Don't think I will ever return on a weekend afternoon. Always way to busy, which I guess is a good thing for business, but I waited 30 minutes for 2 "to go" sandwiches (wanted to eat there, but never seems to be a table). Even the man who ordered after us got his food first somehow. It just seems that the service is a little confused (lots of very young workers). Sandwiches were pretty good, & the mango smoothy was good too, but it's tough to deal with the wait & unorganized service. read more

Great location to sit outside with the perfect latte with the lake and the capital view on your horizon , love their sandwiches nothing ordinary always creative read more

The awesome atmosphere is trumped only by the yumminess of the sandwiches. I also like that they serve mostly local food. Great place.

The ambience and decor is great but food is average..

Awesome food and one of the best lunch places in Madison. Owner is a real chef and it shows. Place gets busy at noon so come early.

The Crema Cafe is easy to find and the inside is very inviting. The staff was very friendly and were helpful in choosing a breakfast dish. I ordered a hot chai tea and the fungus scramble with hash. It was delicious! The hash was a little odd, but I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes. I will come back to try more dishes and their lunch menu. read more

Poor service. Higher than normal prices and on the day we visited the place was full of flies. This was the first time yelp disappointed us. Can't understand why this place gets high ranking. Could be we caught them on a bad day read more

Delicious breakfast & coffee. Fresh ingredients, gluten-allergy friendly restaurant.

Great breakfast with reasonable portion sizes. Quick service. Great food from local sources.

Oatmeal is to die for! Had lunch a few weeks ago, too, and the salad and Sammy was awesome.

Love this place. The steak and egg breakfast sandwich is my favorite but the breakfast sandwich with bacon is really great, too. The coffee is always excellent and staff are knowledgeable and friendly. read more

I absolutely love the gobbler and the bluebird sandwiches they are amazing... I only been to this place twice and fell in love.. I highly recommend this place to anyone the staff seem friendly and the place is very clean and well kept right in a small shopping mall on the end.. I will be going back very soon, Do to the fact that i will no longer live in Madison we only have a few week left i am going to crave the bluebird best chicken salad sandwich i have ever had i will be very disappointed when i leave the town wish they had a location were im going... read more

Fungus scrambler! Need I say more? It was delicious and fresh. You can actually taste the freshness! It's something that I couldn't get enough of! Even though I stay about 25 minutes away, it was worth the drive. You'll be in for a treat and I mean a real treat! I couldn't complain about the price really, great food at average price. You'll be amazed! Compared with other breakfast joints, there's plenty of seating and parking. Considering the joint is in a plaza. I was unable to try the bluebird since I was there only on breakfast. read more

Great menu: solid mix of entree choices (try the Bluebird sandwich) and wonderful baked goods. Kid friendly, too. Consistent quality and Alterra coffees. Love it! read more

I absolutely love this place! Their salads are incredible and their choices for kids meals are delicious - they don't "kid down" their food just because its for children. My favorite thing to get is the Hot Chick sandwich - BEST spicy chicken sandwich around (much better than Panera's chipotle chicken). I only wish that they would offer the Hot Chick on weekends when I am most likely to stop there for lunch. I also wish there was more outdoor seating but I understand the small amount due to the space restrictions. Headed there for lunch today!! read more

Didn't let us have breakfast, because breakfast closed 4 minutes before we ordered, and we were waiting in line for 10 minutes.

Crema is a gem located in a nondescript strip mall with the lake view as a complete bonus. It starts with the owner and head chef, who are real culinarians, and they create some of the most interesting and flavorful dishes for every season, breakfast or lunch. Their soups are absolutely divine, always one vegetarian and other not. Plus, they have the best smoothies in town because they're a blend of real fruit and juice, not started from a mix. Their pastries are made on-site. Every day there are specials made from locally-sourced ingredients, so they're extremely fresh and always worthy of consideration. Crema has been open for many years now and it's the place everyone in the surrounding neighborhoods goes/meets for breakfast/meets for lunch/chills. It's amazing in the summer to sit outside enjoying the lake breeze and eating their wonderful food. Staff is super friendly. They have a lot of regulars. The chefs take a tremendous amount of pride in their work. It shows. read more

The food is absolutely delicious but the seating and service leave a little to be desired. I think this is a great place to stop on the weekdays and to get something to-go on the weekend. You can generally expect a line and a wait for one of the tables to open up. not ideal for larger parties. If you want a leisurely chat it is probably best to go to a place that is less packed on a weekend. read more

This place reminds me of a cafeteria. Similar atmosphere and very noisy. It often gets busy, but that is ok. Coffee is mediocre. Good prices. read more

This is one of the area's best kept secrets. The lunch menu is superb. I've had the bluebird and the ham sandwich, both are delicious. Everything is made with fresh ingredients and much of it is local. Easily the best sandwiches I have had in Madison (better than Paisan's Garibaldi or anything at Mildred's or Marigold). This place is great for kids too. There is a mini play kitchen to keep them occupied while you wait for your food. The kids love their grilled cheese and fresh fruit platters. They have completely devoured their sandwiches each time. Finally, the drinks only add to this place's superb cuisine. I have had the bongo (banana hazelnut latte) and the cherry supreme. I can't stop raving about this place. Now with a west side location, this place is even more accessible. read more

Crema Cafe definitely has the best breakfast sandwiches I've ever had! You can tell that a lot of time and care went into creating them and choosing their quality ingredients. The smoothie was also very tasty. Be sure to leave a little extra time for yourself if you decide to try it out. Good food takes time. I will definitely be trying some of their other menu items in the future. read more

