Staff is great, friendly and attentive. cooks are awesome.best breakfast anywhere.!
Victor Perez
The breakfast is fresh and delicious
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Steak and Eggs, Denver Omelet, Denver Omelette, Egg Sandwich with Bacon Hash Browns and Corned Beef Hash, Hash Browns, Sausage
OdDjOb
Amazing little dinner! Friendly staff! Great food! Small town vibez all around! Love it!
Beth Reichart
The Portage Cafe is an old-timey diner with down-home hospitality. I was in town visiting family and was pleasntly surprised by the experience. The place ran uber-efficiently with just two people on staff. The food was delicious and the ambience was friendly and relaxed. The overall vibe was perfect. I look forward to my next visit.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Trina Seger
We didn’t even eat, I have never been treated so badly by an establishment simply for walking into an open restaurant in my life. After being rudely told they were not supposed to be open but still seated we waited. The man came to take out drink orders but we had been focused on ordering food because of how we were made to feel we had not even thought about drinks. The man put his hand in one of our faces making circling gestures annoyed then huffed away because we didn’t order fast enough for him. We had 7 people with 3 kids. We ended up just leaving. There was no reason to treat us that badly. If they did not want to take more table they could have said they were closed.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Irv Oslin
One of the best, if not THE best, ma and pa diners I've ever visited. They don't treat you like family, they treat you better than family.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cynthia Parker
We had the chicken fried steak and it was really good. First time here. We are definitely going back. My 16 year old son said it was the best!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shannon Smith
Super cute cafe with really good food and wonderful staff even though they were short staffed.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
thisis hybrid
A great little breakfast spot that has a lot of verity with limited staff they pull everything together from cleaning to making the food. A nice local place with local prices. Street parking in the front or a short walk to a parking lot.
We were on vacation in Wisconsin Dells, but the hotel and other restaurants had ridiculously long lines for breakfast. We then decided to hop in the car and drive away to find a place where the locals go to instead of a tourist trap. I'm glad we did. We found Portage, WI, and the Portage Cafe. Nice cafe with the original bar stools from the 1940's, so quaint. I only remember our server's name, Kelly, but everyone in there were welcoming. When our plate with eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns arrived, you could feel the aroma of it being cooked in real butter. Mouthwatering! The portions are just right, the coffee delicious, and it was a great little gem to be explored.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Savannah Manderscheid
Loooved the food there! The salad was amazing and the cheese curds was good! My husband was very pleased with the mushroom and Swiss burger. Loved that we watched the guy make our food and the atmosphere inside was so relaxing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Meaghan Hayes
Do not come in here expecting a hipster vibe and brand new facilities. What you’re going to get is AMAZING service and THE BEST food in a clean space that’s clearly been a part of this community for a really long time.
We were passing through on our way home to MKE from Mauston and bypassed the Dells to get a less crowded and more home-cooked menu. This was perfect. We had to wait about 3 minutes while they cleared a literally as-we-walked-in-they-got-up table but the three staff (yes, THREE) were HUSTLING.
We each had the special: 2 eggs + 2 pancakes or French toast + meat for under $10. In 2024!! A meal for under $10! Coffee was fresh and hot, nothing special but not bad either. Food was seriously yummy. Just like my grandma makes - light and fluffy French toast and pancakes, perfectly scrambled, unadulterated eggs and the sausage was like what I get from my local butcher. I cannot say enough good things about the team working. They. Never. Stopped. Moving. Made each customer feel like the star. My coffee was never more than half empty (big cups too, not 8-Oz teacups).
Lots of awesome vintage and antique decor. I love looking at old tins and kitchen hand appliances, the way our grandparents had to make food.
Stop in today!!!
Parking: Street parking at 11am on Sunday was abundant.
Kid-friendliness: Two toddlers there while we were. High chairs available and there is a kids-portion menu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sausage
matt russell
The food was ok. The service was great..but...the cook talked very loud (almost obnoxiously) and was extremely slow. He complained loudly about all the orders he had. Not very big on writing reviews but 51 mins for some French toast and scrambled eggs is way too long!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 5
Dawn Nelson
We are faithful Sunday regulars that LOVE coming into The Portage Cafe. We typically work in Madison during the week and cannot stop in as much as we’d like. With that in mind, imagine how happy we were to discover that The Portage Cafe was open on the 4th of July!!! YAY! We normally interact with Tammy, Kelly and Brian. Today however, we watched the male cook (don’t know his name) bark orders at Kelly and Brian, and even told a customer that he was done cooking for the day at 11:05 AM, so Kelly had to turn the customer away!!! They were to close at Noon for the Holiday. It was uncomfortable. At 11:20 AM there were more people that wanted to come in and again, Kelly had to tell them they were closing early for the Holiday. Kelly tried telling him that my husband likes his corned beef hash crispy, so he could put it down on the grill early. The cook ignored her altogether. He did one order at a time. We did wait 40 mins for our order and although there was a DoorDash order or two that came in, there was only one other table and two people at the counter besides my husband and me. Tammy, we love you, Kelly and Brian… but we’re not thrilled with the guy you have cooking during the week. It felt uncomfortable to be there watching him treat customers, Brian and Kelly like he did.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Corned Beef Hash, Biscuits and Gravy
Staff is great, friendly and attentive. cooks are awesome.best breakfast anywhere.!
