Crackers & Co Cafe

A couple months ago, I craved pancakes.
Although I mainly live in Scottsdale, it’s only within the past few months that I’ve been home long enough to actually have enough time to try new places and not just places that my parents recommended or visit places where my friends work at or own.
Now I see how fortunate I was to grow up having parents that value great food and great eating experiences. Mostly, because, no matter where we were, even when we traveled, they did all the research to find extremely great places to eat. Research used to mean referring to bulky travel guides and book versions of Zagats for each city. Now research is pulling out an iPhone, jumping on the Internet, and opening up Unilocal.
After I exhausted all the pancake places I knew, (IHOP, Wildflower Bread Company, Market Café at The Buttes, Morning Squeeze, Snooze AM, Butters and The Good Egg), using Unilocal,I found incredible places (and increased from pancakes to crêpes) like the Crêpe Bar, T. G Eggington’s, and Iss’ Magic Mixes Oatmeal Café. I also found a couple places I didn’t like so much. And today I found Crackers & Co.
Crackers & Co. opened their first location in 1984.
Their website says that their menu was founded on the European heritage of the owner and has a warm, rural Tuscan ambience.
Currently, there are three locations:
~Eastgate (Country Club & US60)
~Mountain View (Greenfield & Brown)
~Tempe (Priest & Elliot)
This morning, I ate at the Tempe location.
When I walked in, I should have walked back out. Honestly, not because of anything wrong with Crackers & Co. but because it’s just not a good fit for me.
The hostess was very sweet. I asked to sit at the bar and she helped me to my seat. There are two main dining areas and the place was very busy. The ambience included a lot of plastic vines and trees with vinyl table cloths, which was more like a nursing home than «warm, rural Tuscan.» There was a lot of activity at the bar for the take out and the radio was blaring local commercials and then Miley Cyrus. The bartender, Bill, was very nice and efficient. I ordered berry blintzes and a mimosa.
The $ 5 mimosa wasn’t that great. It wasn’t horrible either. That’s when I started wondering what makes a good mimosa: Is it the fresh squeezed orange juice and quality champagne, or at least one or the other? This had neither. The orange juice was heavy and thick, cafeteria style. The champagne was hardly noticeable, but I was happy it was there. I ordered another.
The blintzes were at a disadvantage even before they came out, because I was raised by a Jewish grandmother who made THE best cheese blintzes. I asked Bartender Bill if the blueberry topping was compote. He said they purée the berries in back, so I said ok. The blintzes arrived covered in thick berry compote. Now there are positive and negative ways of looking at this. One positive way, is that they have extremely generous servings. Although I scraped it all off, I’m going to stick with that way of looking at it. After that, I ate them all and basically cleaned the plate, so that says something.
The menu was huge and there were also daily specials, which include many skillets, omelettes, pancakes, French toast, Crêpes, waffles, oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, eggs Benedict and biscuits and gravy. (In fact, I saw jalapeño biscuits and gravy which sounded tasty).
In summary, the staff was very nice, the food is good here if this is your favorite style of food, and you will be very happy here if you enjoy this type of environment.
Of note…
Crackers & Co. has take away, catering and gift cards. There is plenty of parking.
Hours: 7am — 2:30pm Daily
For more information:
I ³⁄₅ recommend Crackers & Co. in Tempe.

Very yummy!!! The parfait is amazing!!! Pancakes are great. Egg whites are great! Skillets are awesome! Friendly staff! Takes reservations which is a good thing for the weekend !

We drive in from phx to eat here there are many choices. But this is my favorite place the food is always on point and the customer service is great. I wish there was a phx location. Thank you for being so great at what you do.

I went for breakfast with a friend. He goes often, it was my first time. My eggs benedict were hot and tasted great. Our server Bill was totally on it. He was training a young lady. My friend ordered a soda from her when she walked by our table. She goes to the next table and starts taking orders. Bill comes out 1 min later with the soda. No communication between the two of them. We called him out on it. Bill said he was just listening from behind the bar, while taking orders himself. Good food. Great service.

Service is great!!! Went here two days in a row while visiting the Phoenix area, and the service was superb. Food was great too, good portions and feel like I’m eating breakfast at home.

The service is always friendly and most of the time there is no waiting.
I have the usual for me, the Belgian waffle. Umm umm good! !!

I have lived fairly close to Crackers for years and barely tried it several months ago with my boyfriend. I’m saddened that I did not try Crackers sooner! We love trying new, local, establishments and we’re quite fond of Crackers. The service is great, the food hasn’t disappointed us one bit and the coffee is delicious! You definitely get more bang for your buck at Crackers. We try and go as often as we can. :)

This is one of my favorite breakfast spots in the area. Great skillets! Be here early on a weekend the wait can be long. Service is generally good.

Great spot for breakfast. Even on a busy Sunday morning the wait was only about 10 minutes and they move things along quickly. It probably took 10 minutes from the time we sat down until we were eating. The food was big in portions and tasty. The 222 was a great breakfast and the skillets look tasty. I especially enjoyed the pancakes. I had the granola and berries version and that came with a large serving of strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream.
If you’re out and about and looking for a good hearty breakfast… here you go!