My husband discovered this place not long after it opened and loved it. He had been trying to get me to try it for awhile, so finally I did and I loved it. They have wonderful coffee, wonderful coffee drinks, delicious food, especially their donut muffins and the atmosphere is wonderful! read more

I love the food here, we often come in for brunch on the weekends. My favorite is the Gobbler, a turkey sandwich with cranberries, mmm. The problem is that it can often be packed, making it hard to find a table and then the wait is very long. I really wish they would switch to having a hostess, at least on the weekend. One morning we went in and there were no tables so we ordered the food to go. We had to wait 40 minutes. If they had told us the wait would be that long we would have left. But the food is awesome, fresh and local so we keep going. It's just hit-or-miss on the service. Plus you have to bus your own dishes and yet there is still a "Tips" jar sitting there. Sorry, tips for what exactly? read more

After hearing how great Crema was from friends and family, I was very excited to try it. However, I was disappointed. I ordered the sweet potato hash for breakfast this morning, which by the way is half sweet potato and half russet. It came with two eggs cooked any way, and for an additional $3 you can get turkey sausage or bacon. I opted for the sausage and I'm glad I did - the potatoes tasted like absolutely nothing (there was no seasoning on them, maybe not even salt or oil, hardly a hash) and my eggs, which I ordered poached, had an off sour taste. Maybe they squeezed lemon on them, but that's not what it tasted like to me. The best part of the meal was the sausage and the wheat toast, both of which were decidedly average. The place is clean and the prices are good, and the baked goods look amazing, so I may be back to try those, but life's too short for such completely bland food as I had this visit. read more

Noisy, crowded, dirty. My egg salad sandwich was just ok and definitely not worth &8! Came with horrible seasoned tortilla chips. Kids turkey sandwich probably best thing on the menu. There are so many other better choices! read more

Nice food, bit over price . Two star because the coffee is really bitter and burned. Madison has many good really local coffee roasters. Dissapointed that no are supporting local business. read more

Delightful breakfast and lunch place across the street from a beautiful park and Lake Monona. 3 tables in front of this strip-mall restaurant, with quaint old formica kitchen tables and fiesta ware place settings inside. Food is local and delicious. Delicious sandwiches and an awesomely flavorful range of egg dishes. A mellow, family friendly place. read more

Since my last review, I have been back probably 10 times and enjoyed it every time. The breakfast is so delish and the smoothies are great as well. Staff is super friendly and the atmosphere is bright and vibrant. A good place to stop after a bike ride around Lake Monona read more

I work next door to Crema Cafe and love their soup! Delicious varieties of homemade soups will brighten your day and fill your stomach.

The food here is pretty good, and I like getting a green salad with breakfast. I've gone back a few times despite the generally chilly service for these reasons. This time, however, I was spurned and won't be returning. After waiting 15 minutes in line and finally reaching the counter, the service was switched to lunch and I was instructed to go to the back of the line if I didn't know what I wanted. Psh. read more

The east side has no shortage of great restaurants... this is one of my favorites for breakfast. Big fan of the blueberry pancakes. The atmosphere is cheerful and fun, and a great place to spend a Sunday morning. read more

Seriously, they just must not like serving me here. I gave it another chance and again they forgot to put in our order and blew us off when we asked where our food was after 1/2 an hour. I will it be going back. read more

Crema is a great little place squeezed onto the end of a strip mall. They really make the most of this space - nicely-appointed interior and great food. I had the best waffle of my life here. I don't know how they made a waffle that stood head and shoulders above every other waffle I've had in my life, but they did. It was ... succulent. The texture was perfect. Plenty of plump, juicy blueberries. A cup of great coffee (Alterra's, from Milwaukee) to go with it. Reasonable prices, friendly staff. Not much here that I could criticize ... read more

cute place, very nice people.. i too LOVED the bluebird sammich...and, i almost NEVER order chicken salad( or tuna) out in a restaurant. You MUST try this sammich! read more

Highly recommended. Came in one day when they were apparently having problems in the kitchen: they compensated for slow service and proactively gave us $10 gift card to come back. Even on the "off" day, the food tasted amazing. Came back, enjoyed breakfast on a different day, and food again was superb. Great breakfast stuff ranging from savory to sweet. read more

Came here on our first visit to madison and still havent been to a better restaurant. I had a sandwich that was basically artichoke dip on bread - it was delicious!!! My husband had an egg salad sandwich, which was also quite nice. I cant wait to go back! read more

By far, the best place to eat in town - especially on the weekends for brunch. I wish their lunch menu on the weekdays was a little more gluten-free friendly - I can only eat the salad option that doesn't have nuts (I have a darn nut allergy, too). (Any thoughts of offering the delicious grits for later in the day?) But I am not going to complain because the salad is delicious, too. read more

I love this place! I've been here twice - once with colleagues for lunch and once with a friend, also for lunch. Both times, my food has been amazing. Nice atmosphere to eat, although it can get crowded around lunch time. I recommend their soups and any of their sandwiches. Both times the ingredients tasted fresh. Some other reviewers mentioned a long wait - I did not experience that either time. We probably waited about 10-15 minutes for our sandwiches and soups, which seemed reasonable to me! read more

I have visited Crema Cafe twice and am so hoping they open a restaurant on the west side! This place is amazing! I love that most items come with a small salad and I appreciate that most ingredients are locally sourced. We will keep going back- the whole family loves it! read more

The Artichoke sandwich is amazing. Its a lovely neighborhood kind of place with great service, The prices are reasonable. The food authentic -fresh salads, homemade soups. This is not upscale. It is one of those places that just feel like home. read more