Carleen's

I dont normally come online and do reviews, but this place is an exception. I had never been here before and my husband and I wanted to try something new. We were greeted by the waitress Emily, she gave amazing service right from the minute we walked in. I love that they do not constantly hover over you checking in on the you. She was quick and very kind. My husband ordered the steak and eggs I got the three egg breakfast. The steak was SO tender and the cook on the steak was perfect. The toast was perfectly toasted and the eggs were perfectly cooked. the check out process was quick and easy through an app on your phone which is provided to you on the check! we definitely will be goongback again and i highly suggest this place if youre looking for a new breakfast/lunch place to try!

The most divine bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich I’ve had. Really lovely place, big comfortable chairs and super friendly staff. Someone in our party wasn’t feeling super great and they were beyond accommodating. All the food was fantastic as well, especially the buttermilk pancakes. If I lived closer this place would be a regular stop!

The food is good and the service friendly and prompt. The atmosphere improved when the interior was redone a while ago. I find the menu options a bit limited.

GABE N JOHN R THA BOMB....THANK U for the hospitality

We are visiting from Toronto and stumbled upon this diner for breakfast. Food was very good but the service was outstanding! Our group has some food restrictions and our waiter, Mikie went above and beyond to make sure the kitchen staff were made aware. Would definitely go back.

Great place, the service is outstanding and the prices are very good, I'm looking forward to take my breakfast again. Btw: love the decorations using doors in all the restaurant, soo unique style.

This morning I had Pumpkin coffee. I don't drink coffee, but it was good. To eat I tried the Swiss and ham on a croissant. It came with egg in it. It was delicious. She had a mixed bacon omelette, with potatoes and a croissant. Water was also given to us. The silverware needed some wiping. Place was moderately occupied. Overall, our experience was once again a good one.

Did the corned beef sandwich for take out, which was brilliant! Love the atmosphere, and I look forward to going back to dine in! My only complaint is that I wish my sandwich was a bit thicker. The corned beef is that good!

The bread/toast was the star. The rest of our breakfast was pretty standard. I like my Western with the eggs and fixin's combined, these were filled inside a plain omelet. Service was fast and friendly, a Mass. standout.

The service is caring and efficient. Coffee available is hot and tasty. My favorite is scrambled eggs with link sausage and home fries. The meal arrives quickly, hot and prepared with love. Highly recommend.

Great breakfast place. Service is fast and furious. Be ready to order or wait for a second go around. Staff is friendly and food is good. Breakfast served all day and a variety of other food in the afternoon, from sandwiches to full meals. When I am nearby, I always stop in. Got the omelette full breakfast with home fries, bacon and toast. Also got a grilled orange cranberry muffin that was fantastic. See you next time. This is a diner type restaurant. If you are looking for elegant service and gourmet food, keep looking. Good food, good people and good place!

Our server was friendly and attentive, all of our orders were correct and hot when they arrived. My corned beef hash and eggs were perfect and everyone in our party reported that they enjoyed their meal. The ambiance is typical diner sounds and the decor is pleasant, I plan to return

Friendly service and great food! I recommend the crab cake eggs Benedict. Have never had a bad experience.

Great food and reasonable prices. Easily accessible to all. Ample seating with no wait times. Family type atmosphere.

Food was amazing, prices were reasonable and Erin , our server was exceptional . Definitely a must stop if you're looking for breakfast in the area

Stopped by early in the morning as I've not been in the area for quite some time. Discovered this hidden gem of a place with Amazing breakfast sandwiches. They were certainly not the usual but big for their size. Place looked decent but the service was excellent and detailed. Ambiance was good not too many people that early but understand why they are getting their usual customers. They provide the best service and quality meals.

I finally made it to Carleen's. I went last Friday for lunch. Sat at the counter. Place was fairly busy. Limited menu due to Covid, staffing, etc. Had seafood Friday specals which was cool. I had a cup of clam chowder which was good. Creamy with plenty of chopped chewy clams, potatos and such. I had the fish sandwich special. which I thought came with fries and slaw but it was just a smallish sandwich on a ciabatta roll with lettuce and tarter sauce. Very good sandwich. So the server said that there is the sandwich on its own, then the plate which has the fries and slaw. Simple miscommunication. I was still a bit hungery but it is fine. Not that I needed the fries anyways.

STILL the best breakfast in Lawrence! I haven't been here in many years and I'm so happy I came to eat on this trip to visit my childhood town. The restaurant may have been changed and been remodeled, but the food is still on point! I had my favorite, hash & eggs. It was delicious and so nostalgic. We had amazing service from my old high school friend Michaeleen and took some great pictures. This was a wonderful experience I will not forget.

