It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the hatchery has a bit of flair. It's a breakfast, lunch and brunch place. They developed a new menu a few months ago. The menu is not only better, but it's in nice card stock and it's visually pleasing. It's definitely the best of the few options as far as breakfast in the town, but there are issues. Price is very high, they don't take cards, and the service is very slow. The food is worth it once it gets there and by all means you can have a couple drinks to pass the time. read more

The Hatchery - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Ludlow, Vermont

We have been here a few times and have noticed that the owner''s wife is pleasant when the place is not busy but is extremely rude when it gets busy and she is overwhelmed. Most recently, their Ipad check in system was glitching and we ended up waiting an hour before realizing that our name was not on their list, despite receiving a text confirmation after checking in. While waiting, we also overheard others complaining about issues with the check in system. When we kindly let the owner's wife know of their system error, she snapped at us that it was not their fault and was extremely passive aggressive and condescending, implying it must have been a mistake on our end. I see other reviews mentioning the staff belittling customers and it is very much in line with our experience. It is clear that the chef's wife cannot handle working in a fast paced environment without being incredibly unprofessional and letting her frustrations out on customers. We left promptly after that, and it worked out, as we went to The Country Girl Diner, where the food was better and their staff were very friendly and welcoming even at their busiest. Tip for future patrons: if using their Ipad check in system, it is safest to confirm with them that it has shown up on their end. Do not trust the text confirmation you get. Also, if you go during their busy hours, the food is decent, but not worth the potential nasty attitude you may get if the staff is feeling overwhelmed. read more

Yum! We stopped here on our last day in Ludlow to grab breakfast and eat in the park across the street. Ordering was simple and convenient - we placed our order online - and then drove to the restaurant and parked on the street. Everything was delicious -- but their corned beef hash was by far the best corned beef hash I've ever had. It was divine! I can't wait to come back post pandemic on my next trip to Ludlow! Highly recommend. read more

One word: CRAB. Crab Benny and their house made Cream of crab bisque. You won't be disappointed. And like another reviewer said, The Hatchery has been one of the star restaurants of the pandemic. Forget installing their amazing TO GO window. Early on, they were listing hard to get items that they were able to source from their suppliers on their website for purchase. Get your breakfast and some TP! We have been customers for 25 years and I hope The Hatchery is around for 25 more! read more

The Hatchery is a staple for all those who travel and vacation to the Ludlow area. I've been coming here for breakfast ever since I was a little kid learning how to ski at Okemo and I've continued coming here now that I'm a slightly bigger kid still learning how to ski. The menu offers a bunch of different breakfast and lunch options, but the go to has to be the Eggs Benedict (I prefer it on sausage instead of the typical ham). Get there too late and it'll be sold out! I also recommend the avocado breakfast wrap, the Benedict, or the famous downhill! Couple of cons - Lines can be real long so plan ahead. You can put your name down and kill time in the book store down the street. - I wish they had real milk/cream (preferably locally sourced) on the tables instead of the little cups of half and half for your coffee/tea. Small detail, but something like that would add to the charm! End note - they sell really cool t-shirts that I've been dying to buy! read more

This place has amazing food. The server was friendly and fun! Thanks from the King family of California read more

Love this place!!! The servers are sooo nice and the food comes out so fast. The eggs are amazing!!

My sister and her husband recently bought a home in Ludlow which is what brought us to The Hatchery for breakfast one beautiful autumn day in October. I have been on a breakfast sandwich kick lately and was happy to see the Egg Sammich on the menu. I got made with fried eggs over easy, bacon and Vermont cheddar cheese on their brioche bun. This is the BEST breakfast sandwich I have EVER had! My poor husband had to listen to me rave about it for the rest of the day. My sister got bacon and corned beef hash with toast. The hash was filled with chunky pieces of corned beef and potatoes and was spiced just right. The guys were not particularly thrilled with the pancakes which seemed to be a little flavorless and a little over cooked. The coffee is good and our cups were never more than half filled. The server was polite and attentive. It was filled with people waiting to come in. And, an interesting fact is that they make soap with their bacon fat and have it the bathroom and for sale on their website. I will surely return when visiting. read more

The Hatchery - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Ludlow, Vermont

