questions! Super excited to go back and keep trying the menu read more

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Staff was so friendly and attentive despite being slammed! My husband and I brought our five month old and her stroller into eat. They sat us at a two top that was out of the way so she could sleep in her stroller. Often the staff would come by just to talk to us about babies. Made us feel so welcomed. I had the seasonal fruit pancake -- lemon curd-- and my husband had the breakfast plate. We ate every bit of our meals. Would definitely recommend to anyone staying in the city! read more

Jumping breakfast spot that had quite a wait time when we arrived on a Saturday morning. The staff was friendly and for as busy as they were, very attentive to us. The inside was easy on the eyes and clean. My son ordered a stack of two classic buttermilk pancakes with chocolate chips $7.75 plus .75 for chocolate chips in each pancake - made from bee-pollinated flours (you can get the pancakes gluten free) - all served with Milligan's maple syrup (local Ohio syrup). He finished just half of the double stack and had to tap out. I had The Worker Bee $12.75 - two eggs any style, choice of bacon, candied bacon, sausage, turkey sausage, goetta (my choice) or vegan goetta, toast (rye) and a side. I would recommend the Roasted Red Skin Potatoes with house-made honey garlic sauce for a side. The sauce was delicious! So goetta .... I thought I would enjoy it, but I thought the oats mixed with the ground pork was bland. I know it's a Cincinnati thing, but on it's own it was meh. If you have a texture issue than the oats will probably bother you. I did find a solution .... hot sauce! Overall, Sleepy Bee Cafe was a good breakfast spot to start our day! read more

Server was not that friendly, pushing us to order, received no refills, ask for a box 3 times, my husband's food was horrible ask for 2 pieces of bread she had an attitude and said I'll have to charge you for it (which was OK) then brought it to us in a box so, I just used that one for my box along with his bread The Food was not that great, this downtown location has really gone bad and we will not return there. There was no other customers in there except another party came in after us. read more

I read great reviews about this place and decided to try it while visiting Cincinnati for the day. Unfortunately, my experience didn't live up to the hype. After being seated, a table that arrived after me was greeted and offered drinks first. I ordered a simple breakfast... eggs, bacon, and asked to substitute the potatoes for a small slice of avocado. I appreciated that the manager approved the substitution at no extra charge, even though it was a very tiny portion. I requested my eggs over medium plus, mentioning specifically that I don't like them super runny. When the food arrived, the egg whites were still runny and the yolks were completely liquid, definitely not medium. The toast was cold, stale and hard, though the bacon was good. The server offered to remake my eggs, and the second attempt was much better, but by the time I got them, the rest of my food was cold. I also never received a coffee refill or too off and had to ask for a coffee to go at the end which was about the only item that was warm in the place. The environment was as nice though, looked clean and quaint. Overall, I felt like just another number. The service was indifferent, and the breakfast was disappointing. I wouldn't recommend this place based on my experience. read more

Pulled Chicken Hash: Smashed potatoes topped with marinated chicken thighs, carrot slaw, ginger pickles, and a hot honey aioli drizzle Kids Pancake: Happy Cake with a fruit smile Both of our meals were delicious! The hash was tastier than I expected and the ginger pickles tied the entire dish together. Thankfully, my kiddo didn't eat her entire pancake so I got to try a few bites. Despite her drenching it in maple syrup, I thought it was delicious. I would recommend Sleepy Bee to friends! The staff was friendly the entire time and I loved the decor and friendly bees throughout. Save the bees! read more

Cute place downtown Cincinnati. Parking garage on the backside is the best option. Mocha and buttermilk pancakes are to die for. Omelette and smashed red skin potatoes were also stellar. Great brunch spot but gets busy so join the waitlist. read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Egg white Avi omelette - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Cute place, but I think we came in a bad day. They ran out of eggs, fruit, potato. Service was nice, but it took a while for things to come out. The bee cake was good. It was a gluten free pancake. The soup was also a good substitute since they ran out of stuff- it was a curry sweet potato soup. read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Breakfast burrito - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

