Grand Avenue Cafe — Restaurant in Eau Claire

Maybe not THAT grand…

The short trip to Eau Claire was coming to a close and I needed some food before I hit the road home. Around the corner from where Tim lives is a cafe he’s been to a few times. We took the short stroll there to get some breakfast and coffee in us.

We popped in after the major breakfast crowd and before the lunch crowd made the small cafe packed. We took a seat towards the front by the window so we could get some natural light to go with our meal. Our waitress was a hoot. She was professional but really chatty and we all quickly got on the topic of horror movies, spooky things, and the love for reading. I got the house coffee with a biscotti stick to go with it. Tim got a latte thing. The waitress forgot my biscotti but quickly brought it over when I asked her about it.

As for our meal, I ordered just the french toast and Tim got a full course meal. I wanted to eat somewhat light as I had the long drive but… when I say I got french toast… it was the most basic two slices of french toast I’ve ever had. It ended up tasting decent but for $8.49, it just felt like it needed to some with a side of protein or eggs or something. Tim said his The Grand Gatsby and Bread Pudding was good, even if he doesn’t care for Mango, which is what his Bread Pudding flavor was.

The biscotti was really good, even better dipped in the coffee. The coffee itself was your typical drip coffee that you’d find across the country. Not great but not bad. It served it purpose.

While it was a bit of a letdown that my last meal before heading home was less than stellar but the memories made at the cafe (and the whole trip) are one you can’t put a rating on. With that in mind, if we visit here again in 2025, I will definitely get a more substantial meal than two meager slices of...

Wanted to try a new place on a whim. Will get the good out of the way, cute decor and atmosphere, food smelled really good in there. That's it.

When I approached the counter the worker gave me the Gen Z stare. No "hi", "welcome", "what can I get for you?". Just stared blinking at me silently until I started ordering. Yes, yes, we all hate our jobs, especially customer service. But you're being PAID to do it. Anyways.

Ordered a large iced latte. It wasn't a latte, just an iced coffee. The latte was listed as $7.50 on the menu. The cashier had to confirm "large" "iced" and "oat milk" more than once. Not exactly a large order, how hard is that to remember? A second worker had to confirm "iced".

Asked what syrup flavors they have. The answer? "We have a lot, so I don't know." If you're not gonna require your workers to know the syrup flavors, maybe have them listed somewhere? If they were listed, she sure didn't point them out to me. I asked for a to-go menu, she didn't know if they had any. This must've been her first day, no, hour working there.

Comes time to pay, my $7.50 iced coffee somehow comes to $10.42. Because a splash of oat milk and half a squirt of syrup are $1 each. There goes her tip. Not even Starbucks expects $12+ for 16 ounces of iced coffee. Also it wasn't cold. Luckily for them I prefer easy ice. But if you're looking for an iced coffee, expect it to be partially warm.

At least service was quick. But there was no line, so I'd hope it'd be quick.

Won't be back for like 6 months or until i forget this experience. Genuinely...

So sad. Sat down and was looking forward to our meal. Waited an hour and the waitress never checked in. All four tables who came in after us got their food and we were still waiting. We eventually paid 8 bucks for our coffee and pop and left. Didn’t even offer to comp us of our drinks when we didn’t even receive our food. When we asked the waitress what happened, she said she didn’t know and that she would “look into it”. Not trying to be a Karen but this is a situation when you need to say something. Our drinks should’ve been comped for waiting and watching people eat for an hour. While this was happening, we were watching employees eat and drink coffee while we made eye contact with our waitress. Just really disappointed. Also, they need to dust and vacuum. There are cobwebs hanging down from the ceiling above tables and kitchen. Dust all over the Knick knacks they have. Just wish someone would’ve...