Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery

I go here frequently for lunch during the week, and have had mostly good experiences there. The food is usually good and they get the orders done quickly so you can usually get in and out in a hurry. And it’s also nice that they have a Pete’s coffee integrated into their menu so you can order from both places at once.
On the downside I’d say it’s a bit expensive for what you get. When I pay 8 or 9 bucks for a sandwich I at least expect a side of chips or something, but no such luck.

We had some trouble with parts of the salad I ordered not being prepared at the time which included the corn mix, bean mix & shredded cheddar on my BBQ Chicken Southwest salad. I placed the order in the morning, so I wouldn’t have to return for lunch. I was assisted directly by Bree (sorry if I misspelled that) who I believe is one of the managers there. She was apologetic and extremely helpful by bending over backwards to make sure I was happy with the order (since we had to either make substitutions or change it entirely). The time and dedication she took with me is a great reason to visit this location! I want to make sure she gets the kudos that she deserves!
Other than that… their bakery items are good, I’ve enjoyed the salads and sandwiches that I’ve tried so far, and am very happy that they serve Peet’s coffee. You can order online & have it ready by the time you arrive, or you can also order through the kiosk which is a breeze. Plus, I had $ 11.26 in rewards today that I was able to use toward my purchase!

We came in with 22 people at 2:55 today for sandwiches. We were told that they close at 3:00 (which this site says they are open til 6). And also that they ran out of «everything». Are you serious? Everything? So we took our $ 400+ bill across the street to House Kitchen and Bar with the nicest staff you ever want to meet! Go there instead!
1÷5÷16 — Update… someone named Chariya C. (I’m assuming an employee) just sent me quite a childish response:
«If you would have read the sign on the doors that had the holiday scheduled up you would have saw that it said 7 am to 3pm reading is essential… ps you only had 10 people with you lol»
First of all, not ALL people were caught up to us yet from walking from our hotel. And second of all, yes we had 22 people with us. Counting is essential as well. (Not that anyone even gave us a chance to say how many people we were).
However, I DID have some info wrong… our bill across the street at the amazing «House Kitchen» ended up being $ 526.00, not $ 400. (I wrote this review before our bill actually came).
Perhaps staying open an extra hour for that revenue, plus a really good tip, would have been beneficial to the owner. (Not to mention another possible visit from «10 people» the next day for lunch.) Perhaps I’ll send them an email to ask them.

Horrible customer service. We came in with a very large group. 20+
As we walked in the door an employee quickly raced from behind the counter to let us know that «we have just run out of everything!» At first we couldn’t believe she had just said that, and she was questioned «everything?“she said yes
We informed her we had a very large group and would gladly take our money elsewhere if that is how we were to be treated. We are from out of town and looked on their website for store hours before we made our decision to eat here. The hours stated they were open til 6pm.
We gladly took our business across the street to House Kitchen and Bar, where we were welcomed and the owner even took it upon himself to make sure our large party was taken care of beyond what was to be expected. This sandwich shop not only lost our business on 12÷30÷15, but also the next day for lunch.
I’m sure House Kitchen and Bar was grateful for this establishments poor customer service, as our bill was over $ 500, and they were left a very generous tip.
Do not come to Specialty’s Café, as they have «run out of everything»

On Veterans Day morning (11/​11/​2015,) I decided to relax at this small café called, «Specialty’s Café & Bakery.» This café which it’s operated by Peet’s Coffee delivers the finest pastries, soups, salads, and sandwiches right at your table including drinks too. As I entered at this small room, the atmosphere is quite comforting and relaxing inside. The concept is much similar to national coffee shops like Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee from tables, lights, and décor with much of large space to sit and dine.
The employees which includes baristas are doing a good job for making the customers like me a friendly person. No cons at all.
I ordered one Turkey and Swiss croissant and the Turkey Pot Pie Soup with a slice of bread. So far, the 2 foods that I ordered are quite a hit-​n-​miss for me. The good: the Turkey and Swiss croissant did win my taste buds well! The ingredients are not bad which the Swiss cheese and the turkey slices both worked the flavors top notch especially their flaky bread too! The cons is the Turkey Pot Pie Soup. The soup tasted good, yet it’s closely bland for me which it needs to seasoned the soup very flavorful and rich. Overall, it’s a good, fairly brunch meal after all.
Parking at Specialty’s Café & Bakery can be difficult to park at the Capitol Mall location. You can park it at the nearest surface street parking as well as parking garages available. Otherwise, you can ride a bike, walk, or use public transportation easier without the hassles.
In the end, Specialty’s Café & Bakery is an alright place to dine in your favorite meals in no time. Perfect for lunch breaks for workers and customers including tourists alike whether it’s on the go or not. My rating: 3 solid stars.

