Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    By Hand and Fork

    4.1 (129 reviews)
    Special Hours 7:00 am - 3:00 pm
    Updated a few days ago

    By Hand and Fork Photos

    BY HAND AND FORK ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - By Hand and Fork

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Haystack.
    Mark K.

    Looked up breakfast places and this got good reviews. Didn't realize till I looked at the menu that this is a chain and I've been to another location before. (I did wonder as I pulled in, the name and the blue coloring seemed familiar.) I usually like to try new places and not eat at chains. But I loved that place, and I loved this one, so it was fine. Big menu, with all the usual options plus some good twists. I was tempted by several things, but went with the basics, their haystack: a biscuit with sausage gravy, two eggs, hash browns. Came out pretty quickly. The gravy is from a can, which is a bit sad- they could bring it up to the level of the rest of their good pretty easily. I mean, I've made sausage gravy. It's not hard or expensive. Still, it was fine on this breakfast platter. The eggs were cooked as requested, and the hash browns were and gave the whole thing a nice texture contrast. When I asked for hot sauce I was offered three choices, always nice (though they should just leave some on the table.) Service was great the whole way through. Prices are reasonable. The place is bright and clean, decorated in a "country" theme. Someone said it is upscale and it is, a bit, for a breakfast place, but not fancy or stuffy. And not expensive. I came at 8am on a Saturday and worried it would be packed, but it wasn't, though when I left at 830 it was definitely filling up. Glad I accidentally found a place I'd already tried and liked. I don't know how big the chain is, but it seems pretty welcoming and not corporate. I'd come back, to any location.

    Omelet
    Chloe T.

    This is the best breakfast & brunch meet up spot in Muncie! Ball State students and mocals all love it. Their service is always good and quick. You never have to wait long for food once you're seated. There are many tables and lots of staff, so they are able to fit a lot of people and get people seated quickly. It's cute diner vibes on the inside and they also have a nice covered patio out back where people sit as well. The food is always good! I have eaten there many times and it has always been tasty. Their pancakes are the best I have ever had. They are so soft and I love the taste of vanilla in them!

    Mimosa sampler. Lots of juice; only enough sparkling wine for two decent mimosas. Skip the flight; order a la carte.
    Carl D.

    After nearly a month on the road, I decided it was time to treat myself to something besides the breakfast the hotel provides, so I headed off to Muncie and a restaurant called, "By Hand and Fork," in search of a meal and a mimosa (or two). I arrived to find a place that looked like a former Denny's... but with a VERY full parking lot, which was promising and yet intimidating. "No matter," I said to myself because it was, after all, a day off. Walking in the door, I was greeted and seated almost immediately; a pleasant surprise. My server came right over and took my order for their "Flight of Mimosa": a split of sparkling wine with three smaller carafes with juices of your choice. I picked OJ, cranberry and papaya. Others including pineapple were also available. For my entre, I chose the Smoked Salmon Benedict, which I expected would be eggs and Hollandaise atop cooked, smoked salmon. SURPRISE! The smoked salmon was more like a gravlax, which was not what I expected but delicious! It came with either hashbrowns or fruit, and I went for the potatoes. All freshly prepared and tasty in what must be the area's largest kitchen because, despite the large and growing Sunday morning crowds, food was coming out quickly! One observation and one criticism. The observation is that it isn't as up-scale as you might expect if you visited its website before heading out for Muncie. It's a little bit Hobby Lobby-kitschy, with signs on the walls with the slogan of the moment, but it's clean, staff is friendly, and they keep things looking tidy. My criticism is the flight of mimosas. If you make your mimosa half sparkling wine and half juice, there's only enough sparkling wine for TWO drinks, not three you might have assumed because you had a choice of three juice. And for $15 for the "flight," that seems wrong. If you want a mimosa or two, you'll do better to order them by the drink rather than the flight. At $12.99, the smoked salmon Benedict was a very good deal. No complaints: hot fresh and flavorful. What more could you ask for? The extensive menu has other offerings like chicken and waffles, corned beef, eggs, pancakes, and a range of desserts. It's only open until 3 p.m. but if it's breakfast or lunch you crave, "By Hand and Fork" gets my nod of approval!

    Chicken and Waffles
    Tim C.

    TL;DR Huge portions. Be patient. If eating breakfast, go for egg dishes and avoid the Chicken and Waffles. Stopped in on a Sunday shortly after 10. Put our name in and was told 10-15 minute wait. 30 minutes later we were seated. I ordered the chicken and waffles which weren't good. The waffles were supposed to be spicy and they weren't. The chicken was tough and dry, difficult to cut with a butter knife. The flavor was ok. My fork bent under load while trying to cut. The menu hyped them up to sound very than they were. Others in my group liked their skillets. The server was super pleasant but slow. Everything was slow, from coming to our table to bringing our food and drinks to the check. The entire dining experience was an 1:20. Oof. My butt go sore sitting there. Man, I wanted to like this place, because my son raved about it. Perhaps I just got the wrong thing to eat and went on an off day. They serve Pepsi products.

