Is it just me, or is the service just better at restaurants in Milwaukee than in Madison? I kinda think it's true. From the host to our server (and to the servers who weren't even assigned to us but who were looking out for us nonetheless), this place had fantastic, friendly, helpful service. I last came to the Comet Cafe in the late 90's when it was just a regular cafe with sandwiches (omg the cheesy tomato on that amazing baguette...) and coffee. It's now a full-scale cafe and bar and it was awesome. Both of our breakfasts were delicious - great portions, great quality ingredients, and reasonably priced. We would definitely go back. read more

Do you want to eat somewhere "cool", or do you want to eat somewhere that has good food to match? Do you want to eat somewhere that's still gliding off a decade old reputation of being a hipster cool diner before hipster cool diners were hipster cool? Then you've found your place. You won't be disappointed, just be prepared for "just food" that you could've made yourself in your own kitchen. read more

What a disappointment. After seeing Comet Cafe on DDD - i could not wait to get there and try it for myself. My Hubs got the turkey dinner balls - this was good. The gravy was good and the deep fried croquets were tasty. I got the meatloaf sandwich. When it placed in front of me, it looked fantastic. I should've stopped there. The meatloaf, itself, was cold. The bacon was limp and only half cooked. The gravy was alright (and hot) and the grilled onions on top were a nice touch. We flagged down the waitress and advised her that my meal was cold, she apologized and brought it back to the kitchen. When it was returned to me - it was simply the remaining meatloaf and bread on a new plate. Everything else - the gravy and onions and raw-ish bacon - was scraped off and the meatloaf was nuclear hot from the micrwave. Not cool, Comet Cafe. This is a 2.5* review, but I am rounding down because I had such high hopes for this place and I ended up being so disappointed with the entire experience. read more

Great homemade food--especially the meatloaf with beer gravy. Good beer selection too. The artichoke dip and bread was to die for. Will be back to try other menu items. read more

After just finishing a hangover brunch at Comet Cafe, I had to write a review. The food was absolute spot on. I had the stemler, a heart healthy burrito stuffed with eggs, corn beef, and hash browns.On top was the word "Sunny D" drawn with sriracha sauce. It was just really homemade greasy goodness. No other words to describe it. It was like heaven after a drunk night of shenanigans. The sriracha sauce is what really nailed it and reminded me of college, where the cook for my fraternity cooked amazing breakfast burritos, applied with a liberal dose of hot sauce. The biscuit was fresh, hot, and warm. And of course made my taste buds explode. I've never been a big biscuit fan, but definitely shell down the $1 for one. Service was spot on. Even though there was a long line, we sat down after around 15 minutes, so it wasn't too bad of a wait. The guy working the bar was real friendly, in face probably one of the most friendly servers that I've encountered here in Milwaukee. You could tell he genuinely enjoyed his job, unlike some people in the service industry. The crowd is a mixed of people. Hipsters, Families, young professionals, and of course college students If you want to see a snapshot of Milwaukee, go to Comet Cafe. Overall, I will have to rate this 5 stars. This place is THE place for greasy food after a fun night out. read more

We went there for breakfast this morning and we had a decent experience. I had their special, which was Shiitake mushroom, leek and spinach crepes in a Gruyère cheese sauce. It was quite delicious. My husband, however, had the simple breakfast of two eggs with hash browns, and ordered cinnamon toast and sausage extra. The sausage was really, really dry, as if it had been made several hours ago and sat in a warming dish. So, he sent it back and asked for bacon instead. Our server had no problem with that, but returned in less than a minute with equally dry and cold bacon. It seems that they don't cook their meats fresh, so I would recommend NOT getting them, especially when they charge $1.50 for a side. Stick with the specials. read more

Fun atmosphere, good beer on tap, very vegan friendly. I had the vegan salisbury steak with mushroom gravy and it was delicious. The bar tenders were very attentive. I will come back when I'm back in Milwaukee again. read more

I used to be a regular here when I lived across the street. I love the wide range of vegetarian options! It's so nice to go to a casual restaurant where the food is good and you have options beyond a mushroom sandwich. It's a fun diner-type place where you can relax and enjoy updated takes on classic comfort foods, like mac n cheese or meatloaf and they have options for everyone. read more

Vegan & vegetarian paradise! I've been coming to Comet since it was just a tiny coffee shop. Loved their sandwiches. So glad it's now a full restaurant & bar. Serving dinner till 10pm is awesome for those of us that work late. Or a great place to come for wine & cupcakes after a long day! read more

