Yours Truly is a long-standing local chain that has been in operation since 1981. In fact, they are celebrating their 45th anniversary this year. Yours Truly is an ideal choice for a great breakfast, lunch or dinner. I have been going to Yours Truly restaurants for probably 25 years. My first experience was at the Yours Truly on Rockside Road in the Cuyahoga Valley. I have visited several Yours Truly locations over the years, but I have been frequenting the one on Chagrin Boulevard since I moved to Cleveland Heights. This restaurant with a smaller footprint offers the same burgers, sandwiches & omelets as other YT locations, but tables are at a premium here. The few tables and counter stools are usually full during peak hours; carryout is a reasonable alternative. There are locations in Beachwood, Chagrin Falls, Hudson, Medina, Mentor and Solon. Your Truly in the Halle Building in the PlayhouseSquare district is also a popular choice.
They serve breakfast all day. I met a Meetup brunch group there years ago, but it is simply not on my radar for breakfast. However, I do stop in during non-peak hours for either a late lunch or early dinner (off-hours ensure I can usually get a seat quickly). The Killet Skillet and the Notso Omelet are all very popular, but the #1 selling item is their Eggs Benedict. The Notso Fries™ are also extremely popular. Yours Truly’s menu explains “They’re notso common. Golden brown cottage fries with melted cheese, chopped bacon and a dollop of sour cream.” They come in three different sizes. The one shown here is the small.
If you have dietary issues they are pretty accommodating. You can order a gluten-free bun or no bun at all (they bill it as a carb-conscious choice) and their salads can be customized. The cottage fries aren’t gluten-free, but I hear the hash browns are. They are known for their Friday Fish Frys, serving filet of cod as a dinner or sandwich. Clam chowder is the soup of the day on Fridays, and it was extremely tasty and full of clams, potatoes, etc.
They are also known for their chicken and tuna salad, and you can get them by the scoop on a salad, as a ‘Temptation’ with a hard-boiled egg, as a sandwich, as a platter with fruit, or as a Melt. As regular readers know, I am a sucker for a good tuna melt, and they do a great tuna melt here. It features two scoops of tuna with a tomato slice and topped with melted cheddar on a toasted English muffin. A tuna melt on an English muffin is in fact my preferred form of tuna melt. The tuna salad was warmed up just enough and the cheese was nicely melted.
On my most recent visits I tried to focus on a little bit of everything. I absolutely fell in love with the chicken noodle soup. The noodles are hearty, the broth is extremely well-seasoned, and it is chock full of chicken, veggies and noodles. It has become my go-to chicken soup since The Red Chimney closed after a fire.
Their burgers are made with fresh certified Angus beef, and there are nine different burgers to choose from. If you order the Deluxe it comes with coleslaw and cottage fries. The Sweet Deluxe comes with coleslaw and sweet potato fries. I love a good mushroom and Swiss burger, and the Special Delivery burger here did not disappoint. It features an 8 oz burger patty topped with Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms, grilled onions and a dollop of sour cream on a seared brioche bun. I ordered the cup of soup picture above, so I didn’t get it with any sides.
There are seven different chicken sandwiches to choose from. The chicken is marinated and then fire-grilled. I ordered the Buckeye Bacon Broil, which features American cheese, bacon strips, lettuce and tomato on a seared brioche bun. I was particularly struck by how huge the chicken breast patty is. It hangs far over the sides of the bun.
The Monte Cristo was also a really nice choice. It is made with their lovely cinnamony French toast and is filled with Swiss, natural fresh turkey breast and ham. It is served with a side of our homemade tango sauce, which was kind of like a honey mustard. I will probably order it again, because I loved the cinnamon French toast paired with the savory sandwich fixings and the dipping sauce. I also really enjoyed the slice of cantaloupe, which was perfectly ripe.
They also have a well-stocked bar and a vast array of beverage choices. They serve coffee (regular and flavor of the day), several espresso drinks, fresh squeezed juices like tangy and diet limeade, orange juice and grapefuit juice as well as hot chocolate and bottomless lemonade, iced tea, Arnold Palmers or fountain drinks. I enjoyed a Dirty Snowman on a particularly cold, snowy day near Christmas – gotta love a boozy hot chocolate topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The photo is blurry, but I didn’t feel blurry when I left because I stuck to just one.
Yours Truly restaurants are open Mon-Thurs from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fri-Sat, 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sun from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. They have longer hours in the summer. The downtown Yours Truly in the Playhouse district is a nice choice after a show at PlayhouseSquare.
Contact info:
Yours Truly
Go to the website and use the location feature to find one closest to you
Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats 