I was looking for a good breakfast before I drove back to Texas, and The Roost was the perfect choice! I had the Tomato and Avocado Benny with potatoes and fruit. It was SO good and kept me full for the morning. Everything on the menu looked amazing though--too bad my stomach has a limited capacity. The service was great and my waitress had excellent (egg-cellent?) recommendations for my meal. Definitely a hipster feel, but not too pretentious. I went at 7 am so it was kind of quiet, but I loved the atmosphere. The only thing I had a problem with was the price--$3 for a cup of fruit seems kind of high. Still, I'm so glad I was able to stop by this Lawrence original! read more

The Roost - Tomato and Avocado Benny, breakfast potatoes, fruit bowl - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

During Dan and I's little vacation to Lawrence, we decided to try the Roost for breakfast and we were not disappointed! Getting up early, we arrived a little after 8 and had a bit of a wait, which gave us time to look at the menu and get a feel of the place. Warm and inviting, it has a slight upscale diner theme that is also comfortable with a long bar that you can sit at to enjoy your meal or a cocktail made to order. After being seated, we were greeted by a friendly and helpful waitress who took our drink order- Mimosa for me and Bloody Mary for Dan. Deciding on our menu items, I chose the Mushroom Leak Goat Cheese Omelet with a side of fruit instead of potatoes and Dan got the Potato pancakes. My omelet was cooked to perfection, full of creamy goat cheese and mushrooms, with the leeks adding a finale of flavor. Dan wasn't a big fan of his potato pancakes- being a little overcooked but the rest of his meal he enjoyed. Overall, it was a good experience and definitely would go back. Happy dining. read more

The Roost - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

True, home style cooking in a cozy atmosphere. Come during the week and you'll never leave disappointed. Come between Friday - Sunday and be prepared for a wait. But let's be honest, if there wasn't a wait would you really want it? Delicious food, good hot coffee bar, fast and friendly service. Big fan of this place during the week! read more

I do not make it to Lawerence very often but when I do I make it a point to eat breakfast at the Roost. Each time I've gone the wait has been around forty five minutes but it is well worth it. While you wait they do have self serve coffee usually four different options or there is a full service coffee bar you can order from while you wait. They also have lunch options but I've only had their breakfast which has been excellent on each visit. read more

This place has always been a great breakfast spot in the town! I always take my out of state friends when they visit and they always love it. read more

Ode to The Roost: Amazing service, amazing food, amazing coffee, amazing mood. Thank you! read more

Get the sticky bun. They run out fast so go get one quick. Or two! Excellent house coffee, service is always A+ and so is the food. This is our place to be for breakfast and always worth the wait if there is a line on weekend morning. read more

Pretty busy for a Monday afternoon, but still got seated fairly quickly! Recently I've been trying all of the breakfast spots around Mass street and I can't say I'm disappointed. I also grabbed a sweet lavender latte including what is pictured, I was full before I could even finish my plate. For the price, you definitely get your fill. I'll most likely come back in again, there were a lot of menu options I'd like to try! read more

The Roost - Granola Bowl - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

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Campfire breakfast is delicious!!! The wait is always really long on the weekends but it's worth it

Every time we go it's delicious. There's usually a wait, but for good reason, and they have the bar open for baked goods, coffee or tea for while you wait. And the daily scones, hand pies and other slew of baked goods are always fantastic. The waitstaff is consistently awesome as well. Everyone is very, very nice and great at their jobs. The smoked salmon benny is delicious, as is their homemade jams and biscuits. Highly recommended!! read more

Love this place, especially French toast!! I've tried French toast I many places, here is the best!! read more

Absolutely delicious. The bacon is perfect. The eggs were cooked well. The pancakes were good. French toast massive. Biscuits and gravy were good (subjective, some say the best, I disagree. I really liked the gravy while my husband liked the biscuits). Great service and an amazing selection of delicious Broadway coffee. If I'm back in Lawrence, I'll definitely be back. Great atmosphere as well, and again, great, friendly, attentive service. read more

The Roost - The rooster, with bacon, eggs, and pancakes in the forefront, with French toast, eggs and bacon in the background, and splitting a half B&G - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

Super friendly service & outdoor seating. Very streamlined ordering process due to COVID. Food was absolutely delicious! Will be back. Can't wait to try more items. read more

The Roost is my fav place for breakfast and coffee in Lawrence! Even though it's always crowded it's worth the wait.

