Black Mountain Cafe & Lounge — Restaurant in Carefree

I’ve been visiting Black Mountain Cafe for a little over a year now, probably 6 to 8 times. I wouldn’t call myself a regular, but I’ve been here enough to give a fair perspective. Every visit, the breakfast has been consistently spot on, and the lemonade is excellent.

I read a negative review last night, and it actually prompted me to come back this morning. I was greeted and taken care of by a very kind Arianna who even acknowledged that we’ve been here before — so maybe we’re becoming regulars after all, lol.

I noticed that review mentioned an unusually long wait time, and while I respect that person’s experience, I want to share a counterpoint. In all of my visits, service has been smooth and seating has never been an issue. Waiting over an hour feels like the exception, not the rule.

I usually only post reviews when service is either really poor or really great, but seeing a place I enjoy being criticized so harshly made me want to share my own experiences. I don’t have any connection to the cafe, and it’s a 25-minute drive for me, so it’s not even in my neighborhood.

Since I’m writing this while sitting here today, I’ve included some photos to show what my experience looks like:

Fresh lemonade and iced tea served in mason jars, perfect for a warm morning.

A smooth latte with nice presentation.

Biscuits and gravy with eggs and hash browns — hearty, flavorful, and exactly the kind of breakfast that keeps me coming back.

This place deserves credit for consistency, great service, and...

I have never been to the Black Mountain coffee shop before. Four of us rode our bikes into Cave Creek, and decided to stop for coffee. It was a weekday, not crowded, late morning before lunch, and at least two waitresses working. We wanted to scope out the Cafe, maybe bring other biking friends to the Cafe, maybe come back with our wives or other friends. All of us ordered, nobody had a bill for more than $10. I just had coffee, which my bill totaled exactly $3, for one cup of coffee.

Waitress never once came by and asked if we needed anything else, never offered to refill or warm up our coffee.

I gave waitress a $5 bill, my friend next to me gave her a $10 bill for what he had that totaled $5.56. The other two used a credit card. Waitress came back several minutes later with the credit card receipts, and handed the “change” to the person who gave her $10. But, she only gave him back four one dollar bills, what happened to rest of the change? My friend figured if she wanted to keep his change that would be her tip. The other three got up and went to the front door, leaving me sitting waiting for my change. I had to ask the other waitress to tell my waitress I was still waiting for my change, was she going to just keep that change as well?

So between our wives, family members, friends, the other people we bicycle with. Thats a lot of people who will not be going to...

My parents actually dined in restaurant and brought me food from here while I was stuck in the hospital and considering they rave about this being their favorite breakfast spot with the "best ever breakfast burrito", I had high hopes. Well folks, after my food traveled from the restaurant about 30 minutes away to Mayo Clinic, the food did not disappoint in taste, quality or flavor! Though the portion size was quite small compared to other breakfast places (I say this because the side of bacon was only 2 strips and the hash browns were only about 6 tablespoons), thats the only bad thing I could say! I mean the food sat for probably a total of 45 minutes in the box before I was able to eat it, the bagel was properly lightly toasted as requested and still made a killer breakfast sandwich, the hash browns that went into the sandwich were still crispy enough after sitting that long and overall, after the food being that good, that amount of time later, I would hands down go dine in for breakfast and will next time I have the chance!! My one and only critique would be to have better portion sizes! Highly recommend based on...