Mara’s Cafe & Bakery

Decided to give this place a shot after my cousin said she’d liked their burger. I definitely will say that I agree with her in that the burger (bacon blue) was tasty, but it wasn’t enough to get me to go back in the future. The service was very, very slow, and the staff was not personable at all. I would recommend to the owner that he/​she seriously think about hiring new workers. Having someone representing your establishment who says to customers that they don’t really eat here, makes faces at the food, and speaks in odd sarcastic ways to people may end up hurting you in the long run.

Fail, Fail, FAIL. Beautiful establishment, too bad they never have anything on the menu.

I gave Mara’s a second chance and I hate to say that I was completely let down (and possibly ripped off). I went to Mara’s a week or two after they opened and experienced very slow service and a breakfast that seemed frozen. Yesterday, with two friends visiting town, I decided to take them to Mara’s and give the restaurant another chance now that its been a few months. I am disappointed with my experience yet again.
After the three of us placed our orders (on separate bills), we sat outside because it was a beautiful day. I ordered the Apple Bacon and Blue Cheese quiche and hashbrowns with an Iced Chai; one friend ordered an iced latte and a broccoli and cheese quiche and the other ordered a coffee and potato and egg scrambler with tomato instead of bacon. Well, after sitting outside for about 15 minutes two drinks were brought out — with about 5 – 10 minutes in between. Then my drink was brought out, but it was an iced latte, so the waitress went back inside to get another drink. We had all ordered waters but those were not brought out. After finally receiving my drink it was about another 15 minutes until the waitress came back to us — mind you, it has been nearly 30 minutes since we placed our order at this point. The waitress comes out to tell me that they ran out of the type of quiche I ordered. I asked for the Quiche Lorraine instead. About another 10 minutes later the waitress came out to tell me that they no longer had hash browns… It is a Sunday morning, you are serving breakfast and you no longer have hash browns?! That blew my mind a bit but I said okay and she said she could substitute something else and suggest the fries. So I said okay.
Another ten minutes or so past and two quiches are brought to us: two broccoli and cheddar quiches. This was not what I ordered but I just didn’t say anything at that point. As my friend and I are almost finishing our food (we are not fast eaters) my other friend still hadn’t received her meal. The waitress finally comes back out and asks if we had everything we needed, completely unaware that she did not bring out the third meal. So my friend then had to wait for her meal, the waitress actually came back out to tell us that she put the order back in and my friend’s order was just behind two more tables — are you kidding? The waitress also told us we could grab a desert if we wanted. Still not sure if she only meant one desert and if we would have to pay for it. Anyways, she finally got her breakfast, but there were no tomatoes as asked. I never received fries, or any type of side for that matter. Then as we went inside to get our desert for our frustrations, our waiter was no where to behind. I’m not sure if she left, but she could have told us before leaving. Three girls asking for a free desert is not going to happen with another waiter who is completely unaware of what happened.
Needless to say, I’m not sure what I did or didn’t pay for ($ 15 by the way) and if I lost out on a bit of money here but I will not be returning to this establishment. Nor will any of my friends. There are better places in town for breakfast that don’t run out of food; plus, you will get much more food for less money in a MUCH quicker time.

sunday ¹²⁄₁₃. ordered and then sat there for at least an hour and did not get our food. Asked a few times and were told a few minutes. Place was somewhat crowded but then emptied out .
A few other people got tired of waiting and cancelled their orders and left. after an hour of my life I will never have back I did the same thing.
People at register were understanding when I told them I wanted a refund and could not wait for food any longer… paid for 4 coffees which they should have given me for free for waiting so long … will never go back.

Great place

Have you ever gotten a verbal eye roll over the phone? You know, you can hear it, but you can’t see it? No? Go ahead, call here. I feel bad for the owner… kind of. You hired a serious mixed bag here. A few nice employees, and a heap of attitude from others. We had a bad experience the first time here, and to make amends were given a free desert. Just tried again. Failed again. You’re not cheap — and to discover a jacked up order after delivery to be told with attitude «well, next time you come in I’ll give you a free desert» rather than giving us a credit for being shorted on our order — yeah, no thanks. Won’t be a next time. Eye roll back at you. Overpriced with attitude? Good luck with that.

I hope yesterday was an anomaly and not how service is. We came in the afternoon and placed an order for a burger and a club sandwich to go. After waiting 20 minutes we were told there were no burgers. I changed the order to a grilled chicken sandwich with carmelized onions. Another 30 minute wait. When we opened our meals at home mine was an extremely dry and fried piece of chicken with very little onions and a mustard sauce that was not asked for. The club sandwich was good and came as it was ordered. We had eaten there before and were quite impressed. I hope this does not become the norm.

