Meringue Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in La Crosse

Arrived at 8:45 am on a Thursday having prepped for visit by printing out the breakfast menu found on website (open at 8:30). It was Bagel day but I am a quiche lover so I was waiting for the inspiration at the counter decision. Initial impression is a lovely space that is open, bright, and charming. Enjoyed roaming the selections which were various in the bakery case of cakes, cookies, and candy treats. Made my decisions and was looking for the breakfast items….. could not see menu for items. Asked about the quiche and was told they had no options for the day. I asked for warm breakfast option (thinking bagel or the egg soufflé croissant) and was told only able to warm up one for the pastries (Nutella croissant or morning roll). Got the morning roll (delicious), brownie cookie(amazing), coconut macaroon (decadent), lemon shortbread (meh), variety pack of macarons (decent), and a coffee (decent). The young lady at counter was nice but clearly was not feeling well. This happens to us all and the morning seemed to have overwhelmed her. She forgot to originally give me the pack of macarons, after I questioned how light the box was and being told it was all inside. Thankfully I opted to eat at table and opened the box. It was a simple mistake. I will go back and hope for savory options. I was disappointed as I planned to buy bagels for office but there were...

My experiences inside at the Cafe have been well. They have good breakfast food, baked goods & it depends on who services you to give you an amazing experience while being there. When it came to me trying a cake from meringue bakery for a birthday party on August 10th, I was shocked since the cafe items on display are excellent. It might seem the person or team who created the cake does not have an eye for good cake batter or the measurement was off with the ingredients. The aesthetics were pleasing on the cake, but the flavor wasn't worth the money. I am wondering how they keep up with making sure the outcome of the cakes they make taste just as good as how it looks. Are there standard recipes that are followed or do the employees get trusted to throw recipes together and create in that way? Ask and pay for a pre-trial taste of your cake in a cupcake form so you know what it should taste like before you purchase it to make a final decision and to get compensated. The cake's dryness was that bad, its the only reason I'm leaving a review. Thanks for reading if you got this far, give this...

Our wedding cake not only looks absolutely stunning but tastes perfectly moist and just delicious. Since my husband and I were married in a small town (Harshaw, WI), I could not find any bakers who knew how to make our cakes, except Jen! Although my husband and I had to drive 3 hours one way to pick up that cake, it was worth the drive. When we picked up that cake, our eyes were shining and our smiles could not be bigger. Jen also did something extra for us to bring the cake home safely. My husband and I are beyond blessed that we found Jen to do our wedding cake. Jen made our visions come true. We wanted half elegant looking and half fun looking peek-a-boo Lego wedding cake, Jen had executed to perfection. Everyone, family, guests, and vendors just love how the cake looks and the taste of it. Jen is a truly talented baker. I will eat her cake anytime anyday! If we lived in WI, we would order cakes from her for any occasion!

** We booked Jen in 2019 for a 2020 wedding. We had postponed the wedding from 2020 to 2021 due to covid. We rescheduled our 2021 wedding with Jen without having...