Crave Cafe — Restaurant in Old Bridge Township

Loved the food, survived the service. My friend and I stopped by Crave Café in Old Bridge today, no wait, beautiful place, amazing vibe, and the girls at the front? Absolutely lovely. The food? Incredible. Zero complaints there. Now…the service from our waiter(I believe his name was Adam)? Let’s just say the manager/owner checked on us more times than he did, which was impressive, because we only saw our waiter once every solar eclipse. At one point, we were apparently practicing invisibility because he hadn’t come over in ages. When I finally flagged him down for the check, he tossed the check box at me like we were playing quarterback and receiver. Not exactly NFL material, but A for effort. We put our cards in, that he grabbed at lightning speed, and then we relaxed for a bit. About Thirty minutes later, we hear him WALK BY mumbling, “These two are still sleeping.” Sir… we were literally just sitting there. Not sleeping, not camping out, not moving in. Just existing. For our first visit, it was… an experience. Food: 10/10 Aesthetic: 10/10 Front staff: 100/10 Waiter: …he tried. I think. Would I come back? Yes. Would I request a different...

As an Avid foodie and social media blogger, this place definitely nails the aesthetic- the murals are vibrant, the decor is stylish, and it’s very Instagram-worthy.

Unfortunately, the food doesn’t live up to the visuals or the prices. It’s very expensive for what you get, almost NYC pricing — without being organic, grain-free, or particularly high-quality.

The Ube French toast sticks didn’t taste like ube at all! it just tasted like straight cream cheese icing dyed purple. The ancient Grains bowl was a bit of disappointment, as it contained maybe two tablespoons of grains total, and the broccoli was fried (which wasn’t mentioned on the menu). And the other item we ordered was the Shakshuka was fine flavor-wise, but the tomato base was far too watery and didn’t feel authentic.

Service was reasonably quick, but we had to ask three times for water refills, and the restaurant wasn’t even half full.

Overall, it’s a great spot for photos but not for value or flavor. For 2 dishes and a 2 French toast sticks with tip...

Waited 30 minutes for a table…not a problem since I was told that was how,long it would be and I agreed. BUT…after ordering, we waited 47 minutes (I was timing it) for our food. Nobody came over to advise what was going on. Perhaps, while not required, a nice touch would have been to bring over some muffins or bread to munch on while waiting. When our food came, one of us ordered pancakes. It came slathered with maple syrup. Whenever pancakes are ordered in other places, they come “dry” and we add the syrup. Unfortunately, I don’t put syrup on my pancakes. I mentioned that to the food server and was told “that’s the way we do it”. Eventually our waiter offered to remake them but we didn’t want to wait another 47 minutes for a replacement so we declined (the other person at the table had gotten his food so he could either let it remain at the table for 47 minutes or eat it alone). Manager never came over re the problem. Suffice it to say, will not...