The breakfast is fresh and delicious
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Steak and Eggs, Denver Omelet, Denver Omelette, Egg Sandwich with Bacon Hash Browns and Corned Beef Hash, Hash Browns, Sausage
Amazing little dinner! Friendly staff! Great food! Small town vibez all around! Love it!
The Portage Cafe is an old-timey diner with down-home hospitality. I was in town visiting family and was pleasntly surprised by the experience. The place ran uber-efficiently with just two people on staff. The food was delicious and the ambience was friendly and relaxed. The overall vibe was perfect. I look forward to my next visit.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We didn’t even eat, I have never been treated so badly by an establishment simply for walking into an open restaurant in my life. After being rudely told they were not supposed to be open but still seated we waited. The man came to take out drink orders but we had been focused on ordering food because of how we were made to feel we had not even thought about drinks. The man put his hand in one of our faces making circling gestures annoyed then huffed away because we didn’t order fast enough for him. We had 7 people with 3 kids. We ended up just leaving. There was no reason to treat us that badly. If they did not want to take more table they could have said they were closed.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
One of the best, if not THE best, ma and pa diners I've ever visited. They don't treat you like family, they treat you better than family.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had the chicken fried steak and it was really good. First time here. We are definitely going back. My 16 year old son said it was the best!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Super cute cafe with really good food and wonderful staff even though they were short staffed.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
A great little breakfast spot that has a lot of verity with limited staff they pull everything together from cleaning to making the food. A nice local place with local prices. Street parking in the front or a short walk to a parking lot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Denver Omelet
Good food very friendly staff. I would recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Denver Omelet
Restaurantji Recommends
We were on vacation in Wisconsin Dells, but the hotel and other restaurants had ridiculously long lines for breakfast. We then decided to hop in the car and drive away to find a place where the locals go to instead of a tourist trap. I'm glad we did. We found Portage, WI, and the Portage Cafe. Nice cafe with the original bar stools from the 1940's, so quaint. I only remember our server's name, Kelly, but everyone in there were welcoming. When our plate with eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns arrived, you could feel the aroma of it being cooked in real butter. Mouthwatering! The portions are just right, the coffee delicious, and it was a great little gem to be explored.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Loooved the food there! The salad was amazing and the cheese curds was good! My husband was very pleased with the mushroom and Swiss burger. Loved that we watched the guy make our food and the atmosphere inside was so relaxing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Do not come in here expecting a hipster vibe and brand new facilities. What you’re going to get is AMAZING service and THE BEST food in a clean space that’s clearly been a part of this community for a really long time.
We were passing through on our way home to MKE from Mauston and bypassed the Dells to get a less crowded and more home-cooked menu. This was perfect. We had to wait about 3 minutes while they cleared a literally as-we-walked-in-they-got-up table but the three staff (yes, THREE) were HUSTLING.
We each had the special: 2 eggs + 2 pancakes or French toast + meat for under $10. In 2024!! A meal for under $10! Coffee was fresh and hot, nothing special but not bad either. Food was seriously yummy. Just like my grandma makes - light and fluffy French toast and pancakes, perfectly scrambled, unadulterated eggs and the sausage was like what I get from my local butcher.
I cannot say enough good things about the team working. They. Never. Stopped. Moving. Made each customer feel like the star. My coffee was never more than half empty (big cups too, not 8-Oz teacups).
Lots of awesome vintage and antique decor. I love looking at old tins and kitchen hand appliances, the way our grandparents had to make food.
Stop in today!!!
Parking: Street parking at 11am on Sunday was abundant.
Kid-friendliness: Two toddlers there while we were. High chairs available and there is a kids-portion menu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sausage
The food was ok. The service was great..but...the cook talked very loud (almost obnoxiously) and was extremely slow. He complained loudly about all the orders he had. Not very big on writing reviews but 51 mins for some French toast and scrambled eggs is way too long!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 5
We are faithful Sunday regulars that LOVE coming into The Portage Cafe. We typically work in Madison during the week and cannot stop in as much as we’d like. With that in mind, imagine how happy we were to discover that The Portage Cafe was open on the 4th of July!!! YAY! We normally interact with Tammy, Kelly and Brian. Today however, we watched the male cook (don’t know his name) bark orders at Kelly and Brian, and even told a customer that he was done cooking for the day at 11:05 AM, so Kelly had to turn the customer away!!! They were to close at Noon for the Holiday. It was uncomfortable. At 11:20 AM there were more people that wanted to come in and again, Kelly had to tell them they were closing early for the Holiday. Kelly tried telling him that my husband likes his corned beef hash crispy, so he could put it down on the grill early. The cook ignored her altogether. He did one order at a time. We did wait 40 mins for our order and although there was a DoorDash order or two that came in, there was only one other table and two people at the counter besides my husband and me. Tammy, we love you, Kelly and Brian… but we’re not thrilled with the guy you have cooking during the week. It felt uncomfortable to be there watching him treat customers, Brian and Kelly like he did.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Corned Beef Hash, Biscuits and Gravy
Loading...