With all the square footage, and the raised outdoor seating, it's a shame to me that this place has such inflated prices on the food. Prices aren't listed on the menu online, but I recall coming here and ordering a sandwich -- not a hefty deli sandwich mind you but a meager portion seemingly for someone watching their weight -- and paying around eight dollars. It's not an outrageous sum and the ingredients were certainly high quality but, I don't know, if there was some new aged pricing strategy in place where you 'pay what you want to,' like Radiohead used with 'In Rainbows" back in 2007 I would not have forked over eight dollars for that sandwich. I would have given them six dollars, and that would have been fair. This isn't somewhere I'm pining to go back to, but I don't object when a friend who really likes the local art on the wall, or the board games in the back, or the black on blacker than black paint really wants to get a drip coffee and scones from somewhere other than the Starbucks across the street. read more

A chill spot to sit and grind through work. The noise level is as expected of an college street but tolerable with a pair of headphones. The head manager is a nice dude and will try to accommodate for the shortcomings of the other waiters or assistant managers. read more

good place. Nice decor and good music. A good and spacious place to catch up with a friend and sit down for coffee or if you're flying solo, you can feel free to use up the wifi and study. The wooden chairs are kinda hard though, and uncomfortable. It also can get quite loud quite easily. The food is decent, but a bit too pricey. The sandwiches and pasta are what I would recommend :) One of the cool parts is that the owner and employees are very sweet! When my friend and I were eating there, they accidentally forgot her soup and then the owner came up to us and gave us a free huge, delicious chocolate chip cookie. And I'm a huge sucker for free stuff. ;) read more

Pretty cool place. I'm a 1st timer. Nice chill atmosphere, but you bus your own dishes. read more

Cafe on the Ave - Milky Way mmmmmm - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

This used to be my favorite breakfast place on the ave, but over the past year, quality has noticeably gone done. The first time I went to Cafe on the Ave was four years back, and I remember getting a waffle. The waffle was slightly crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and was great. But today I went to get a waffle and it was a sad, soggy waffle. No one likes sad or soggy waffles. The $4 hash browns were super oily and feels heavy on the stomach. After finishing it, I noticed that there was a loooooot of oily grease on the bottom of the to-go box. For my order of soggy waffles, with sausages and scrambled eggs, and hash brows, the total came out to $17. That kind of money gets me a hearty breakfast at Portage Bay. If anything, the atmosphere is nice, and it's conveniently located, but do yourself a favor and take your money elsewhere. read more

It's the first time I've been back here since the Rebrand, and I gotta say I Really had a wonderful time at this establishment. This is just a great place to hang out, a five star rating to reflect a five star experience. It was truly exactly what I, the customer was craving. Just a lot of fun! So I have no complaints obviously. I the customer is absolutely here to have fun (I had a lot of fun!) and I love that we can have fun and we can also just take it easy. I'm thinking about this as a Venn diagram or something. My friends and I had a very successful hangout, we were really kicking back, and we were having so much fun! I love to have fun and I love to just chill. I think we can take it easy and we can have fun without having so much fun with the very loud club music. I'm not saying I'm not a fan! I love crazy frog obviously I'm just like brainstorming a little here. I'm very grateful to the fun and warm staff, and the truly relaxing atmosphere. Love the redec with the warm lights! We are all in a process of Becoming of course, and I am overjoyed to take part in Cafe on the Ave's process of becoming a place where we can have fun and we can also chill out. Maybe while turning down the music a little. But still having a lot of fun! Thanks Cafe in the Ave! P.S. I recommend a warmed up cookie and a glass of milk it's sublime read more

Cafe on the Ave - amazing! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I was hungry and everything on the Ave was closed as school was out of session. I was happy to see this place open because I didn't want another meal at Starbucks! The single buckwheat pancake was huge and cooked perfectly. The eggs were perfect and the bacon was super crispy. I didn't even have to ask for it that way. The price was reasonable. I liked the staff. Very friendly. I will be back! read more