Server was great. Food is great. The manager on duty (older, white male, with glasses) - was not as pleasant. As I was eating breakfast with a couple friends whom I haven't seen in months - a clearly intoxicated customer from another table approached my friend and started talking to her in an inappropriate way. When I asked this person to leave he told me to "shut the f***k up b***" and continued to harass my friend. At this point I noticed other tables starting to listen in and was confused as to why no employee/manager/owner asked this person to leave our table. Seeing my friend truly afraid of this drunken man talking down to her I took it upon myself to stand up and sternly tell him to get away from her. He got right back in my face - I panicked, felt threatened, and pushed him away from me. He then went back to his table, while me and my friends very shakily finished our food, paid, and got ready to leave. A manager or maybe owner came to our table and without letting us say a word told us that our behavior was not ok and that we can "do whatever we want" as long as its outside. Being in the service industry I completely understand not wanting to deal with conflict but treating us with such distain and then standing by our table till we left (which he did not do to the clearly over-served drunk male at the other table) was completely shocking and rude. read more

I've lost count the times I've eaten at The Roost, and never once has my meal been anything short of phenomenal. I eat here almost always for breakfast (had a biscuit and iced coffee for breakfast earlier today), but my son picked it for our lunch date today so I was back again a few hours later. I went old school classic with tomato soup and grilled cheese! The Roost nailed this combo perfectly! Grilled cheese was grilled perfectly on sourdough with the cheese oozing out the sides. Tomato's are in high season right now so the soup was so rich it had just a touch of sweetness to it. Damn near licked the bowl clean! I sat at the bar so service was prompt but not pushy. What a great meal! I just had to share my experience with you! read more

Great spot for breakfast! Would've given 5 stars had we not had to wait an hour for our table. They could definitely use a bigger location! Service was also a bit behind due to the large crowd, but our food was certainly worth the wait! Everything was excellent. I ordered the eggs Benedict- which was a tough decision because everything on the menu looked really tasty! Portion sizes are smaller in comparison to many other breakfast joints, but are the perfect amount of food! Overall, I highly recommend The Roost. If you have some time to spare or can make it here on a weekday morning it's worth a stop! read more

The Roost - Eggs Benedict and breakfast potatoes. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

Suggested I try this by sweet lady at Hetrick Air Service at Lawrence Airport. Busy here breakfast time and sure appears to be THE place for breakfast locals. I've asked for honey in my 6 shot Americano. Cool. Love they got an expresso machine. That alone sets this above normal. Am asking for The Kansan breakfast of eggs, sausage and stuff. Lovely lasses attending all customers. Nice setting in old downtown. So, everything seems handmade, including the strawberry jam and apple butter jam. Excellent. Biscuit same. It is small square of great make. Have not eaten a potato pancake, so have asked for. Wow...this is exactly same as my own Grandmother Irma C made when I was...younger. All positive impressions here. Lucky community to have this place. read more

The service was terrible. My family (4) and I got there after a party of 6 and before a couple parties of two and three. We were told it would be 10-20 minutes and sat down to wait. After about 15 minutes a table of four opened up, but they didn't seat anyone. At about the 25 minute mark another table for four opened up, the staff seated the party of 6. Then around 4 tables for 2 opened up, all of the parties that got there after us were seated. There were two empty tables for two that they could've pushed together for my family, as they pushed together tables for the other party. They did not do this. It had now been over 30 minutes, and so my family and I left. read more

excellent food horrible waiting times my family usually opts to wait because the food is so great but they really need to start taking reservations so i don't have to wait an hour every time i go here on a busy weekend read more

