Cafe Landwer — Restaurant in Boston

My wife and I went to Boston to have brunch with our daughter and boyfriend and Cafe Landwer came highly recommended by our daughter. We had Sunday brunch reservations and were seated right on time which was a great start.

We had a cute little table for four and the restaurant was very clean and comfortably decorated. It was lively but not crowded. It was a bit loud at times near the kitchen making it a little difficult to have a conversation.

It did take some time after we got our water before our waitress stopped by, so long that I wanted to order our food with our drinks but we decided we had the time. We ordered a couple lattes and a cortada which were all very good, the Nutella latte was very good, rich, sweet and creamy, quite possibly something you want to consider as a dessert!

This is where things really started to fall apart. First off the benedicts for my daughter and boyfriend came out, they sat patiently and waited for my wife and my meal to come out. About 5 minutes later my pancakes and fruit were delivered. Then maybe another 5 minutes after that my wife's benedict was delivered. So there was a period of about 10 minutes where my daughter and boyfriend's meals was just getting cold.

There was a constant cycle of waitresses and bus people that took our plates and delivered food but our waitress never actually checked back in on us or filled our water glasses. If she had I would have mentioned that they still haven't brought me my additional eggs and turkey bacon which I ordered with the pancakes.

The food is fresh and delicious. My pancakes were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, having the option of maple syrup Nutella, and whipped cream made the meal awesome. The others in my party all ordered benedicts and loved them.

Then came the waiting game again to pay the bill. We sat there for probably 20 minutes completely unattended to, as waiters and waitresses including our own just stood around. Finally our waitress walked by and I let her know that she had forgotten my eggs and turkey bacon. She apologized and the bacon and eggs came out pretty quickly.

We sat there for another 10 minutes or so, our food and drinks were gone and we were clearly ready for our bill. We could even see our waitress just standing around in the kitchen area checking her phone. My daughter had even expressed the last time she was here it took a while before she was able to pay. At one point I even sat my credit card at the end of the table which took another 10 minutes before someone (not our waitress) asked if we wanted to pay the bill. This person took the credit card and processed it and everything seemed okay with the price but since I technically never saw the bill I wouldn't know.

So the food and drinks here are amazing, great quality and flavor. The atmosphere is comfortable and the prices were very good I thought for Boston. Lattes and brunch for four on Boylston Street for around $80 is great! You're going to lose a star due to the slow and unattentive service and the lack of timing with the meals (I'm not sure if this was a service issue or a kitchen issue but it needs to be better). If that was tightened up this would definitely be a five...

The food is great here however, I will never ever eat here again after getting food poisoning that I can track to a lack of hygiene in a staff member.

Dear Cafe Landwer, Last night, Sat Nov 18th, someone from your staff, failed to be a good human being and as a result, I got food poisoning.

I was eating the herb bed chicken with rice, which I was dipping into the baba ganoush, when I felt a strand of something in my mouth. When I pulled on it, it was a long, loooong black strand of hair. I shuddered and then thought, hey, it happens. And kept eating. A couple of bites later, I felt another strand in my mouth. This time, it was one of those multi strand human hair balls that form on floors that have not been swept regularly. I was disgusted, realizing someone dropped my food, and put it right back onto the dinner container. I looked to the pita bread and thought, maybe I can have that with the baba ganoush... And did. I was in a hotel and wouldn't eat anything until the next day, I had to have something. And then, the last bit of proof that someone had dropped my food or prepared it in a dirty surface showed itself: I put down my pita bread to get some water and what was on the other side of it? The side that had been not facing me? A half eaten dust bunny. I dropped the food. I had eaten most of it. Sigh.

2 hours later, I woke up with food poisoning. I spent all night thrown up and with diarrhea. A clear sign that my food had been handled in a way that contaminated it with the bacteria of a dirty floor.

Such a pity there is someone in the staff with so little empathy for the human being they're serving, or someone with so little awareness around hygiene that they got me, and who knows how many others, sick.

The bread pudding had raw pockets of egg on the inside and was burned on the outside. I also got a kenaf which I'm tossing out of fear.

The place's saving grace is people like Maria, a...

After being turned away for not having a reservation yesterday, even with plenty of empty tables, we came back with one for breakfast this morning. It took a bit to be seated, and then much longer to be attended to. We ordered drinks, some time went by, and then we ordered food before the drinks even arrived (the drinks they did have, by the way, I asked for four coffee drinks before finding one they had available. With such a small menu, it’s a bit rough being limited further).

The staff allowed us to move tables because a good portion of the patio is in direct morning sunlight, which was nice, since we’d be waiting a long time for the food to come.

We ordered the pancakes and the eggs Florentine; both came before our coffees and a lemonade granita. Both were just alright, the pancakes looked really great, but they had the texture of a Popeye’s biscuit. My friend who ordered the pancakes was asked if eggs and bacon were okay, assuming they were sides—but don’t be deceived, they’re $4 extra for a couple eggs and strips of bacon, they’re not included sides.

The eggs Florentine were alright, the eggs were cooked a little too long. Worth $15 for two eggs, onions, and a muffin? No.

Our drinks came out after our food, and the coffee wasn’t very good—I’m a fan of most coffee from McDonalds to boutique roasters, and I almost never leave coffee on the table; I did today.

We spoke to our waitress a total of three times—the staff wasn’t very attentive at all.

For the wait and sort of exclusivity around eating here, I don’t really get the hype. Not worth the prices and definitely not...