Reasons for the 1 star: - "Service". Four of us ordered 3 sandwiches and an egg dish. We waited about 40 minutes for the first sandwich to come out. By the time the second sandwich came out 10 min later, the first sandwich and fries were cold and soggy. Third sandwich came another 10 minutes later, the egg dish another 10 minutes after that (I was counting the timing of each dish). All in all, we waited 40 minutes for the first dish to come out, and 30 minutes til all the dishes were served. I overheard the server apologize to the table next to us for the long wait time, he said it was really busy that day. I saw three servers at the front of the cafe standing around not doing anything, there were only about 3 other tables waiting for food, and half the tables in the entire cafe were empty. The servers don't even bother bringing out forks or knives with the plates so you have to go back up and get them yourself. I was disgusted to find the "clean" fork container only had plastic forks with dirt all over the sides. - "The food". I ordered a chicken pesto sandwich and it was so dry and bland I almost wanted to order something else just to add flavor to my meal. I ordered the salad with a caesar dressing and it came out gritty, like there was dirt all over the leaves. I was really grossed out by that. My friends fries were really unappetizing. It's pretty hard to mess up fries, but somehow Cafe on the Ave did just that. I guess it doesn't help that the fries had sat for more than half an hour while we waited for all the dishes to be served. Never going back there. Never recommending the place to anyone. read more

Cafe on the Ave is a step above the predecessor coffee shop in the location. It is clean, efficient, offers a pretty good range of food options, and is a pleasant experience. The staff are kind, and the large windows, outdoor seating, and comfortable seating make it a good place for a sunny afternoon. That said, the prices are well above what they should be for counter-service deli food. Food is marginally above cafeteria-grade, but they charge the same as much nicer places. read more

The only reason this place is getting even 2 stars is because of the quality of the "actual space". The location and space are prime - and only highlight the dismal failure that is Cafe on the Ave. First: the wifi. I've been in this establishment numerous times, and I would argue that perhaps 75% of the time there has been some "issue" with the wifi. And on the occasions when it is working....it is slow. Second: the $$. This would not be an issue if I felt like you received in kind what you paid for. But, this place is overpriced low quality fare. Their food offerings are meh? and their coffee is certainly subpar compared to all the wonderful offerings of our area. Their Americano is on par with Starbucks......and, this is not a positive thing. I'm hoping something truly worthy of this prime real estate eventually opens up. read more

Loved the food and coffee from here! You have to bus your own table, but I didn't mind at all. The food was pretty good, and the prices weren't that expensive. It was really quick service. Would definitely recommend visiting! read more

Cafe on the Ave - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

The cafe environment was very laid back and was great for our group to enjoy our conversation...and its a good thing we had a good conversation because there was no rush to get the food out. There wasn't a line to order when we arrived but it still took 10 min to get a drip coffee and half an hour to get an omelette, turkey sandwich, and eggs Benedict. I ordered a veggie omelette with bacon and sausage because how else do you make veggie stuff better. When it arrived it looked great but a little thin, I asked about the meat and was told it was included inside...but it wasn't. The "waiter" quickly returned with a plate of bacon and sausage and apologized and I successfully made my veggie omelette better. My coffee order was also misplaced on the counter of drinks and she quickly pumped out another cup when I asked about it. The staff was great and never questioned if something was wrong and needed to be fixed, but I never received a receipt for my order if they were to question anything. The food was decent, coffee wasn't, staff was friendly and nice, but damn it was slow for no apparent reason. $20 for an omelette and coffee, I'll pass next time. read more

I like to come here for breakfast on the weekend because it is fairly cheap decent breakfast. I usually get the Eggs Benedict which is not bad. The hollandaise is a bit thin but tastes good. The hash brown are decent though the tend to need a bit of seasoning. This is also a decent place to come sit and grab a cup of coffee and use the free wifi. read more

Extremely pricey and no strawberries in the fruit bowl...they are quite stingy with their food and menu read more

Cafe on the Ave - $4 fruit cup - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

My second time being here. Last time I came in the afternoon for lunch, but this time I came for breakfast before an exam. Between the two, I had a better experience in the morning. I am not sure if it was because the line was not as long, more available tables, or the quieter noise level. I think it was probably all of these factors that equated to a more laid back, comfortable ambience. Moreover, some previous reviews from other people harp on poor customer service, but I thought it was decent, a 4 out of 5. This may have been simply because the cashier was less stressed from a short line? The food was a 3.5 or 4. (by the way, the new breakfast skillet is pretty good!). Crispy chicken fried steak, bed of hasbrowns, and a healthy serving of various sauteed vegetables, two eggs that were perfectly done, and better gravy than I can make at home. The arrangement is such that you bus your own table, find your own seating, get your own condiments and utensils. The food is brought to you if you eat in. This is neither a con nor pro, but I like that it lends a more relaxed atmosphere to the entire place. Getting my food was fast. If you're getting something to go, consider somewhere else if there is a line because, frankly, the front end has no control over how fast or slow you actually receive your food. Oh, and music. Music was a loud enough to hear the lyrics, but quiet enough to hold conversation. Seemed heard toward their main customer base, people in their late teens to mid twenties. read more

