Mt Lemmon Cafe

What could possibly be better than being 9000 feet above sea level in Arizona, sitting on a brick patio under a giant tarp, watching the rain come down in torrents, and eating ridiculously incredible huge slices of pie with my best friends?

Being 9000 feet up, sitting on an outdoor patio, watching the rain pour, eating mind-blowing pie, AND sharing one of Mount Lemmon Cafe's Atomic burgers.

So, get this. My friends related this to me because I was saving seats for them outside (there's only a shack where you order your food, no indoor seating): when they ordered the Atomic burger, the cashier asked, "Are you sure?" Is that a sign that you're in for a treat, or what?

So this burger finally comes out, and we've already gorged ourselves on the huuuuge slices of amazing pie (we shared the strawberry rhubarb, sour cream apple, blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry). I take a look at the burger and discover that their "horseradish sauce" appears to be actually horseradish paste - like the white kind you get from a jar. There's a good size beef bun, and the horseradish is just about the same size as the patty.

Thus, the fun commenced. The boy took a bite and immediately his eyes start to tear up and he starts choking, before saying, "Woo - good stuff!" So of course we had to divvy up the rest of the burger for everyone to have a bite. -Everyone- under the pavilion must have been so annoyed with us by the end of the burger.

One of us would take a bite, start spluttering, and everyone else would point and laugh. Then the next person would take a bite, and the process repeated itself until we'd all suffered through the sinus-clearing head-rushing spasm-inducing foodgasm.

Yeah. Mount Lemmon Cafe might be well known for its pies, and it has every right to be. But if I come back, I'm not passing up on the Atomic burger.

I'd give this place more stars... but

When youre up in the freezing cold... and you get hungry, thirsty... desperate for anything to keep you warm... this place sounds like heaven.

Not only does it take forever for them to serve you... but once you get your pie of choice (which your first second and third choice happen to always be sold out)... you get it served COLD. hot chocolate? yep.. thats cold too.

everything is overpriced. a slice of pie is like $5 and what they call a "large" cup of hot chocolate (think super small styrofoam cups) is also $5 or $7.

over priced. everything served ice cold.

the pies are delicious otherwise. and the crazy, delusional waiter which seems to talk to dogs and himself... he adds more fun.

Been here a couple times now and everything always works perfect ... (except that they had their restrooms under servicing this time and we had to go a mile away to use public ones... :D ) ... anyway...

food always has been good... Veggie sandwich ('Lady Lemmon's sandwich' or something similar... ) is my wife's favorite and I liked my chicken/turkey sandwich too... as somebody else already has mentioned that hot chocolate at 9000ft is always a delight... the place suits the atmosphere very well with wooden interiors and antiques hanging around... overall its a very nice place to hang out when you are at 9000ft enjoying your time...

Some people have mentioned that the service was slow or some... But I don't really get it... why do people want super fast service when you are at 9000ft on a day off and not bothered about your boss giving you a memo or a pay cut for returning late on lunch... it's not that the service is super super slow... it has always been all right for us... esp when we are in the mood of enjoyment and group mentality and have handful of things to chat about... ain't that the reason at first place to go to a place like Mount Lemmon !!

I hear the place is closed, permanently. I'm sorry because it was a great breakfast place and the pies were wonderful. Now one has to go to the skilift area to eat at that restaurant. If you thought this service was slow, wait .....

Tasty but expensive. Busy and slow. They might have the smallest bathroom on the face of this earth.

It amazes me how slow some people may be. I purchased my meal (a sandwich with a bag of chips) and it took at least 20 minutes before they delivered it to me. I went inside after 15 minutes to ask if they had my food yet and was told they were still making it. My sandwich was two pieces of bread, cold turkey, cold ham, and a piece of bacon. Had I been home I could have driven to the store, purchased all ingredients, returned home and made the sandwich in the same amount of time. Very disappointed. I should have had pizza at the other restaurant on Mt. Lemmon.

Visited Arizona several times every time Im here I go up mount Lemon and take the tour up the mountain looking forward the whole time to visit the cafe and have some pie which is always great, I'm still waiting for the mount lemon pies cookbook.