Went for breakfast today .I ordered a bagel sandwich with a small side of home fries asked for hot sauce also. The sandwich was brought over ,haft way the sandwich the home fries came ,I asked for the hot sauce I got it on the last bite of my sandwich . Not once did anyone stop by to ask if everything was okay.

Great breakfast spot in south Lawrence. Can get very packed but I always see this as a good sign because the food is good. Friendly staff too

Great place for quick coffee and breakfast. Service always fast and courteous. Waitstaff always pleasant and coffee never empty. Great family run business!

This was my first visit to Carleen's and I will certainly be back! The food was delicious - I ordered a chocolate chip pancake, white toast and homemade corned beef hash. The food came out incredibly fast and the service was 10/10! The ambiance was great as well - I sat at the bar which has about 5 very comfortable seats. There are plenty of tables throughout the restaurant and it is not crammed whatsoever. The CC pancake was perfectly fluffy and absolutely delicious. They leave out syrup so you have full control over the amount to put on your pancake. The homemade corned beef hash was so good - there were chunks of corned beef and potatoes which my Irish self absolutely loved. The crisp on the top was delicious and a must-have on any homemade hash! I don't remember the exact breakdown but the homemade corned beef hash was $5.99 and the total for all three dishes + coffee was $17 and change, so nothing crazy. The food and service made this worth every penny!

Food and service great! They leave the door open and we complained about the flys coming in. Flys liked our food choice.

LOVED MY MEAL !! The hash on the side was good to but this was really good ! Cooked. Not salty. The gravy was great. The food was real good but the service along with the good food made my breakfast perfect !!

Wonderful breakfast spot! Food is always excellent. The waitstaff are so friendly and helpful. The decor is very cool with old doors hanging on the walls and ceilings. Our favorite place for breakfast!

honestly what can i say negative about this place. truth is nothing!! all of our staff are excellent. food and service excellent!!!

Ordered 2 eggs oe with home fries, got 2 eggs well done with baked beans. Ordered 2 eggs oe with hash browns, gotn2 eggs well done with home fries. Ordered were to go. Took a while to get it. Home fries were cold and bland and black on the edges. Would not recommend eating their food.

The food is great and the staff are even better. The staff are very friendly and attentive. I wish I had The waitresses name because she made my disabled friend in my care treated her just like she would treat any other customer And was extremely patient with her.

AMAZING! Friendly & excellent service, choices galore, excellent prices, REAL food - not heat & serve are the reason I love this place! I don't think it matters which day or time you decide that you need a Carleen's fix... This restaurant is ALWAYS busy! I've only had breakfast/ brunch here. So, unable to report on how the lunches are. I've tried several omelets, pancakes - they are always real pancakes, eggs, toast every which way and everything has been absolutely delicious. Not sure what type/brand of coffee they serve? But it is always excellent & piping hot. Another bonus: servers are always coming by to refill your cup. Imagine that!

This is an old place we always came here for a nice hot quick breakfast good food. The people are really nice. The pancakes are huge.

Amazing food at a fantastic family run business that's been an integral part of the community for decades. Great people, great food, great value. Highly recommend

Service was great, food was mediocre. My husband and I went for breakfast on a Monday morning around 11am. Place was dead, maybe 2-3 other tables of people. Waitress was very prompt & polite. The food was slightly more expensive than other breakfast places we've been to, taking their average portion sizes into consideration. I'd give 4 stars instead of 3, but my food wasn't great. My eggs were overcooked and the homefries were not good....at all. No flavor, just giant chunks of bland potatoes. My husband enjoyed his breakfast, and his coffee was always full, so no complaints there. I'll probably go back, but it'll be for lunch, not breakfast.

I have attempted to go here many times after moving my office to Andover, the explosion in Lawrence delayed my enjoyment. I have now been there 3 times for lunch and was very happy each day. They have different specials every day and I never have needed to order off the menu as the specials always catch my eyes and taste buds. Wait staff is very friendly with a greeting and thank you as you leave. Good places for lunch are limited in this area and Carleen's was a great find for me.

Majorly hammered by jet-lag and having almost been killed by at least a half dozen drivers leaving Logan we were in serious need of breakfast. We wandered off the highway and found almost nowhere to eat. We walked into one roadside Inn but it smelled like old cigarettes mold and my grandmothers closet. We almost settled on Dunkin Donuts but at the very last second found Carleen's. The place was packed with local businessmen eating huge plates of eggs, pancakes and sausage. The waitress called us hon and sweety and brought us steaming hot coffee right away. I had the linguica and eggs, Lisa had the biscuits and gravy. Warm, tasty and good, the perfect antidote to a red eye flight.

