Holiday Cafe — Restaurant in Puyallup

My girlfriend and I are exploring restaurants in downtown Puyallup and tried this after eating breakfast at the West Pioneer Grill next door. We decided to give this place a try with the catchy name and appealing aesthetic. It looks cool from the outside, but overall, it is extremely disappointing.

It takes way, way, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to get an order made. We were there more than 40 minutes waiting on two teas...to go. I think we ordered and ate our breakfast faster at the grill next door than we got 2 teas here. I saw one customer come up to the counter to complain that he didn't get any whipped cream with his drink, and the employee set a can of whipped cream on the counter for self-serve. He commented on his lengthy wait just to get his drink.

It's very noisy with the kids playplace inside. That's great if you have kids, but if you want a quiet, relaxing place, this is definitely NOT the place to go.

The big letdown came when we finally got our beverages. They were unbelievably bland. The drink I ordered tasted like there was no tea in it at all, and there was no teabag steeping inside like you'd expect when you order a London Fog. I took my cup home and put in an Earl Grey tea bag just to give it some flavor.

This place was extremely disappointing. If they are trying to attract a person to go there instead of Starbucks or Anthem or any other coffee shop, they should give you a reason to go there. Better service? No. Speed of getting your order? Absolutely not. Taste? Definitely not. None of the above.

I will not go back there and I would recommend others avoid it. My significant other and I tried a place around the corner on Meridian last weekend called Elements. They have good coffee and tea. I tried some kind of citrus "tea bomb" and it was fantastic.

I hope you read this review in time and don't make the same...

Such a cute space though when we arrived in the afternoon on a Monday it was absolutely packed. I’m guesstimating that we waited about 10 minutes before being acknowledged and for our order to be taken with no one in front of us and ordered to-go (with 2 toddlers in tow). Nearly zero seating and a handful of sort of rowdy kiddos playing (running in & out quite a bit too without much supervision IMO) and the music quite loud. Two very very busy employees to be seen (they were both so nice but I felt bad for them!), a line to the door for the entire 45(?) minutes we waited for our to-go order, and dirty dishes left across the only seating left in front of the play area bar. Our order came in 3 separate time frames; I ordered an 8oz hot coffee and once it was ready I asked for a lid (again, ordered to-go) but was only informed then that they didn’t have lids for 8oz cups which forced me to sit and drink most of it before being able to leave (it was a fine cup of coffee but filled to the brim and not walking friendly). Eventually our baked items came out. And then the bowl I ordered but it came out in beautiful dish ware - reminding the worker we ordered to-go; a good bit of hesitation on what to do about that from her but was resolved by putting it in the to-go container (Also needed to track down to-go cutlery). I was also under the impression the cookies were quite large but I can’t say I felt they were. Overall OK experience and hope the very best for the business going forward but cannot say...

Visited today and had a great visit! There’s some great and not so greats. Greats: Staff friendly and accommodating. Coffee was delicious, play area super cute with lots of toys to play and it is very clean, saw people cleaning it before I came, during, and after the visit. I would feel safe bringing my kid here to play during outbreaks or cold season. The play area is reservation based which is clearly stated on their website so not sure why people are upset about that. Not so greats: TV being on in the play area in my opinion is not ideal. I can plop my kiddos down in front of the tv at home to get some free time so don’t see the point in paying for them to do that at a play cafe. That being said, when I asked if they could turn it off it was no problem at all! I hope the owner will consider keeping the tv off and using it on an as needed basis when there’s some extra fussy babies in there. The kid menu is great and my kids loved the waffle but it’s almost the same price as adults, in my opinion overpriced and if you have multiple kids be prepared to spend a pretty penny for kid food, as the portions are small and you really would need 1 per kid. Overall a great experience though and will be back but will make sure I feed my kids first-or may just get the adult portion and split it! Great addition...