When I had lived in Lawrence for the past three years, this was my favorite brunch place to go to (my partner and I moved back to KC). We would go here every weekend. The service here is the best I've seen in all the restaurants I've been too--this is not hyperbole. After frequenting the place so much, the hostesses and servers remembered our names and our usual orders. I distinctly remember the friendly atmosphere one day when a Beyonce playlist was on and the servers would dance (but still hard at work!) with costumes on. Their mimosas, prosecco, and Bloody Mary's are a perfect start (middle? end?) to the weekend. I've tried some of their zanier drinks like Cloud Nine or Mocha Breves which were my favorite. They sometimes even used frozen coffee for your iced coffee drinks to prevent it from getting watered down! Food-wise, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. The biscuits and gravy come in a tasty meat option and a delicious rosemary vegetarian option! I like that there's an a la carte section in case you need to get some fish or other food into your diet. The wait time can be long at times, which would be my only guess if someone were to criticize the place--but if you know how great the place is and come as often as I do, then it really isn't a big deal. (Don't get upset about the wait with the hostesses! They're just doing their jobs and don't have full control of how busy it can get at brunch on weekends!) Overall, this is a place I will miss from Lawrence, but I'll definitely make a point to stop in whenever I'm there. :) read more

Was in Lawrence for the basketball camp at the University. Did a search on a good breakfast place and found The Roost. Our breakfast omelet and potatos were outstanding. Coffee is so good that we bought a couple bags to take home. We tried to go back The next morning and the wait was too long. Defenetely recommend this restaurant. Kuddos to the chef. read more

The wait was horrendous at an hour and a half for a group of 6 but you could help yourself to all the coffee you can drink. Good stuff! Well worth the wait! The food, homemade, local everything was super amazing!!!! read more

My favorite place to eat on Mass. Fresh ingredients and I love the self serve coffee. It is delicious.

Got the corned beef hash and all the potatoes were raw or severely undercooked. Good selection of food and drinks.

Awesome place to eat, awesome place to be. Great environment, nice staff, awesome food.

This place is a hit. You cannot miss and for the money it's a W. You might experience a long wait if you get there around noon but it's worth it. read more

It was a miracle to stumble upon this little restaurant. I was visiting my sister in KS for the weekend and we were on Massachusetts Street with endless food options. She asked if I wanted breakfast and said The Roost is pretty good. Visiting from LA I scrolled through the yelp pictures unimpressed, but willing to give it a try. I think we customized our order to perfection! I selected the made to order omelet w/ onions, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and smoked salmon. My order came with a side of breakfast potatoes. They were well seasoned, but in dire need of some browning/crunch. The real winner was the cheddar and chive biscuit from the bakery with homemade pumpkin butter. I will say there was nothing michelin star award winning; however, I would gladly visit again for the extremely large portions and the super cheap prices. read more

The Roost - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

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delicious brunch! great coffee! and yummy Bloody Mary! It was a little slow to get our food, but worth it when we did! Nice ambience. Friendly service! read more

Phenomenal in every sense. Great service, food and drink selection, and service. The biscuits, while small, are rich and flavorful. The gravy is incredible! The roost breakfast sammy was large and filling, with the freshest tomato I've ever had. Comfortable seating, friendly staff, and a nice atmosphere with local art and a unique vibe. The best breakfast I've ever had, hands down. read more

The Roost - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

I have walked by this place a few time always curious and wanting to try it out! It looked like there was always a good crowd as well! Unfortunately to my dismay it was not worth the trip. I think because I had such high expectations I thought it was going to be amazing. dont let looks fool you I unfortunately fell weakness to that. I have been looking forward to trying this place out but turned out to just be a flop for me. I ordered the "vegan hash" which Ik like "why would you order that" but our waitress said it was incredible and it sounded good on the menu, on the contrary the potatoes needed extra cooking time and were not even soft, it was like biting into an apple, the rest of the dish tasted too salty for my liking. My other friend did not care too much for her cornmeal pancakes saying they were too dry as well as her side order of a peach blueberry biscuit. She said her egg was good at least. I am giving it two stars for the kindness and hospitality the service showed and for the overall appeal of the restaurant but food wise cant expect to be back:/ read more