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Restaurants around Vermont ski areas are limited, much less good restaurants, much much less good breakfast restaurants. The Hatchery in Ludlow might have one or two places for competition. I haven't been to them, and I'm not sure I'll ever need to go. It's not perfect, and I'm rather stingy with my 5-star ratings, but I'll keep going back when I'm in the area. The Hatchery offers almost everything you'd want in a breakfast place. In two visits, I was able to sample a good variety of items between my orders and my family's. For the few lows, on both days, 1 of my 2 over-medium fried eggs was a little over-cooked (but not cooked-through). A very minor issue. I also feel the prices were a touch high. This is something that I see a lot in Vermont, presumably to make up for the many lean days/periods that a seasonal town will see. Finally, the service was generally very good, but could have been just a little better. I liked how other servers would attend to you (fill coffee, take check), though. My go-to order for breakfast is blueberry pancakes, 2 eggs over-medium, and bacon and/or sausage. But with menu items like cinnamon roll french toast, I passed on the pancakes and sampled my son's chocolate chip ones. The pancakes were okay...large, for sure, maybe a touch on the dry side. The Belgian waffle was also okay but nothing special. When I go back, my tough decision will be between the cinnamon roll french toast and the cinnamon raisin bread french toast. They were both excellent. The sausage (link-style) had a little spice to them, which I like. The bacon was very thick...so thick it couldn't ever be crispy. It was tasty though, and much better than crumbly, paper-thin or limp and greasy bacon. A number of reviews complained about the crowd and/or wait. I got there when it opened, on a weekday after a significant snowstorm. When my family and I left 45 minutes later, there were only a few additional customers. My guess is that my favorable impressions of The Hatchery are spot on, and when the crowds come to Ludlow, they know to come here. read more

I love the hatchery! great food great vibes! get the cinnamon pop tart and orange juice

Delicious filling breakfast for the road. Great service and amazing hot sauces! Everything was fresh and tasty. They have a machine that freshly squeezed orange juice. read more

The Hatchery - Sausage gravy poutine - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Ludlow, Vermont

The Hatchery is a Ludlow mainstay, and it's safe to say they recognize it. The interior hasn't changed one bit, with a very "diner" feel. You know the type of table and chair I'm talking about, flimsy, the black metal half loop at the top... It's cozy though (with a bit of a draft from the constant motion of people through the front door). The menu has been updated recently, but it still has most of the mainstays that I remember, with a couple of new highlights, including a bloody mary that was astonishingly good (a fact they highlight on the front of the menu, oddly enough). With plenty of horseradish and garnishes that complimented the drink (the pickled asparagus and the garlic stuffed olive were the highlight) and a full slice of bacon, it was a great start to the meal. However, it was at that point service lagged quite a bit, as we watched every other table around us both order and receive their food in advance of our order being taken. As usual at the hatchery, they always seem understaffed, with waitresses running multiple roles at a time, and unfortunately service hiccups like this happen. For my "main dish", I had the cinnamon roll french toast, which tasted about as sinful as it sounds. It's really hard to go wrong with cinnamon sugar, fatty dough, and maple syrup. My dining companion ordered the much healthier cilantro omelet, which also came out very well, with a generous helping of pesto on top, and local hot sauces if you desired. The place is still cash only (even with their fancy new register), still crowded, still a little cosmetically dated, but overall you probably can't get a better brunch anywhere else in the area, and the food, as usual, punches above its weight. This place is the definition of not judging a book by its cover. read more

We were a large group that came here for breakfast and had a nice time. The service was friendly, and the menu had some great options - a little something for everyone. The food was pretty good as well! read more

Started off with a fresh squeezed orange juice mimosa and a bacon bloody marry, both were very tasty. Crab Cakes Benedict was just what we needed. Definitely would come again. read more

The Hatchery - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Ludlow, Vermont

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The food was delicious and we had a nice experience on Saturday with half of our group so we went back Sunday as a group of 8. We checked in on their iPad system at 10:10 and were told it would be a 40 mins wait. Our whole group was waiting at the restaurant for 50 mins and others were called in before us, so we asked them to see if they had us on the list. The woman rudely replied "No" despite seeing that we had been there for almost an hour. When we re-added our name to the wait-list, we got the exact same message from the iPad, and when we tried to explain to them that it was clearly a glitch in their system, they brushed us off saying "yeah you just added your name" as if they didn't see us there for the last hour. They definitely didn't acknowledge their system had an error. Because of how rude they were, our whole group of 8 left because we don't want to eat at a place that doesn't care about their customer service. read more

Great place for breakfast. We ordered it to go and it was ready in no time. It was delicious. Staff couldn't have been more friendly. Order was ready quickly. Highly recommend. A+++ read more

Amazing food - including a tofu scramble! But even better service. Place was packed but they still made you feel welcome with coffee and drinks while you wait. read more

Really delicious breakfast! The coffee was decent. Prices are fairly reasonable. The wait for our food was fairly reasonable. I had an omelette, it had cooked apples, local (grafton?) cheese and ham inside, with apple butter or some sort of spread on top. Sounded weird, but i wanted to try something unique. It was AMAZING! Child had a pumpkin pancake and a side of bacon, and fresh squeezed OJ. She said it was all amazing. Yum!! read more

Great vegan options. Not only do they have a tofu scramble, but they have a veggie wrap to add tofu or you can sub any egg for tofu. Tofu scramble was so delicious. All the non vegans in my party enjoyed the food too. read more

