Cottage Cafe — Restaurant in Madison

Today my family and I had a terrible terrible experience at Cottage Cafe. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable and unwelcome at any restaurant like I did today. The manager that was on shift today was so anxious and thirsty to close down the restaurant early and leave that she was being extremely rude and disrespectful! Not just to us, but to everyone else who kept walking in the restaurant. I called prior to coming in and was told they close at 2 pm and stopped taking orders at 1:45pm. Once we got there at 12:45pm and were seated by her, she rudely demanded that we stand up because we were in the “way”. Her behavior was extremely unprofessional the entire time we were there and so were some of the staff who were loudly talking about us and the other customers behind the counter. There was a point where she even approached my 8 year old son and rudely told him to turn his phone down (it wasn’t even loud). Then they purposely served us our food last even after those who came in after we did, not to mention the food was cold. Finally, after receiving the check they tried to add items that I did not order and the manager aggressively approached me trying to argue. I come here very very often and I am extremely disappointed. I am reconsidering ever coming again! Even after being treated terrible, I still left a good tip and was nice and polite the whole time.. terrible terrible...

Not sure how this place got such good reviews. Upon reading the reviews here, my wife and I decided to take our 2yr old. It was on a Sunday at around 9am. There were maybe 6 tables in the restaurant, so not that busy. It was a seat yourself, we waited about 10 mins before a server came by. She was pleasant, nothing incredible. I ordered the biscuits and gravy with a side of corned beef hash, wife ordered the single pancake with scrambled eggs and sausage. We both got coffee (if you can call it that). I appreciate a good cup o' joe as much as the next guy, but this brew was flavorless and was worse than typical watered down "diner" coffee.

Biscuits and gravy were ok. The corned beef hash should be taken off the menu. Creamed style "corned beef" with a some cubed hash browns is not corned beef hash even by a stretch. Think spam in a blender with some water and a few cubes of potatoes. Wife's pancake and eggs were good. Sausage was burned on both sides. I'm a food snob but I know where to set my expectations. We paid $17, not including tip. For that price, Mickey's Dairy Bar or even Crema Cafe or Manna Cafe (amongst others) for $20 are...

Our usual go to breakfast restaurant on the East Side was The Original Pancake House before it closed permanently. This morning, I went to the Cottage Cafe based on the current 4.6 star rating on Google. After this morning's breakfast experience, I am completely puzzled by the rating and reviews. I admit, there is a place for average restaurants (like Denny's) that serve heaps of food, but their ratings should also represent quality, service, and setting.

IMHO, none of those were above a 3 star rating. We were there on a busy (Father's Day) Sunday for brunch, so the relatively short 30 minute wait was a plus. Once we were seated and had ordered, the food took 45 min to arrive (way too long, even on a busy day). The waitress never checked back with us during that time. Here are my impressions of the food.

Eggs - overcooked Hash Browns - greasy and overcooked Bacon - greasy and undercooked Sourdough Bread - meh Fruit Cup - canned fruit, mushy, unacceptable Quiche - meh

Not recommended. Drive to the OPH on...