Cafe Valetta — Restaurant in East Toowoomba

We had lunch at Café Valetta today and while the young wait staff were absolutely wonderful—friendly, professional, and attentive—the overall experience was completely soured by one older staff member behind the counter.

Two people in our group of six ordered cokes. After 20 minutes and multiple follow-ups, they still hadn’t received their drinks—even though others who ordered after us, including more complicated beverages like thick shakes and alcoholic mixes, were already served. We had to ask twice at the counter before the cokes finally arrived.

Then, when the final person went to pay, they were told we had FOUR cokes on our order. We explained—politely—that this was an error and only two were actually served after repeated follow-ups.

That’s when the older woman with curly hair and glasses behind the counter shocked us all by rudely snapping that we “should have been nicer” to the young male staff member. She wasn’t even involved in serving our table—just stared at us during the whole mix-up. I asked her to repeat herself, thinking I must’ve misheard. Sadly, I hadn’t.

It was completely uncalled for and unprofessional, and it turned what should’ve been a lovely lunch into a frustrating and disappointing experience. When we asked to speak with the owner, she was pleasant but offered excuses instead of acknowledging the unacceptable behavior.

Again, hats off to the young staff—they were doing a great job. But this one older staff member with a rude attitude absolutely ruined our visit. After reading other reviews, it seems we’re not alone. Perhaps it’s time for her to consider a different role—or at the very least, a refresher in basic customer service.

We won’t be back...

I've been a regular at Cafe Valetta for years, and I’ve always enjoyed their Salmon Eggs Benedict and Caramel Lattes. However, I’ve been extremely disappointed with my recent experiences.

On 04 January 2025, after waiting over an hour for my breakfast while I had already received my coffee, I had to ask the owner where my meal was. They apologized and gave me a free small coffee, the meal then landed on the table in less than a minute. But I was left feeling frustrated.

Fast forward to today, 08 February 2025, and unfortunately, the experience didn’t improve. I arrived with a table of around 20 people, and despite the cafe being busy, I found myself waiting 50 minutes for my Caramel Latte, while others who arrived after me were served. The staff kept bringing orders to the wrong tables, and after 40 minutes, I had to ask where my coffee was. When it finally arrived, I asked the waiter if it was normal to wait over 50 minutes for a coffee, which is absolutely unacceptable.

I took the coffee back to the order desk. One of the staff asked if I was okay, she could see the expression on my face. I complained and the owner came over to offer an apology, but it felt like the same issues were being ignored. After I mentioned that it reflected poorly on her business, she refunded the coffee but didn’t seem to take my concerns seriously. At this point, I’ve decided that I won’t be returning. The food is good, but the service has been unreliable and disappointing on more than one occasion, and I can't justify coming back when I feel disregarded as a...

So I convinced a friend of mine to leave his girlfriend (at home) and grab brekky with me here. Wasn't that hard - not to toast ones own pretzels but I guess I just have that charm. The parking out the front requires a reverse parallel which I opted to not perform. The pressure of the onlooking diners whom I was about to join... I just couldn't have handled the shame if I'd messed up a simple parking manoeuvre. Anyway the outdoor seating is nice and adequate shade is available even if it's lightly drizzling like it was on our visit. It's always busy and I recommend booking ahead which we did not. An indoor table would have been nice, I really like the styling inside. The pressed tin ceilings and small chandelier have an elegance about them without being pretentious. All the food was delicious. I got the avo on toast with sides of bacon, poached eggs and hash browns. Would have loved this on a croissant. Not enough places serve croissants? Somewhere between our table and the kitchen the "poached" got lost so they had to double check how the eggs were to be cooked. A small, forgivable error and I'm glad they double checked because the eggs were cooked perfectly. Perfectly! Coffee was good but doesnt come with chocolate freckles. Asked for green tea but received yellow tea. Menu was long enough that you had options but not so long that you got overwhelmed - good variety too. Could use a croissant...