600 East Cafe

I’ve been meaning to update my review for quite sometime, but was encouraged to do so by the feed back I got from my coworkers when we met after work for drinks today.
I’ve personally stopped coming here because the baristas they have don’t know how to make a proper espresso drink (and in my opinion don’t qualify for the title), so I switched to just plain black coffee but half the time it’s burnt tasting & cold by the time I get it to my desk. I know it’s not the roaster because I’m a regular at both Anodyne and Colectivo in Milwaukee. So I make it a point to stop at Anodyne before I get to work, or brew my own Anodyne coffee in the morning.
They have no idea what they’re doing here. It’s been an on going joke on our floor «what’s 600 East out of today». More then 75% of the time someone’s order in our office is botched up or pathetic looking. Anything you can think of, our office has experienced; horrible cappuccinos & lattes, cold soup, the wrong order, overcharged transactions, lopsided sandwiches, missing ingredients, rude service… And being told what their payment method will be!!! Are you serious, how can you even keep a business running this way. If my floor of 36 ppl has experienced ALL of these deficiencies I can’t imagine how many people in the Downtown Milwaukee business district have come across such dreadful service. In all honesty 1 star is being nice.
I don’t believe in giving bad reviews like this, but after the conversations I had with my coworkers this evening I was disgusted!
It wasn’t always this way, I remember getting amazingly good cappuccinos and macchiatos here… Not the case for 2016.

I think 600 East Café would make a great place for a casual meeting or semi-​quiet lunch because even though there were a lot of patrons in the dining room, the sound was just background murmuring and you could hear yourself think. Also, they have sidewalk seating available during nice weather.
My first time in I had the Italian salad which was piled with toppings: ham, salami, fresh mozz, peppers, sundried tomatoes… the thin bacon didn’t really live up to rest of toppings but with all the other ingredients it didn’t really matter.
On my next visit I ordered what I thought was a sandwich special, the cashew chicken salad, but upon ordering I was told that it was actually a salad. OK, I’m game. The salad again had tons of ingredients, all arranged in their own sections in the container, and while the cashews paired with seasoned chicken, red onions, greens, shredded white cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes and more paired with french dressing seemed like a somewhat random combination, it was very enjoyable to me.

Nice little corner café. Takes a little longer than expected to get your food though.

This place is terrible. The coffee is bad, the food is bad and is way overpriced. I was in a hurry one day, and waited TWENTY FIVE minutes for a grilled cheese they charged me $ 6.79 for. This grilled cheese was awful. The cheese wasn’t even melted (see photo) and it was cold with dry crust (how does one mess up a grilled cheese!!!)
I also ordered a latte, which the «barista» couldn’t even make correctly. Very disappointed & won’t be back.
They get two stars for being clean and a nice design of the store.

Didn’t have time to pack lunch today, so I ventured out to see what the food trucks and carts had to offer. I also check Downtown Kitchen. Nothing really excited me. I decided to stroll down to 600 East Café, since I haven’t been in a while.
The menu was the same, other than the soups and a sandwich special, the 600 East Club Sub. However, none of that appealed to me today other than the West African Stew.
I saw an Italian Club ($ 8.49) listed with ham, bacon, pepperoni, red onion, Roma tomatoes, and feta cheese with an Italian vinaigrette. That sounded like a great sandwich! It wasn’t a sandwich. It was a salad.
I sighed and paused. The cashier noticed I was really struggling. I was even on the verge of giving up and leaving to find another option for lunch, but she said «you know, we could make that salad as a sandwich.» She told me my options for bread, and it was on.
I had that salad made as a sandwich on toasted Ciabatta, and it was every bit as delicious as I expected it to be! The vinaigrette was served on the side, so I could add a taste of it and not kill the sandwich.
Lunch was saved thanks to a staff member who understood what customer service was about. That’s how you keep customers coming back, 600 East Café!

I’ve been here two days in a row and both times I’ve been happy with the food and the service. The people working here are super nice and understand how to treat customers. The food is fresh and made to order. I get a breakfast sandwich on a croissant and it is huge! Taking all of this info consideration, I feel everything is reasonably priced.
Lastly they serve Anodyne coffee, which will keep me coming back. Thanks for supporting more than one local business!

Much better experience than my previous visits. The roast beef Italiano is definitely worth trying. Was warm and filling on. a brisk Wisconsin winter day. Usually plenty of space for a group as well.

Never ever pay with a debit or credit card… Charges are beyond the charge and reimbursement is NEVER!

Café 600 has a indoor mall Orange Julius feel which is very counter to other coffee shops in the area. As a café, I expected the coffee to be good. The Barista claimed it was Colectivo mild roast. Coffee was old and burnt and weak. I had a carrot raisin muffin of unknown origin but was bitter and slimy. I leave it at two stars since this café has not much other competition and I appreciated it being within walking distance if the art museum. I think there are a lot of better options a few more blocks west, though. Probably ok if you have the kids in the stroller and need a restroom.

I went back again… same thing; awesome!
This time I got a free cookie, they said it was grand opening week.

An exciting lunchtime addition to East Wisconsin Ave, the 600 Café serves salads, wraps, and sandwiches in a trendy, open, clean space. The drink machine is way cool offering a large selection of sodas (or pops) through a single dispenser with a touch screen. The food is fresh and well prepared. A little bit on the pricey side, sandwich, drink, and chips are about $ 10., but the quality is worth it in my opinion.

Pleasant place inside, looks like a great place to grab a coffee… However, I stopped there for lunch, and chose the Chipotle Chicken Sandwich.
The sandwich was $ 8.49, and in order to get the combo I had to pay another $ 2.39 for chips and a ridiculously small soda…
Staff was friendly and the food came out quickly, but the chicken breast was a little fatty and the food was definitely not worth almost $ 12…Hopefully they adjust their prices and expand their menu a bit and I’ll be back.

Stopped in a week or two after they opened and was very impressed with my Chipotle Chicken Sandwich. Great bread, fairly quick service and nice atmosphere. It’s a great addition to the east side of downtown.
I like that they have outdoor tables as well.