Aldo's Cafe — Restaurant in Madison

I have been frequenting Aldo's ever since I came to UW-Madison in 2016. Its close location to the building where I work is obviously a plus, but aside from this, Aldo's has many great qualities.

For starters, the staff are super nice and have made great recommendations. Most mornings I come through I interact with Derek and Sebastian, and they usually bring a pretty positive vibe to start my day.

I enjoy coming in and hearing Spanish music from the kitchen, as that reminds me of when I used to do my research in a Cuban cafe back home. In the main area there's always good music that I would also typically listen to while working or relaxing.

I have had regular drip coffee, coffees with flavors, and both hot and iced coffees...sometimes too many times in one day. I enjoy the taste of what I usually get, but I'm also not super picky when it comes to coffee!

I did do a pretty big to-go order for a coffee set up for an event once too. Everything was ready on time for me to pick up and I was set up with cups, creamers, stirrers, and anything else I needed to serve my public.

If you like pastries, come through and take your pick. I haven't explored the made-to-order mucho, but the egg sandwich and breakfast burrito are pretty good.

Aldo's is also a great place to hold a meeting with students or with colleagues. I have seen colleagues of mine across a few different departments holding office hours or general meetings. The relaxing, yet slightly formal vibes in the sitting area lends itself to a good setting for these kinds of things.

One thing that would be good to add to the waiting area would be some outlets to keep your laptop charged. However, if I'm on a full charge, I'm usually fine to get what I need to do finished up while I drink my coffee. Having an outlet would probably mean I'd post up working and drinking coffee for a few...

I've always wanted to like Aldo's since it's so conveniently located, but sadly the food has really gone downhill over the years. The breakfast is universally bad (with the exception of the bagels, but they get those from Gotham bagels so you might as well just go there). Pretty sure they precook all of the "eggs" (are they eggs or box mix? The strange square shape makes me wonder) and just let them get cold and soggy until people order something. Today I got the bacon/turkey/avocado sandwich, which had a tiny fragment of bacon about one inch long on one half, and zero bacon on the other. So they might want to rename it the turkey/avocado sandwich instead. Additionally, the food is quite expensive for what you get. I've given 2 stars instead of 1 because they still have the best coffee in the surrounding area, and because the clam chowder is still good. I'd stick to coffee and avoid the...

Let me set the scene, dear readers. I've only ordered a coffee and maybe a danish. They have always been pretty good if not a bit pricey, but it is the best cup of coffee on campus. So today, I was confident that breakfast would be decent. NOPE. The wrapped huevos rancheros were atrocious. First, the pre-made , square yellow sponge that resembled egg was the tragic hero of this meal. Followed by direct-from-can black beans with zero seasoning and some cheese (no complaint there) as ineffectual co-stars. But the surprise tragic ending were the fritos. FREAKIN' FRITOS in my breakfast burrito. Fritos for breakfast, people. Morale: skip...