The Lake Cafe - Coffee & Restaurant in Phayao

Great home town cooking! Wonderful buffet options! Especially Sunday mornings.

Always a great time there excellent everything!

Food was great. Problem was the service. My waitress didnt know what kind of soup they had or what kind of pie. She gave me attitude the whole time I was there.

The food was very tasteful and big portions service was awesome

Fast friendly service, excellent food! Highly recommend!! I had the Crispy Chicken Wrap. It was delicious!

This was our first time here. We ordered take out. Our food was ready when she said it would be. Very polite and friendly staff. The food is excellent! It was still hot when we got home. We will definitely be going back soon.The bacon is delicious! Really nice thick cuts of bacon. So good!

Moved to Monticello a year ago. Tried Lake Cafe for breakfast. It was very good. Good food, good prices, great staff. Now eat there 2 or 3 times a week!

Wish they had the turkey dinner all the time. Love the gravy, just a bit too salty.

Delicious food- great pricing and amazing service. The breakfast buffet was delicious, but we were even more impressed by the friendly and hardworking staff. We will be back!

This was our first time here and we will definitely be back! My spouse got the brunch buffet and he said it was all delicious, they had a nice assortment of biscuits and gravy, potatoes, meats, eggs, donuts, pancakes, he was very happy with it. I had the chicken and waffles and the chicken with the gravy was delicious. The waffles are nothing like Ive ever had. They have little bites of sugar in them and almost taste like cake. They dont even need syrups they are delicious just as they are. We spoke to the owner who told us his family started the restaurant and he bought it. Youll see him putting in a ton of effort to help seat people and make sure they have everything they need. You must try this place, you wont be disappointed!!

First time coming here today and it did not disappoint by any means. The all you can eat buffet is small but very delicious and good. They had a variety of things to choose from and for the price you pay its honestly worth it. We were very pleased with the food we will be back 😀 plan to come early because the parking lot will fill up fast becuase its that good 👍. Please give this small place a chance to add another option for when you are trying to decide on a place to go. Small family owned place which makes it even that much better 😀. This is a must try.

Always a great experience! Good food, good atmosphere, awesome owner!

Ive been impressed by the food and the service when Ive been there lately!Ella was very kind and attentive, I look forward to dining there again soon

As always goof food and excellent service. Natalie gave us 5 plus service, very attentive and aware of her sphere of influence in the dining room. If the back would not have been limp and the potatoes on the buffet line at proper Temperature it would have been an easy 5 in the Hometown Cafe Catagory!

Best wings we’ve ever had and amazing service! We’re coming back here any chance we pass through!

I just want to say that my wife and I enjoy everything about Lake Cafe. We are greeted by friendly people every time and we always enjoy the food and the staff. This is an easy 5 star. We highly recommend.

Great staff! I witnessed a waitress give what appeared to be a frequent customer a small to go container for his wife who is in the hospital ❤️❤️❤️

Went to a wedding reception and the staff were wonderful. My parents needed to leave to go to the hotel and the shuttle was not running yet. I asked one of the workers and they got a staff person to shuttle my parent to the hotel with no problems. I am very grateful to them for that. Nothing but good things to say. Thank you to everyone.

This is a small cafe right in town , customer service has always been great the servers are friendly, they even have a buffet and breakfast is AMAZING!

We loved this place! Staff was friendly and attentive. Food was good in flavor and portions. I was dying for a salad and the salad bar hit the spot plenty to choose from. Roast beef and gravy was really good!

Hot beef sandwich was wonderful. Love this place. Is that great all-American restaurant.

The server was friendly and helpful. There are many choices. The food was well prepared.

Great food with excellent service. The cooks are AMAZING and so quick.

Wait staff acts as if they dont know where they are at. More concerned with chit cheating than doing their job. Food was not that good.wont be back.

I really want to love this place. Ive been here numerous times and sometimes its great and other times its disappointing. A couple times we have gotten a carafe of tepid coffee. At times Ive gotten food way too salty! I once got mashed potatoes with gravy that wasnt heated all the way through and it was clumpy. Sometimes the broasted chicken is great and other times its so salty you cant eat it. Im not sure if you can pin point it on whos to blame either. The problem is inconsistancy.

Normally the food is wonderful and I always love the staff but on this trip I was nor please withbthe food and decided against eating it. But as always the staff was awesome and will still go back, just a one off this time.

The salad bar was really fresh and I got there 10 minutes before it closed. Nice clean friendly place.

Service was great, I had a flavorful Sausage Gravy Benedict. Grandson had chocolate chip pancakes. Plenty of space and waitstaff to cover. Parking at a dedicated lot.

Time definitely slows down when you enter Lake Cafe. Most of the patrons are older, there are lots of conversations including the staff. Nobody is in a hurry.I ordered the Dubeque burger with tots. My food arrived quickly. Almost too quickly! It was good but not incredible.Under my table were lots of food scraps from previous guests.My server asked me once how I was doing and didnt come back until I was done eating and my drink was empty and then only at my beckoning.I had another extended wait after I was given the check to have it picked up. My server seemed to be enjoying his job talking to the patrons in the adjacent room.Id go back and try a different dish but Im not in a big hurry.