Ok. I’ll only talk about the good.
I only come here for their pastries because the food prices are high and I can get a better basic sandwich at Capitol Deli. I love their croissants like the 3 cheese spinach and turkey and cheese, black bottom muffin. The coffee served is Peets, which is strong and effective. Online ordering is easy and you can accumulate points towards freebies.

Sorry, I have to knock it down a star. Their Chinese chicken salad is literally just a plate full of chopped cabbage with a few tiny chicken cubes and wonton strips thrown in. It’s certainly not worth $ 10.99, or any money at all for that matter. I’ll still be back because they are convenient and offer other things I like, but damn, that was bad. Now I have to come up with another way to reach my lunchtime protein quota.

Came here for lunch during a business trip. I tried their spinach and cheese croissant which was amazing (highly recommend) and their Dawn’s Vegan salad. The salad was packed with protein and nutrients (which is hard to find sometimes) such as beans, sunflower seeds, and avocado. I really liked the salad, but didn’t love the dressing. It tasted more like a basic Italian dressing rather than a vinaigrette like I was told. I also made the mistake of asking for it tossed rather than on the side, so the salad was a bit smothered by this dressing. Despite this drawback, the salad was overall good, and a great meal for a vegetarian. The place is large and crowded, which speaks to its quality. I also love that they use compost able plates and utensils. I’d recommend this place for lunch.

I’ve been here a couple of times before and after my College classes and I don’t know how it has 3 stars but from my experience I’ve never had any problems with Specialty’s! I’ve had their all day egg sandwich with bacon and cheddar before and it was really delicious! It was fresh and made perfectly. Their bakery stuff is also good too. I always buy the Mini Red Velvet Bundt cakes and I am completely obsessed with them. All their bakery stuff is fresh and not boxed like Java City does with their bakery.
Also today, I asked if they had any Red Velvet bundt cakes left and this nice lady said they were sold out but she was able to make me one in under 20 minutes! Also I asked for them to make me one bundt but they baked me two mini bundt cakes instead and put it in a box for me to go. I’m not sure if it was by mistake, they thought I said two or if they just felt like giving me two but either way, I thought that was really cool! :)
Also if anybody is looking to have coffee, frapps, tea or anything like that, there’s a Peet’s next to it (a better version of Starbucks) that will have you covered!
Overall, I give this place 5 stars and I’m glad they opened at Capitol Mall!

I have to amend my review. Have to. I’ve since found a handful of tasty items here. I mean, I love the salads. They are huge, they are delicious, and they are healthy. Depending. I looove the Vegan, the Greek Goddess, Chinese Chicken, Thai Peanut, and especially the Mixed Green with balsamic and avocado. Mmm.
Not only that, you can plainly see that since opening, staff are trying really hard to accommodate the huge lunchtime crowds and offer quality customer service. They’re friendly, they answer your questions thoroughly, and if you really want to taste that soup, they’ll let you.
When you also take into consideration that they have an online ordering system that will virtually (ha) eliminate crazy wait times, while also giving you an interactive menu of selections that allows you to tweak your order based on dietary needs, there’s really not much else to complain about.
Solid 4. I’m sticking by it. It’s yummy here, convenient, people are nice, and I love the online account system.