Best bloody Mary in the whole wide world

Cute breakfast spot and friendly staff. I had the cod cakes eggs benedict. I thought it was just okay. My bf got the pulled chicken with pepper jelly sandwich and he thought it was just okay too. The chicken was cold and we were expecting it to be warm. We also bought cupcakes, and those were just okay too. They did have a meatloaf sandwich that they only serve during the weekdays for lunch and it looked delicious based of the pics from yelp, maybe that's the thing to order here. read more

This place was delicious, we came here on a Sunday night. It was not super busy but had a welcoming home feel to it. They have amazing specials. 2.50$ for a beer on Sunday. any order of a beer prompts a free place of bacon. BACON! i love this place. the food was good. service was a bit slow but not bad. I would come back. read more

Just got back from an early dinner with our son. Fell in love with this place! I started with a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup...yum,yum! The I moved onto the Big Luck burger. 6oz of WI grass fed burger with cheese, onion, tomato, lettuce, pickles and 1,000 island. OMG! The last time I had burger this good, was when I made it myself! Hubby had the turkenstein which was also AWESOME! Son had the Comet Cuban which looked awesome. The fries were too die for and fresh! We all took part of our meals home, but I did leave room for pie. Not just any kind of pie...blueberry/pear pie and our server warmed it foe me. Great service, great food and great drinks...can't ask for more then that! read more

The best vegan ribs. Huge bar selection. Prolly the best vegan place in Milwaukee. An amazing breakfest place as well.

Really wanted to like this place. For people who plan on trying this spot, get there early (especially on the weekends). We managed to get a table just before the rush last weekend. We were told to seat ourselves at any open table. People arriving half an hour later ended up on a list and waiting outside for their names to be called. Not very happy with our server or the food. Long story short, it took exactly an hour before we received our food from the point where we ordered. Normally, I would cut them some slack because they were busy BUT other people who were seated at the same time or after us received their food and left while we waited for our food. When ordering, I was told that I "can't substitute" my toast and hasbrowns for fruit. I was told that the kitchen does not take substitutions on the menu. The waitress said that I had to order a side of fruit at $4.00! Are you kidding me? I can buy a whole watermelon for less than that. So, instead, I decided to piecemeal my breakfast by ordering sides of eggs ($2/piece) and Vegan sausage ($4/piece). So, an hour goes by before I get my eggs and sausage. The eggs were unseasoned and sausage was rock hard. It was broken in half and charred beyond recognition. It was so hard that it couldn't be cut with my knife/fork. In fact, I bet that if I had thrown it at the window, the sausage would win. As I ate my eggs, I flagged down the waitress to ask her for a less burned piece of sausage. She told me that this is how it was prepared. At that point, I pointed to my boyfriend's breakfast which also had the sausage. It looked nothing like mine and was actually tender and edible. Only after pointing out the difference on the one on my boyfriend's plate did she offer to get a replacement. Long story short, I finished my eggs and my boyfriend finished his breakfast before the sausage or waitress came back. I asked for a manger and who then offered to remove the eggs/sausage from my bill. I told her that we had looked forward to visiting the cafe all week after reading all the great reviews and that I was shocked at how poorly we were treated. I asked her why I couldn't sustitute fruit for my sides and she said that it costs the restaurant too much because fruit costs more than toast. I explained to her that I wanted to replace BOTH sides with fruit and that I was willing to pay an up-charge (a buck or two) for the fruit but was told I couldn't do that. She said that the waitress was wrong and that it was definitely and option and the waitress should have told me this. So very disappointed. Really can't believe that this place is so highly rated. Milwaukee definitely has more to offer. read more

This place was on our list solely because after 6, if you spend at least $2.50, you get a free basket of bacon. It's not just a small basket, either... I still have leftovers! That said, we did stick around for dinner, and I had what has to be the best mac and cheese in the history of mac and cheese. It was awesome. We also got a slice of banana cream pie to go, and when we ended up eating it, it was really difficult to share. Everyone we came into contact with was super friendly, and the atmosphere is really laid back. It's definitely a place we plan on coming back to when we visit Milwaukee again. read more

