Portage Cafe Llc

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!

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!

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.

Good food, fast service, friendly staff, cook and waitress.

The food is great, I've both an amazing Ruben and a good burger there. And if course it's hard to beat the atmosphere of a cafe.