Yola's Cafe and Coffee Shop of Madison

My experience at Yola's was less than pleasant. I came in with a party of 6 and 5 of our orders were messed up. The specialty latte I received tasted and LOOKED like cream. The shot of espresso I requested barely remedied it so I ended up tossing the remains in the trash on our way out. The ($9) sandwiches we ordered were cold and slapped together, the cheese in my younger sister's "grilled cheese" wasn't even melted all the way. The staff confused all of our sides. I found the salad dressing to be oversalted and couldn't finish my salad because of the flavor. The "Radical Roast Beef" was nothing more than cold sandwich meat, cheese, and a miniscule sprinkle of caramelized onions between two slices of tough, stale bread. My brother's was the same.

I believe my older sister and mom enjoyed their wraps but described their meals as average and lackluster. Almost all of our drinks did not represent what we thought we were buying.

In my opinion the food is overpriced given its quality and service was not as helpful and welcoming as it should have been.

I did not want to leave a negative review but the poor experience we all had was too much to ignore. Wishing your business the best but I don't see myself giving it a second chance.

I went here this morning after seeing it suggested a lot online. I have to say I was not disappointed!

The interior felt a little small, but I think that's because it was so busy. Saturday morning so that makes sense. It was also pretty cold so we didn't sit outside though they had outdoor seating. But when we say down it was fine, didn't feel cramped at all. I ordered a hot coffee and some vegan waffles. I saw they also had vegan baked goods! Which made me very excited, I don't see much of those!

Theyhad a few options that could be made vegan and lots of vegetarian and gluten free food as well. They also had food that contains nuts labeled.

The coffee was good as were my waffles! Overall a nice little place to go.

Sausage was ice cold. Potatoes not much better. Silverware was dirty. When sent the sausage and potatoes back - they just heated in the microwave making the potatoes overcooked. Yola would be rolling in her grave.

Beyond amazing. Their specialty waffle "cinnamon bun" was the best I've ever had. The atmosphere was great. A good place to study or catch up with a few friends. They do have a loyalty program based on your phone number so no need to try to keep track of another card. Two thumbs up!

I really enjoy their waffles. My favorite is the Patriot Waffle (strawberries, blueberries & whipped cream). I like that they use fresh berries and not the syrupy berry compote that you find at the larger chain diners. My go to drink here is the fresh strawberry & banana smoothie sans the whipped cream. The cafe is usually always busy when I stop in, so that’s a good sign. They also seem to be a favorite family hang out as there is usually kids enjoying their toy area. If you like waffles this is a solid choice.

***UPDATE**

The owner responded to this post. Sounds like someone else had the similar problem. However, we never complained about our food during the time nor asked for a refund. We kindly got up and just left our food on the table without saying anything to anyone. Our original price for the food was around $35 and with tip it was around $43. I apologize for the ‘over exaggerating’ price of $50.

My boyfriend and I don’t eat out much. If we do, it’s a pretty special occurrence. We decided to branch out to something new and tried Yola’s cafe. I’m vegan, so it’s hard to find a place to accommodate to my needs. After reading a review of their vegan waffle, we decided to go here. My boyfriend ordered a fall signature drink and a breakfast burrito. I ordered a fall drink iced and a vegan waffle. His fall drink was so horrible that he couldn’t finish it. His breakfast burrito composed of only eggs and cheese with one small sliver of a piece of sausage. Definitely had nothing to it. My iced drink came out hot on a 79 degree day but I decided to drink it as I don’t like to complain and deal with it. Especially during Covid, I give places a little room for error as I worked in the customer service industry for years. My first bite of the waffle tasted good until I kept chewing. I’m not sure if something was accidentally spilt in their batter or what but my waffle tasted like chemicals. I had him try it and he said the same thing. I couldn’t even finish it so I left it on the table. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Spending 50$ wasnt the problem for us but the experience was. Unfortunately, we will never return back.

Great little cafe!
Super fresh, tasty salads and wraps. I have never had their breakfast, but I've heard it's fantastic. I work very close to here, and it's become one of our staple restaurants. They have tons of healthy, food allergy options too. My boss really enjoys their smoothies too.
Very kid friendly, they have lots of toys for those kiddos!!

Poor customer service. I spoke twice to the server and she didn’t respond. My food was cold. Additionally when placing my order, the waitress appeared irritated that I asked for my potatoes to be crispy. Let’s do better people!

My daily driver for work, always a great experience with the coffee and the baristas in the morning!

Good coffee and cozy little shop.

Can the kitchen staff put a cork in it? The kitchen is open to the cafe area. The young staff was having a loud and boisterous time while I was there. Hard to carry on a conversation or just quietly think from all the shrieking coming from the kitchen. Maybe the fact that their conversation focused on the foibles of the elderly was particularly galling since the cafe was filled with retirees This is a fine cafe but this is the second time I have encountered this here. Both times, I noticed, the owners were not present.