Take the Cake

Wedding cake was below average. We didn’t want fondant and we got fondant. We asked for half yellow and half chocolate with raspberry filling we got yellow with raspberry and chocolate with white filling.
We are super resonable and wouldve been fine with the mistakes if the cake wasn’t super dry. When we cut the cake it literally crumbled onto our plate.
Take the Cake was Highly recommended to us but failed to deliver. When we taste tested what we were going to get it was moist and delicious. We feel as though it was an old Bait and Switch. Show us something great and switch it with a lemon.
For their Lunch Menu we’ve enjoyed it every time we’ve gone. It’s sad that we had such a below par experience.

Take the Cake certainly does Take the Cake for a great, quick, fairly priced, healthy-​ish lunch.
I say healthy-​ish because portions are small yet perfect if you want to add on that black bottom cupcake.
The menu is limited, but everything comes out extremely fresh. Being from Austin, I’m a fan of the slightly hipster, definitely vegetarian friendly vibe.

It’s local, hipster, one of a kind. Order off the chalkboard menu and hope to get a seat, or you’ll have to park yourself on the sidewalk or in the car to scarf down the goodness. Bread Pudding French Toast was amazing and I will be back for that alone. The steak and eggs looked decent. My only irks were with parking (hey it is Northside), and difficulty getting a table (let alone a clean one). Love the unique menu and fresh ingredients.

We had a really wonderful brunch here while house hunting for our move to Cincinnati. Everything was really well done, the staff was friendly, the ambiance was good, and the coffee was decent.
So far, it is our favorite restaurant in Cincinnati. In one respect, that’s not saying a lot since we’ve been really disappointed in most of them. But it would stand on its own in NYC or SF as a great neighborhood restaurant.

First let me say that everyone and their grandmothers rave about Take the Cake. It’s in Hipsterville, Cincinnati, also known as Northside. So as with any hipster restaurant, I came here excited but a bit skeptical.
Now having wiped my Sunday brunch clean off the plate, I must say that what you hear is what you get. The menu changes every week, but there’s usually some variation of buttermilk biscuit and poached egg, deep dish quiche, frittata, and french toast bread pudding. My meal consisted of a buttermilk biscuit with tomato sauce, sweet ricotta, pepper relish and poached egg over biscuit. I could’ve sat there all day scooping up the gooey egg yolk + ricotta + spicy tomato sauce with my biscuit. Ah, comfort food at its finest. Perfect portion, too – I think they size it just right so that you CAN leave room for dessert.
My friend got the shrimp and grits. Grits tasted so fresh! but not cheesy (I prefer cheesy). We later shared an éclair, which was aite (I was still thinking about my meal).
Come before 11:30am to beat the rush. The menu is written on a blackboard, and they will come with the dreaded eraser to wipe off the item that you and everyone before you had your hearts set on.

Steak and eggs were AMAZING. My mouth is watering thinking about it…
getting a table is a little rough but definitely worth it!

I had high hopes for Take the Cake, but unfortunately I was disappointed.
I came here for lunch with a group of four. The café had a rustic, homey feel with a large wooden «bench» at the center for group seating and the kitchen completely exposed to the customers (making me feel like I was in my grandmother’s kitchen again waiting for a good home-​cooked meal to come out). The servers were generally friendly and walked around in aprons, which added further to the homey ambiance of the place. Unfortunately, when I got here for lunch about half of the café menu was already sold out. I was left with only about four choices of entrees, so I went with the Bacon and White Bean Penne Pasta ($ 8.95). The food was just A-​OK. I found the pasta to be a little undercooked. In addition, the beans completely overwhelmed the entire dish and I could barely even taste the saltiness of the bacon. I also ordered the mini red velvet cupcake ($ 1.75) from their bakery. Again, I was disappointed. The cake was dry and the frosting was too hard (as if it had been refrigerated for several days). My friend ordered the cream puffs ($ 2.50) from the bakery which actually was the best thing that we ordered as a group.

