Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery

I work in the same complex that this restaurant is located which is a plus. Other than the convenience and the friendly employees I don’t have anything good to say.
Service: during lunch you need to be there right on or before 12. If not you’ll be waiting for your food for 20 min. What I also notice is that there isn’t a nice flow from the order line to the pick up line. They are clashes together and it gets a bit crowed. They do have a nice pick up area for drink orders only.
Food:
Sandwiches are just ok. Nothing amazing, they do have some unique sandwiches like the turkey pesto, turkey cranberry, turkey Apple Brie. They average between 6.99 to 8.99.
Soups are worse, they contain a lot of sodium, they serve the same types of soups everyday, maybe one will change her and there but for the most part they are the same. You can choose from a small or regular size. The small is $ 3.99 and the regular is $ 5.99, they are really over priced since the majority of the soup will be broth and veggies and less proteins. Especially if you are the lucky one to get the last of the batch.
I will only go if I’m in a rush to get something quick and simple.

Good coffee and decent food, staff is excellent.
Always come in and get a sugar free latte whenever I need an extra wake me up.
Best part about specialties is their cookies. They’re amazing

Being right in the same building as my work, I end up here at least once a week. They’re very understaffed at lunch and the lines are long. The prices are rather high for what you get.
The sandwiches are pretty good, as are the coffees. The Turkey, Brie and Bacon sandwich might even be approaching awesome.
The salads are what really brings this place down. They’re overpriced, pre-​packaged, nasty, wilted things. I love a good salad so this makes me sad.

Nothing spectacular. Sandwiches are whatever. Soups get boring. Pastries and cookies are never fresh. Salads are pre-​made.

Wow, this place doesn’t even come close to the one on Von Karmen. The salads are pre-​made, cookies are smaller and the food takes FOREVER to get.
The counter people are nice but drive the extra 5 minutes. Specialty’s made a huge mistake with making this one.

Right off the bat, I felt the counter service was pretty impersonal. This place has a monopoly on the lunch crowd in this location. You order your salad and then grab it from the case. If it is not in case, then you have to wait. Strange. The caesar salad I ate was fine. No soul.

I love this place.

First time here and I tried sandwiches here so good! So good service! Recommend!

Big ass semi-​sweet chocolate chip cookies that are always fresh, warm and gooey. That sentence should be enough to make you get up and go indulge yourself.
It’s located right next to Mick’s Karma Bar.

Tasty little place is McArthur Court!
I ended up getting the Chicken Waldorf salad sandwich per the recommendation of my fellow Unilocalers. It had a nice layer of romaine lettuce and was super fresh. The crust was a little hard on the outside, but otherwise it was good. The staff here were very pleasant and more than willing to be helpful. I enjoyed the fruit, cookies and chips options because I am very indecisive when it comes to lunch.
I loved the little buzzers so you could go outside and not stand around waiting for your lunch. The next time I am there, I am definitely trying out the Peet’s Coffee because they have a ton of tasty pumpkin options. (One of my favorite parts of the holidays.)
I work in a corporate building area and it’s hard to find quality and quickness combined. No problem here, the staff was quick and everything was tasty. I’ll be back next week!

This location is primarily intended for people who work at MacArthur Court. I may not go out of my way to go here but the food is good and fresh and the staff is SO pleasant. Their employees are obviously trained with an emphasis on customer service. As for the prices other commenters mention, I don’t think it’s overpriced. It may be more expensive than the Carl’s Junior down the street, but if you like fresh soups and salads without the headache of driving for your lunch, this is a good bet.

I go here primarily for a late afternoon coffee fix on those days that just need some extra fuel to keep my work day productive. They do a great job making my iced coffees, and their lattes are also excellent.
As for the food. Honestly, I only eat here sparingly because I once made the mistake of looking up the nutritional information. But, here are my recommendations: avoid the salads (they have them in a cooler that gets direct afternoon sunlight bearing down on it – I did not feel good at all after experiencing the Cobb salad), do get the veggie sandwich (delish & the lowest calorie option), do get the sandwich that contains apple, bacon & brie (amazing!), and then do split one of the wheat germ chocolate chunk cookie things (again – amazing! I sometimes crave them).
They also have some great outdoor seating areas which is always a plus in my book.
However, if you don’t work in MacArthur Court, Specialty’s is probably not really worth the trip – I cannot even imagine where you would park (the parking garage on the campus is priced exorbitantly), and you can get sandwiches & coffee just as good or better at other places in the vicinity.

Was in the area for training for work. I was able to walk to this location. Super nice patio. although it was a little breezy so I sat inside at a bar counter. I ordered the 4 cheese sandwich with chips and a soda. The guy at the counter was very friendly. They had a large menu to choose from and the place was super clean. The sandwich was good and was quickly made. I also got a free sample of the chocolate chip cookies and it was good too! Very moist and chocolatey. I really enjoyed eating there. it was a nice lunch break.

It’s located in a business complex that I couldn’t find it so easily.
For parking, if you don’t want to pay for the business parking structure, around the corner near the entrace from Birch St. there’s an open parking lot area for 1 hr.
The place wasn’t packed when I got there with my friend at 12:35 PM. We found sits easily. However, there was only one person who was making the sandwiches that it took awhile for the food to come out. If you’re in a rush, this is not your place.
The Oatmeal wheatgerm chocolate chip cookie was heavenly! If you haven’t tried any of their baked goods, it’s a good one to start with: D if you want something out of the ordinary chocolate chip (not that it’s bad: D)

UPDATE: After months of boycotting Specialty’s because of how absolutely nasty the food is, I got really hungry and had no time to go anywhere for food at lunch. Specialty’s is in my office complex, I caved. Perhaps my memory got a little fuzzy after not eating there for a while. BIG MISTAKE. I cannot fathom how they get away with selling this DISGUSTING garbage. The turkey in my sandwich had big pieces of fat chunks that I had to spit out. We told them no mayo — well they must have heard extra mayo because they probably used half the jar to make my sandwich. I was starving but could not finish my sandwich, it was so absolutely GNARLY, I was tempted to go stick my finger down my throat in the bathroom — I am not joking. It takes a lot for me to give a 1 star review but in this case I have no choice. I basically paid $ 7 to be completely grossed out.

I under stand that the prices are expensive, but for the convenience factor i suppose it is worth it?
i’ve only tried the hot hammer and the chicken bbq. both were lip smacking delicious… i feel like the sandwich is a little too small, but whatevers.
i would recommend getting the soup of the day to go with your sandwich. it’ll make your coworkers go crazy. i know whenever my coworkers bring soup back from specialtys i go crazy over the smell. lol
Friendly people working there!
Free wifi!

No one told me it was the Day-​Old Bread special Monday for Pastrami. The bottom is SO HARD that I’m cutting carbs today for certain. Um, I think that might be a «specialty» somewhere else but not one I want to pay for!

This is a Specialty’s & Pete’s mega-​magnificent mash-​up. GO HERE. i go almost every day either for the whipped cream topped beverages or for the brie and bacon sandwich. i mean honestly, does it get any better? well yea, it does, cause the staff totally rules. those girls are genuine gemstones and JEFF IS THE BEST!