My wife and I tried The Hatchery for breakfast the first morning of our 3 day weekend in June( hiking trip) Being a winter town, there are few stores open and even less people. We were immediately greeted and seated. maybe 4-6 customers total. Meal arrived promptly, and quality was mediocre. Home fries were soft and bland. Poached eggs are not available. French toast was very basic grocery store raisin bread, And the plain was brioche. The plain was tastier than the raisin bread. We had to ask for our coffee refills, the waitress was friendly, just not attentive considering the lack of business. The bill came to about $27 for 3 pieces of french toast, 2 eggs with corned beef, side of bacon, side of homefries, 2 coffees. Not bad if this were a "Foodie" breakfast, but this was on the other end of the spectrum from "Foodie" And therefore WAAAAAY overpriced. Across the street "Cafe at Delight" was about half the price with larger portions, as well as a higher quality product. read more

We just fell across this place on our way to the local diner. We decided to give it a try and wow are we pleased we did! Friendly friendly service, great cup of coffee in our hands before we could catch our breath. I ordered the cilantro omelette with avocado, it was so good. My husband had the salmon hash and he said it was amazing. If I had to find fault in this rustic comfortable breakfast place I could only say that they serve too much food. Great value, fresh delicious food! Thank you ladies for your great service too... read more

Delicious pancakes. Perfect biscuit. Tasty, real butter and syrup in fair quantity. Cleanest bathroom in Vermont Nominee. Given the space and volume this is one of the great, classic restaurants for breakfast possible. American mom and pop personified. Coffee is terrible to the taste of this flatlander, but it's traditional institution stuff. read more

Had breakfast here twice while up at Okemo. Nice place, good service, and with a fine breakfast. The bacon is cut nice and thick which I really like. If I had any complaint, it would be the coffee. Not that it's bad, but if the it had been on par with the food, I would have enjoyed my meals at The Hatchery even more. A few reviewers have stated that they prefer the place across the street, Cafe at Delight. I've also eaten there and while their food is good and their prices a little cheaper, I didn't really find their breakfast better than The Hatchery. Given the choice of the two I'd return to The Hatchery. read more

I would love to review the food for this place, but they wouldn't even let my party of 4 sit down. We went on a Sunday morning around 9:30. There were two 4-seater tables available and a smaller table open as well. We waited by the sign at the front door to be seated and the servers/host would would not even come up to us. A customer came up to pay and my friend let me know there were 4 of us for breakfast and their response was that they needed to slow things down and we'd have to wait. I don't have a problem with waiting at all (and fully expect to at prime brunch time), but the fact that there were multiple tables open, they wouldn't speak to us until we went up to them, and then we still couldn't even sit and wait at a table was ridiculous. It would be very easy to seat people at one of your multiple open tables and just serve them water/coffee to let them wait until you're ready to take their order. It's unbelievably rude to ignore a party of 4 and then make them stand at the front of the restaurant rather than sit at an open table. If anyone has been to this place, you know it's not large so to have 3+ open tables and still need to "slow things down" is absurd. read more

These people only get a1 star because I am NOT allowed to give a 0-star. Bacon was rubber. Scrambled eggs were a flat disk from a pan. No substitutes for toast and home fries on breakfast plate. Food came out fast. Tasted "ok"... Serious lack of attention to detail. 0% chance I would willingly return. Then at the end when it's time to pay I find out that it's "cash only" and of course there's no sign telling me before I entered the restaurant it was cash only. This place sucked. read more

So first start off with the positives. The menu choices were great. Very modern breakfast choices. There were so many options on the menu with avocado, that's a plus for me automatically. The restaurant inside has an everyday diner feel. Nothing special. The mimosas were great. They're made with fresh squeezed orange juice. I ordered the brûléed grapefruit and the breakfast wrap with avocado (came with home fries). The waitress suggested that we get it with the black beans added, which was a good choice. However it did lack in flavor. Nothing a little salt and pepper couldn't fix. One friend ordered the same and the other ordered the French toast and a side of bacon. The French toast was great and the bacon was well done. Okay, onto the negatives. When we first walked in one waitress was really rude. She asked, "how many?" and my friend and I looked at each other to decide whether we wanted to dine in or out. Then she asked, "how many?" again in a very slow and rude tone. The guests that came in behind us were greeted so happily by her. The only reason we stayed is because we were really hungry. The second and only other negative was that the home fries were cold. (No bueno!) I would definitely recommend this place to friends visiting Vermont. I would just let them know the service needs work. read more

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Not much to say here. If they can't serve you in a reasonable amount of time, then it isn't worth pursuing. We came in on a Monday morning, and were met with a single waitress working ALL of the tables. I don't blame her. She was doing an amazing job, but after a 15 minute wait to be seated, and 15 minutes without contact afterwards, it set the pace for our meal in a bad way. We left. We went to dunkin (less than a block away) instead. read more