Typical diner with reasonable prices. I usually went there for breakfast. Don't expect high end food for the price they charge you. You will have enough food to fill up but probably won't remember what you ate after.

I was visitng Salem, NH and this was the closest well-rated breakfast place on Yelp. So I took the 20 min drive to see how it was. It was a rainy fall Saturday but the place was 4/5 full, mostly locals, a couple families. The place was easy to find but the parking lot was full. You seat yourself. Waitress was quick and very friendly. Soon after a group left they were clearing and cleaning the tables. Place was quite clean overall. Coffee was hot and quite good (though I'm no expert). I ordered the southern style eggs Benedict with sausage and gravy. It came in good time and was very good with fresh biscuits and well poached eggs all covered in gravy. It was very good and I'd return to try other things like the homemade hash and the pancakes which looked good.

Surprising find in Lawrence for breakfast. Very busy location on a Sunday. Larger groups will have a hard time finding a seat here, but the two of us scooted right in and got a table. It's seat yourself and CASH ONLY**. They have an ATM if you need it. Service was quick and friendly. The restaurant itself was bright and clean. Food portions were just right, with plenty of options. The coffee was fresh tasting and the waitresses never let it run low. We certainly see ourselves coming back.

Standard diner fair. Prices from $5-$10. Taste, atmosphere, service: average, average, average. We'll go again if the circumstances warrant, but won't make a special trip. Cash only.

Why does this place have a 3.5 star rating? It's amazing! The food is unforgettable - I still have never gone to a breakfast place with better corn beef hash! It's also just a really cheerful place! The waitresses seem happy; they are always very sweet and helpful. The service is usually pretty fast, and they never make mistakes. You can tell that it's a good restaurant because you can make any changes or additions that you want to your order and they'll roll with it. You can always exchange waffles for pancakes or French toast, or add things to your plate and they'll do it for you because they're so flexible! I 100% recommend this place.

Great breakfast spot! You can't go wrong here best part is Irish Benedict, really good! Could be a bit pricey for breakfast! Weekend this place is pack parking is an issue .

We found this incredible gem in Lawrence MA. Breakfast/lunch was delicious and the service was best-in-class for hometown eateries. Glad we ventured off the highway for this one!

I really wanted to love this place, but maybe it's just the menu item I chose. Stay away from the English muffin sandwich. A McDonald's one definitely tastes better. My cousin brought me here with great things to say but I just happened to have a bad experience. He order the crab cake Benny which looked delicious but I'm not much of a seafood guy. Food prices are fairly low but I was not a huge fan of the quality. The juice is not fresh although it's advertised as it is. It's a rather large place, okay for a big party. The inside is a little mismatched with furniture and random things for sale. Mom and Pop type place, not many waiters etc. The pastries and pies are good, done seasonally. I don't recommend to bring someone here if you want to impress them.

My favorite breakfast joint, for reasons of sentimentality as well as quality of food. There was a period of time where I came to Carleens every Saturday morning without fail. I'm at the point where the wait staff asks if I need a menu (I don't, typically). The food, however, is also excellent. Make sure to order homemade raisin toast with your meal -- it is to die for. I also recommend the corned beef hash. Service is fast and friendly, and you won't be with an empty coffee cup for long. The vibe is casual but the interior is bright and warm, and there is always a mix of families and elderly couples on a Saturday morning. Note that the parking lot can get crowded and they take cash only. In my humble (and biased) opinion, the best sit down breakfast in the Andover/North Andover/Lawrence area.

Carleen's owners, waitstaff and cooks go out of their way to make you feel welcome and satisfied. Home-style cooking and we are never disappointed there. They even serve fish & chips during Lent and offer special dinner hours for holidays like St. Patrick's Day. You can't go wrong there and that's why they have so many regulars. It is our "go to" place. They treat you like family and their food is wonderful.

Great breakfast well above expectations. Clean and friendly environment. Hospitable and attentive staff. Fun for all ages. Delicious eggs Benedict.

We have lived in North Andover for almost 3 years. I have driven by this place a million times. Amidst the corona craziness right now, my wife and decided to head out for breakfast. As someone in the restaurant business, I felt it important to support businesses that have to be open. We are going to take a hard hit in our industry so I'm trying to pay it forward. Our server Jeff (I think was his name) was great. My southern Benedict was awesome!! This may be our new spot for breakfast

If you are looking for a friendly, clean, simple breakfast place that treats you nicely doesn't keep you waiting forever, charge you a lot, or make you feel like you have to leave immediately after you eat. This is the place for you. I like the Italian Sausage as a side with my eggs, so much better than breakfast sausage.