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While looking for a breakfast/brunch spot close to where I was staying, I found Sleepy Bee was close by and had great reviews. Me and a couple of my coworkers decided to come here. It wasn't too busy and we were seated right away. Everything sounded really good from the menu and looked really good from all the photos online. I got eggs, bacon, and chose to do a chocolate chip pancake on the side instead of toast. It was really good and the bacon had a sweet taste that made it so much better. Our server was nice and friendly. She gave us recommendations. The price was really good (we're coming from CA so comparing it to that). I'll definitely be back next time I'm in town. read more

Good, no-frills place for breakfast. Tasty meal and good value for what you're getting--exactly what you'd expect. We had pancakes and the steak Philly omelet. Chloe, our server, took great care of us. read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Goetta - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Sleepy Bee is a quaint little place for breakfast, brunch & lunch. Everything is geared toward locally naturally sourced fresh healthy ingredients. Even all the decor and lighting is centered around bees lives! Madison gave me a warm welcome and sat me at a nice end table. Anastaisha was a really nice server and was able to help me decide from the lunch menu. She checked on me several times and made sure I had everything I needed. My Bee Chop Salad was made with crispy local mixed greens, raw beets, broccoli, celery, avocado, carrots and Sleepy Bee seed mix topped with hot honey vinegarette. It was generously portioned and had a really nice healthy fresh taste. They have many unique healthy items on their menu that you won't find at other places. read more

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Awesome! Downtown gem! We walked from our hotel & were immediately seated at a hightop by the front window. Hubby's coffee was very good! In fact, our awesome waitress brought him a to go cup as we left. I had the Avi scrambler with fruit & it was delicious! Scrambled eggs with mushrooms & spinach etc. & incredibly taste toast! The slice of avocado was pretty & added to the dish! Hubby's Worker Bee was totally enjoyable. He had goetta which is a Cincy thing & he enjoyed it. It has a positive mod vibe & was pretty busy for a Monday morning! Clean, bright & and a happy atmosphere to boot! We loved it. You will too! read more

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We ordered avocado toast. Terrible. Looks like they sliced a small piece of avocado and spread it across a piece of bread. No way! Would never come back. read more

I was really disappointed. I used to love Sleepy Bee in Oakley. I had pancakes and sausage and the syrup was the runniest most flavorless syrup ever. It had the viscosity of water. I also didn't like the sausage but I'm really picky about sausage. read more

I've dined at sleepy bee in blue ash before, and the food was incredible both times. The service is always friendly, attentive, and smooth. Unfortunately, my breakfast here Saturday was shockingly bad. If we hadn't been on a time crunch, I would've spoken up, but after already waiting 35 minutes for food (totally understandable for a Saturday morning) we just didn't have time to ask for a refire. We sat at the bar and were taking care of SO WELL by Felix. They were bright, friendly, and took great care of us. The food however was awful. I got an off menu tofu scramble with vegan goetta and breakfast potatoes. The scramble was underseasoned and shockingly small for $17. The potatoes were barely room temperature and dry...like had been made hours before and sat out dry. Avocado was bruised and unappetizing. Toast was the highlight, and as a vegan...it was dry toast. That being the highlight should be alarming haha. The vegan goetta was good, but for $5 additionally, I was expecting more than a crispy 2oz portion. I dosed everything in hot sauce and choked it down. The place was busy, but not a long wait or overcrowded. Vibes were good from the staff, but the kitchen needed some work. Overall, for nearly $25, I was incredibly disappointed and won't be returning to the downtown location in the future. read more

First time in Cincy and this place was within walking distance. Great service and food! We ordered cortados with two Worker Bee breakfasts. We had pancakes instead of toast and one of us ordered the goetta, but we both loved it. They also have T shirts, stickers, books, and more for sale. Great place! Probably will stop here again before we leave. read more

