Alexanders Cafe

Food was absolutely fantastic — we enjoyed our dinner quite a bit. The service was really good as well. The restaurant has an open floor plan, which is very nice, but it wasn’t too loud or too busy. Great place for a family dinner or a casual date.

I’m so sorry to have to write this review. This has been a favorite restaurant for 2 years. We like the owners and we’ve tried to support them and tell other people about them. But my husband and I went there tonight and the food had changed drastically. The server told us there was a new chef.
I often order one of their specials but the standard Polish fare has always been delicious and consistent in the preparation. Not sure why they would change that! Tonight I was in the mood for the Polish food. My husband and I both ordered the stuffed cabbage and a hummus plate to start. The filling in the stuffed cabbages fell apart like loose meat and the flavor was totally different from before, and not very good. Instead of the usual cucumbers w/​tzatziki sauce, the plate had a type of cole slaw that I didn’t care for and fried potatoes. The potatoes were okay but they made the dish seem very heavy. The old way of making and serving the stuffed cabbage was SO much better than what we had tonight!
The hummus platter was also very different. The hummus had a different flavor and the cheese didn’t even taste like feta. The warm, grilled pita was still the same but the red pepper was just cut up raw peppers and there were only 5 olives, which is hard to split between 2 people. In the past there were always lots of olives.
One complaint that I have always had is that they don’t offer anything but water to drink. You would think they could keep a few sodas on hand, or even sparkling water.
I hope this was just an anomaly, but we were very disappointed. I will be curious to see if other regular diners notice a change. I hope I can still support the restaurant but it depends on whether or not they can bring the cooking back to the quality level as before.

We continue to count Alexanders as a neighborhood favorite. We were there on Friday night and we were thrilled that the place was full. I guess other people consider it a favorite too! We asked if we could sit in the last two seats in the restaurant — the two chairs at the bar — and they were able to accommodate. Service was friendly — most people who work there are part of the family — and responsive. I ordered a salad that is often on special — the Isabella salad — which has roasted mushrooms, roasted peppers, pears, and a big hunk of warm pine-​nut encrusted goat cheese. A chicken special came with carrots and peas in a creamy ginger sauce and it was very tasty. Alexanders is a bit hidden (although mere steps from the Elkins Park train station) but a worthy destination!

This is such a great place for dinner. So yummy & fresh. Now they do brunch. My new breakfast place

This is a great little BYOB with Eastern Euro dishes!

Alexanders Café is a super BYOB and well worth a visit. We live nearby and have enjoyed excellent meals there over the last year or so. We went again this past Saturday, and I felt compelled to add a review.
The menu does have an Eastern European bent, but they always have additional specials for those who might not be in the mood for Eastern European fare. We have enjoyed several dishes from the menu as well as several specials. At our most recent meal, we went the specials, and the Isabella salad and the salmon were excellent. We have also had desserts at Alexanders, both on and off menu, and they have always been great.
As several reviewers have noted, the staff is friendly, and the service is excellent.
If you are looking for reasonably priced, excellent food, you will be hard pressed to find a better place than Alexanders.

As out of town visitors we were intrigued with the solid rating of Alexanders Café and its Polish fare. Wow it was not a disappointment. Seven diners purposely ordered different dishes to be able to sample each one. Each meal was fresh, thoughtfully presented, made a statement and was excellent. Alexanders does not have a license for wine and welcomed us bringing our own selections.
Overall, a wonderful treat in Elkins Park area. Service was excellent, chef was welcoming and shared her recipe thoughts. Very reasonably priced and we happily complimented the staff with the appropriate reward. We will be back many more times on visits to the area!

Just a tip… when we went, this place DID NOT accept credit cards. I think it’s currently cash or check only.

Alexander’s has a nice, calm atmosphere. It’s a great place for a family dinner. The meat in the Ghoulash was very tender and moist. I’ve been here with the family a few times since moving to the area and all the dishes we’ve had were tasty.

The only reason I’m not giving them 5 stars is because they don’t give itemized receipts.
The waitress is personable and the food is outstanding!

This place is amazing. I went there with my fiancé today for the first time. I was sooo excited because I’m from Poland and I’m always up for some good polish food.
We shared 3 big potato pancakes, which were delicious. We also had 3 different types of pierogies (meat, cheese and potato, and sauerkraut, which were all beyond AMAZING. For desert I had the cheese blintz which was pretty good and the fiancé had the homemade cheesecake and he also liked that.
Its a cute little place, you can sit inside or outside. The people there were very nice. And the prices are awesome.
We drove 35 minutes to get there and I can’t wait to go back!

I came here with a friend and received great service from the owner. We came in the moment the restaurant opened, therefore the place was pretty cold. The owner apologized and served us with warm tea! The hummus plate was great! I got the sausage with sauerkraut and it was really good. I didn’t know this place existed, but I will definitely come back when I’m in the area!