For the better part of the last year I had said that if Chicago got the 2016 Olympic games I would move to Milwaukee, WI. As someone who has never lived outside the Chicago city limits, Milwaukee is the ideal candidate for a city to seduce me. I have a handful of friends living there that are connected to several different scenes, it's a city that's big enough for touring bands to not skip for the most part, they have a pretty great local music scene, I already sort of know my way around town and if you know what you're doing rents are cheap. I was more than willing to take a four or five year sabbatical to the land of "Cows and Beer" as Die Kreuzen put it. Unfortunately (and this will be the only time you'll ever hear/see me say this) Chicago didn't get the 2016 games so Milwaukee will be strictly limited to visits. The existence of Comet kind of made me wish otherwise. Last weekend a friend and I drove up to Milwaukee for a party and due to circumstances we had to leave straight in the middle of rush hour. Neither of us had eaten since lunch so needless to say the stomachs were rumbling by the time we got to town. Parking around Comet was extremely scarce but our friend insisted that we should keep trying to find a space. She said it was her favorite place so we kept it up (that's what she said?) until finding a space a few blocks down. Good thing she insisted because ten minutes later my driving buddy and I were inside, making our way to our counter seat. As I was taking off my Dee Dee Ramone leather jacket, "Blitzkrieg Bop" was playing over the speakers. Perfect. Though the music was hard to hear since we were seated by the kitchen I'm positive I heard Clash, Misfits, Joy Division and Lifetime songs over the speakers amongst others that I just couldn't quite place. Once we got a look at the menu there were so many good beers listed and such tempting food. I opted for water and a Tomato Soup/3-Variety-Grilled-Cheese-Sandwich, while he got a tuna sandwich and some fancy beer and our host was boring, only getting an order of french fries for herself. Though the wait was longer than I would have liked (and our host said it was the longest she'd ever waited) it was completely worth it for my food. I love grilled cheese sandwiches but the thing about making them is that they take about a minute to eat but a much longer time to prepare. Not this variety though because this grilled cheese sandwich was suuuuuuuubstantial, with three different cheeses inside. That alone would have been a meal but hey, let's not forget about that glorious tomato soup. It had a slightly orange tint to it, why I don't know but won't question because it was delicious. The damn thing came with fries too! I ate maybe 1/4 of those before giving up and handing them over to the host to take home for hangover food to eat the next day. Soup and sandwich was $7.75 menu price. Considering what I pay for shitty Thai food a few blocks away from me that's a great bargain. The only thing keeping it from five stars is the wait (it took about an hour from the time the three of us sat down to when we left) and the fact that I'm spiteful that it's not walking distance from me. read more

Grilled cheese with bacon, tomato bisque, and tater tots? Yes please! All you can bacon for breakfast? Talk dirty to me! It's open late night on weekends, so perfect place to hit and grab grub after drinking. Not ready to call it quits? There's huge beer menu available! read more

Comet Cafe is a staple in Milwaukee, almost so popular it's not popular.. strange. Anyways it's a must. Excellent food and a great vibe. I recommend the meatloaf. Because of its popularity it's busy, so expect a wait especially on the weekends. read more

after running the rock and sole half marathon last weekend, my husband and i were staaaaaarving. we looked online to find some good vegan eats in the big city of milwaukee and comet cafe came up. well, reviewed too. as we approached this ultra trendy restaurant, that i almost felt not trendy enough to eat at... we noticed a long line of people waiting in the street. apparently, word has gotten out that this place is good. i don't mind waiting in line. in fact, i usually think it's a good sign at a restaurant. we were seated in about 20 minutes, which isn't that big of deal. they were seating anywhere in the cafe that had a chair... the bar, the booths, outdoors... whatever. we ended up sitting at the bar, and that was fine. it was just the two of us. i ordered the meat and eggs breakfast -- veganized. there were several options for vegans, and a little bunny on the menu denoted which items could be made vegan. "meat and eggs" seemed like it might be difficult to make vegan, but i was intrigued. my husband got a sandwich, and opted to add field roast meat to it. our meal arrived and it was.... well..... it was awesome. my husband enjoyed his sandwich a lot. my meal turned out to be a couple of pieces of vegan meatloaf with gravy, hash browns, toast, and a side of tofu scramble. when our waiter brought it to the table, he asked if i wanted butter. so used to saying no, because i don't eat dairy products, i said no. he said, "oh, i mean it's... like vegan butter." i wanted to cry. my days of eating dry toast in restaurants.... OVER! service was good. it was friendly. the cafe has a nice ambiance. people there seemed happy to be working there, and enjoyed serving the food and the people that stopped in to eat it. my only criticism was that my meal was pretty salty. not inedible salty, but salty. my body was craving some salt and carbs after a good long run, but this was a little much. when i head back to milwaukee, this place will be back on my go to list. read more

