Portage Cafe LLC — Restaurant in Portage

I was new to town this year. I very quickly made The Portage Cafe my breakfast spot. I developed a great relationship with a lot of the staff and would come in at least once a week!! Kelly, one of the servers, complimented my earrings one day. I make jewelry as well as a few other things and asked if she wanted to commission a pair. She said yes, she wanted me to make a set of earrings for her coworker. I agreed to her request and immediately went and bought the colors she requested as well as special hooks for their ears. I had them done and ready a few weeks before Christmas and I even made Kelly a pair for free because she was my favorite server. I handed the earrings to Kelly and she said “I’m really busy today can I pay you when I see you next?” I said “of course” I got breakfast and left. I came back next week. Kelly came up to me and said “hey we’ve been super slow this week, I don’t have the money to pay you” I said “okay I understand I can come back next week” I came back again. At this point I’m starting to get worried she isn’t going to pay me. I said “kelly, I don’t know when I’ll be in again can we please settle up on the earrings you commissioned” and she said “yeah of course” she goes and gets a $10 bill. The materials to make these earrings cost me $23.74 I spent close to 6 hours hand crafting them. And I spent an additional 6 hours making her a pair because I liked her!! And she gave me $10. I told her “kelly those earrings are not worth $10” and she said “I’ll give you more next time I see you” next time I see her I come in and say “kelly do you have intention of paying me for my art” she said “yes I just had problems with bills, slow month, etc. etc.” I said “you clearly just got your nails done Kelly.” And she had, a perfect fresh manicure. She said “they’re just press ons” I said “press ons cost money too Kelly and that’s not a need that’s a want, you need to pay me for my art.” She said “I will” I said “when? Because I have come in her consistently once a week, bought food, tipped well all for the chance that she would pay me just to keep walking all over me and pocketing my tips. If she saved up my tips alone for two weeks she could’ve payed me. I said “Kelly why would you ask me to make something for your friend, when you knew you couldn’t pay for it” and she said “ I will pay you” I said “I can’t keep coming in here and loosing money so please take my phone number and give me a call when you have the rest of the money. That was 3 months ago. Kelly. I’m 22. I have a mortgage to pay with my boyfriend. I have bills. I have to eat. And I still spent money I didn’t have on materials for earrings you asked for. You have my number, I’m still actively waiting for you to make this right, when you do I will remove the review. Until then just so everyone knows, this company (specifically Kelly) is okay with stealing from...

We are faithful Sunday regulars that LOVE coming into The Portage Cafe. We typically work in Madison during the week and cannot stop in as much as we’d like. With that in mind, imagine how happy we were to discover that The Portage Cafe was open on the 4th of July!!! YAY! We normally interact with Tammy, Kelly and Brian. Today however, we watched the male cook (don’t know his name) bark orders at Kelly and Brian, and even told a customer that he was done cooking for the day at 11:05 AM, so Kelly had to turn the customer away!!! They were to close at Noon for the Holiday. It was uncomfortable. At 11:20 AM there were more people that wanted to come in and again, Kelly had to tell them they were closing early for the Holiday. Kelly tried telling him that my husband likes his corned beef hash crispy, so he could put it down on the grill early. The cook ignored her altogether. He did one order at a time. We did wait 40 mins for our order and although there was a DoorDash order or two that came in, there was only one other table and two people at the counter besides my husband and me. Tammy, we love you, Kelly and Brian… but we’re not thrilled with the guy you have cooking during the week. It felt uncomfortable to be there watching him treat customers, Brian and Kelly...

Do not come in here expecting a hipster vibe and brand new facilities. What you’re going to get is AMAZING service and THE BEST food in a clean space that’s clearly been a part of this community for a really long time.

We were passing through on our way home to MKE from Mauston and bypassed the Dells to get a less crowded and more home-cooked menu. This was 🤌 perfect. We had to wait about 3 minutes while they cleared a literally as-we-walked-in-they-got-up table but the three staff (yes, THREE) were HUSTLING.

We each had the special: 2 eggs + 2 pancakes or French toast + meat for under $10. In 2024!! A meal for under $10! Coffee was fresh and hot, nothing special but not bad either. Food was seriously yummy. Just like my grandma makes - light and fluffy French toast and pancakes, perfectly scrambled, unadulterated eggs and the sausage was like what I get from my local butcher. I cannot say enough good things about the team working. They. Never. Stopped. Moving. Made each customer feel like the star. My coffee was never more than half empty (big cups too, not 8-Oz teacups).

Lots of awesome vintage and antique decor. I love looking at old tins and kitchen hand appliances, the way our grandparents had to make...