Mad City Coffee

Came in for a little breakfast date with my spouse and child. The atmosphere is relaxed and cool. We saw many children and it felt like a family place. The staff was polite and answered any questions we had. The food and coffee came hot and fresh. We had the sausage egg and cheese on rye and wheat with cheddar. The portions we a bit bigger than I thought, but very good! The Cafe mocha was a bit on the dark chocolate side which is my favorite way to drink it and bring out the coffee notes. My spouse had the regular coffee and enjoyed his sipping experience. Our child was in their stroller. We had no problems parking her to eat and she loved the music playing. We can't wait to come back again!

tldr: Great coffee, friendly service, good food, cozy atmosphere, laptop workspace.

I went with a few friends to get coffee and brunch, and Mad City Coffee was a really solid choice. I got a café au lait with a bacon egg and cheese, and it was delicious. There is plenty of indoor as well as outdoor seating, and inside is very cozy. The baristas were friendly, and there was a wide variety of coffee and food to choose from. The location of the cafe is also convenient being just West of downtown Columbia and close to HCC. It seems like a lot of people like to sit inside and do work on their laptops. They also sold other things like coffee mugs and some tea I think. Great experience all around, and I will likely come back.

They were SO helpful and friendly (I had never been there and wanted to find a good full-bodied and rich medium-dark roast whole-bean coffee to get so I’d needed some extra assistance)!

I wish I could remember the name of the Barista that helped me to mention her here (Lauren, maybe? …can’t remember) but she went above and beyond in helping me to find a blend that I’d likely enjoy given my preferences and to make sure I was happy with it! Pricing was very decent as well and I ended up really liking what I got with their recommendations.

Will definitely be back now!

I’ve lived in Columbia my whole life and had never tried Mad City Coffee until today. I was so excited to try a new (for me) coffee shop but was sorely disappointed. I ordered a vanilla latte that did not taste like a latte at all. It was watered down black coffee at best. Not worth the money.

An incredible hole-in-the-wall coffee shop with excellent customer service and tasty coffee.
I walked here from campus the other day and was very pleasantly surprised; the workers are so sweet and nice to talk with, and they put some vanilla flavoring in my latte for free when I asked if they could make it sweeter. I got the bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich and it was so cheap and so good, the eggs were fluffy and the bacon was crispy and tasty. They also gave you multiple choices of cheese which I liked.

Very underwhelming, espresso and latte - it tasted very bland and watered down

I have recently gotten into espresso and I’m trying to try different places in the Columbia area. I was really hoping for a better drink from mad city coffee, but was really disappointed. It looks like their staff is pretty young and most likely under trained in how to make espresso. There was very little puck prep, and I noticed that they barely tamped at all. I also counted at most 10 seconds for the extraction time which confirmed my suspicion that they are not grinding correctly and using too little coffee. Extraction time should definitely be closer to 30 seconds which is why this espresso taste super watered down pretty much like regular coffee.

I tried both a shot of espresso and a latte. The latte is meh as well. I think Starbucks was definitively a step up which isn’t saying much.

The food smelled good and everything was clean but I only tried the coffee.

Great coffee shop, friendly service, good selection of roasts and snacks/pastries - the danishes, muffins, and biscotti are enormous. Excellent lattes, reasonably quick service, baristas are friendly and welcoming. There's plenty of space to sit and work on your laptop, and the noise is not overpowering at all -- you will not be struggling to hear your headphones. There is music playing on the speakers for a chill vibe. Highly recommend Mad City.

I’ve been a patron for years, always pleased. The food is always fresh! The staff are friendly and consistently helpful! And the young man (he will laugh at that title) whi prepares the food takes pride in his work. As long as he is the one making my food… I will be Mad City Coffee’s biggest fan!!!

This place ALWAYS smells absolutely AMAZING. Its organized, neat and the staff are friendly. You can get a huge variety of roasts and bean types here. They've got snacks and food food as well.

I really really wanted to like this place because there's not a ton of coffee shops beyond chains in this area but the coffee wasn't good at all and I chose to throw it out. The place wasn't kept as clean as it could be. Person at the register was very friendly and did a good job taking our order but you expect great coffee if it's in the business' name. Breakfast sandwhich was better than the coffee but pretty standard. I'll always give a business another try if I'm in the area in, and at the off chance it was just a bad day, however if I walked in and didn't sense much changed since my last visit, I'd just pass on the visit.