Comet Café is awesome! Gives off a really cool vibe. I noticed that the employees don't have a formal uniform, they get to choose what the want. To me this really makes the place welcoming and relaxed. Expect a little bit of a wait because it tends to fill up after 7. Even on a Wednesday night! This is telling you something! They run a lot of drink specials, half bottles of wine, $1 off canned beer of you bring in a can Koozie, etc. The portion sizes are massive and it's not expensive. They also have really great homemade pies and gourmet cupcakes the size of your hand. Can't wait to go back! read more

Yum! The food is not fast, but it is good. My kids crave the vegetarian deep fried riblets. Great atmosphere as well. I highly recommend a visit, especially if you are looking for delicious vegetarian options. read more

I've only been for breakfast/brunch, and never left unhappy! I've tried something different every time. The only reason I don't give them 5 stars is: 1) the wait time is always crazy long (guess that's what happens when the food is this great!). 2) the restaurant feels dirty, like the bar closed just minutes before they started serving food. read more

Love everything about this place! Great food! Great ambiance! We've eaten here several times for brunch and it's never disappointed. Great vegetarian and vegan options as well as delicious entries for meat lovers. On our last visit I tried their Bloody Mary...could possibly be the best I've ever had! Wish there was a restaurant like this closer to home. read more

I love going to breakfast at Comet. It has become a place where my brother and I catch up over a mug of black coffee and eggs (or giant pancakes depending on my mood). I don't like going on the weekends (it's too busy) but I love catching breakfast on a Wednesday or Thursday morning. It's nice to stop it when it's not super busy and just enjoy chilling out at a great east side location. Our current breakfast favorites include: Bacon cakes (a giant pancake with delicious bacon inside!!) or the Rocket Platter ( a little bit of everything to get the day started). Yummy! read more

I have yet to find something on the menu here that I do not like. From the bacon pancakes to the Philly cheesesteak to the turkey melt comet café can do no wrong. For me the service is good because I don't like to be asked every five minutes how everything is. There are a bunch of pie options that I have yet to try but I'm sure those are delicious as well. And since bacon is one of my favorite foods the bloody Mary with the slice of bacon in it is genius. Another thing that I liked is that the menu accommodated my vegetarian wife. read more

I while back a friend of mine took me to the Comet Cafe. I must admit the atmoshere is great aswell as the service. I was excited to taste the food because this cafe was featured on Diners and Dives. I had the meatloaf which is one there featured dishes; althought tasty I must admit that I wasn't all that impressed. I guess because I'm a bit of a chef myself and I feel as though my meatloaf is just as good if not better. I guess because it was featured on Diners and Dives I was expecting something that was going to put my Grandmother's meatloaf to shame. On a good note, it is a great cafe and I've been there since then and will continue to go; I've just had better meatloaf. read more

Fantasic food and atmosphere. Got in early for breakfest and place was filled up quick. Bacon is great too!!!

Comet Cafe has the best comfort food of any restaurant I've been to in the Milwaukee area. Their tomato soup is stellar, and I've never had a sub-par sandwich here. If it wasnt so crowded seemingly all the time, Id eat here more frequently. read more

As a vegetarian, I LOVE this cafe! I was nervous about going there because I went with family who had just heard about their bacon and how good it was so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out they were vegetarian friendly. The food was out of this world and the pricing was fair for the portions. Everyone loved it! read more

The best Rueben I've ever had. I've had Ruebens all over the country and this one rocked it!!! Love this place

Food was good, bartender was worthless. Messed up order, reluctant to fix it, spent a lot of time on phone and he never checked on me again after dropping off food. Oh, and there were only 2 other people at the bar. read more

It took 45 mins for one order of chicken strips. This place is painfully slow. I'm not coming back. I don't want to die waiting for food. And no the food is not worth the wait. read more

saw this place featured on foodnetwork to decided to come in to check it out...right away something was strange about this place. no reservation, first come first serve. its a legit diner but no hostess to seat you. what is annoying is when two people chooses to sit at this big table and a group of 6 ppl are trying to squeeze into a booth. the food here is..OK. nothing super amazing. i tried the burger and their meat loaf. nothing out of the ordinary. the meatloaf was kinda dry and not as seasoned as i would have liked it. read more

