Cafe 12

Cute little café — I’ve had some delicious salads that are both healthy and filling. They offer gluten free wraps which I also appreciate. The owner is very sweet and the staff I have interacted with have been kind and helpful as well. They carry Boar’s Head meats and it is clear that quality of food is a high priority. Great place.

I love this place! The lunch sandwiches that I’ve had were all amazing (the California, Brusci, Vermonter, grilled ham and cheese). I usually stick with the French roll for bread — it’s delicious and tastes fresh made.
My favorite desserts are the buttercream frosted cookies. They don’t always have them, but when they do, they are impossible to resist! They are very similar to Christmas cookies we made when I was a kid.
This place is good for breakfast, too. I like their pancakes, but favorites are the eggs benedict and most recently a special: biscuits with sausage gravy. The latter was the best I’ve ever had! They also have a small espresso machine. It’s not one of the big professional ones, but produces a pretty good latte.
I keep going back to this place because it’s the best place for breakfast and lunch in the Lowell area!

While on business in Chelmsford I found Café 12 on Unilocal and thought I would give it a try. What a beautiful little place this is, the service was great and the setting was lovely. However the best thing about it was the amazing Lemon ricotta pancakes Yum! I am going back for some more on Friday and I cant wait.

What a cute little shop! I was charmed instantly when I first visited a few months back. They have an excellent sandwich selection, but my husband and I are obsessed with their California on a french roll, so I can’t say I have tried any others. Pastries and cupcakes are scrumptious. I highly recommend.
Ps– they give you a free cookie with your sandwich… 5 stars!

Great family-​friendly café. Delicious drinks and food. LOVE the beignets on Saturday! The beignets with the caramel dipping sauce is to die for.

I’m using my wife’s account again.
I have been wanting to go to Café 12 for 6 months it’s a 5 mins drive from my church and it seems like a amazing place to talk the verses over and grab some good made from starch breakfast. As you walk in you see a help wanted sign for cook and maybe some other position.
Café 12 has a great décor it’s small but not too small and is very colorful. When you walk in your hit by a colorful display of baked goods and from what I can tell is the claim to fame the-​cupcakes.
You order from the black board, pay and take a seat. (Kinda odd to pay 1^st)
The waffles my 4 year old daughter got were the best part although she ate all that was served to her she was still hungry.
My egg sandwich that was not cooked to my liking was tiny: one egg fried dry one slice of tomato cut thin, 2 pieces of onion, a few red peppers and finally a HALF slice D&W cheese all housed on a dry english muffin. Made me sad.
My wife’s sandwich was a ok size and the extra cost of avocado $.95 is maybe one thin slice cut in half making it 2.
Payed almost $ 32 bucks and still left very hungry and did I mention that my 4 year old daughter was still hungry. We had to go else were to get more food and pay more money to another place because ordering any more food would have broke the bank.
At the end of the meal my daughter wanted a cupcake sure it’s the claim to fame right… served cold most likely because it made with butter but the frosting was ice cold, well more like hard. This would have been a amazing cc if served at room temperature or not as cold as the flavors were there but could not hit my taste buds because of the temperature.
I did call Kate (owner) who is VERY nice and defiantly has the passion for baking and grit needed to own a restaurant. I informed her of my disliking she went over the prices to ensure I was charged the right amount and offered me a free sandwich next time I wanted to come by. Nice offer however it may not be worth it as I would need to feed the rest of my family and still pay a high price for small amounts of food.
Writing this is review is sad to me as I can see and «feel» that this local spot has the ideas and concepts of a café (hence the 3*)but maybe not the right person working the grill (Did I mention the help wanted sign)
I would have given 2* over all as many other people have already mention the high prices but feel 2 ½ stars is fair
My advise STICK TO THE WAFFLES!!!

I knew the business had changed not long ago, so decided to give the new place a try. It was honestly a little weird that the aprons worn still carried the same name as the last place, and the gift «baskets» had stickers with the old business name. The interior was cute. The breakfast was very expensive and just «OK». Pancakes a little rubbery, though it was a unique combination to try (blueberries and ricotta with lemon). For the steep price of breakfast, I was again a bit surprised that I had to clean up my own table and serve my own coffee. For two breakfasts, a coffee and a juice, I’m pretty sure we paid over $ 30! Unfortunately, this is not in my budget to break the bank regularly for breakfast here.

we have been searching the Billerica/​Chelmsford/​Wilmington area for a great breakfast place for a year! thank Goodness we found Café 12! puts the rest of the so-​called great places in this area to shame IF you are the type that will pay a bit more for fresh ingredients, made to order deliciousness. My fiancé had the bacon eggs bene which comes over Belgium waffle with a maple hollandaise. He said it wasn’t too sweet, perfect portion and eggs cooked perfect for Benedict. I have had the brioche French toast twice– it is so good! you can taste the custard. limited but interesting menu. Greasy spoon lovers– this is NOT your place. Foodies– don’t miss it!!!

