Madrona Tree

I’m not sure why this café exists. The manager (owner?) just seems to be going through the motions. I never got any sense of a spark of creativity or an earnest desire to please customers.
The service from one semi-​surly server was as sloppy as the food, which sounds nice on the menu and consistently fails to deliver. I had a vegetarian sandwich that was an oily mess.
Overrated, I would look to almost any other café.

Had a great pre-​movie meal last weekend. The music changed to «Groove is in the heart» when I sat down. Good sign. Had a very tasty «fancy» tuna sandwich and a huge «cup» of chili. The waitress described it as deconstructed. Large pieces of well cooked fresh tomato as well as onions, beans, corn and beef served piping hot, but not super spicy if that is your preference. Service friendly and attentive. Waitress had wonderful energy. I will be returning and trying the specials next time.

Enjoy coming here. Service is friendly. Food is always delicious and coffee is spot on! May have to move to Arlington to be closer and frequent more often

Burgers are very tasty but overpriced. Kitchen looks dirty, service is slow, and they are cash only.

Three stars at best. Came on a muggy Sunday afternoon because my bffs wanted to try it out for possible catering. We entered and got seated and looked at some menus. Decided to get fancy and try some homemade sodas. Got two raspberry drinks and a strawberry basil. And they were alright. Got the hummus plate, large mixed fries and some grilled veggies. IMHO, the fries were the best even if they were a bit soggy. Maybe, maybe not be back to try some breakfast foods but moreso maybe not than maybe.

Good breakfast. Decent coffee. Lot’s of organic food. Good for kids. Will definitely be back.
Nice outside section too.

They do not accept credit/​debit cards.
Hope anyone who is considering going there reads this first and comes up with their course of action from there. I ordered take out over the phone and it was not mentioned to me at all. I went to pick up my food and was informed of this and was kind of taken aback. No visible signage anywhere, no mention on the phone, no huge banner on their website.
The food was meh. Although the fries were actually pretty decent, however EXTREMELY salty.
I’m glad I tried it but don’t think I’ll be going back, unless I’m desperate and have a lot of cash lying around. But in reality, it’s 2015, so that’s highly unlikely.

This is a really fun place to go if you’re looking for a quick lunch break. I love the falafel wraps. I also love that they support local farmers and offer vegetarian samples.
The service is great, and the inside is kept very clean, during the warmer months there is outdoor seating. The only thing I’m not a fan of is how cramped it can feel inside.

Very cute location with seating inside and out — there is free 2 hour parking on the same street (but I think it fills up pretty quickly, so the earlier, the better). I got the Lexington breakfast sandwich ($ 7 — egg, pesto, mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella on a housemade baguette) — I thought it was pretty good, but it didn’t blow my mind. My husband got the Not So Hungry with bacon ($ 9 — 2 eggs, 2 slices toast, potatoes and 3 slices bacon) — the flavor of the potatoes was great, but in my opinion should have been fried (they were served warm, and I think dressed in oil/​seasonings, but not crispy). Large iced coffee was $ 4 and came in a to-​go cup (hooray!) and orange juice was $ 3. All-​in-​all, it was an alright breakfast… I would go back because it had reasonable prices and the staff was nice, but I think I’ll give the lunch menu a try next time.

I had a pesto chicken wrap and my partner had a falafel wrap. The food was very good and it was nice to sit outside at their café tables. The thing I did not like at all was the service. The waitress never came over to see how we were doing after the food was brought over. When she brought the check she just put it on the table and didn’t say a word, didn’t check in to see if we wanted anything else. I found that rude.

I have visited Madrona Tree three times and have never been impressed. There have been issues with our orders each time. I went last week and ordered take out. While sitting at a table outside for our subpar food one of the employees asked us what we were doing and gave us two nasty looks. I would have been happy to move or stand if she had simply asked. I ordered the BLT with avocado — bacon was fatty, very very little avocado, a few greens and a sorry tomato slice… doesn’t this place advertise that they get their produce locally? I thought it was tomato season. My boyfriend ordered Grandpa’s Kibbah last time we went, which was almost completely dominated by nutmeg. This place has a lot potential with outdoor seating, some parking, and a great mission. But, I am sorry to say I will not be back.

Had a veggie burger with roasted poblano. Size of meal kind of small for $ 10, and looks a little sad on the plate. I was left hungrier than expected. I also thought the bun was denser than it should be and the poblano was not roasted enough for my taste (it was crunchy). That said, I ate the whole thing.
I like the place’s apparent commitment to local food and significant presence of vegetarian options, but I would probably not try a veggie burger here again.
Little nuances like the fact they don’t accept credit cards make me roll my eyes a bit especially in light of the fact that it isn’t a home run in other respects.
I’ve tried the place before, though I neglected to review it then. I can’t remember what I had before which I guess may speak to why I haven’t been back in more than a year. I came back I think because I really want this to be a place that I love. I worry though that next time I’ll recall this review and opt for the far less charming on the face of it Common Ground next door.