I was a nice experience! I didn’t have much of their desserts but I had something for lunch instead. When I asked what the soup of the day was they turned out to have a few I ended up picking the chili. It was pretty good and the customer service was nice.
I definitely do want to go back and try some of their desserts or maybe an ice cream since they seem to have a very good selection.

Really bad customer service. The Associates seem to have favorites and will give you attitude, they also are not very attentive. Despite all of this I see many people here. I wish I had more positive things to say. I like to give places the benefit of the doubt before I decide to no longer spend money there, so I’ve been a here a couple of times. Its just not my scene.

Service here is SLOW. Prices here are HIGH. I paid over 5 $ for a small slice of carrot cake, that’s more than Lloyd’s in NYC. There is no parking, and even though this part of town is nice, if you get lost leaving you are going to be in some of the worst neighborhoods NJ has to offer outside of Camden and Trenton.
That said, the carrot cake was fantastic. The cream cheese frosting was some of the best I’ve ever tasted, and I love carrot cake. The cake itself was dense and the nuts inside almost had a crunch like they were candied. I enjoy golden raisins in my cake, which this did not have, but I almost didn’t miss them. Really excellent cake, just overpriced.

I am never disappointed when I come to Mara’s. The staff is always very pleasant and the food is always great. Mara’s helped fill a gap in the South Orange Village where people can now get great coffee (I highly recommend the almond milk cappuccino), pastries, breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the same place! I have yet to try the gelato but it always looks incredibly delicious, so I am sure that it tastes as great as it looks. The café itself has a great vibe. It is great for people watching and even getting some work done.

Nice place, food looks good. Went in for a cup of coffee and there was one person working on a Friday morning. She was working hard but needed some help. It took forever. I could have walked down to Starbucks faster. Please get her some help before 9am.

I went here about a month ago and I was amazed. I just got eggs and Taylor ham with hash browns, but everything was excellent. You can choose what you’d like to come with your meal: bread, bagel, or (I believe) croissant. I chose the bread and assumed it would be nothing special, it’s just bread – it turned out to be my favorite thing. They made the bread like you would make it for grilled cheese just without the cheese. And it was soft and warm after the crispy buttery coating.
They also have a cool rewards program called Belly (I think?) where you can get points and free items with each visit. I completely forgot about this place after not passing by for a while and they just sent me a free breakfast or lunch sandwich to get me back in. I’ll surely be back soon.

Advertised as the best iced coffee in town… Then expectations are high. Disappointment certainly begins when you wait 25 minutes for 2 cups of coffee. Disappointment is confirmed when the iced coffee is basically water and more closely resembles ice tea in flavor and color. Staff response — «that’s how it comes, the machine makes it like this»
I would rather support a local business and never thought I would say this, but better off at Starbucks across the street.
Lastly, a tip for management — if your staff are running around and customers are complaining about the wait, then you should pitch in and help. Just a thought.

Pros: South Orange does not have many options, so it is nice to have this bakery with new selections. The food/​drinks are pretty good. GREAT place to study/​work because it’s hardly ever busy with plenty of outlets.
Cons: I have to wait 20 – 25 minutes for simple sandwiches which are ALWAYS brought out incorrectly or missing something I ordered. Additionally, I see many many orders that have to be corrected for other customers.
Can the kitchen be more accountable please?

Erica was great. She also makes a great vanilla no sugar added skim iced chai! Chibata egg white mushroom breakfast smasher is great. Thanks!

Americano was delicious. Gelato was sweeter than I prefer. Chocolate cupcakes are divine. Waffle machine is down. Staff is super friendly. Not very busy.

Only place in South Orange with a decent Chai. Get it made as a dirty chai, and it’s all the pep you need to start your day.

The coffee is great! Best decaf I’ve ever tasted and they keep almond milk and soy milk in stock (such a treat). Food is ok. The three stars are for service. The staff is nice enough but the service is inconsistent. It’s not bad all the time but on several occasions they are unable to prioritize, bring food out in a timely manner and keep the service moving. Some of the staff move very slowly, seem distracted and are inattentive. It is great to see places like Mara’s in the SOMWD area and I plan to keep supporting them (I’ll think twice however about making this my morning pre-​commute coffee place) but I would like to see the café improve management and provide more staff training at their S. Orange location.

I usually check Unilocal before deciding to try a place. This bakery had no reviews when I searched it, but I decided to give it a chance anyway since I saw many people getting in and out of the place.
We ordered the original cheesecake and the signature cupcake. The cheesecake was very delicious not heavy and not so light at the same time; it was just perfect for my taste. The signature cupcake was good as well, but it is something that I would share with someone cause it is a lot for me to finish.
I would surly stop by next time I am on the area.