Crema Cafe and Eatery — Restaurant in Raleigh

There are few places downtown that induce composure in 2020. Crema Cafe is one of them: a no-frills luncheonette hidden in plain sight amid the shuttered storefronts of City Plaza.

I order the cold cut special on a toasted baguette, eat it with both hands on a nearby bench in front of the plaza fountains that no longer work.

The name is probably the fanciest thing about the place. The menu is a modest collection of blue collar lunch fare, from roast beef to reubens. Self-serve coffee in Dixie cups. Homemade chilli. And that’s what I loved most: they had all the essentials, as unassuming as a grade school canteen or warship galley in cosmopolitan surrounds.

The simplicity of my brown bag feast helped tune out the droning of power drills that told me more plywood is going up. A storm is coming.

Before duels, the legendary swordsman Musashi wrote poems to settle his spirit in preparation for battle.

I sat for a while longer with my late-afternoon coffee, poised to welcome the change of pace on a day when everything else felt up in the air.

-Art the Ronin

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I want to start out positive, I went here during Animazement over memorial day weekend, and the food and drink was amazing! I had the breakfast ruben and it was delicious and the lady who made my chai latte was just so nice!

The only reason I didn't rate higher was because one of the staff members, I didn't catch his name at the time but I recall him being a white guy with a sort of salt and pepper colored beard, was incredibly rude to my friends. We were out of town and generally new to the area and especially the menu so when my friend had questions about the choices or didn't know about different flavor/bread options they were met with an eyeroll and an annoyed point to a sign. We were the only people in line at the time and so we weren't really holding any other patrons up but the moment we were out of line and some others entered in, they were met with smiles and a friendly attitude.

It was definitely an experience that even though the food was amazing we probably won't be doing business at this cafe and probably just go to...

The employee,”Sandwich maker Mikhail” has a very bad attitude and it’s intentional as he has posted notes on the counter that states that he will yell at you if you stay in one spot too long and the management should not allow that to be posted. I was visiting the area and dropped by because I saw several firefighters going in to eat. He was extremely demeaning towards them and I saw several turn and walk away. He shouted,”You are costing me money!” He made fun of them ordering the same food and loudly stated to his employees that firefighters can’t think for themselves because they order the same. I was embarrassed for them. My sandwich was dry and the bread was crumbly, and I just tossed it and went over to Jimmy John’s. I should have checked the reviews before had and saved my time. Update:The owner has since reached out and said that the employees will receive additional customer service training and apologized for what I experienced. I will give them another try since this was my...