The hubs and I had an amazing dinner at Alexander’s last night! I’m no connoisseur of Polish food, but I do know that everything we had was delicious and we can’t wait to go back. He had a scallop appetizer and the beef goulash with homemade gnocchi, I chose the potato leek soup to start and had beef pierogies as my entrée. One happy warning: the soup is an enormous portion, like a massive bowl… its not a starter-​size cup like you’d get in other restaurants. By the time I ate that and my entrée (because the pirogues were so good I couldn’t stop), I was so full I was practically falling off my chair. :)
Of course the hubs couldn’t resist trying dessert, so he ordered the sticky toffee pudding to share. I was so stuffed I said I’d just have a bite to try it. It was so delicious, I had half of it and we were practically fighting over the last bite! Best sticky toffee pudding we’ve ever had. Same with the coffee, we just had regular brewed coffee and it was spectacular — rich and smooth, no sugar needed!
We can’t wait to come back, especially in the summer to eat on the deck. What a gem!

You can often find us here once a week for a warm and cozy meal in this friendly café. It’s hard for us to find a restaurant that every member of the family likes, and this is one of them!
The menu is an interesting mix with its Polish roots, but also wonderful pastas and salads. My favorites are the Pasta with Vegetables and the Salad with Tuna. There are often really nice seafood dishes, too, and always a handful of interesting specials. The meal here always begins with bread with a nice olive oil with balsamic vinegar and garlic, that is really delicious. The chef, who is the dad in the family which owns this café, is very accommodating with requested menu changes.
Part of what makes Alexander’s so appealing is he environment Teresa and her family have created. You really feel welcomed at Alexanders and you get treated like family.

My goodness. Miriam’s pickle soup is divine. This local family owned restaurant is a wonderful addition to Elkins Park. Come try it out.

Super cute family-​run restaurant with delicious eastern-​European food. The hummus is amazing and so is the outdoor deck. I had a special, but my husband got the sampler plate (it says for 2 but he’s a hungry guy!) Both were yummy. I’m glad this place is around the corner from us!

We came here after spending a lovely afternoon strolling through high school park across the street. Has no idea what to expect, but was overwhelmed with how good everything was. Not only was the good delicious, but the service was great. I could tell the family that ran the place was proud of what they made and how they presented it all. I will definitely be going back!

I grew up with the food of Eastern Europe, and for me it is the ultimate comfort food. Alexanders Café, therefore was created for me, but you do not need to already be a fan of the menu to become a fan of Alexanders!
As many, many reviews here attest, the food is excellent: tasty, with fresh, healthy ingredients, recipes that feel straight from my mom’s kitchen, and artful, attractive presentation. The basic menu always satisfies me, but the specials have been interesting as well. Take a bottle of wine and get ready for a wonderful experience.
We love eating outside on the deck, but in cold weather the inside dining room is exactly the right combination of cozy and quiet. They are closed for the month of July – this is a true family restaurant, and the family is on vacation. We don’t mind a bit, because if we wanted to eat at a big, faceless, or urban-​trendy place we could do that any day of the year. But I especially like simple food cooked perfectly and presented beautifully, so as soon as they re-​open, it’s where i want to go!

*Added one year from original review — Wow what a difference a year makes! Took my friend here last week (after HIGHLY reccommending it to her) and was totally embarassed. The chicken pasta dish I love was terrible — chicken tough and overcooked, thin, terrible sauce and no parma cheese or arugula or tomatoes (??). The polish sampler was not much better — greasy, cheap sausage and the pierogies were tough, not tender as they had been on previous visits. What the heck happened? New awful chef? Bad night? I am not changing my review yet, everyone has an off night but I hope that is all it was as this was one of my favorite local restaurants.
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This lovely restaurant on a quiet side street near the Elkins Park train never fails to deliver. There is a great deck to eat on in warm weather and the interior is welcoming and quite stylish in a casual way. The menu is not large but everything we’ve had has been good. Service is excellent.
Meals start with a plate of fresh sliced bread and a dish of dipping oil artfully dotted with balsamic vinegar, fresh black pepper and a small pile of garlic creatively off center. Last night hubby had the hummus platter and it was so pretty — tasty hummus, salty black olives, creamy cubes of feta, The grilled pita bread was yummy — chewy tasty and nice and fresh. I tried the Chicken Pasta and it completely hit the spot — it was so good I kept eating it long after I was full, I just couldn’t stop! Ziti, chicken and cherry tomatoes served in a creamy white garlicky sauce with generous flakes of cheese grated on and all topped with fresh arugula — delicious!
Sticky toffee pudding was a dessert on the specials board and I always wanted to try it so I did. I’ve never had sticky toffee pudding before so I’ve nothing to compare it to but this was quite tasty– a square of spice cake in a warm, not too sweet, carrmelly spicy puddle of sauce with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
We’ve had all the coffees — espresso, cappuccino and café american and they are delicious — strong and smooth with interesting flavor tones and no sugar required they are that good (just make sure the woman usually behind the bar makes them!)
Everything we’ve tried here has been fresh and well prepared and fallen somewhere between very good and outrageously delicious. I’ve often had the chicken sandwich which they marinate in some delightful potion and serve on a fresh roll. We’ve had the wonderful homemade pierogies — tender and flavorful. We’ve had various fish specials and no complaints so far.
There is ONE exception to all the goodness — the fries! They are the kind with the «textured» surface and both of us detest that style and when we’re in the mood for a sandwich or burger knowing it comes with the bad fries has sent us to a different restaurant (yes they are that important). We’ve mentioned to the owner our great dislike of the fries and he said everyone loves them. So I guess we’re just weird but there it is.
Prices here are amazingly low for what you are getting and the lovely setting. Run, don’t walk, to Alexanders Café!