Ate breakfast out on the patio. Food and coffee were the same as before covid. A reminder of happier times.

if u like waiting 20-25 min for ur coffee. please go here. if like ordering a pastry and then being told 20 minutes later that they dont have it.. please go here.. rest all is fine :) read more

I like this place because they have a lot of outlets and tables to study at. I love that it's open late and they have a wide variety of food and drink options. Also, everyone who works here is very nice. However, the internet is always painfully slow. I can't stand it. And it gets extremely loud. In my opinion they play their music too loud. It also gets really dark and it is hard to read and study when the lights are so dim. read more

I had brunch there last Monday morning. It was busier than most restaurants on a Monday morning, probably because all UW students returned but classes hadn't started. The kimchi rice I had was very good. read more

I go there a lot, simply because it's convenient. It's almost the only place that opens whenever I need a place to study. Although it's loud and can get a little dark in there if you want to read and write on papers. And it's super crowded during finals week. They have nice food. But a little bit to cheesy I'd say. I always order Mayan Mocha, it's nice taste of mocha. read more

I never cared for Cafe on the Ave much, until I discovered their mochas. Probably one of the best mochas I've had. It's the perfect amount of chocolate and the chocolate doesn't sink all the way to the bottom, it's mixed in well. I refuse to buy coffee on campus because it's so inconsistent and often poorly made by students. Cafe Solstice's is way too chocolate-y for my taste. So yes, I come here for the mochas (they have good Americanos too), not so much for the food. The food is okay/good but that's all. It's overpriced for only being okay. But I'll still order a meal from time to time if I'm in here studying. read more

This placed used to be a decent go-to for coffee and a decent bite. The coffee is still decent but the food sucks now. They cheap out on the burgers and the poor quality is noticeable. The dessert used to be nice and rich with each serving enough for two. Now there is still enough for two but now the frosting is just a ball of cream cheese and sugar. Skip it and find something better. read more

From the exterior you might assume that Café on the Ave is the University neighborhood's response to the Jackson House Restaurant. Upon entering it becomes clear that it is more of an archetype of today's Seattle - disjointed with an identity in crisis. Diner? Coffee shop? College bar? You tell me. The establishment is spacious permitting the interior geometry, including the quadrillaterly composed hash browns, to lay side by side - like an ill-fitting jigsaw puzzle. Ordering from the counter, you are soon directed to a full menu which would be more appropriate for a restaurant with table service. Creative minds may be welcome at the U but not so much here. Venture too far off the menu and the employees will stare at you with the vacancy of a doe-eyed millennial. A request for a custom omelet would not be met. Food satisfied. Breakfast was enjoyable if not unremarkable. Avocado toast was subpar - decent sliced avocado on what tasted like reheated Stouffer's frozen garlic toast. Perhaps the sliced avocado would have been canned instead, if only Sysco provided such a product. It is spacious, I like that. Plenty of outlets for charging your devices while either eating alone or eating with other screen-focused companions. Four stars out of seven. read more

Went here for lunch one day. Getting our order in was no problem, but once that happened, it all fell apart. My girls food came first, she had a soup and salad combo. Advertised as coming with bread, no bread. My food came 10-15 minutes later, so she was finishing up eating at that point and I was starving. I had a chicken club. All seemed fine, except there was no chicken. Server shows up and asks me if I had a chicken club, I say yes and she drops off some chicken in a dish. No explanation just drops it off. Very poor experience and I definitely won't be going back for food with all the way better places literally a few feet away. Avoid at all costs! read more

My review is not about the food, the food is good it is about the service or lack of service I have received for the past 3 week. I normally get great service there but for one young lady that NEVER gets my order correct NEVER. I ask is it a language problem? she seems to speak English a little broken, but English never the less, is it because my order is to go? I have no ideal what her problem is but I will never go back there while she is behind the counter. read more