Food was excellent, staff was very friendly, and overall was a very pleasant experience. Definitely will be revisiting whenever Im in the Big Lake area.

This is our "go to" place when were not sure what were hungry for. Were always happy with our food, service and price. They are very accommodating.

Stopped for breakfast this was a disaster. First a pancakes and hashbrowns came out they were COLD. waited 10 minutes for steak eggs to appear waitress apologies why. Then rest of food cones out VERY COLD. Complained to waitress said she couldnt foster couldnt do anything. Had to pay they wont take any money off. DONT EAT HERE

The food was excellent and the prices were reasonable. Service was very good and friendly. Salad bar was excellent lotof choice on it . It good place to go for a excellent meal.

Just had the Bacon cheeseburger and crinkle cut fries, amazing, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Never been disappointed at this place, 5 stars!

The BEST Eggs Benedict in the area, hands down! Staff is nice, especially those there for years. Could train younger gals in better manners (please and thank you for startersbut overall good. Good little salad bar and always great daily specials and prices. Owners have carried on a great legacy! We enjoy any time we visit here!

Slice of Americana on US 10 in North Central MN has a robust dinner menu with the waitress and line chefs bantering and all! Cannot wait to get back to this place!

How can you complain about a breakfast buffet??? Pile it up w/ country gravy on everything, topped with some French toast sticks... DELICIOUS.

From start to finish, everyone I talked to was so incredibly nice. Got a slew of recommendations for my meal and ended up going with pan-fried walleye. It was phenomenal. The server, I believe her name was Josie, was absolutely delightful and so very on top of everything. Would one hundred percent recommend this spot to anyone.

Just went for the first time. I ordered the Mexican omelet which was huge and very tasty. Kaylee ordered the Chocolate chip pancakes, which is her favorite. Ariana ordered the Deluxe Fritter french toast, which is her favorite. Service was very good and friendly. I will definitely be going back.

My 10yo grandson and I love coming here and getting the buffet. He always contents how great the waitstaff is and he always uses his own money to leave the tip after he calculates 20%. :] So delishhhhh and everyone is so friendly %]

The staff at Lake Cafe was friendly. The restaurant was clean and not crowded.On Wednesdays the cafe has a chicken dinner buffet. They have family night with one free childs meal with the purchase of an adult meal every Thursday. On Saturday and Sunday mornings there is a breakfast buffet.The breakfast meals were tasty. The kids meals have heart portions. The burgers are fresh and handmade. They have several side dish options including a good salad bar.The meatloaf was pretty good but the side dishes were disappointing. The beans were from a can. The potatoes were not real. .We enjoyed our dinner overall. I preferred the salad bar to my dinner though.The pie is delicious! We tried the strawberry rhubarb and banana cream. Yum

We were going for breakfast; but was a late morning so ended up eating brunch. Still breakfast foods just later for us. Very good and filling at a good price, for what we got. I recommend, whether dining in or taking out.😊👍

Great home cooked food, the soup was awesome . Has liver and onions on the menu. Husband said it was cooked to perfection and large portion. I had a burger that was huge and very tasty. Home town feel, wonderful service. Will return again.

Ive been in the area for work a few different times this summer and have eaten here a couple times now. I got the walleye sandwich and a bourbon burger. Both were delicious! The walleye was cooked well and very crispy. The burger was very messy, get extra napkins, but very good. The bourbon glaze and sautéed onions were great. I added pepper jack cheese as well. Very friendly staff with great service during both visits! I love supporting local places!

This was supposed to be apple fritter French toast... spoiled egg atop a slice of bread.Staff/server was absent 95% of the time and we had to track her down to ask for the bill.HIGHLY recommend NOT to visit this place!

My husband and I just moved to Big Lake and love going out for breakfast on Sunday mornings. The Lake Cafe has a great small town feel. The owner was even going to peoples tables and sitting down and talking with them! We got seated right away, our food didnt take long and regardless of how busy they were, we were not rushed out. The food is amazing!! WARNING you will eat too much!

Great local small town restaurant. Country fried steak and eggs over homemade biscuit smothered with a hearty portion of sausage gravy was absolutely perfect and the hash was cooked perfectly.

Went here for their breakfast buffet from 5 to 8 pm on Thursdays. It was good comfort food. I especially enjoyed the biscuits and gravy. Our server was pleasant and attentive. They also offer a full salad bar. This is a nice home-cooking type cafe.

Great breakfast spot! Never a bad meal! Hash browns they right way! Price is right too! Friendly fast service!

I have been coming to the Lake Cafe for as long as I can remember. It was a family favorite, a tradition, and a go-to for "fancy" diner food. It was eggs Benedict, and pancakes for Sunday breakfast and where kids could indulge in burgers for good grades while the adults chatted over coffee cups and homemade chili. Lake Cafe is one of those spots that you cant help but remember, and reminisce simply by closing your eyes. A place that smelled like your Grandmas’s kitchen - for all the right reasons.