Unfortunately a bad experience. Food orders were incomplete, oatmeal pancakes were inedible. Order was missing eggs and bacon. Tea had a chemical taste to it. One child's pancakes without chocolate chips as ordered, when I questioned it I was told they were in there. They were not. Wait staff was very busy and not available to fulfill our order.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Morgan Rice
The meal was decent overall, but the pricing doesn't align with the quality of the food. Like other reviewers have mentioned, the food often arrives lukewarm, and the home fries certainly don't taste or look homemade. It feels like the restaurant is cutting too many corners while still charging for an 'experience' that doesn't deliver.
On the bright side, the staff is warm and does their best to be attentive, though they seem stretched thin due to understaffing.
One major concern is the bee issue on the patio. It’s disappointing that patrons are left to decide if they’re willing to "take the risk" to dine outside. This situation reflects a lack of responsibility on the part of the restaurant, where simple accountability could vastly improve the customer experience.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 5
Jessyca Oliver
I’m from Chicago and travel to Albany for work, whenever I’m in town I make sure I take my coworkers to Cafe Madison. The food is delicious, the staff is amazing and the atmosphere is cozy.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Super Breakfast, Toast
Bll
Having many years of great experiences with the The Madison Cafe and Cafe Madison I'm sorry to say the move to their new location brought about more than a physical change of space. My wife and I went for breakfast while the cafe wasn't busy yet. We found the service was slow with infrequent visits by our waiter. I ordered an omelet which was cold when it arrived as were the potatoes and toast. Speaking of potatoes, they were characterless pieces of frozen to pan tasteless hunks of paste that only were palatable with liberal use of salt, pepper, and hot sauce. I also ordered grapefruit juice which had some juice to it but it was more a flavored drink than juice. Overall I felt I could of gotten a better meal at Cracker Barrel. Please Madison Cafe management bring back the magic we once knew and loved.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Ed Harkins
Great food and atmosphere. Top-notch service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Desiree Ghisolfi
One of my favorite brunch spots in Albany! They can get busy so make sure to book a reservation. Highly recommend
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sydney Valentin
Good food. Place looks really nice. Service was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Huy Nguyễn
A beautiful and classy cafe with a warm atmosphere. The staff is lovely and welcoming. The food and beverages are of excellent quality.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mia S
Great service but I did have to seat myself due to limited hard working staff. Food was made very well. Few places can get my egg requests so perfect. That’s a sign of a seasoned Chef. Bartender was cool and easy to vibe with.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Richard Hochberg
Home fries are flowered and deep fried beware GF people food otherwise very good
Godawful. Vibe was old Ramada Inn. Dim, 70's decor. Older regulars at the bar at 10AM. Avoid the vegan options. Dry, suspect French toast had been reheated? Horrible. Riined my morning. Waiter was cute.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Vegan
Mark Kulzer
Living off their past glory. It has gone downhill.
Now, an updated review, from a visit on 8/25/24. This was my first time in the new, expanded space. I love what they have done with the physical space. I took in all the details - tin roof material on an accent wall, tasteful wallpapers used to great effect, weathered wood, old lighting fixtures, built-in shelving, accent lights, complimentary colors, etc. It really looks nice! Great space! Great job on the expansion! But some of the negatives from the old, smaller space have remained. Home Fries - can't anyone in the kitchen cut a real potato? These frozen things from Sysco are just okay. CM staff have a chance to make this side-dish really shine. They come as an add-on with almost everything so why not make them GOOD? The quantity that came with one order was obscene - it was half of a 12" plate piled 3" high! Easily enough for 3 to 4 people. Other plates at our table received a more reasonable, human(!) portion. So, no consistency in quantity, only in mediocrity. Management --> make the Home Fries better (homemade) and give less of them, and you would have a side item that people would actually enjoy and remember. My omelet was supposed to be 3 eggs but there is no way that it was. It was paper thin and dry as the desert. I've never had an omelet like this. This is not "French styled rolled" as the menu states. It was dry and thin as parchment paper. The French would be aghast to hear that you invoked them in this travesty. Maybe the cook was distracted. I don't know. On this Sunday morning, I was there to have a good time with friends, so I was not going to send it back to the kitchen. But what I received was less like an omelet and more like eating the page out of a cookbook that mentions omelets.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Alex R
Love This Place! Great Place To Bring The Family Or Business No Matter What The Occasion This Is Your Place!