The Breakfast Skillet: Hands down, the best Country Fried Steak I've ever had. I love this place. Great People, great conversation, great food, great neighborhood. read more

Cafe on the Ave. is my favorite breakfast restaurant on University Avenue. It is located a convenient distance from campus and serves one of the best scrambles I have ever had. My favorite breakfast items are the $5 breakfast burrito, the ave. scramble, and the original eggs benedict. If you are looking for the perfect place to study while enjoying a great breakfast this is it! I must say that I am at a complete loss as to the number of bad reviews on yelp regarding this restaurant. The only rationale I can think of is that bad reviews beget more bad reviews. I do not think that Cafe on the Ave. deserves such bad ratings. The barristas are all very friendly (they have even taken the time to get to know my name) and the service is impeccable. The only time the service gets remotely slow is when there is a rush of people. Generally, I only have to wait between 5 to 10 minutes to receive my meal and I have been eating here all year. I think that the longest I have had to wait is 15 minutes and this is only for the eggs benedict. This is perfectly understandable given the fact that good poached eggs take slightly longer to cook than other breakfast items. I will continue to visit Cafe on the Ave. in the future! This is truly a wonderful restaurant and affordable (the cheapest place to get a full breakfast on the Ave.). read more

This morning I met with someone who wanted to meet at Cafe on the Ave. Not being much of a fancy coffee drinker I ordered a drip coffee and was surprised to hear a 16 oz go for $2.50. As I only had $100 bill on me I opted to pay with a credit card when the older man at the register, who I assume is the owner, told me that there was a $3 minimum to pay with a card. He suggested that I get a bigger size but I felt uneasy paying more than $3 for drip coffee. This being the case, I pulled out the $100 bill which the cashier was noticeably pissed about. He stomped back and forth between both registers to get my change and dropped the money in a disheveled pile on the counter. Picking it up and becoming pissed myself, I walked a few feet counting it only to figure out he shorted me $5. When I came back to the register to make him aware of this, he gave me the $5 and sarcastically added that he was thankful for me depriving him of change for the rest of the day. The change he referred to was mostly $20 bills which would only be change in similar transactions, but I let it slide. All in all, the cafe has great ambiance but this service was absolute crap, and I'm convinced he intentionally tried to short me. I expected the coffee to jump-start my day, but visiting the Cafe on the Ave really started my day off on the wrong foot. I wish I could 0 stars. read more

This is a great place to hang out. Not ideal for studying. I've been here multiple times in the last 4 years, and I love the sweet potato fries, although they occasionally come out burnt. Not really worth the price, but good for sharing with a friend. Don't order french toasts. Their cakes are amazing. read more

I thought to give this place the benefit of the doubt since I always passed by. I have never felt so stressed to my work at a cafe. With people here for dinner and conversation, by all means. But when that's put up with people banging their utensils together, conversations growing in competition with what started off as nice background noise, is now heavy trap music. Dimming down the lights and amped up the music like it's a club. What? read more

I used to come here all the time and even had office hours here a couple of quarters. Now I have vowed no longer to come ever, especially since quality cafes are in abundance all around. I suppose it has been a gradual accumulation of experiences, and not a defining moment. But I'll try to list a few things that keep me from coming back: The music is repetitive. The coffee is overpriced, and last time I went in I was told I had to pay full price for a refill for a black drip, when other, better places on the Ave do not do this. The wifi is slow or doesn't work at all. The seats are uncomfortable. The manager has a bad attitude and seems only interested in making a buck. This place deserves the low ratings it consistently receives on yelp. Go to Allegro, Starlife, Sureshot, or Solstice instead. read more

I joined yelp because of the way I was treated here. I was told while working on a very intricate 3D model on my computer that I had to leave because the menu states that there is a two hour limit to dine-in. I explained to the manager that I was working on a project. He didn't seem to care and started emphasizing how much the place cost to keep open. Looking around me I saw more than 25 other people eating full meals while watching a Seahawks game rendering this argument invalid. I decided to pack up my stuff despite the strong urge I was having to make a scene and took a mental note never to return again. I then walked a short distance to Cafe Solstice from which I then decided to post this review. "An oasis form the madness of the modern working world and the stress of higher education, Café on the Ave. is a place to meet and find relaxation in the Seattle U-district." - cafeontheave.com Methinks not. read more