We got the signature pumpkin cheesecake pancakes and an omelette. The pancakes were all right, not nearly as good as
I was expecting. The cheesecake filling was flavorless. The scrambled eggs that came with it were dry, crumbly, and cold. My husbands omelette was good and the potatoes were yummy. We did not get any refills on any of our drinks and I got hot coffee spilled on me when the server dropped the pot as she was refilling another table who were able to get refills. First time, not going back. Should have gone to Chompies.

We had just gotten into town after an early morning flight, and were in search of sustenance. I wanted pancakes and the boyfriend wanted something savory, so this place fit the bill. It was about 7:30am on a Saturday and they weren’t too busy.
I ordered the egg whites with chicken and veggies (I can’t remember the name) and a side of Butterfinger pancakes. It was yummy, but I wish the candy had been cooked into the pancakes. It was all on top of the first one, so the second one was without candy, and on its own, it was kinda meh. The eggs were quite good and came with a cup of fresh fruit.
My boyfriend ordered a southwestern chorizo carnitas skillet and did not stop raving about it. He tried his best to finish it, but couldn’t quite manage.
By the time we left, the place was filling up. I suspect it’s the type of brunch place that has a wait between 9 – 12. Overall, tasty. Enjoyable. Not spectacular, but worth a solid 4 stars.

This place was awesome! My boyfriend and I were extremely satisfied with the service as well as the food. I got the Breakfast Sandwich, the croissant was buttery and flakey, the bacon was crisp and the egg was nice and fluffy. It came with a side of fresh fruit, it was a nice assortment of fruits. He got the Southwest Carnitas Skillet, which was delicious! The carnitas were so flavorful and tender. We also ordered the Butterfinger French Toast to share, and those were great. The Butterfinger flavor was not overwhelming, it was the perfect combo. Our server was friendly and patient, as we can in around 2 pm, when the place closes at 2:30. Overall, the experience was great and we will definitely be back!

Used previous Unilocal reviews to find this place just off the 10 on drive back to Tucson from Phoenix. We wanted some brunch stuff to go.
This place is great!!! Great food with wonderful customer service. Tuna melt, a BLT with added roasted turkey on top, and the crepes were all nice and flavorful. Good quantity.
More people should know about this place. Looking forward to stopping in again when back in town
Thanks!!!

I got the Day Break and upgraded my French Toast to Butterfinger Banana French Toast. If was delicious. Our server, Melissa, did an outstanding job at making sure our orders were right and ensuring we had everything we needed. The wait was long. We ended up waiting for 30 minutes, and as time went by, I could hear the wait time going up into the one hour range. The wait is worth it, try to get there early. The maître d’s were very friendly and accommodating.

This little café is close to my work. I had driven by it numerous times when I used to live in the area and never stopped in. Thankfully a co-​worker suggested it one day. I have been a fan ever since! There has never been a time when I haven’t received excellent service. Even when we tell them we are on a time crunch they have got us in and out promptly.
As for the food– I have yet to be disappointed. They have specials each month that are not to be missed.
A personal favorite of mine that is thankfully a menu staple is the Mediterranean Harvest Salad. Mixed greens with grilled chicken, kalmatta olives, radishes, tomato, cucumber, herb feta cheese. Served with pita bread. It is divine! Crackers is only open for breakfast and lunch so don’t miss out. I promise you will not be disappointed!

This place is very popular so we decided it was time to find out why. Unlike many restaurants, it’s not because of a unique vibe or new twist on menu options. Instead, it serves traditional breakfast and lunch options made with fresh, flavorful ingredients. It’s a good place for an all American comfort food fix.

Breakfast, yes! Lunch, no thanks. Service is always friendly but typically slow. If you go on a work break, be sure to ask for the check with your food. Breakfast skillets are really good, as are the biscuits and gravy and the omelets. I build my own with ham, cheddar and spinach and it is great. Breakfast is served all day!
The baked potato soup is tasty, as is the Southwest salad. The bread bowl soups, side salads and about five sandwiches I have tried are lacking flavor. I would highly recommend trying out breakfast.

Normal American breakfast. I do like this location more than the other because their food comes out HOT! There is nothing worse than warm breakfast. A couple of favorites:
Carnitas Skillet
Pancakes
Sausage Links

The Omelette I had was REAL good, even the bread that came with it was good, and the potatoes, I would MOST CERTAINLY return to this place for Breakfast.
Wife went with a Pumpkin Pancakes, which I stole a bite of, and I thought that was pretty good as well.
Since was breakfast went with OJ (Its kinda like Root Beer hard to kill lol)
I think I will be returning here, and would recommend them!

Food: 2 stars
Service: 3 stars
Coffee was $ 2.5 and mediocre. Euro crepes were thick and bland. Bacon was over-​fried IMO. All that was good was company and ambience. Wouldn’t come back unless I had to. If I did come back I’d get some pancakes instead!
The summer hours are 7am-​2pm.