Mad Hatter Cafe + Bakeshop — Restaurant in Durham

The worst dining experience I’ve had in a long time. I get they were probably busy, but that still doesn’t excuse how the staff acted or the fact several people who ordered their food after me received their food long before I had (even with the same dish).

I ordered a Thai chicken wrap, and 3 side dishes for my toddler (scrambled eggs, a cup of fruit, and breakfast potatoes). It took over an hour to receive my food, and might’ve taken longer had I not gone up to ask (TWICE) about the status of my order. The couple who ordered food AND coffee after I placed my order had already grabbed to go containers to box up their leftovers to leave. When I went to ask about my food, I was ignored by the staff I talked to. After seeing her go to several more tables with food for people who arrived to the cafe 30 mins after I arrived, I went back up and had to ask a barista for assistance since the 4 staff bringing food to guests just ignored me and refused to make eye contact. I finally was told I was “next,” but I feel like they just overlooked me and forgot my order as several Thai chicken wraps came and went already. How long does it take to make scrambled eggs and throw some fruit on a plate? I didn’t even have a drink order. No one apologized or gave me a reason for why it took so long.

Then after I finally received my food, after entertaining a hungry toddler for over an hour, I needed to-go containers to bring home leftovers. With their inattentive staff they should just keep containers readily accessible for guests, since I had to endure another 10 min wait of having staff continue to walk past me and not bother to assist before I finally had to interrupt someone and ask for a container. (I was up at the front, by the kitchen too…not just sitting at a table expecting service to be brought to me).

I guess I have to choose one star solely because I can’t give zero stars, and the one plus they have going for them is having a changing table in the women’s restroom for us moms with small children.

I’ll also say that this was the first time I dined in, but I’ve had a few to-go orders and had similar experiences where I was just ignored by staff while I waited for assistance. There was one time I had a to-go order and was waiting for 10+ minutes after the estimated pick up time, and when I finally asked someone about the order it was sitting back in the kitchen and no one had brought it out to the set of shelves they usually bring to-go orders to. So this doesn’t seem like just a one-off experience where I caught them on a bad day.

A mother-daughter group sitting near me seemed to have the same experience where I heard complaints about waiting 40 mins for a salad, only to receive something wrong with the salad.

It’s a shame because I love to support businesses and give praise where praise is due, but I will not be going back to Mad Hatter...

I have never written a restaurant review before but today I received the worst service I’ve ever had anywhere in years and left feeling disappointed about an establishment I previously respected.

I ordered the Ranchero which I had been eyeing for months. I was excited about trying it for the first time today. When I arrived to Mad Hatter, the queue was not overwhelming which was solid. A server helped split the service between two registers which I appreciated and was able to answer my questions and cater to my needs. I ordered an espresso drink and a pastry, which I found enjoyable.

The indoor seating was slightly inconvenient given the largest seating was a live edge table that is so oblong that you could only enter on each end and have to walk over everyone to find a place at all.

I then proceeded to have to wait 10 minutes for my espresso drink which was a caramel latte. I wasn’t necessarily affronted by the idea of waiting for coffee but what my experience would turn into was exacerbated by this unfavorable beginning.

I proceeded to wait half an hour for my ranchero and within that half an hour, I asked a server about my food just to understand the ETA or if I may have made a user error. I was told since food is made ready to order, the expected wait is “at least 20 minutes”. I again do not know how their kitchen works so I am not upset about a long wait but I wish this was communicated to me earlier.

When I finally received my food 30-40 minutes, the food was cold and did not appear as advertised on their website. All the sauces were put into little containers and it felt largely incomplete. I assembled it myself at my table but after a few bites felt nauseous, which I still feel presently after leaving. I noticed at the bottom of my plate was undercooked cheese and ingredients, which doesn’t make sense given the long preparation time.

I got up to find napkins which similar to seating was dispersed into inconvenient corners of the cafe, not near the utensils or a bathroom but the most immediate napkins I could find were at the cash register near the front entrance near the front of the store.

I ended up not finishing my food but I am duly disappointed in my experience I’ve had at Mad Hatter, especially since the owner of the restaurant was there today, not remedying the load of his staff or helping the needs of customers. I can tell the staff are working very hard and I want to commend them on this. But the dysfunction I experienced today speak to a greater failure in the management of the restaurant from the owners.

They gave me the appearance of luxury service without any of...

Mad Hatters is a staple in Durham, especially Duke students.

COFFEE - Mad Hatters uses a custom counter culture blend. While its not the best espresso in Durham, its very solid. They have wide array of specialty and sugary coffee drinks that they do very well. While their cappuccino game isn’t quite up to par with the oak house or foster st, its a very respectable option. A big downside for me is the exclusive use of togo cups. Maybe it is a covid precaution (which wouldn’t make sense) but it is wasteful and takes a lot away from the coffee experience.

FOOD - AMAZING food here. The chicken quesadilla, the wraps, the chili: This is a force to be reconed with when it comes to not just brunch food but straight up late lunch. Mad Hatter can hang with the big boys just on its fries alone. Yeah - seriously amazing fries. I think the crescent sandwich isn’t good but thats the only subpar menu item I’ve had. Prices are a little steep but overall fair considering the atmosphere and that people come to chill here for hours at a time. The Cakes are gorgeous, but a little too rich for my liking. A few forkfuls and I need to take a nap. The pasties in general are pretty good but nothing insane; however, the selection is quite large.

INDOORS - This is the biggest strength of mad hatters. Located in a renovated gas station there are 3 gorgeous walls of windows facing North, south and east. The stellar lighting is what keeps me coming back. Aside from that there is ample room inside. Even on a buy morning you can walk in and find a empty table to do work at. Outlets are plentiful. Very nice decor and cool artwork on the walls. Clean bathrooms.

OUTDOORS - This is a bull McCabes level patio. Mad Hatters is not messing around with the outdoor seating. You could fit the entire Scientology legal team, with room to spare for the entire Pittsburgh Stealers roster on this patio. You could relocate Israel and Palestine out here and they wouldn’t have any spatial conflict. You could fit yo momma out here. You could fit Apples average quarterly earning since Tim Cook took over as CEO. You could fit every slice of pizza in NYC. It is a large patio. I don’t know if there are outlets.

PARKING - Parking is a non issue.

WIFI - Twice I’ve been here and the wifi has been down. I was super annoyed but I suppose its...