This is a hard review to write. On one hand, this place is full of potential. It looks like it offers quite a variety of breakfast and lunch nibbles and treats, while keeping a modern/​quaint little vibe. On the other hand, the portion sizes, prices, and overall quality control of the offerings haven’t met my expectations.
This is my third time at Café 12, and it was fairly busy. We ordered the starter, a breakfast sandwich, and some other stuff. Overall, the seasoning was veeeeerrry lackluster. The homefries were cooked well, but they lacked serious flavor (try more onion, garlic and/​or salt and pepper). Ketchup was the only thing adding flavor. The breakfast sandwich had no cheese on it (yes, it was supposed to) and the frittata wasn’t warm. For the money, it just doesn’t deliver. This was the theme much like the last time we ate here (the lemon ricotta pancakes were fairly bland).
For beverages, we opted for flavored coffees and for the cup size, there was an INSANE amount of sweetness added. We actually had to dump out half and fill it with normal coffee. Please cut down the flavor shot pumps to like… half of what you use.
It is a shame, because we really like the vibe, the people seem nice, but the product just doesn’t live up to the environment. I guess third time isn’t a charm? Boo.

Holy cow! I LOVE this place!!! Beautiful shop and pastries combined with a friendly atmosphere and delicious food!!! Couldn’t be happier to have found this gem! MUST try!

Bacon waffle «BENE» is awesome. Large pieces of bacon in a fluffy waffle with more bacon on top, poached eggs, and a maple hollandaise.

My kids are big fans of the TV show cupcake wars, so we have been looking for good places to kill the after-​show cupcake cravings. Searched in Unilocal.Found Café 12. Bought 4 different sorts of cupcakes (Vanilla/​chocolate, Chocolate squared, Carrot cake and Strawberry shortbread). The cake was not bad, but the frosting was heavy and sugary. And that is what the KIDS (6 – 11) said! Imagine my views. They seem to have a broader selection of breakfast items, including beignets (which I’d like to try one day).

Plenty of choices ranging from smoothies, tea, coffee, soup, salad, take out, breakfast and the sandwiches are to die for. For pastries you can find French macaroons, cupcakes, seasonal cookies, rice crispy squares and cake balls. They also have a Saturday special serving warm Beignets.

We arrived a little before 10 AM and there was a couple finishing up their meal. The breakfast and lunch menu was written in chalk on the black board but of course I already knew what I wanted from stalking their new website, their Facebook and their Unilocal page.
There was a display case with cupcakes, brownies, macaroons and other assorted pastries. We were sold and got a few desserts to go.
We placed and paid for our order at the counter and found a table. The restaurant has just cleared out so we had it all to ourselves. The café is kinda set up like a self serve where you can grab your own condiments and tap water. You also return the dishes to the bin, Panera style.
The food took less than 5 minutes from the time we ordered until it was brought to our table. We split a few different things. All the dishes were beautifully presented with fruit garnishes on an aqua dish. I felt like I was at a cool brunch eatery in the city!
The first dish was the Bacon Waffle «Bene» which had 2 poached eggs, bacon and maple hollandaise sauce over a bacon Belgian waffle. The dish was served with home fries. Although I had to request an extra side of hollandaise sauce, the dish was amazing! Usually I have my waffles with sweet topping like I do at Chip’s but the salty contrast from the bacon was a nice change. The home fries were made with white and red skin potatoes and had a perfect crisp from the pan sear.
The waffle monte cristo was not on their regular breakfast menu but I made a special request for it since I saw it previously posted on ther FB page as a special. They were able to accommodate our request. The waffle «bread» held together the Dietz and Watson ham and gooey cheese and was served with maple syrup. The dish had a nice sweet and salty contrast.
Of course we had to get the beignets! Beginets are delicious deep fried French pastries usually served with powered sugar. It’s a breakfast staple in New Orleans. Each order came with 3 large pieces and was served with your choice of dipping sauce. Chocolate, honey and caramel was available when we visited. If you wanted to try more than once sauce, you could do so for an extra .50 cents.
The beignets were indeed piping hot when brought to our table in a cute fryer basket display. They were such a guilty pleasure. The dough was soft as I pulled it apart with my fingers. The powder made a mess on the plates and my shirt but I didn’t care. I was in heaven.
We loved everything we ordered. I admit the meal was a bit on the heavier side. If you are looking for lighter options, they do offer fruit plates, yogurt parfaits, oatmeal, poached eggs etc.
For food pics, check out

Went here with my boyfriend for lunch, the sandwiches we ordered were pretty good, nothing to complain about those. But we were eyeing the case of cupcakes the whole time so we decided to buy 6 and bring them home to share. Honestly, the cake was super dry and dense and the frosting was WAY too sugary. I’m pretty positive I wont be back for a cupcake anytime in the near future.

This place now serves breakfast, and the food there is cheap and excellent.

Amazing everything
Especially love their Vermonter sandwich on a French roll

Cupcakes worth living for, try the Pumpkin Head «brewed» with Pumpkin Head beer, topped with a sweet cream cheese frosting, dusted with cinnamon sugar. Delicious. Get the cupcake card, every 12 bought you get a free one. New flavors every day they post on their FB page.
They also serve light breakfast and lunch, sandwiches and such. Nothing spectacular, but good for pretending you’re having something more than sweets for lunch.
Cute shop, would love to see them open until 6 so I could get there after work.

Cupcake Love. So many impressive and tasty flavors. I can’t help but come back for more.

What an adorable little bakery and perfect spot for lunch. I had the Vermonter, a turkey/​cheese sandwich (I had in a wrap) with Granny Smith apple slices and cranberry aioli. Delicious! I also ordered a cheesecake cupcake and was surprised to receive a small warm cookie on the side. The cupcakes were all beautiful and made deciding difficult but I’m sure none of them disappoint with flavors ranging from the norm to some very creative concoctions. Definitely a place to put on my lunchtime list of places to go!