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The Roost is confused. It doesn't know if it wants to be a casual breakfast joint or a swanky brunch place. It doesn't know whether it wants sparkly chandeliers and lounge seating or broken-in dining tables and cushioned stools. It has a full-service bar and fancy cocktails, but you have to get your own coffee. It has slate-colored walls, gorgeous wooden open shelves, beautiful displays, but blasts Rick Astley at volume level 10... What? My first comment upon entering The Roost today was "Everyone working here looks unhappy." That's not a great first impression, Roost. Thankfully, we were served by a very nice woman who did not seem unhappy, but why was everyone else so dreary? The service was good, but we weren't informed of any of their specials and ended up getting two benedicts. They were fine. The best part of the meal was the fresh fruit, but they charge you $2 to have it instead of breakfast potatoes. Huh? You can get a side of fruit for $3, but it costs $2 to substitute? I don't get it. While The Roost gets 3 stars from me for service and their fabulous pumpkin butter, I won't be back anytime soon. $13.50 for an average-at-best benedict, self-serve coffee, and a side of fruit? Not gonna happen again. read more

Hey Community Manager Matt E.........There seems to be an unusually high number of reviews for The Roost that are so called "newbies". This is always a red flag because new restaurants have been known to flood Yelp with.....shall we say "unbiased" reviews both positive and negative. Sugar M's recent review of The Roost having the best Latte and Barista ever is the first strike. Take a look at some of the other reviews towards the bottom of the page. Something smells fishy. Either too negative or too positive with no review history. Yes, this is a new establishment in name only......I guess? The food, looks of dishes, taste, and other anomalies look, and feel awfully similar to Milton's. Didn't we go through these shenanigans with the former Loopy's..........Oh wait, Miltons is back in place of Loopy's. The food hasn't been terrible on the three visits I've been. Nothing ground breaking or spectacular at The Roost. I assume the coffee is of the Broadway variety? Or was it the Roasterie? Anyhow, not a bad place to visit for breakfast type foods. I guess some of us are tiring of this concept in Lawrence. It would be nice if an entrepreneur in Lawrence could at least do something different with the menu besides aesthetics. Staff was friendly and eager to serve. No issues there what-so-ever. Pancakes were solid as was the biscuits and gravy. I will return a few more times and give the lunch a try. Good luck and hopefully The Roost sticks around so we can all stop playing these silly games with Milton's and their clandestine openings of restaurants in Lawrence. * No, I'm not accusing the original owners of Miltons, ie Loopy's of opening another restaurant. It's just getting difficult to trust the intentions of some restaurateurs up and down Mass and surrounding areas in Lawrence with all the address and concept changes on a yearly basis. * read more

So amazing!!! And if you can get there on the weekends to get some deviated eggs!!!!WOW. Incredible

After 36 hours without food and cameras shoved every which way (I'll spare you the gruesome details), I thought it was time for some carbs and protein ... the biscuits and gravy tasted great, although quite pricey at $7 for a full order, the biscuits being rather small with barely enough gravy to cover them completely. UNSAT! I had the Kansan ($8) with eggs, bacon, home fries and English muffin on my first two visits. It was good, not spectacular, and a fair sized serving, but the bacon was a tad too crispy even for my taste. Being primarily a breakfast joint, they have very few popular or traditional options to choose from (can you say skillets?), so on my most recent (and likely last) visit, I ordered an omelette ($6) with bacon ($1), onion, peppers, and mushrooms (50 cents each for a total of $8.50). When the server asked me what kind of toast I wanted, I asked if they had English muffins and she said that they did. What she failed to tell me was that there was a 50 cent up-charge, a fact I spotted only after the check arrived (see bill below). The 50 cent English muffin dominated the plate, dwarfing the small, yet tasty, omelette and a smattering of bland, unseasoned fried potatoes (see photo - objects are smaller than they actually appear). The ALL YOU CAN DRINK self-service coffee bar ($2) is the The Roost's highlight, a superb selection of four premium coffees with your normal choices of additions (half-and-half, skim and soy milk, cinnamon, sugar) available as needed. The service is adequate, not bad, not great, with little interaction and a bit of a "high brow" feel. A breakfast place should have a warmer, more inviting, friendlier ambience, especially in a small college town. For example, when I asked to barista to replenish the half-and-half at the coffee bar on our most recent visit, all I received was a scowl as she was poured a complimentary glass of alcohol by a cohort at 11:30 in the morning. Their prices are quite high on most things, so I have to deduct a couple bombs when it comes to "value". For example, $5 should be the maximum price for biscuits and gravy no matter how big the order is or how good they are and if you are going to up-charge customers, they should be told in advance in order to make an informed decision as to whether or not they choose to pay the difference. Oddly enough, for a place that is only open for breakfast and lunch (7am-3pm), The Roost has a bar and will serve you rather expensive cocktails ($7-$8) or wine ($5), so if you are looking for a mid-day buzz along with your biscuits and gravy, this is the place for you. But based on the high prices, small portions, uninspiring cuisine, and mediocre service, I think I will keep trying to find a decent breakfast place in Lawrence. I have my doubts. CombatCritic Gives The Roost 4 Out Of 10 Bombs ... BOMBS ARE GOOD! read more