Not exactly the best food in the world and the prices aren't that great either but it's a good spot to chill in. I've tried the kimchi fried rice and kimchi pasta and both were pretty meh. read more

The environment and location are great! However, the coffee was Luke warm and taste was underwhelming. The service was fine and allowed us to do our own thing. read more

I have never been treated so poorly by...well...anyone, especially not by anyone who runs a business to which I frequent. It was around noon on a Saturday, I only decided to go there because Kane didn't open until 1PM and I needed to work on a group project. My group and I sat down and were getting everything situated when the manager walked over and started yelling at us about not ordering anything. I tried to explain that we were just about to order food and coffee when he got extremely angry and started telling me how much the rent for the building was. He slapped down a menu and demanded that we order something, so we just left in shock. I used to study here often, and I've brought several friends to this place, but I will definitely never return and will tell everyone I know about my terrible and embarrassing experience. This place exceeded bad service--the manager was down right mean. read more

Still on the expensive side, but I can say that if I'm gonna be eating at Cafe on the Ave, I'm there for the Eggs Benedict. Rich, creamy hollandaise and some really damn good Canadian bacon on surprisingly tasty English muffin... it tasted really fresh and quite yummy. I returned here on a whim when I needed food before the test I had this morning -- who knows, maybe they're on the up-and-up? :) Or at least I can hope... read more

Since Cafe on the Ave is one of the view places where you can have a good sit-down breakfast, I decided to try out a small culinary adventure last week. What a disappointment. The eggs (sunny side up) were a tasteless mass, and the sausage looked like it had been microwaved. The toast and the potatoes were fine but halfway through the potatos they became tough and undercooked. Since the meal cost me $10 (incl tip but approx 8.75 otherwise) this was certainly a waste of money. I have often wondered about their food but now that I've tried it I feel no reason to go back. read more

A friend and I were up on the Ave after I had showed her around UW. We decided to pop into here to grab a bite to eat since it looked inviting. The food was pricey and less than impressive. I had a chicken sandwich and the chicken itself was clearly the frozen cheap, almost patty-like, type. The vibe had a strange feel and lots of people were giving evil glances to people chatting even though they were just reading magazines. Also, they had no napkins out and when I asked they only gave me like 2 of the cheapest things you've ever seen. read more

Amazing location and top notch food that's good on its size and on the wallet. Fun environment as well, I'd give it 6 stars if I could. Do yourself a favor and get the Kimchi fried rice. read more

I am glad that I hadn't read the reviews before seeking a place for a quick bite in the University District or I would not have come to Cafe on the Avenue - and would've missed out on a very good place. The one negative point I'm seeing in reviews, which I agree with, is that it was cold. Otherwise, it was very good. I didn't mind the "self-service" instead of waiters and waitresses as I went in knowing that. Some of the most excellent places (Macrina Bakery, Red Twig in Edmonds) do a similar thing as far as having you order at the counter, take a number, and then they deliver the food to your table instead of taking orders at the table. We had trouble deciding as the menu is extensive, with items in numerous categories. We ended up with the bowl of vegetarian lentil soup and one of the breakfast sandwiches on a bagel. The soup was excellent - a huge quantity, well-flavored but not too salty - and the sandwich was "workmanlike" - bagel, egg, cheese, and bacon (you can get other items in place of bacon too) - but I'd still say "good" to "very good." I noticed lots of attractive-looking pastries in the case too so we went back for some shortbread cookies. There is a whole sushi section complete with sushi chef making it fresh. We did not try it, but it like everything else I saw being delivered to tables, it looked very good. Contrary to others' experiences, we found the staff to be very helpful. After our food was delivered, I went up to the counter for an empty bowl so we could split the soup, and shortly after that the young woman I'd asked (who, of course, did give me one) came over to our table and asked if we wanted her to split our sandwich (which we did) - that was a "proactive" move on her part which belied the claims of bad service. Any encounter with the staff was very positive. The overall "vibe" of the place is college-y, filled with young people studying. The tables are large, the music is not blasting too loudly, and overall it is very pleasant. And there was none of that "hipper than thou" attitude that we members of the "grey-haired set" sometimes can run into.:) All in all I'd give it a high rating if you're not expecting a formal dinner place, and don't mind a slightly chilly temperature. read more