380 reviews.
94 % recommend.

"The cinnamon roll alone is worth the trip. My grandkids ask to go to 'the cafe with the red booths.' That's the only place in Lincoln they mean."

"Penelope's is what every small-town breakfast spot wishes it were. Coffee refilled before I ask, food on the table in eight minutes, paid less than fifteen dollars."

"My dad used to take me here on Saturday mornings before college visits. Twenty years later I take my own kids. Brenda still remembers our order."

"The country skillet is enough food for two adults and a teenager. The gravy is real — flour, sausage drippings, time. Not from a can."

"Came here for breakfast after a hospital appointment that didn't go well. Brenda noticed, asked if we were okay, and refilled the coffee three times. We came back the next week."

"Cinnamon-roll French toast is the best breakfast I've had in this state. Possibly any state. Will return on every drive through Lincoln."

"Hot beef sandwich done the way my grandmother did it. Open-faced, mashed potatoes, real gravy. Took me back to her kitchen in Pawnee City."

"Got the patty melt and a chocolate milkshake. Felt like I was twelve again. The cafe earns its 'lil' — it's small, but in the right way."

"Brought my mother for her 80th birthday. They brought her a cinnamon roll with a candle. She talked about it for three weeks."