Hifi Cafe

The heat in this dump doesn’t work and they are only friendly to regular patrons this coffee house was a disappointment. A nice look and old building that evidently is not maintained well I could actually see my breath.

Went here last week for breakfast. As the first two people there, we had our pick of where to sit after ordering at the counter. Coffee is plentiful and affordable. As a huge eggs benedict fan, I decided to order it. I wish I had the description because I missed the twist that said scrambled eggs instead of poached eggs. Disappointment aside, the food was decent. I probably would order it again but I would go with the breakfast sandwich my sister ordered because that was delicious.

Most overlooked place in Bay View. I’ve stopped for a takeout working girl lunch and with 3 adults and 3 kids (some vegan) and it’s always been solid. Not fast food because it’s made by a real human and one can consume actual vegetables! Egads! I like the burritos, both the breakfast one available all day and the other one. Comes with chips that have something nummy sprinkled on.
Never got the «you’re not cool enough» vibe I saw mentioned in recent comments. Perchance I’m so uncool that I don’t even notice the «not cool enough» glances being directed my way, haha.
If I had just a few words, they would be «honest food in a kitschy cool, small joint.»

Very hip; I felt a little out of place and unwelcome. The sandwich I ordered was decent. The décor inside is cute and edgy. Worth another visit but don’t expect to get comfortable unless you’re in the «in» crowd!

Every breakfast at Hifi Café is like a home cooked meal. Makes me want to walk out saying «ok by mom thanks for breakfast!»

I think that this place has only sustained itself because they get the people who don’t want to wait too long for a table at Honeypie. The food and drinks are very overpriced for what you get. Honestly, Your money is better spent at Colectivo or Sven’s for higher quality ingredients and better coffee. Their veggie chili is not chili; it’s veggie soup. The brewed coffee is just not good. The water pitcher and cups are dirty. The bus bin was stacked high full of dirty dishes.
I really do want to like this place. It does have some good things going on for itself. I have had some of their shakes that are very good and I did have a Turkey sandwich here that was good. (I did still feel like it was overpriced however)
I think they are trying to do too many things. Downsize your menu and perfect those items.

Descriptive phrase: semi-​ironic, semi-​throwback café.
Hifi Café is a café; everything else about it confuses me. The art and decorations range from hip coffee shop to creepy hoarders basement. It’s unique is what I’m saying.
Coffee at a coffee shop didn’t look too well-​cared for. Water was serve yourself in cups that didn’t look that clean. Patronage was super varied, but it filled up for brunch.
My Breakfast Burrito ($ 8.50) came with house chips and salsa. The salsa cup was empty in like two chips: giving more upfront would be best. The burrito was bland, especially compared to nearby establishments that go all-​out. The house chips were the best part, with an interesting seasoning.
My brunch at Hifi Café was not bad, but it wasn’t good enough to pull me back from anywhere else in the neighborhood.

Don’t bother. There is a reason there is no one here anymore. The chick working here now is the rudest human being I’ve seen. She makes it very uncomfortable here like everyone is bothering her. I have been coming here for 7 years and will never come back. I’m dumping this crappy drink she made and leaving.

The worst experience ever! Overpriced food that was mediocre at best. I refused to order anything to eat but my husband said I should as I was grumpy. So I gave in and ordered the «large» Greek salad. What a mistake. I asked the «cashier» did it come with cucumbers and she said «I think so?». Really, you don’t know your menu? This should have been my warning but I got it anyway. No cucumbers and the salad was unappealing and overpriced for what I got. But here is the kicker, the «cashier» went out for a cigarette just out front of the store while lots of people still streaming in. When she finally came back in the cook who had to take over was going through the dirty dish bin removing coffee cup holders to reuse. While I was trying to eat my salad my wonderful husband asked that cashier for cucumber which she proceeded to cut up, never stopping to wash her hands after her smoke and touching the door handle. My husband was so disgusted he threw the cucumbers out. Seriously hygiene is basic when you work with food but this place is off the list for us FOREVER! P. S. Get an ashtray for out front of your store it is disgusting that your employees throw their butts on the sidewalk.

