Tia Maria's European Café — Restaurant in New Bedford

Judith, my wife, and I have frequented your cafe many times during the past year for breakfast after attending mass. We were satisfied with the meals you had served. Also, we enjoyed the slightly different presentation, ambiance, variation in flavor, and ingredients used than we had experienced in our favorite breakfast restaurants in Fairhaven our place of residence. The flavor of the meals were very enjoyable especially your loaded homefries. The wait time was a little longer than the other restaurants we had used, but we endured it, because we enjoyed coming to the city, being in the historical district, and your restaurant gave us a change of pace. The service at your restaurant is good, but not exceptional. We did expect better service and a more prompt preparation of the meals. The coffee you offer is quite good. It is a little on the strong side which is what I like and it is superior to the coffee we get in the other restaurants.

Having said all that I am hard pressed to say anything good about our last two experiences at Tia Maria's. Approximately a week ago we came for breakfast. It was the day that there was a food tasting festival in the city and your staff was there serving up your award winning victuals. We were seated close to the entrance at a small table. It was very drafty and quite busy around us with order to go patrons and the staff bustling back and forth. You really should sacrifice that table. We would have liked it better if we were seated in your lounge in the back. Our meal didn't come out for 45 minutes. Yes, we timed it. When it did come out it was nearly cold. We didn't complain much, because of our pleasurable experiences in the past. We came in for breakfast yesterday and was thoroughly disappointed. Judith ordered a veggie omelette and I ordered the Fresco without meat. First, the toast wasn't even done. It was limp and cold. What ever you use as a butter substitute should go out the window. Real butter is the only thing worth putting on good toasted bread. The broccoli in the veggie omelette was soggy and without flavor, The omelette was not flavorful at all. It was bland. The bacon she ordered had been soaking in grease. It came out dripping. She had to use a napkin to soak it up. I swear she wouldn't have had to chew at all before swallowing. It would have slid down on its own. I like sun dried tomatoes in the Fresco, but not whole ones. Who ever prepared my omelette was either inexperienced and had no supervision or the cook (?) was having a bad day. When we talked to our waitress she said you had a cook in training. Who is the trainer? I also like feta cheese, but the cheese used was too strong and had a earthy flavor that I can't put my finger on to describe it thoroughly. The sun dried tomatoes should never be served whole. It should be cut julienne style and softened first. I could imagine someone who isn't aware of the hardened nature of the tomato eating it whole and choking on it. It would lodge in a throat sooner than a piece of meat of comparable size.

I hope you can take this criticism with a grain of salt. It isn't meant to be nasty or distasteful (pun intended). It is only meant to inform you of your failings in the hope that you will not lose customers and that the next time we come in it won't be the...

Update:

I’ve been a loyal customer for years, but my recent experiences have been disappointing.

For two consecutive weekends, I was seated outside under less-than-ideal conditions. Last weekend, I ended up with a sunburn because the staff member was unable to properly adjust the umbrella. This weekend, I was initially placed at another outdoor table without any shade. When I requested to be moved indoors or to a shaded table, I was told there would be a wait, which I accepted.

However, after finally being seated and placing our order, I noticed another table that arrived after us received their food, finished their meal, while we were still waiting. I had to go inside to check on our order, and only then was it brought out promptly.

Unfortunately, the service over these two visits has not reflected the standard I’ve come to expect. Given the consistent issues, I’ve decided it’s best to take a break from this establishment for the time being. Hopefully they are able to make some adjustments.

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We’re confident in saying we’re regulars here. Tia’s is hands-down our go-to brunch spot! The food is always delicious, the vibes are cozy, and the service is top-tier. We’ve never had a bad waitress; everyone is friendly, attentive, and genuinely welcoming.

Let’s talk about the lattes!!!

My personal latte ranking:

1. Malassadas Latte
2. Bolacha Maria Latte
3. Pastel de Nata Latte – yes, it actually comes with a pastel de nata on top 😍

They offer dairy substitutes like oat and almond milk, which is a lifesaver for my fellow lactose-intolerant folks!

Their brunch specials never miss. I still think about their avocado toast they had a while back. Can’t wait for it to come back! And don’t even get me started on the French toast. The dulce de leche version was incredible, and this weekend’s Madeira wine French toast… I could eat it every day of the week.

My go-to order is simple but always hits: scrambled eggs with Queijo São Jorge, home fries, bacon, and a bolo levedo grilled with butter. Comfort food perfection.

Best Portuguese spot around and easily the best place for brunch. Don’t...

First time here and overall our experience was mediocre at best. We went during their busy breakfast time on Sunday. The wait for the table wasn’t bad at all, we walked around and checked out the old buildings and shops before they were ready to seat us.

The service was very slow. The server took more than 10 minutes to even acknowledge our table and offer drinks.

Great list of options on the menu. Our daughter got the sweet bread French toast with strawberries, she loved it. My husband and I split the linguisa breakfast sandwich, we were not impressed. There was 1 messily piece of linguisa cut in 4 smaller pieces. We’ve definitely had better breakfast sandwiches while in town(skip this menu option)

We also split the Azorean bitoque, the spicy gravy was a nice surprise. The steak was just okay, nothing special except the sauce they cover it with.

The couple with us also got an omelette they weren’t impressed by, nor remembered the name of it.

If you’re coming for mimosas, arrive after 11am on Sunday.

Coffee drinks were tasty, with a good list of options to choose from.

Overall, great ambiance and location. Food was just okay. Service was subpar.

Would come back to try...