Went for an early dinner while visiting friends, and fell in love. Amazing food, comfortable ambiance, and prompt service. It felt less like a restaurant and more like a really great family dinner – and yes, that is definitely a good thing.
They started us off with some bread and dipping oil, but the minced garlic and fresh herbs really made this tastier than your normal bread basket. It was also appreciated how the waitress quickly brought us a second plate of bread, after seeing how much the youngun’s in our group were enjoying it.
My friend had the beef goulash special – delicious, with herbed mashed potatoes and savory chunks of tender meat – while her husband and I shared the sampler. Pierogi, stuffed cabbage, sauerkraut, and delicious sausage, for I think $ 8 a person? Unreal. My favorite was the sausage, but it was all delicious, simple, and not greasy or heavy. The baby also enjoyed the sausage; I think she will quickly become a Polish food connoisseur.
Topped off with a delicious café Americano for the grownups and a large cup of ice cream for the 5-​year-​old, and we’d hit on casual dining perfection. From the music to the décor to the service to OH MY GOD THE FOOD, Alexander’s has cemented itself as this traveler’s local favorite. I will demand an encore for my next visit … where I can hopefully get that tuna salad I had my eye on.

It a small location, however it is beautiful inside.
and the food is great. Really recommend it!

This sweet little place surprised me. This place is comfortable and cozy and has a peaceful vibe. The staff is sweet and gracious. The food surprised me, its simple items yet they are extremely good. The chef is good at what he does and the quality is there. The prices are amazingly low for the quality home cooking you get. It’s like a meal your grandma would make on a sunday, nothing fancy but comforting and great tasting. You must go here!!!

Three of us visiting a nearby art gallery tried Alexander’s earlier in the week based on Unilocal reviews, and were hugely pleased. We arrived unusually early, when the place was empty, so service wasn’t an issue. Gazpacho was top-​notch, equal to the best any of us have ever had, and my wife’s Polish sampler plate was superb in every respect — every item on the plate was as good as it gets. Wiener schnitzel special was quite enjoyable, although not in the exceptional league of the gazpacho and Polish plate. Warm apple pie a la mode was also pleasant.
Indeed, the gazpacho was so scrumptious that we all took home a stack of takeout containers for future consumption. Including these extras, it came to under $ 30/​person plus tip — an outstanding value considering the quality.
There’s only street parking, 25 cents an hour before 6 PM. Seating is indoors and outdoors under umbrellas; both are pleasant, but we preferred the quieter indoors where passing SEPTA trains are not an issue.
By 6:30 on a weekday the place was full with a mostly older clientele, and you could see that the two ladies, including one of the owners, were strained trying to handle so many tables at once. Still, it seemed to be working out okay and the atmosphere was friendly and neighborly, at least as of when we left before 7:00.
For Polish food and certain other menu items, Alexander’s arguably qualifies as a five-​star establishment. For everything else, with service as a question mark during peak hours, it still ranks as four or three star — at least in our limited experience. One thing is for certain: From now on, when we’re driving into that area to shop at Trader Joe’s, we’re going to include Alexander’s as part of the experience. It’s a fantastic little gem, and I can only wish it were closer to where we live.

Alexander’s has just opened. This restaurant is everything I’ve ever wanted in a café! I’m ecstatic that it’s here in Elkins Park. The food is great. The atmosphere is relaxed and sophisticated. It is the closest approximation of a café in Krakow or Prague that one could expect in Philly.
My wife and I visited on May 5^th for lunch on the deck and we were very pleased with each dish. I had a latte which was nice and strong and reminded me of Europe, not the over-​roasted, sweet, milky stuff that is commonly served. My wife had an incredible Prosciutto, roasted red pepper and broccoli rabe sandwich («Alexander’s sandwich»), and I had a burger done to perfection with a very nice assortment of vegetables, swiss and bacon. For dessert, we shared cheese blintzes in caramel, which were indescribably good. It is a family-​run restaurant, BYOB and has a kid’s menu, so it suits a wide range of tastes. I highly recommend this place and look forward to visiting as often as possible!