My only other tryst with Take the Cake (TtC) happened more than two years ago when I visited with some friends to watch Jaws for this. That time I’d only tried some kind of dessert as, well, that’s what Take the Cake is a little bit known for. Since they are also kind of known for this (TtC is perennially one of Cincinnati’s Best Brunches), Date and I decided to give it a whirl one Sunday. We decided on that particular day of the week because TtC has biscuits and gravy every Sunday (at least until they run out): homemade buttermilk biscuits with local Kroeger & Sons sausage gravy.
I cannot say enough great things about the homemade buttermilk biscuits. And this is coming from someone who undyingly loves all things carbs. The biscuits were truly fantastic – so much so that my mouth is watering just thinking about them. The linger factor is real, folks, and the biscuits are heavenly. Switching gears, however, I don’t garner the same sentiments for the gravy. While it was top quality and very good, the level of spice and pepper were a bit high for my liking. I will say that I am so, so glad I finally got to try this dish. Perhaps the expectations I held were lofty, but my opinion doesn’t quite live up to what I expected – well, for the biscuits, yes, yes it does.
Date opted for the Deep Dish Quiche and Potatoes, as well as a Carrot Cake Cupcake for good measure. The former was pretty good while the latter really impressed.
I’ll use a «legit» rating system so that you may have a better idea of why I’ve given TtC the final score as I have:
Location: I really enjoy Northside and its resurgence. I think the location is fantastic, even if parking isn’t 100% convenient. I also think TtC has done a really fantastic job mastering and cornering the brunch market without creating a monopoly of sorts.
Atmosphere: I love the building where TtC is located, as well as the interior décor (eclectic tables and chairs dispersed throughout, as well as a counter bar). As a Graphic Designer, I think it’s necessary that I touch on how much I enjoy the minimalist logo (hey! the interior takes the minimalist approach as well, which is fantastic).
Food: The cost of brunch was extremely reasonable comparatively, which is arguably its greatest asset. I will recommend Take the Cake’s Brunch to anyone I can, and it helps that it’s affordable for most walks of life. Additionally, the entire experience was pretty quick and painless, as you order from the blackboard menu at the register and a worker hand delivers the meal (s) when ready.
Your guess is as good as mine as to why it’s taken me so long to return to try brunch. If I can help it, I will most certainly be back.

This review is bitter sweet. The breakfast deserves 5 stars, but the dessert deserves 1. However, because of my delicious breakfast I am willing to ignore my awful desserts and give this place a 4 star. I will definitely come back, but this time not order dessert, which is strange, since that is what they are known for. Let’s start with the bad first.
My blackberry cupcake was incredibly dry. The frosting was rock hard on top. It must have been very old. Why is a bakery that is busy selling old cupcakes? I can’t tell you. It had no flavor and I could only force myself to eat half of it. I also tried the cranberry bundt cake. This one had more flavor, but was very dry as well. I was sooo disappointed. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t want to be rude.
Now on to the positive. The breakfast was amazing. Sure they don’t have a large menu, but the few things they serve are delicious and I am very satisfied. I had the baked brussel sprouts and pear that was topped with a poached egg, fluffy biscuits, and blue cheese. The brussel sprouts and pear were packed with flavor, slightly sweet, a little salty, with the perfect crunch. I don’t even like blue cheese and I was loving this meal. I finished every bite and wanted more.
Overall, if I am ever in Cincinnati I will be coming back here for more. I will not be ordering any desserts though regardless of how wonderful they look in the window. Service is great, prices are great, parking is brutal, but this is true for most places in this city.
I dont understand people who complain about the prices. The average meal here costs around $ 8 – 9. This is totally a steal to me fore great quality food that is very unique.

Food looked good, service was ok but the food was thoroughly mediocre. With true five star brunches in Mt lookout and other places try this second. Busy, and buzzing but perhaps only because there aren’t any other options near by.
Avoid this place and make the trip to Annabels or Nectar in Mt. Lookout.