Tried this since it was on triple d. They serve alcohol. I had the meatloaf. Looked like it had onion and green pepper in it. I didn't think it was that good. The mashed potatoes were ok. The snap peas were good. Better than green beans in my opinon. Guess I'll go back and try some other things. read more

I had the compact turkey dinner. It was very tasty, though maybe a bit salty. Either way, it was a very filling meal and was great to eat after a workout. I tried a bite of the meatloaf and I think that was probably a bit more tasy. read more

I've been to Comet twice, once for dinner (a few months ago) and today for brunch. Yes, this is how my review of Chicago Diner started, as well. Apparently it takes two meals to really motivate me to write a review. Or I need brunch. Either way, here we are. I remember not much about the dinner. It was good. It was vegetarian friendly. I liked the beer a lot. The place had a cool chill, local vibe (and probably a little hipster, which apparently is at least 1/3 the population of the River West, Milwaukee area [I learned that during a tour of Lakefront Brewery -- do that, too!]). On to brunch! I recently decided to try veganism for a month, to see if my health felt improved. Happily, Comet is very vegan friendly. They offer several wonderful options--breakfast burrito, scrambles, pancakes, biscuits and gravy (seriously!)--that can be converted to vegan-approved dishes for only an extra dollar. I tried the vegan scramble and the pancakes. First, the scramble: Minced tofu w/vegan gravy and the best vegan sausage I've ever had, lots of veggies, tasty tasty TASTY hasbrowns with just the right amount of salt, housemade sourdough bread... it was marvelous. I'm not always one for faux meat, but this sausage was memorable. That's saying a lot, considering vegan sausage probably is not high on the radar of anyone's "Moments of Life Worth Remembering" (it's right after your first stillborn child... that was inappropriate). The meal was very filling and reminded me of the classic breakfast, only it was plant-happy and animal-free. I'm very ok with that. The vegan pancakes were very massive, I'm talking manhole-cover-sized massive. Two of us ate 1/2 of one. The other two will feed all of Zimbabwe for a month. But seriously, I was not expecting edible LPs on a plate. Mapley, soft, edible LPs. I'm not a sweet-breakfast fan, but these were tasty, the two bites I could finish. Another bonus--Good coffee!! Rich, bold, extra dark, syrupy coffee, I'm thinking Sumatra (I'm a coffee snob, believe me on this). It was the way you want coffee. Don't go ruining it with cream or nonsense of that sort, either. Be a man (or a woman, it's your choice' but either way drink the coffee black). The meat-filled options looked great and smelled great, but the taste-test is up to you. Whether vegan or carnivore, I recommend Comet Cafe for a solid brunch (or meal at any time of day) in Milwaukee. Also, the door has a bunny! Yay!!! read more

Never disappointed by this place. Service is great, bar choice is excellent, and food is wonderful and comforty! Shared the "Thanksgiving Turkey dinner balls" aka Turkey Balls--delicious! Always ready to come here! read more

My boo and I took a day trip to Milwaukee and ended up at Comet Cafe on a Sunday during the brunch hour. This is a nice spot for grub and drinks, at a reasonable press. Plus who doesn't love a Bloody Mary with bacon in it with a Miller High Life side car? I tried the BELT sammich, which was solid and my boo got an omelet as big as a the entire plate. I liked the vibe too. Casual with a good mixed crowd of all ages and walks of life. Worth a visit if you're in the area. read more

We probably waited in line for 25-30 mins. I don't usually wait that long for anywhere (unless its good BBQ). After we were seated, my partner asked if I downgraded a star onYelp for waiting in a long line. My response-Not if the food was worth it. I think the Comet Cafe is a SOLID 4 stars. It is a dive and a college hangout. We were clearly the oldest people in there, but we didn't feel out of place. Te staff was friendly and working their butts off. We split an order of pancakes (2 giant pancakes) and a ham and cheese omelet. The omelet came with hash browns and toast. I was very sceptic about giant pancakes. They are usually heavy and tasteless. To my surprise, these were light, fluffy, and totally delicious. The omelet was good. I think it was the Wisconsin cheese. :-) The hash browns were very greasy and very good. This was a perfect Sunday Brunch. Wish I was going to be around longer to try the Yelp favorites. read more