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I'm really torn by the Roost. I've followed their progress since Kickstarter so I was excited when they opened their doors. Two meals later and it's still settling in for me. First the good, the food is fantastic and the staff is friendly. I think they might have the best graphically designed menu that I've ever seen. Everything else I'm going to chalk up to them just being new. I deleted my long winded essay and I'm just going to summarize. Roost just isn't baked yet. I've had the same waiter twice and while he's friendly he seems like he's just working there to do his friends a favor or he has better things to do. I'm just going to assume that my experience both times are the result of one friendly yet well meaning waiter since a few of the other staff have waited on me before when the place was Milton's. Because right now Roost is a mix of long waits (for a seat, once you have a seat, and once you've ordered) to feeling rushed out the door and served your check before you've taken a bite of food. Then having to wait forever for the waiter to come back to actually take your ticket. I don't get it. I was also annoyed to wait 20 minutes and have someone walk in and basically tell the hostess that she and her friends will just sit at the bar and jump 6 or 7 spots in line. We were then asked if we minded bar seats. Seems 20 minutes sooner would have been the right time to ask. Grr. I want to like Roost and despite their problems I really do. I'm just annoyed that the growing pains of a new restaurant are so damn painful to watch and experience firsthand. read more

This is our favorite brunch spot is town, I love their eggs Benedict and wide selection of specialty cocktails and coffee. Anyone who visits should try their Lavender iced coffee and eggs benny! read more

Not impressed. First of all, not a kid friendly place. No kids menu, no crayons, nothing. Secondly, it's probably the slowest place I've ever been to for breakfast. Yes, they're busy but breakfast food doesn't take long to make and if you keep your tables full, you can get people in and out faster. There was a long wait but always empty tables. Perhaps they didn't want to overwhelm the servers? Then the food took a very long time. Had I known, I would have bought something for the kiddo from the bakery. As for the food, I got the veggie Benedict. The eggs were way overcooked - pretty much hard boiled eggs on English muffins. The potatoes that came with were not very good. Just not flavorful. The short stack of pancakes was okay. I would not come here again with so many other great options on Mass. read more

The dumbest human on earth is the blonde occupying the hostess stand. Empty tables are everywhere and she has 60 people waiting.... I counted 6 empty on the way to the half empty bar... she tells people there is a 60-90 minute wait! When I complained a server said, "ya I don't know anything 'bout it... she's probably just doin her job, man!"... I ordered a large sticky bun ( great!) and 20 oz. Americana to go from the counter, got them... Finished them and continued to wait.... After an hour, I got a bar seat... The only thing missing is a soup nazi to verbally insult you.... No one seems to eat here... They just wait... After sitting at the bar for another 20 minutes... I left hungry! read more

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Food was great the one time I got to eat here. Every other time I've stopped by the wait has been ridiculous. Good for them I guess, but not somewhere I even consider trying to stop by anymore. read more