Best known for it’s brunch, Take the Cake serves up artistic, unique creations with toppings one could only dream of. Quiches, bread puddings, and other baked goods are simple divine.
Take the Cake is a giagantic concrete space with European-​style seating. That means you sit at a long table next to strangers. No private booths here, but that adds to the atmosphere. Come on the weekends, you’ll find a long line winding out the door for brunch. It’s worth the wait, just make sure you’re in good company.
Price per person: $ 13.00

Coffee– perfect. Don’t be a wuss: avoid decaf.
Coffee cake– never my thing, but still recommendable.
Sunday brunch menu apparently changes often. I chose the biscuit with spinach artichoke and beet chips. Beet chips taste like… super fried sweet potato chips. It was almost $ 9, but an interesting take on spinach-​artichoke. It seemed like a healthier version of the dip, if such a thing exists. The biscuit was the best part.
I would definitely want to try something else if I lived in Northside, but I wouldn’t travel to come back.
It’s a cool joint though. You can watch them make their pastries from the counter. They close early… not sure if it’s everyday but on Sundays it closes at 2pm, so don’t get drunk on Saturday night and expect to make it for brunch the next day. Get your beauty sleep, ladies~

I’ve been saying «I really need to try their brunch» for several months now… seeing the tweets/​fb posts about their ever-​changing weekend brunch menu leaves my mouth salivating. I couldn’t resist when Alex added Take the Cake brunch to his victory lap schedule. And I most definitely was not disappointed.
The food is great, but since the menu changes daily I can’t really recommend one dish. But each dish is unique — this is not your regular eggs, bacon and toast breakfast joint! I recommend getting there early since the seating is limited. This is the type of place were you order at the counter and they bring you the food. Despite the fact that each table does not have a set server my glass of water never went empty. The portions were perfect — I left full but not stuffed. The only sad part is that I didn’t get a chance to try a cupcake thanks to the long line when we were ready to leave. Oh well… guess that just means a return trip is needed!

Uggh! I’ve tried so many times to make this work. I hear people rave about this place all the time. It’s just WAY too difficult. They have what they have. The only way to know what that is is to drive over and read it for yourself. Even then, they sell out of the good stuff quickly.
I really like the space and the decorations, atmosphere, staff. All cool.
As a vegetarian, I don’t recommend wasting your time. It’s unlikely they’ll have a vegetarian option, and if they do have one, it’s either sold out or unappealing.
I’ve been waiting to try and review this place for a while, so I often give them the first shot when I’m in the area. I’ve walked right back out most times. Once or twice, I’ve stubbornly stayed for dessert (since that’s the name of the place!) and I have to say, I was not at all impressed. I can tell they have skill, but I just am not feeling the execution. The flavor and moistness isn’t what it should be and the frosting! Holy cow, that frosting is a disaster. It’s grainy, stiff, and has so much damned sugar in it, you can’t even taste the cake itself. Yuck.
I think I’m done with this place. I’ve given up.

I can see my husbands pupils enlarge every time I mention Take the Cake. A little bit of drool starts running down his chin if I go as far as to say «bread pudding.»
It’s hard to believe such perfection exists in the world, but it does and you’ve found it. To give you some perspective, take the cake is so good that other restaurants buy from TTC to sell in their own stores. All dishes and desserts are sure to please and the ambiance is so inexplicably cool that you just have to try it for yourself.

Take the cake? Why thank you; I will. I am not a coffee person. At all. I’ll swill some if I am nearing a deep REM sleep and need to stay awake for a presentation or something but I don’t seek it out. I just don’t like the taste. Some people say the same thing about beer. Those people are wrong. Where am I going with this? Oh, yes. Coffee! Not my thing.
Here? It was my thing. I didn’t get a fancy coffee mochachokalatta. I just ordered a coffee — black with my patented blend of real sugar (artificial sweeteners will make you grow a tail; it’s true) and proceeded to wake up. The surprisingly good house blend opened my eyes to the bevy of breakfast items set before my in seductive chalk words. Seeing as I’d had a rough evening and didn’t have much of an appetite, I ordered the quiche of the day with fresh greens. For breakfast? For real! As I spontaneously grew Birkenstocks and patchouli pheromones, I briefly saw the benefit of a lighter, healthier breakfast that didn’t involve sweet baked goods and bacon. Was it possible to have a tasty, filling breakfast that didn’t make me want to sing ‘Unpretty’ to myself as I stared in the mirror and wonder where my obliques went off to? Was it? Was it… ?
Hmm. Maybe I just hadn’t woken up yet.

I’m not a big brunch fan just mainly because I feel no need to pay $ 15 for sunny side up eggs and toast… but when it’s something creative, interesting and reasonably priced, I am so there.
I had the Cuban biscuit with a poached egg, swiss cheese, local ham, pork tenderloin, mustard aioli, onion, jalapeño and cucumber… It was really delicious… the mustard aioli was something I would buy a bottle of… really just every bite was different and interesting… ham with the runny egg yolk, pork with the mustard, the really flavorful melty swiss cheese… this is my kinda brunch!