I feel bad giving Hi Fi only two stars. I really love the location and the atmosphere. But, if you’re going to have a coffee place, maybe you should start by making good coffee. The coffee here just plain sucks. They use good beans, but maybe either the coffee machine sucks or the barista doesn’t know what they’re doing, or both. The espresso tastes like watery burned GoodYear tires, so I switched to a mug of brewed coffee, because how can you screw that up… oh that’s right, you can… it was seriously just brown watered-​down dishwater. A better cup of coffee is at the gas station down the street.
I actually enjoyed the food here but it is overpriced for what you get. Similar stuff can be had at Sven’s or Colectivo for a buck or two cheaper, and their coffee mops the floor with this place, no contest.
If Hi-​Fi improved their coffee-​making, I would come here regularly because the place is pretty damn cool. Seriously, it’s not hard to do. Unfortunately their java tastes like watered-​down burned poo, and has made me sad every time.
I’m not sure how a place can survive making such shitty coffee when there is Stone Creek, Colectivo, Anodyne, and Svens all right nearby.

This is my favorite coffee shop in Bay View, and one of my favorites in Milwaukee. They have a wide variety of coffee drinks, so it’s possible to have something different and delicious every time. The food is expensive, but I’ve never had anything I don’t like. The owner is very nice and friendly, and the other employees are great too. They always play awesome music. One time, I went for almost 2 hours, and they played Pixies nonstop. I approve. However, what makes Hifi great for me is the atmosphere. It feels like traveling back to simpler times (if you ignore the free wifi, of course). It’s also really quiet most of the time, making it a great place to come study or try to be productive. Hifi is a Bay View gem!

Be careful! You’ll become addicted to the unique Eggs Benedict, made with scrambled eggs and shredded cheddar cheese over the Hollandaise sauce and the English muffin! Creative atmosphere, delicious selection! Holy Guacamole!

How is it that I can never remember how much I love Hi-​Fi Café? I know as soon as I leave I’ll forget again. Must be part of the magic here.
This place is as close to the good ol’ cafes of the 1990s and early aughts as you’re going to get. And if that makes me old, well F U FYI.
Old mismatched tables and chairs, rando xmas lights and shiny hanging things, and the most magnificent 1950s-​ish table-​lamp combo (which I’m still planning to steal) are what awaits your visit. This is what your local coffee shop should look like, not some revolving door assembly line.
Hi-​Fi, don’t ever change.

A friend and I grabbed breakfast here. It was $ 11 something for a breakfast croissant and tea. Portions were small for the price, which didn’t include a side.
The atmosphere is great with cool décor and a mix of people. Someone even brought their dog in. I would go for the Valentine coffee and to chill out, but wouldn’t stay for the food.

I’m reading over the reviews saying the staff was rude… maybe it’s because I’m new to Milwaukee after six years in New England and am used to «rude», but I thought the staff were ever pleasant and attentive. Even the chatty Cathy in line after me was greeted warmly. (People here really do want to share allll of the details)
I’m sitting at a corner table with a strong iced coffee and easy wi-​fi access, headphones in but haven’t yet connected to my own tunes because I like what they’ve got going on in here. Plus with headphones in, it’s less obvious that I’m eavesdropping on these incredible accents. My falafel just arrived tableside with pasta salad on the side… I’m rating it before taking a bite because this plate looks delish.
Spend a Saturday afternoon browsing through Rushmor, LuvU, R Vintage N More and Bayview Books and Music (is that someone’s living room in the middle of the store?) and top it off with a stop at Hi-​Fi. It’s a vintage haven all on one city block.

