Federal Café — Restaurant in Madrid

Good food, nice location, BUT beware: Only go there if you’re interested in male staff that is verbally abusive towards women.

We had just received our food, when my female companion took out her laptop for a couple of minutes to check emails during our lunch. A waiter (big guy, bald head) within minutes repeatedly came over to tell her in a very rude tone to move to communal tables apparently designated for people to work from. Asked why we should move to a different table while still eating or even eat at separate tables, especially since none of us had any intention to stay there longer than until we had finished our meals, and asked about his rude treatment of paying customers, the same waiter insulted her. Legal charges will follow.

We immediately asked for the bill. As if degrading treatment of women isn’t enough, to top things off the change of a couple of Euros came - entirely - in 2, 5 and 10 Cent coins.

Judging by other comments on Google and TripAdvisor the management is well aware of their employees’ behavior and therefore appears to at least condone it (if not encourage it).

Response to the owner: How can I accept your apologies when your response clearly shows that you do not even understand the issue at hand. Of course as the business owner you are entitled to "comprehensive" policies, but as such you are also responsible for the actions of the staff that you employ. Our own experience as well as the many similiar reviews prove that you ignore this responsibility by either failing to educate your staff on basic prinicples of customer service or even encourage them to enforce your "comprehensive" policies in a rude and condescending manner (or both) - which is unacceptable.

I happened to pass by your Café the other day and it appears that you still employ the same waiter who showed a total lack of manners and respect (as described above). This proves that your response here and the promise of a "serious investigation" are nothing but...

I have been coming to this location of Federal literally since it opened in 2017. I love this cafe and it has steadily been one of my favorite spots to grab a drink at any time of day, have a meal, or get some work done (laptops permitted M-F only). I have celebrated birthdays here and been loved up by the wonderful staff when I’ve showed up for tea and cake after breakups (can’t make this up).

The menu is great, with plenty of options and possibilities for all appetites and vegan/veggies, too. They have a seasonally rotating menu and a special menu for brunch hours on the weekends. My go-to favorites are their winter soup (usually with spiced chickpeas), their summer green salad, the chicken sandwich with halloumi, and the Reuben— which has such good Dijon on it, it’ll clear your sinuses out. And do not sleep on their cakes! Pistachio con frutos rojos is a favorite of mine.

The space is beautiful, with a large terrace for outdoor seating, multiple tables indoors, and a communal table. They have a downstairs with a sort of living room vibe that I love. There is always beautiful fresh flowers here and great music, which you can also find on their Spotify account.

Besides all this though, Federal has an amazing staff. There are people who have been working here since their opening who have become friendly, familiar faces I love to see in the cafe or around madrid. Richard is a constant at Federal, and always manages to remember to ask after my friends, despite the fact that this cafe has so many clients. Love the people here.

Go to federal. Whether it’s in the morning for breakfast or at night for a glass of wine or caña, this is a comfortable but trendy spot for tourists, guiris, and...

Food is pricey and service is slow, food is hit and miss, but pleasant location on the square, on which the cafe capitalises. Your order is tied to the table number no one will tell you, so the waitress rolled her eyes at me when I told her I want to move to a different table. When it came to paying (which I had to do at the till, because I simply got tired of waiting) they could not find my order, but I could see they had a number for every table - so why not just put numbers on all the tables to avoid confusion? There were two items on our bill we did not order. Not sure if this was a cheeky attempt to charge more or the result of the table confusion. The pancakes were good (€8.50), my partner did not like the breakfast burger (said "too much sauce"), we also had two bloody maries (€8.80) and some teas and coffees (€2.35) - so you can see how it all added up to over €60 for for people very quickly. They failed to make a decent tea. I know it's a problem on the continent in general - but even after detailed instruction we got a pot of hot milk with a tea-bag sitting in it at which point the tea-drinker gave up on the idea. The food and drinks take 30 minutes to arrive, which is far too long for breakfast, even though the x4 staff are ran...