Cafe Lift — Restaurant in Philadelphia

My sister and I went to Cafe Lift this morning for breakfast/brunch (a Saturday morning). My expectations were pretty high because I read reviews beforehand, and Cafe Lift managed to exceed my already high expectations. I have tried many brunch spots in Philly and South Jersey, and Cafe Lift had the BEST service and food out of all of them, even during Covid!!!

I have been raving about the food to my mom and sister since I took the first bite about 6 hours ago. Everything we ordered was so fresh! The flavors were so perfectly balanced in every single dish. The peppermint mocha had a light whipped topping and just the right amount of peppermint flavor. Not too overpowering. Lemon ricotta pancake was delicious. The cream on the nutty Nutella crespelle complimented the Nutella and fruit soooo well. And yes, the hype over the cannoli French toast is legitimate. I have never tasted a more delicious French toast from anywhere else. The lemony ricotta, chocolate, and pistachio combination by itself is insanely good.. then you pair it with French toast that is perfectly crisp and syrup that is nice and light and it just can't be beat. I equally loved the breakfast burrito. It was full of flavor. Nice thin tortilla, perfectly seasoned egg and potatoes on the side that were also yummy and seasoned to perfection. Avocado toast is on every brunch spot's menu..and can be boring and basic.. but not here. Cafe Lift's avo toast is unique and the egg was cooked and seasoned perfectly. It is an adventurous avo toast and really delightful. Everything from the complex flavors, to presentation, to sauces made for an unforgettable eating experience.

What made Cafe Lift so memorable for me was that they let their ingredients shine. Nothing was over sweetened. No sluggish feeling even though we ate a lot. You can tell a lot of love and thought has been put into every dish. I know some people on the reviews said the menu is small, but Cafe Lift has nailed the quality and flavors of the items on their menu. "Quality over quantity" is obvious here.

Service was also excellent. Our server Kevin was just so great. He was kind, helpful, and just had the most positive attitude. He didn't show any annoyance when we stopped him twice to add to our order and then at the end when we asked him for little to-go sauce containers even though he was handling a couple other customers at the same time. Kevin went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and welcome. He checked in on us two or three times to make sure we were ok and had what we needed. He did not rush us to leave and allowed us to enjoy the meal at our own pace. This is really important to me because I don't really like when restaurants make you feel like you have to eat and pay in a hurry. A little kindness and care goes a long way, especially these days! Cafe Lift has also taken care to create a safe environment for customers to enjoy their meals. Employees wore masks at all times and the tables are properly distanced. It was also clean and our table was wiped before we sat.

I will be recommending this place to all my friends and family. Keep up the good work Cafe Lift! My sister and I are already looking forward to our next breakfast/brunch here, and will be bringing more family...

I've been a long time fan of Cafe Lift since it's former location off of Callowhill street and it was always the best experience, great food and excellent customer service. Despite the long wait, the overall experience was always worth it. Fast forward 2025, things have clearly drastically changed for the worse. I get the sense that there has been a change in management or ownership. This was my first time at the new location on Spring Garden St. I was extremely disappointed. The food was bought to the table cold, the hot latte was cold, the scrambled eggs were hard and the pancakes hard, cold, overcooked and shaped oddly. When asked to remake the pancake for my 4 year old niece, the waitress, replied its just shaped different and that's how they are. I had to ask the cook to not burn the pancakes. When I spoke to the manager, she became combative. I asked her if she was going to listen to the customer? Only then, she listened without accusing the customer for the food being cold. We watched our food sit on the counter for 8 minutes before it was bought to our table...cold! When I explained this to the waitress and manager, they both said that it was a warmer. Ok, but it got to our table cold! Despite it being a warmer, our food sitting up there for 8 minutes and bought to our table cold AND the cook and servers were talking over it was unacceptable! I was extremely disappointed in my families experience: cold food and poor customer service. I returned my plate of food and I did not eat. I do not eat cold eggs and cold potatoes nor do I appreciate combativeness when expressing my concerns. I knew something was off, bc in the past there was always a line outside to be seated. It was not busy at all. There was only two other parties, therefore there was no reasonable excuse as to why our food and my mother's latte was bought to our table cold. The quality of food and service has drastically declined. I informed the manager, she seemed unfazed. Don't...

By the time I was able to find a parking spot, I had an attitude. Ugh good luck finding parking. There’s a parking lot up the street but I believe it’s for the school and didn’t want to take a chance and have PPA tow my car. Lucked up and found a spot right where contractors were working on a building.

We were greeted as soon as we entered and offered to sit outside or in. We chose to sit inside, it was a bit chilly for me but not too bad.

This is a cool hip spot and the decor is creative and young. Ordered the coffee over ice cream (affagoto ?) and a hot chocolate w/whip cream. The whipped cream seems like it was homemade.

My French toast came w/strawberries, bananas and berries (got mine w/o), side of whip cream. Also got a side of bacon and potatoes. I asked for onions and peppers with the potatoes and was informed it would come with red peppers and onions, so I decided just the onions. I was thinking that they would be cooked with the onions, not just on top. The traditional breakfast I’m told was not all that good and mainly because the scrambled eggs were runny, potatoes were a bit over seasoned, not with salt but more with herbs and things. Toast and bacon were fine.

I read that they have breakfast daily and the price wasn’t...