Matines Café — Restaurant in Philadelphia

A cute French-themed café that I looked forward to trying. Alas, my first visit wasn’t something to write home about.

I ordered a large drip coffee (all their coffees are made with La Colombe coffee, so that alone could be taken as a good sign), a breakfast sandwich and a warm chèvre salad. I wasn’t asked if I wanted cream or milk with my coffee. So, I had to go back to the counter to ask for some. I also wasn’t told where to look for the sugar, cutlery, etc. I had to return to the counter for related instructions (the self-serve station isn’t clearly visible if you’re sitting at a table by the entrance; in case you’re wondering, there’s no milk or cream available there). Since the attendants assumed I didn’t want cream or milk with my coffee, the cup was filled to the brim (I was given a to-go one because they apparently don’t have large mugs). Pouring and mixing the milk resulted in a hot mess.

The breakfast sandwich was OK. The croissant was really buttery, which was nice. However, it didn’t hold the scrambled eggs well. Either the croissant needs to be bigger and well-toasted, or the eggs need to be firmer, like a patty. Further, diners are given the option to pick from three types of cheese. I picked Brie, but I could hardly taste it.

The salad looked beautiful. In addition to the goat cheese, it was sprinkled with glazed pecans. The flavor, though, was unimpressive. Since the sandwich came with a side salad (I did not see it mentioned in the menu; I would have probably not ordered the salad had I known this detail), I chose to take most of it home. When I transferred it to a to-go container, I found some pulped greens in the bottom, the kind that result from pressing juice. This was obviously not meant to go in my salad. When I brought it to the attention of one the employees, who had already seen my coffee mixing struggles, she just plucked it and took it away. While she did apologize, that was the culmination of a series of events that left me baffled. It was a comedy of...

Disappointing first visit.

I had been so excited to finally visit this restaurant! I'd heard wonderful things about it, especially the drinks, and my daughter, who had been here before and loved it, was eager to share the experience with me. The decor was lovely, and I was really looking forward to a pleasant afternoon. Unfortunately, my experience was far from good.

From the moment we approached the counter, things felt off. The young woman working there didn't greet us and had a very abrupt, unwelcoming demeanor. Despite this, we placed our order, still hopeful for those highly-praised teas and coffees.

We ordered at 2:05 PM, and by 2:18 PM, our drinks still hadn't arrived. I noticed that several people who had ordered after us had already received their food and drinks, which made me wonder what was going on with our order.

When I finally inquired, I was met with confusion and attitude. It turned out they had lost our ticket. As they scrambled around, trying to remember what we had ordered, they eventually had to ask me again. What was particularly frustrating was seeing the staff standing around chatting and giggling before I asked about our order. One young lady was even walking back and forth, eating her lunch, from the back of the store to behind the counter. It was just two drinks, and it seemed like such a simple task, yet they couldn't manage it.

I hesitate to bring up race, but my daughter and I were the only Black people in the restaurant, and we were also the only ones who didn't receive our order. Although from overhearing other conversations, we were not the only disappointed patrons who had to speak up to get an order corrected.

We eventually asked for a refund and left, unsure if the tip we had already given would be refunded as well.

Standing around, talking, laughing, eating and just generally bring rowdy and noisy, not a very...

We have eaten at Matines in the past and it was always a good experience. But on Sunday morning 8/24/25 it was a very bad experience. When we got to the order counter, I noticed that there were house flies everywhere. Swirling around the ceiling light, and landing on the food in the display case. The source was obvious. The workers were leaving the back door wide open and the trash dumpster was right outside the door. Apparently it was too difficult for them to close the door after they passed through, either to throw out garbage or serve food to the outdoor tables. When the girl came to take our order, I pointed out the flies to her and her only response was to say "we're moving soon." After placing our order, I again mentioned the flies and pointed out the open back door to another person who appeared to be the manager. Her only response was to pull closed a short curtain between the counter area and the back door, as if that would keep the flies out. When we went to find a seat we could not find an open table that was not stacked with dirty dishes. It was obvious that other patrons were also clearing tables for themselves, by piling dishes and table numbers on adjacent tables. Some were stacked with 4 or 5 table numbers and all the plates from those orders. When we finally decided to clear a table indoors we had to get napkins and wet them to wipe off our own table. After we sat for a few minutes, my wife noticed that the wall behind me was absolutely covered with house flies and fruit flies. It was awful and really GROSS as another reviewer said who clearly experienced the same thing. I don't know how any restaurant owner can allow such...