Stemm's Cafe & Coffee Shoppe — Restaurant in Carterville

Stemm's Cafe & Coffee Shoppe: Promising Potential, But Pricy and Some Bread Woes

Stemm's Cafe & Coffee Shoppe, a relatively new establishment at the local golf course in Carterville, offered a decent lunch experience for our party of four. The restaurant wasn't overly busy during our visit, which contributed to a relaxed atmosphere.

The service was efficient and timely. Our drink orders were taken and delivered quickly, and our food arrived after a reasonable wait. However, it's worth noting that this isn't a place for a quick bite if you're in a rush. On the downside, the prices felt a bit on the high side for what's offered.

Turning to the food, the cobb salad was a definite highlight – very well prepared and enjoyable. Unfortunately, the subs were a significant miss. The main culprit was the bread, which was simply too much and too hard/tall for a sub. It made it quite challenging to bite into without causing the fillings to spill out. In fact, we all shared the same opinion regarding the difficult bread. Perhaps serving it with a side of au jus to soften it might make it more palatable, but as it stands, I wouldn't opt for a sub again on a return visit. In summary, Stemm's Cafe & Coffee Shoppe has a good foundation with its pleasant service and some strong menu items like the cobb salad. However, the pricing and the issues with the sub bread are areas that could use some attention to elevate the overall...

I have been twice now and will continue to go. This place reminds me of a small coffee shop or diner back east somewhere. It’s nostalgic. Places like this is what is missing from the region. I’ve tried a cinnamon roll, biscuits and gravy and two separate occasions I had the French toast. With the biscuits and gravy, personally, I liked that the meat was added to the top of the gravy instead of cooked cooked with the gravy. That’s not something I see a lot so it was unique. The gravy itself was kinda bland but the biscuits were nice. The cinnamon roll was okay. It didn’t have any overpowering sweetness like some rolls do. The first time I had the French I thought it was pretty good. It has that home cooked flavorful taste. It reminded me of the kinda french toast a relative would make if the relative was known for having the best french toast in the family. It’s not the best French toast in Southern Illinois but it’s definitely worth giving a second ordering. Which I did. The second order was not as good as the first and I’d say that it tanked the score. I can’t speculate about the cause for the decrease in quality but I can sympathize. So, I’ll...

The menu looks great! A shame they don’t have any of it available to be eaten. They claimed that our order was “too big” for them. 10am, we try to place an order for some sandwiches/wraps/soups for lunch at 12noon. They made it seem like it was a hassle to make 14 sandwiches (some only 1/2 sandwiches) They had NO BREAD & no soup!!! How can you have a sandwich place with no bread!?!?! Just perplexes me. Seems like this place just wants to be a restaurant & not an operating, functional business. Of course…with no bread, not much of a restaurant either. I don’t expect this place to last long if they can’t offer the things to their customers that THEY chose to put on their menu. Seriously disappointed in this place & the way they made us feel like our business was just too much of an effort for them. I will not be giving this place ANY of my hard earned money in the future & will recommend to everyone that asks that they should support a business owner that actually cares about their customers. Stemm’s…search...