Cafe Yaya — Restaurant in Lake View Township

First official customer this morning and so many great things to say and a few shortcomings that I will chalk up to first day quirks that haven’t been figured out yet. They opened at 7:30AM on the dot. The three of us that were waiting outside were given a warm welcome as we stepped into Cafe Yaya. As someone who looked at this space in 2008 to possibly rent for a restaurant I can say that the makeover is incredible. Truly beautiful attention to detail with the furnishings, and they definitely spared no expense with every piece of kitchen equipment and the interior design. Beautiful restaurant from the point of view of a customer and as someone who peeked in to see the kitchen space. Also want to mention that the bathroom was one of the nicest lavatories in Chicago. I ordered a latte, spinach challah, lemon blueberry challah, and a shakshouka breakfast pastry. As they started to bag my order I asked if it was possible to sit at a table and dine in. They happily obliged. I’m not sure if maybe they don’t intend for customers to dine in during the morning hours, and maybe they just want to run it as a grab and go operation, but since I made the trip after working out I figured why not sit down and relax. When my coffee order was ready they called out my name, and I walked towards the back area to get it and sat back down to take my first bite. I started with the shakshouka. This is when I realized two things. The flavors were great. The egg, the spiced tomato sauce, and the vessel that carried everything were tasty but it was room temp and the bite wasn’t there. It needed to be warmed up. Cutting it with a fork and knife it was evident that maybe I should’ve gone home to reheat it in a toaster oven, air fryer, or other method. Next I tried the lemon blueberry challah and again so delicious when it came to flavors but it just didn’t have that fresh bakery, warm sweet pastry that just opened experience. I’m sure right out of the oven and after a few minutes of letting it cool this pastry would be amazing. The coffee was really good. I Iove coffee and as someone who grew up in a Guatemalan household and started drinking coffee since I was five I can certainly appreciate a coffee done right. For the three food items and the latte my total bill came to $35 including a $3.50 service charge that I noticed on the screen. So that averages out to about $7 an item plus taxes. The pastries at the entrance feel a bit exposed if anyone sneezes or coughs in the direction of the display. Some items I ordered were taken from a pastry rack behind the bar out of harms way. Was it worth it? I think the execution needs love. Enough people on staff could’ve brought the coffee to dine in customers if that’s the path going forward. If the plan is to just do carry out - no dine in during morning hours - then I can appreciate what they’re doing already. I’m not convinced that the $35 price tag is on par with my experience this time, but everyone I interacted with was kind, welcoming, and paying attention to what was happening as customers walk in and lined up to try this new place on the block. I would recommend friends to come and try this place out but wait...

I entered this restaurant with high expectations--especially given the high prices on the menu--but left disappointed with uneven food and inconsiderate service. The atmosphere is lovely and sophisticated, with high ceilings and ambient lighting. We were a party of four dining in an alcove near the back. My partner ordered a lamb burger and fries, and I ordered the eggplant and mushroom daube stew. Our companions ordered the duck confit, turkish bread and carmelized miso onion labneh dip. My Daube stew arrived and I found it far too salty and could not eat more than a few bites. My companion also thought it was too salty but did not want to make a fuss so he ate most of it. The turkey burger was delicious, with mayo and pickles on a bun, but I worried that it was almost rare and had a lot of pink meat. Again, I hesitated to make a fuss about it. My partner had not ordered it so rare. Also, his fries arrived late and we had to remind the waiter. On the other hand, our companions enjoyed the duck confit, bread and dip very much. So what ruined my experience was that our waitress had a habit of appearing suddenly without warning and interrupting. I was nearing the end of telling an anecdote when she popped up and interrupted me mid-sentence to ask us if we were enjoying the meal. Of course, this derailed the conversation and we spent the next few minutes responding to her question. I was frustrated and felt the momentum of the anecdote was spoiled. The thing is, another interruption by the same server happened again a few minutes later in the middle of another story. Was the server not trained to hover in the distance and wait for a break in the conversation before approaching the table? That is the least I would expect from a restaurant with these kinds of prices. The two episodes of sudden disruption were disappointing, especially since our meal came to well over $200 plus an unexpected 20% required gratuity. I gave three stars because our companions...

I love Galit so I was excited when I heard about Cafe Yaya opening. Firstly, pastry and atmosphere were great, coffee was good, and I didn't really have service because I ordered at the register for takeout.

I decided to go this morning to just grab a quick pastry and coffee. I looked up reviews last night and read a bunch of reviews mentioning the automatic 20% service charge and 4% employee health insurance so I knew that would be the case before I went there. I am always fine paying the 4% to help support the industry, and I always tip at least 20% when dining in. I got one pastry and a small cup of coffee for takeout, and it was almost $19. The pastry was $9, which felt expensive compared to other bakeries, and the small coffee was $4.50, which felt ok. The small coffee is definitely small. When they put it on the counter and called my name I thought they mixed up my small coffee with someone else's espresso shot. I know the cost of running a restaurant has increased, but $19 for a tiny coffee and one pastry is felt expensive even for today's prices. Even knowing the 24% charges would be applied I was still shocked when I looked down at the total when I paid. Again, I am totally fine paying the 4%, even on to go orders, but forcing me to pay 20% service charge for someone to hand me a coffee and a pastry doesn't feel right. When they flip the tablet around there's also an option to add additional tip...All that being said I still gave it 4 stars because the pastry was very good. I will definitely go back and try their dinner service because I love Gailt and Yaya's menu looks good. The automatic 20% service charge and 4% health fee feels appropriate when sitting down for a dinner service. I am not sure if there is really anything they can do, this might just be the world we...