Have eaten carrot soup and salads in many fine dining establishments in town… Le Reve, Chez Jacques, Lake Park Bistro, Braise, the now-​gone Anaba Tea Room, etc. The ginger-​carrot soup and Greek spinach salad at Hi-​Fi Café definitely rivals, if not surpasses, all of the others. The very reasonable prices are certainly worth the highfalutin ambiance trade-​off. After all, you can’t eat ambiance.
And the bread that came with both the soup and the salad? Six years ago, I quit eating bread. After one tiny taste of one baguette hunk (just so I could rate it), I ate it all and had no regrets. For a refreshing berry flavor without sugar, get the unsweetened, iced berry tea. Yum!
Nice, friendly service. Amusing views. Best jukebox music ever. Will be going back when in the area.

Fuck.
This.
Place.
The service=shit.
The food=Average
I have lived in Bay View for 2 years and have been to Hifi twice. This last weekend was my second visit and has sealed the fact that I will NEVER return.
I would love to support this local business but the shit attitude, long wait, and average but overpriced meal have turned me off completely. I waited 5 minutes before placing my order because the gal was working by herself and clearly was stressing out. I’ll cut her some slack for that. I think, whats quick that will get me outta here fast and won’t take awhile? Veggie chili! Perfect!
Then she tells me she has to warm it up…
Um. Ok.
TEN minutes later and I’m finally leaving. I shoulda just told her I’d microwave it at home!
6.50 for a «large» soup and 3.50 for an iced coffee and I was looking at an 11 dollar bill for not a whole lot of actual product.
I get home and find this. (please refer to picture) A fucking coffee cup filled with bland vegetable soup. I wouldn’t even call this chili because most chili’s I know don’t have green beans in them.
I love my neighborhood, and love eating locally, but I will never, ever, ever step foot in Hifi again.

This place is a blast from the past. And not just by its 60’s décor or lady worker who looks like she just jumped out of Deee-​Lites «Groove Is in the Heart» music video. This is the OG coffee shop on Milwaukee’s south side.
Long before Unilocal,before anyone classified someone else as hipster, before Facebook, before Twitter, before Collectivo and Anodyne and a million other coffee shops, before Bay View was «cool», hell, before even a Starbucks popped up on the south side, there was Hi Fi, serving coffee to the masses. My wife and I were steady customers during our Mid-90’s high school years. We were right across the street on Saturday and decided to visit this old haunt on a whim.
Honestly, with all the different coffee shops in the area and not being down on this area as much as we used to be, it’s been an embarrassingly long time since we’ve stopped in. The both of us wondered if they still carried our favorite drinks from the past (mine is the Mint Mocha and my wife’s is the Fresh Fruit Smoothie) and both were still on the menu, just as they were 20 years back. The woman working the counter (who I overheard saying she was the owner) assured us that they don’t like to change the menu that much.
The woman told us there would be a wait, which we were okay with. She was very polite and apologetic about this, but honestly, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was probably about five to seven minutes from ordering to getting our drinks, and while some other shops may do it faster, I really do love the drinks here so it’s worth it.
I’ll definitely be back a lot sooner than later.

I went with my stand-​by — the Hard Salami Omelette with cream cheese. As usual it was excellent. The thinly sliced salami was coddled in Philadelphia cream cheese and folded into a perfectly prepared omelette. I paired it with an Asiago cheese bagel and a hot ginger tea and this was a GOOD morning. It was a great way to start the last day of 2013. Looking forward to a great NYE and an even better 2014!

In the year I’ve lived in Bay View, Hi-​Fi always seemed so intriguing through the windows – retro décor, funky sign – so when a friend was in town, it seemed like a good excuse to finally check it out for a Sunday afternoon lunch.
Immediately I was surprised by the prices on the menu. $ 9-​$ 10 for a sandwich and side seemed steep for a diner-​y kind of place. Whatever, that’s fine, maybe the price meant it would be awesome! Not so much on that one. I had an open-​faced turkey sandwich which was served lukewarm, and my friend had a club sandwich which he found inedible. My girlfriend was the smartest of all, because she just ordered coffee, which was indeed fit for human consumption. And as others have mentioned, the service was at best indifferent.
Maybe I just don’t get this place, but I can’t think of a single reason to go here over any other Bay View establishment. You’d be better off eating at the McDo’s across the street.