My family and I were in Ludlow, VT from NYC trying to isolate at Mountain Okemo during the pandemic. We ordered several breakfast items online and went to pick it up. We heard great things about this place from the reviews. They had it ready in 20 minutes which was great. It all went downhill from there. Every thing we ordered was terrible except for the corned beef hash which was delicious. I had an omelette, the eggs were so overcooked until dry. I had tomatoes, ham and onions in it and it looked like someone just threw it in there as an afterthought. The so called "famous" home fries was the weirdest thing I've ever tasted. It didn't even taste like potatoes, I don't know what it tasted like. I couldn't even have a second bite. My husband had scrambled eggs and pancakes. How much can they ruin scrambled eggs you may ask? Apparently very badly ruined. Pancakes tasted like it was from a cheap pancake mix, doughy and under cooked. My daughter had scrambled eggs with corned beef hash and the hash was actually good. Even the toast was badly toasted with margarine ( didn't taste like butter). We also ordered the cinnamon bun french toast which was ok, on the bland side but better then the other breakfasts. What a disappointment! I just don't understand how people can love this food so much. It has to be friends and family of the owners that write good reviews for them. Trust me, I wish it had been good, I would have loved to have written a good review. read more

I went into Ludlow for Breakfast and saw the Hatchery was open. They had a short line but I was seated in a few minutes. I didn't want too much so I had the French Toast. The coffee was good and hot and the French Toast came in a short time. The waitress was very helpful and she checked to see that I had plenty of hot coffee. This is a good stop for breakfast. read more

The food is fabulous! Unique hip breakfast grub that totally hits the spot. Nothing average about the food. The ambiance is just fine. Maybe new tables and chairs but come on people, this is breakfast and lunch. Your here for the killer French toast, not to eat the ambiance!!! Best breakfast I've had in a week of skiing all over Vermont!!! FYI they do accept credit cards!!! read more

Definitely no frills dining but really tasty food and great service. I had the Spanish eggs and was impressed by the house made salsas. My partner had the special crab cake benedict. The hollandaise was delightful, very flavorful and light. The homefries were great! We also had a mimosa which was a surprise and a perfect orange juice/champagne ratio. Cash only. Bring your ID for booze. read more

Cute place right on the rt 103. Food was awesome. We both had omelettes which were good sized, excellent wheat bread toast and good home fries. Would definitely eat here again. read more

The rundown: -Cash only -typical diner fare, although I noticed crab cakes on the menu which seems odd for a VT diner -friendly enough service - not necessarily cheap, but considering the large portions, it was a decent value -VT omelette was delicious, but I think they might use an egg substitute or thin the eggs read more

This place is a chaotic mess, the staff have absolutely no idea what they are doing and are also rude. They told us we had a fifteen minute wit , after thirty five minutes they asked us where we thought we were going to sit. There were open tables that they wouldn't let us sit at. They made us stand in a small crammed room for over a half an hour, they didn't even offer coffee, we asked ourselves then they gave a rude remark about it. We wound up leaving and going across the street it was such a better experience. Do not eat here it's a chaotic mess. read more

Its a great breakfast place in downtown Ludlow. There might be a wait but it moves fast. All of the egg dishes, especially the omelette's are terrific. We love the one with avocado. Our kids love the pancakes and waffles. read more

They show up on Yelp search as "dog friendly", they do allow service dogs but does not have an outdoor seating area for pets. We are visiting from out-of-state and were disappointed to not be able to give them a try, but completely understand. We will have to come back up another time without the dogs. read more

This is the first time we were here, but I love this place and would highly recommend it! Not much tho look at from the outside. Inside is a very quaint. Staff is very courteous and efficient. And the menu has so much to offer! Food was very fresh, served quickly and extremely delicious . I would highly recommend this restaurant!!!!!! read more

Great options, pumpkin pancake special was spectacular. White bread for toast was actually sourdough which is fine because I prefer that but I know some people don't. Got the grapefruit with brûlée topping and then a cinnamon bun to go which has to be at least 8" across read more

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This is a delightful little gem! Food is delicious and the staff is managing quite nicely considering they are very short staffed. Be patient - so worth it! Thanks! read more

What I most like about this place is that it is between a favorite camping/hiking spot of mine and civilization, just a smidgen on the country side to be modest, and the food is incredible and fresh. You should get anything with cheese (even if you do not like cheese) and/or apples. I am not responsible for harm or death due to food allergies, but you will like it. They have a few variants of ham / apple / cheese sandwiches, omelets, and so forth that will yield one perfect bite after another. I do not know anything about Ludlow or what it has to offer overall, but if The Hatchery were the only reason, it is a good place to take a pit stop. Oh, and they do not take credit cards, which I accept, and if you know anything about me, that means a lot. read more