Oh my goodness YUM! Take the Cake is one of my favorite locally owned restaurants around! I was actually fearful when I first moved to Northside that I might gain roughly a million pounds living so close by.
This place is the epitome of comfort food. I feel comforted just passing by and smelling the delicious confections they make. Take the Cake is a café/​bakery located in Northside with an ever revolving menu. It literally changes every day. A whole new plethora of intricate delicacies is posted on their giant blackboard daily (it’s also posted online at
if you want to know what you’re getting BEFORE you get there). Their menu is constantly changing, but some tried and true items that are not to missed are their deep dish quiche, french toast bread pudding and their Frittata.
AND if that’s not enough for you this place is first and foremost a bakery! Dozens upon dozens of cookies, cupcakes, and muffins are available everyday.
Take the Cake does indeed what it’s name suggests… everything is delicious, the employees are friendly, the décor is adorable and it is sure to never disappoint!

I absolutely cannot believe that the Queen of sweets such as myself, is giving a place called «Take the Cake «only 2 stars. I read such great reviews I had to go check the place out. A friend and I met there for lunch, and if I had rated the place solely on that it would easily be a 5.
I’ve been trying new things food wise, and had never tried eggplant Parmesan. WOW! I think my taste buds went into a coma after I ate my meal. It was seriously that delicious! I could have climbed onto their large wooden table and taken a very comfortable nap. I think I would have gotten kicked out, but still. I’m just making a point. YUM.
So after all that, you’re probably wondering why the lack of stars. Well, I found the staff to be pretty drab. I mean, I’m pretty personable and can make friends with just about anyone with a pulse. and these people were just rude and acted like I was an inconvenience. I was pretty disheartened by that since my food was so amazing.
To make myself feel better after the rejection of the staff I decided on a giant cupcake with a huge piece of chocolate sticking out of the frosting mountain. It was so huge I would have to eat it with both hands, and that made me smile despite the droll attitude of the boy behind the register. I think he was impatient with me because I couldn’t decide between that or another dessert and he didn’t hide that fact well at all. Sorry that I wasted your precious time by being a PAYING customer.
Still after all that I would have given the place 3 stars because that eggplant just blew me away. But, I get home with my giant cupcake treat and am drooling just thinking about how delectable it will taste. I closed my eyes so I’d see the flavor fireworks when I bit into my spongy chocolate and white icing delight… and nothing. There were no flavor fireworks to be seen. The darkness behind my closed eyelids was very prominent.
I blinked my eyes open in disbelief. How could this be? I took another bite with my eyes open this time to make sure I was eating the right cupcake… and again. disappointment seared through me like a hot streak of lightning. :(I’ve made better cupcakes from a box, and for the price I paid for one I could have made a whole dozen and probably put on the same 10 pounds from eating 12 cupcakes instead of just one huge one.
I seriously am disheartened by this place and I’m not sure if I’ll ever return. I keep reading about the brunch though, so maybe I’ll give it another shot and try that. I just won’t try to be best friends with the staff, or eat any of their sweets. :(

On occasion I do crazy things like drive to Ohio for the weekend. So on my way back home it made perfect sense to ring up the smashing Alex S and force him to take me out to brunch. I’m lucky that Alex was also down with this plan.
We wound our way through the city over to Take the Cake, and it’s an absolutely charming little spot. You order at the counter and are forced to take in the sights and smells of the open bakery: it was hard to resist the call of the cupcakes, but I succeeded. Instead my weary liver demanded a proper hangover fix in the form of steak and eggs served on top of a biscuit.
We settled in to the bar in the front and I immediately noticed how incredibly loud the place was, despite it maybe being about 60% capacity. Maybe this is my hangover talking, but I felt like I had to shout to make conversation. It took a little while for our food to arrive, but when it did, we dug in. My dish was pretty solid but nothing life-​altering: the biscuit on the bottom gets incredibly soggy from all of the gravy, but luckily they serve one half of the biscuit on top so you can get some of the original goodness.
It’s a little spendy for what you get, but I get the feeling that this place makes everything with love. And that’s worth paying extra.