Cafe Maya

So glad this place stayed a coffee shop. The owner is always very friendly and patient when explaining the different drinks to me.
My favorite hot drink is the ‘Horchatte’! The owner recommended it and I am completely obsessed with it now! My new favorite hot drink!

I’m glad another coffee shop replaced the old Victor Allen’s. It within walking distance to my work and we always used to have our work meetings here.
The coffee is OK it’s not any better then other places but its coffee. Its more expensive then Victor’s was and more expensive then Starbucks but I like to support local businesses.
They re-​did the inside nicely with new paint and furniture. I like the art and they change it every once in a while.
They get their baked goods from Madison Sourdough. But either don’t they order enough or MSD doesn’t have enough to order but they are always our of stuff by 9−930ish. I haven’t have their lunch sandwiches yet but they sound good.

I popped into Café Maya after seeing an article review of it online a few weeks ago.
We went in about 45 minutes before closing. The store was clean and comfortable. The employee on duty was friendly and took our order right away. We were the only people in at the time. We got a hot chocolate and an almond croissant.
The drink was flavorful and had a good cinnamon taste. It was served in a small mason-​type jar with a dollop of whipped cream and a cinnamon stick. The croissant was flaky and had a really good flavor. Our total was about 8 dollars. Not bad, considering we split the drink and food.
They had subtle Spanish music playing, which was nice. It wasn’t too loud or anything. They have free wifi, with the password openly displayed, though we didn’t use it. We asked the employee, who said she used to work at the Victor Allen’s in the same location, if we could play a board game while we ate. She said that was fine and talked with us for a bit about the game we played.
All in all, we decided we’d absolutely be back. The atmosphere was comfortable, the food was good and the staff was friendly.

Located in a the former Victor Allen’s Coffee on the busy intersection of Odana Road and Whitney Way, Café Maya opened with little fanfare last month. After perusing their Facebook page (
) and determining their served up a variety of sandwiches, pastries and breakfast foods, I decided to pay them a visit. While the food is still a work in progress, the redesigned interior is definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a welcoming space to hang on the West Side.
While I recognized the layout of the former tenant of the space, the new occupant completely reinvigorated the interior. The walls, which received a fresh coat of taupe paint, now feature vividly colored artwork that immediately caught my eye as I entered the restaurant. Coupled with the accent lighting, I initially thought I stepped into an art gallery. While the shop could use more comfy chairs, there is plenty of available seating and has a strong Wi-​Fi signal. The Mexican-​themed music that gently played over the speakers added to the relaxed ambiance. In the summer months, there is an outdoor patio. For those of you looking for a location to set up a base of mobile operations on the West Side, Café Maya is a solid option.
In addition to the usual variety of hot and cold coffee-​based drinks, the shop also offers other tempting beverage options like fruit smoothies, horchata, coffee floats and Mexican hot chocolate. The pastry selections, though somewhat picked over when I arrived in the early afternoon, include freshly baked croissants, cookies and scones. In addition to waffles and oatmeal, Café Maya offers a variety of sandwiches on sourdough bread or croissants.
I elected to go with the eponymous Maya Sandwich (Chicken, smoked bacon, mozzarella, avocado, red onions, tomatoes with a chipotle ranch dressing) for $ 9, which included a small spinach salad lightly dressed with a bright honey mustard vinaigrette. The thinly sliced bread had a difficult time containing the bounty of fillings generously supplied by the kitchen. While the bread did offer plenty of flavor, the sandwich would have benefited from a thicker slice and more time in the toaster. The chicken was moist, but needed a dash of salt to amp up the flavor. While the chipotle ranch provided a pleasant kick, the rest of the ingredients felt like standard, institutional grade quality. Especially disappointing was the super thin bacon that provided almost no smoked flavor. Overall, my sandwich was a work in progress, but there is potential as the kitchen fine tunes its offerings. Still, it’s far superior to any of the chain sandwich shops that have proliferated on the West Side.
I also purchased a blueberry scone to go. While it did not have much of an exterior crunch, the inside was moist, tender and flakey with a subtle natural sweetness.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my über enthusiastic server. While Café Maya providers counter service, it didn’t preclude him from checking in on me from time to time. He also provided a thorough summary of the sandwich offerings when I mentioned this was my first visit to the restaurant.
While my sandwich was a solid three stars, the relaxed setting, the attentive service and the fine baked goods push the overall rating to four stars.