This place has been super close to my home for years, and I've never bothered to come check it out despite all the good things I've heard. Recently my partner and I went for brunch and it was amazing. The pancakes where light and Fluffy, maple butter perfect, everything was wonderful. My coffee was even delicious. It's definitely our new breakfast spot
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Super Breakfast, Toast, Home Fries
Unfortunately a bad experience. Food orders were incomplete, oatmeal pancakes were inedible. Order was missing eggs and bacon. Tea had a chemical taste to it. One child's pancakes without chocolate chips as ordered, when I questioned it I was told they were in there. They were not.
Wait staff was very busy and not available to fulfill our order.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
The meal was decent overall, but the pricing doesn't align with the quality of the food. Like other reviewers have mentioned, the food often arrives lukewarm, and the home fries certainly don't taste or look homemade. It feels like the restaurant is cutting too many corners while still charging for an 'experience' that doesn't deliver.
On the bright side, the staff is warm and does their best to be attentive, though they seem stretched thin due to understaffing.
One major concern is the bee issue on the patio. It’s disappointing that patrons are left to decide if they’re willing to "take the risk" to dine outside. This situation reflects a lack of responsibility on the part of the restaurant, where simple accountability could vastly improve the customer experience.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 5
I’m from Chicago and travel to Albany for work, whenever I’m in town I make sure I take my coworkers to Cafe Madison. The food is delicious, the staff is amazing and the atmosphere is cozy.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Super Breakfast, Toast
Having many years of great experiences with the The Madison Cafe and Cafe Madison I'm sorry to say the move to their new location brought about more than a physical change of space. My wife and I went for breakfast while the cafe wasn't busy yet. We found the service was slow with infrequent visits by our waiter. I ordered an omelet which was cold when it arrived as were the potatoes and toast. Speaking of potatoes, they were characterless pieces of frozen to pan tasteless hunks of paste that only were palatable with liberal use of salt, pepper, and hot sauce. I also ordered grapefruit juice which had some juice to it but it was more a flavored drink than juice. Overall I felt I could of gotten a better meal at Cracker Barrel. Please Madison Cafe management bring back the magic we once knew and loved.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Great food and atmosphere. Top-notch service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of my favorite brunch spots in Albany! They can get busy so make sure to book a reservation. Highly recommend
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good food. Place looks really nice. Service was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A beautiful and classy cafe with a warm atmosphere. The staff is lovely and welcoming. The food and beverages are of excellent quality.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great service but I did have to seat myself due to limited hard working staff. Food was made very well. Few places can get my egg requests so perfect. That’s a sign of a seasoned Chef. Bartender was cool and easy to vibe with.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Home fries are flowered and deep fried beware GF people food otherwise very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Perfect place for breakfast
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Godawful. Vibe was old Ramada Inn. Dim, 70's decor. Older regulars at the bar at 10AM. Avoid the vegan options. Dry, suspect French toast had been reheated? Horrible. Riined my morning.
Waiter was cute.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Vegan
Living off their past glory. It has gone downhill.
Now, an updated review, from a visit on 8/25/24.
This was my first time in the new, expanded space. I love what they have done with the physical space. I took in all the details - tin roof material on an accent wall, tasteful wallpapers used to great effect, weathered wood, old lighting fixtures, built-in shelving, accent lights, complimentary colors, etc. It really looks nice! Great space! Great job on the expansion!
But some of the negatives from the old, smaller space have remained. Home Fries - can't anyone in the kitchen cut a real potato? These frozen things from Sysco are just okay. CM staff have a chance to make this side-dish really shine. They come as an add-on with almost everything so why not make them GOOD? The quantity that came with one order was obscene - it was half of a 12" plate piled 3" high! Easily enough for 3 to 4 people. Other plates at our table received a more reasonable, human(!) portion. So, no consistency in quantity, only in mediocrity.
Management --> make the Home Fries better (homemade) and give less of them, and you would have a side item that people would actually enjoy and remember.
My omelet was supposed to be 3 eggs but there is no way that it was. It was paper thin and dry as the desert. I've never had an omelet like this. This is not "French styled rolled" as the menu states. It was dry and thin as parchment paper. The French would be aghast to hear that you invoked them in this travesty. Maybe the cook was distracted. I don't know. On this Sunday morning, I was there to have a good time with friends, so I was not going to send it back to the kitchen. But what I received was less like an omelet and more like eating the page out of a cookbook that mentions omelets.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Love This Place! Great Place To Bring The Family Or Business No Matter What The Occasion This Is Your Place!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Raspberry Oatmeal Pancakes, Oatmeal Pancakes
This place has been super close to my home for years, and I've never bothered to come check it out despite all the good things I've heard. Recently my partner and I went for brunch and it was amazing. The pancakes where light and Fluffy, maple butter perfect, everything was wonderful. My coffee was even delicious. It's definitely our new breakfast spot
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Super Breakfast, Toast, Home Fries
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