    Fried Green Tomatoes and Bacon Eggs Benedict with Hash Browns

    Wonderful food, speedy service, and the ambience is only hurt by ads in the menu, solid place to eat. Menu is oversized however.

    This was our 1st time eating at this restaurant and it's my birthday today, Nichole was our server and she took our food orders she was very knowledgeable about the menu that we had questions about and she was very helpful and very professional of the service that she was providing us all. Our food was amazing and delicious we will definitely be back to this restaurant again. This restaurant reminds me of eating at my grandma's house the atmosphere of this restaurant was like we were at home with grandma

    Chicken fried steak.
    Carolyn W.

    As usual, By Hand and Fork delivers. Wonderful, high quality food and great service. The seasonal mimosas are not to be missed! When you want real diner breakfast and/or lunch make the trip. You won't be disappointed.

    Chicken and Waffles
    BigMackAttack

    Not bad, service was very good. My chicken was a bit dry, but the waffles were nice and fluffy.

    S'mores waffle

    See all

    Photo of Tanner P.
    157
    59
    161

    6 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    A great breakfast. Yes, you can make good pancakes at home, however these are the best in Muncie!!!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Mary V.
    193
    47
    130

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Hannah H.
    38
    69
    25

    4 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Kendi Z.
    104
    14
    9

    3 years ago

    Excellent service and delicious food! I love all of the fun mimosas. I've never had a bad visit here.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    Delicious breakfast and yummy drinks! Highly recommend this place for good food and drinks with friends.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of J. R.
    0
    13
    44

    4 years ago

    If you're looking for big portions and a great breakfast spot this is the one. You can order mimosas and the best eggs Benedict in town.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Ken C.
    2
    72
    4

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Aron R.
    14
    26
    1

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    The most unassuming place from the outside but absolutely AMAZING food. Definitely go enjoy this local treat!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Some good food Some not so good and the coffee cost way too much and too good so I don't eat there anymore I go to osberne in Yorktown

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Dawn U.
    38
    20
    11

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 2 of 4

    Ask the Community - By Hand and Fork

    You might also consider

    Savage's Ale House

    Savage's Ale House

    4.3
    (296 reviews)
    1.1 mi
    $$

    I've tried nearly every menu item here, and I can easily say it's my favorite restaurant in Muncie…read more The Shroom and the Pita with hummus are my go-to's. The service is always great even if they're slammed. 10/10 love this place

    Was in town for a conference and overheard someone say this place has the best wings! I stopped by…read morefor dinner to try them out and check out what one of the more popular Muncie bars has to offer. The special when I walked in was a pizza burger! That right there told me they don't mind being different in the style of food they serve! After checking over the menu full of wraps and burgers amongst a plethora of other bar food I ended up getting some wings to try and the house made chips. I got half my wings in the BBQ flavor and the other Buffalo. Being honest the wings weren't anything special but they did hit the spot and the BBQ sauce wasn't anything special to me on the wings but if it was used in some pulled pork or ribs I believe I would enjoy it more. The buffalo sauce was really good and had just enough heat to need the ranch here and there. The house made chips were good, not overly seasoned and not over cooked either. The place is small but has a handful of high top round tables and a few bigger square tables in the front with a decent bar strip with plenty of bottles and beers on tap. The pool table in the side room looked like a great area to hang around and play some pool while enjoying some beers with the company of friends. Next time I'm in town I will try one of their countless burger options!

    Photos
    The bar
    The bar
    Savage's Ale House
    Cheers

    See all

    Cheers
    MCL Restaurant & Bakery

    MCL Restaurant & Bakery

    4.0
    (22 reviews)
    1.4 mi
    $$

    Where to begin? Grew up on MCL Cafeteria the one out at the old Southtown mall. Years ago from 1977…read moreto 1994 then MCL went out of business in 1994 and about 9 years later so did Southtown mall. What I remember is some damn good home cooking food in a cafeteria style setting with a fine dining sitting atmosphere. Awesome beef Manhattan with double meat and extra mash I ordered. Chicken is very good finger licking good in fact. The sticky bun is something else and the deserts mmm, pecan pie, custard, Strawberry shortcake, the list goes on and on and on. Taste really fresh and homemade, high quality ingredients. Muncie MCL brought back those memories, food is just about like it's always been for the most part, enough where me wants to go. Unfortunately I don't live close to this location to come very often. Sad I know, but it's true.

    If I were to write this review decades ago it would have been a 5 probably. However, MCL along with…read morethe Muncie Mall has declined significantly. On my most recent the day the day fire they were to close it was sad, but great memories. The customers came in to say final goodbyes. The place was worn down, but clean. My dish of roast beef, mash potatoes w/ gravy, macaroni and cheese w/ bread was ok. The cherry pie desert was better. But this day and this review is not about the food necessarily. It's about the decades of memories MCL has provided families. Generations of families came back to Muncie and MCL to gather around a cafeteria near to their heart. So long MCL.

    Photos
    MCL Restaurant & Bakery
    Mmmmmm
    Mmmmmm
    MCL Restaurant & Bakery

    See all

    By Hand and Fork - tradamerican - Updated July 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...