Saladelia Cafe & Catering — Restaurant in Durham

Cleanliness 3/5. Tables had some crumbs and greasy hands streaks from former customers. Our table had dried, sticky soda spots on it. Floors covered in small leaves and dirt at entrance as if they'd had the doors propped open one day. Quality 5/5. Coffee, breakfast, salads and pre-prepared foods were wonderful on the pallette, fresh and taste tested daily by the owner which shows devotion to quality. Just seeing the owner actually tasting the food he was outting out, or that might have been prepared a day or two before, put me at ease. Service 4/5. The young women handling our orders were having problems getting everything we ordered downpat. Having to repeat "blueberry danish" and point to the only one there, 4 or 5 times had me actually wondering if she was teasing me. Nope. She wasn't. She literally kept forgetting. Price 3/5. I had one sandwich which you can see in the pictures below. Beautifully set up. The pickled onions on top were remarkable. The salmon was still semi-fresh (though it had started to turn very fishy in taste on some areas) but the price shocked me. I added an over easy egg and 2 strips of bacon to the sandwich and it now cost me more than $12. Thats with no sides or drink included. So after coffee and a danish on the side my one meal was at $18. That was easily at least $13 - $14 net profit for them based on the ingredients, not including the tip I tossed in despite serving my own coffee and getting called to the counter to pick up my food rather than having it brought to me. Then, I had to clean up the table after myself. So what was I tipping for? I don't know either. I would like to come back but the price of just one sandwich with no sides or drink included kinda hit the wallet hard. I may return for coffee and a danish but even then we're talking at least $7 - $8. I may just stick to...

The food is great - I had the Chicken Shawarma.

The evening staff (white and black girl) can be a bit rude. The white girl was handling a customer's phone at the register because his gift card wasn't working, and it was on his phone. When she was done with him, she went to reach for my food. I asked her to let the other girl get the food since she had just finished at the register and was handling a customer's phone. She became offended, and I explained to her that she had just finished handling a customer's mobile phone, and I'm uncomfortable with her handling my food without first washing her hands. She became offended again, and I said, "I think it's a reasonable and standard practice at a restaurant to wash your hands between handling cash or other objects, and then handling food. Mobile phones harbor a lot of germs." She then went to wash her hands and put on gloves while the black girl scooped my hummus. Then, the white and black girl arrived at the station where the food was at the same time and the white girl threw her hands up in the air with her palms spread as if to gesture, "I'm not touching it." I just shook my head at her passive agressiveness.

The black girl steps in any other time when someone is having an issue, but she remained silent this time and gave me the vibe that she was annoyed by my request as well. Restaurant people can be so nasty and are likely the reason that many of us end up with a cold and have no idea how we caught it. They need to remember that they aren't at home making their own food. They're making other people's food and should take cautionary measures to not spread germs. This has been my expectation both before the pandemic and today. Whether it's "C", the flu, or the common cold, it's all the same to me in that it throws off your life and makes you feel miserable for...

Pretty unimpressive offerings. Poorly labeled side dish display. I'm not sure what was wrong, specifically... But if I had to hazard a guess... It lacked direction. Bland, generic diner food next to unpronounceable Greek food. Locally sourced hipstery vegetarian ingredients with a lack of dedication to the theme. Baked goods and specialized drinks surrounding very Greek side dishes. What looked like a gift shop of granola type stuff. I walked in there and asked myself, "what an I getting from this place? Cafe? Greek? Vegan/veggie/organic kitchen? Diner? What are they offering that would be a specialty? What do the chefs know how to do well?" It did not stick to a theme, a specialty.

The decor was great. Saved you a star or two. Casual, clean, with a ton of cafe style plugs for chargers so you can sit and work all day. Food was served using the "take a number and display it" system. Great art on the walls, for sale. Very great. Very fluid and gestural.

Now... For what you have all been waiting for... The milkshake! The milkshake... Ugh. Vanilla with brown stuff does not a "chocolate" make! The texture was fine, but the flavor was poor. Cheap, chemically vanillin with a hint of chocolate sauce somewhere in there. For more than 5 dollars! For a small!

If that is how they do milkshake, I propose the cafe be one of the parts of the restaurant on the chopping block. They can't be Greek AND bakery AND cafe AND veggie/granola kitchen AND have diner foods. Specialize and focus. Learn from the art on your walls; you don't need every color on the rainbow to make a...