This place screams local. Good fresh product, and a really nice staff that cares about what they’re serving. The food tastes good, but not great. At the prices you’re paying you would expect greatness. The christie burger featured bacon, american cheese, and a tasty homemade avocado sauce. Their menu says 4.5 oz of beef and this was $ 11. While the burger tasted good, it was overcooked, ordered medium, but came out medium well. The falafel wrap special only featured a few falafels and was $ 12. The mix of fresh veggies with the falafel was nice. The fries were the best thing we had. We ordered mixed but they came out all sweet potato (second execution mistake). These were definitely hand cut freshly prepared fries. Came out hot and had great sweet potato flavor. Pretty much perfect. A small at $ 4 was enough for two.
We ran a check of over $ 30 with a drink and tax and the place is cash only! The taco place down the street is ²⁄₃ the price and takes credit cards. A minimum charge would be more realistic but to ask people to pay this much cash on every visit is unfair to your customers, especially when people bring large groups.
If you live nearby probably worth checking out once, if you’re visiting Arlington you can do better.

Overall great place to grab some food.
I got the «Take a chance» burger, and I gotta say… I’m glad I took the chance.
The burger will be different when you order it, which is kinda the fun part.
My burger:
Crumbled blue cheese
(Strawberry?) jam
Beef patty covered in melted cheese
Sausage slices
Fried egg
Baby spinach tossed in a creamy aioli
Tomato
Onions
It was well executed. But a little expensive.
All three of my friends got the Falcon eggs Benedict. The bacon stole the show. Also the potato hash was a mix of sweet potato and russet (amazing combo!) Their critique was that the baguette it was served on was difficult to manage.

Very yummy food at a perfect spot. The firecracker sprout is a personal favourite of mine. Lots of healthy options reasonably priced and all day breakfast. Overall, lovely food with lovely people at lovely Arlington!

Good creative, local farm based ingredient menu.
But again in that price-​range, food should be much better.
Most importantly, service was rough. Younger lady can use better manner and service (the owner seems to be nicer.)
Won’t be back unless things changing.

I came here for saturday morning brunch. All three of the staff checked in on us and made sure our glasses were full. I suggest getting their sandwiches on baguette and ordering a side of hash.

THANK YOU Unilocal!
I would have never, ever come here. In fact, when I posted the pics of my food to Instagram, people were shocked that they had a vegan burger!
I forget the exact name of their veggie burger but it IS vegan. When I asked the waitress to double check she confirmed. A few minutes after placing our order, she came back to indicate that the avocado creamy dressing it comes with is not vegan. Major points to her for not letting that go by and picking that up for me! So awesome she had my back :) So I had the option of adding avocado slices or there’s a spicy mayo of some kind that’s made with Veganaise (win!). I got the latter and it was AMAZING. This is easily the best vegan burger I’ve ever had in my whole life!!! I was so, so impressed.
We also got ½ and ½ garlic fries which were also really delicious. I loved the chunky sweet potato but I think next time I’ll even just stick to the regular shoestring. SO. MUCH. GARLIC. It’s globs and chunks and it’s fantastic.
We also sat outside and it was lovely. We had to use a lot of napkins.
My bf got some meat burger. He also loved it lol.

Excellent brunch experience!
I came in with a group of 10 on a Sunday morning and the staff was super friendly about moving tables together for us outside so we could enjoy the beautiful morning. Top-​notch service continued the entire time we were there.
The menu has plenty of options (almost too many to choose from!) and they had cute local names. Everyone ordered different things and everything was delicious! The portions were generous too, especially for the price.
5 stars across the board!

Amazing food! I sniffed this place out in Arlington because its menu and its commitment to local, organic food reminded me of brunch back home in California. In three days I came twice: once for lunch by myself, and once for breakfast with my brother, who lives in Arlington and whom I was visiting at the time.
Seriously loved my food during both visits. For my lunch trip, I ordered Uncle Marc’s veggie sandwich, which was delectable. The patty was hot, savory, and super tasty… also sizeable. I was full after just the sandwich, no sides. For my breakfast visit, I refrained from ordering French toast and went with the Otis St. scramble with egg whites, which includes spinach, tomato, feta, olives, and garlic. SO delicious that I didn’t even miss the French toast! Really really well done. The scrambles also come with hashbrowns which are actually shredded white AND sweet potato, which was delicious. We were also given some amazing housemade mixed berry jam which my brother and I scraped clean onto our toast, then asked for seconds.
Only issue was that my waitress during my first visit was very short and unfriendly. Probably an anomaly because my second waitress was lovely. Anyway, the first experience clearly wasn’t bad enough to keep me away. Then again, I’d endure all kinds of $#%^£ for good food…
Super awesome! Big fan right here.