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I found the Sleepy Bee because it was so highly rated, and for good reason! It is a popular spot worthy of checking out. This cafe puts a lot of effort into sustainability and consciousness around their ingredients and supplies. It is well-run and the service staff are buzzing (sorry) around, keeping all of the patrons happy. The menu has quite a few unique and delicious items. I opted for the avocado toast with roasted sweet potatoes. The flavors were great with the golden raisins elevating the whole meal. My partner got the blueberry pancakes and turkey sausage with lesser results. They ended up a bit tough, though I think it was due to using 99% fat free ground turkey (only a guess based on cooking with it before). The environment is cute, artsy, and inviting. Check it out! read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Avo toast and roasted sweet potatoes - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Before arriving in Cincinnati, I spent some time on Reddit and Yelp looking for locals favorite breakfast joints. The Sleepy Bee Café was always towards the top of the list. Unfortunately, I did not have a great experience. First, parking downtown is tough. Every lot wanted to charge me $20 (game day parking (Reds)). I finally found hourly parking and was at the café right about the time they opened. I sat at the island/bar and proceeded to chat with waitstaff. Everyone I interacted with was friendly, and willing to give advice on their city (particularly coffee shop advice). My waitress was also kind enough to explain what goetta is...I'd never heard of it. I opted for the meat scramble with the goetta. The food came out barely warm. The potatoes were particularly cool (the temp, not the vibe). The scramble was watery and under seasoned. Best part of my experience were, by far, the people I met behind the counter. Ultimately, my review: I'm a sorry I wasted an out of town breakfast here. read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Recommended by a colleague, what a great find! The restaurant is large, open and airy, much bigger than in looks from the street. The service was immediate, polite and friendly. The food was really excellent! I had the Greek scramble, and substituted a buttermilk pancake for the toast. Everything was nicely prepared and delicious. The lunch offerings looked equally good, thick sandwiches, tasty looking salads and yummy looking shakes. I will definitely return when I'm in town. read more

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I have been to Sleepy Bee before a few years ago. I enjoyed the food and was excited to come back...... Today when coming back, it was a completely different experience. I'm not sure if there was a change in management or what, but anyone who's worked in the service industry would be able to walk in and directly see things weren't going well on that shift. It was a mess. Dirty tables all over the restaurant, servers weren't attentive to their tables, cold food, and incredibly long wait times. Was very disappointed in the overall experience. read more

Great place for a fresh and tasty brunch. There's a strong emphasis on locally-sourced food an the multigrain sourdough is so delicious! read more

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Looking at current reviews I now know for sure this place has gone down the drain. It was so good that last time we went maybe a year, year and half ago and that is why we decided to go back while in the city again. Waitress seemed bothered to even take the order and wife asked for crispy bacon. Order arrives, bacon is barely cooked, toast might have had butter on it but u could barely notice and you can't really call it toast because it was more like just bread and toasted for maybe 1 second. Now the waitress is MIA, we flagged down another person and asked for crispy bacon like was ordered and she said sure. Really wanted ketchup and jam for the bread aka toast. Sent out a search party for the waitress and was worried she was missing for good. So I got up walked to the counter and asked for ketchup as I could see it sitting there and jam. Magically my waitress showed up again at the counter and grabbed the ketchup and handed it to the other lady at the counter to give to me. Then the other lady went to the kitchen to get me jam as my waitress disappeared again. Next time we saw her was when we were basically done and she stops by and said here in your extra side of bacon and the check. Didn't care the bacon we got sucked, this was not extra bacon it was to replace the crappy bacon we got and that is why we asked for new bacon which once again wasn't very crispy. Never asked if I needed another drink and since it comes in a can I guessing there are no refills. Wife barely touched her food because it was cold by the time the so called crispy bacon arrived. So I got a $50 breakfast with bad food and service. I could have had a 100% better experience at Waffle House for half the price. Never will I go back, this place has gone downhill. Waffle House, see you soon. read more

Some of the best gluten free pancakes I've had, sweet and fairly fluffy with solid maple syrup. The scramble was a little on the smaller side but it was really good. The place was packed on a Saturday morning but has a lot of seating. Service was pretty quick for how busy they were. Would come back next time we visit Cincy! read more

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Downtown - Gluten free pancakes, Avi Scramble - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

We stayed downtown for a week during my 'big' birthday and we at at Sleepy Bee Cafe twice. We stayed close to the breakfast sandwiches and coffee. I ordered a smoothie that included nuts and I was told it wasn't available because one of the staff had a nut allergy. I'm not sure what to think about this. I really wanted to removed stars and I'll admit I was very, very annoyed. This could turn into a TLDNR rant and I'm not going there. We chose other menu options that didn't endanger the staff. I had the Broakley one morning and the Avi Scrambler another. They were both delicious. The bacon was always done well and as yummy as bacon should be. The place is cute. There's lots of merch. It's interesting. Still, both times the breakfast experience was both flavorful and enjoyable. read more

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