This is an interesting little place. It's close to where I work so I've sampled a variety of things off their menu and have mixed feelings while writing this review. Breakfast food at Carleen's is pretty standard for a diner. Their pancakes are monstrous - I usually get the chocolate chip variety and am pretty happy with them, but their home fries are tasteless, greasy and often under-cooked. Everything else I've had for breakfast there is a blur, but what stands out in my memory is that all of it was as grease-soaked as you'd need it to be to cure a hangover after a night of excessive drinking - which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your situation at the time. If you're in the mood for a toasted sandwich, what Carleen's does really well is their grilled cheeses and tuna melts. Still soaked in butter , or grease , or whatever it is that they use- but perfectly toasted, hot and oozing deliciousness. Add on a cup of soup (whatever their serving that day - because the soups are on a seemingly unpredictable rotating menu) and you have an amazing lunch for a cold winter day. I've tried several of their wraps also - not bad, but they get soggy pretty quickly - so if you're ordering to-go I wouldn't recommend them. On that note, I would recommend ordering to-go because Carleen's inside has a bit of a cluttered/needs-a-remodel feel and it'd be more relaxing to eat elsewhere.

My husband wasn't a big breakfast person until he found Carleen's. They are just as welcoming as it gets. He goes there about once a week and before they take his order his coffee (with skim milk and one splenda) is brought. If he doesn't want "his usual" egg white omelet they have plenty of other great choices to choose from. You'll definitely enjoy it!

Corn-beef hash was terrible, it looked and tasted like mush, and had a hair in it. You'll probably like this restaurant if you're 80 years old. Everyone else, go someplace better.

The more you go there, the better vis-a-vis coffee refills the staff seems to be. It definitely favors regulars, though the service is good no matter who you are. A must once a week for me, anyway. I finally had breakfast for the first time -- the Hungry Man (eggs, two pancackes, 2 bacon, 2 sausage and homefries). Big, but not oppressively big. A word of warning -- when you order off the specials board (for instance, the always-excellent pastrami w/ carmelized onions on an onion roll), extras (namely, fries) are extra. Still, it's a pretty cheap and very tasty lunch.

Carleen's is a distant 2nd to Shawsheen Diner a couple miles south in Andover. While Shawsheen is fantastic and I'd rather not go elsewhere - they are quite small and quite busy so sometimes an alternative must be had. At Carleen's, they are roomier and while busy enough - there is rarely a wait (save for prime breakfast time on Sundays but even Denny's is packed on Sundays). Carleen's items are all well made (although the homefries here aren't quite my taste). They make their own cinnamon bread and that definitely kicks them up a 1/2 star in my book. Not quite 4 star territory but you can do much worse looking for breakfast in the Lawrence/Andover area. pass

I ordered the fruit plate which was the equivalent of two mouthfuls of fruit. For 2.25 I expected a little more. The waitress was very nice though. My grandma loves this place, but then again she refuses to eat at Outback because she thinks the steak is "too spicy." Think about that for a bit.

Bullet point review: -Walked in not really sure where to sit -Disappointed no espresso -Place feels very empty: whole section of the shop looks deserted -Old-timey decorations, black and white photos with nicknacks -Seems very much built for the locals -Lots of seating, large windows -Staff seems alright: two checked on me -Clam chowda good, thick and hot -Standard turkey sandwich fine -Pricing seems okay, average -Bathroom is clean -This is place is pretty standard, nothing much to say about it: nothing particular bad nor exceptional

Great food. Awesome people. You can't find places like this anymore especially in Lawrence. The food is affordable and filling. I went there in a bad mood and I left full and content. Really a great find for me. I will become a regular there.

We used to go here all the time a few years back but stopped because the service started going downhill. This past Saturday, my son and I went here for breakfast and I think I am going to add this place back in to the starting rotation for weekend breakfasts. The food was great. I had forgotten how good the sausage was. The service was excellent and our waitress was very attentive with coffee and such. I got an eggs and pancakes breakfast and wound up taking one of the pancakes home and sharing the sausage with my son. Portions are really generous so if you go, go hungry.. They also have a very nice fresh fruit cup. On Saturday, it was strawberries and bananas.

My wife and I love going to Carleen's and we make it there for breakfast almost every Saturday. The food is always good and the staff is a delight - friendly and helpful. I almost always have a breakfast sandwich with home fries, but my wife likes to mix it up and try something different most days. I can also vouch for their pancakes and omelette- very tasty. Also, they frequently have specials so their chalkboard it always worth a look. If you're in the area and looking for breakfast I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.