This is my only go-​to breakfast and lunch spot Downtown! Starbucks who?
I’ve always had the best customer service on all my dozen plus visits since they opened! The barista who opens is phenomenal, making all drink orders accurately, with amazing cheer and always a smile and a warm greeting to her customers (something sorely lacking from OTHER coffee places).
I love the variety of pastries and other baked goods that they offer (fresh daily), and their BLT and pastrami sandwiches are amazing!
Very reasonably priced and conveniently located on Capitol. If you appreciate excellent service and a terrifically tasty meal and/​or beverage, this is THE place.
I just wanted to take the time to write an HONEST review about how great you guys are! I see some of the comments the clowns on here wrote and I feel that their comments hold no merit (complaining about wait times during morning and lunch time rushes is plain silly, and just common sense would tell them that there may be a short wait during these peak times). Some people like to complain for fun, so please, other Unilocal!Reviewers– pay their supposed grievances no mind! Keep up the great work out there, and I’ll see you Monday morning!
Regards,
Kevin

I wanted to compliment the Barista Mackey. What a difference his presence makes. He is friendly, well organized and makes the best drinks. I have yet to see him become overwhelmed or forget to make a drink. Great job Mackey, you have really turned things around!

Today, I decided to grab some breakfast here before heading off to work. I’ve only had their pastries one other time. I don’t remember what I got last time, but it DEFINITELY was better than today’s.
I ordered the chocolate chip cappuccino scone. I’m not even sure if that’s what it’s called. I pointed to it to the girl, and she was kinda clueless. Maybe it’s a new item. I don’t know. Anyway, the pastry looked very promising. It was big for the price ($ 2.69) and it had large sugar crystals on the outside. I liked that. However, once I got to work, I took a bite out of it, and it was as if I took a bite out of cardboard! It was UNBELIEVABLY dry! With the sugar crystals and crusty outer layer made it even drier! I’ve never had a scone this dry! I had to drink water to make it even the slightest bit moist. I’m not sure how their other scones are, but DO NOT GET THE CHOCOLATE CHIP CAPPUCCINO SCONE!!! Your taste buds will hate you forever! It was so dry that the scone became flavorless. Chewing through this cardboard-​like pastry made it taste like cardboard. I regret getting that scone…

I was weary about going here based on the reviews but am glad to report, after several visits I really like it. I’m not much into the «fancy» sandwiches but the classic ones I’ve had are good. So far I’ve had the tuna, tuna melt (it’s on a soft ciabatta roll), the turkey and cheese croissant and iced coffee.
The croissant is my favourite, it’s a perfect small bite.
The iced coffee is good — smooth and better than Starbucks, not as good as Gino’s though.
The tuna and tuna melt were tasty.
The customer service is great. It’s a young and energetic staff.
I’ll be back.

We stopped here after a meeting in the same building.
We had sandwiches which were good and fresh made, drinks were fine. The line was a little long, at lunch but it moved smoothly and we got our food quickly. This is not 4 star, white table cloth, but for a quick lunch between meetings, it was better than it had to be given the location.

Good cookies, easy ordering with online, kiosk, and in person ordering, and adequate service. I think my favorite thing is the the option for ordering at the kiosk so, as I often have happen, if the person in front of you is ordering 30 drinks, you can punch in your single drink order and get that going first. :-)
I’ll come back here and try it again but order real food this time, not just a cookie.

Prime location in the heart of downtown near the Capitol with neighboring State agencies nearby. Walked in and for some reason this place reminded of an eatery inside an airport — everything was so efficient. Serving those that are on a time crunch with services such as online ordering and self-​service kiosks to order your food without having to place your order with a human. There was a shelf that had ready-​for-​pick-​up orders for those who ordered ahead of time online. THIS is exactly what needed to be in place in the downtown area and someone finally figured it out. Although there were a few hiccups that caused some confusion including myself as to where the line began. There was no sign of where the line starts nor where to pick up your order. The wait time for your food to be prepared was outrageous. My co-​worker and I waited a good 15 minutes for my salad and her sandwich to be prepared.
As for the food, I ordered the Chinese Chicken Salad. I asked for avocados (at an extra charge) in my salad and was disappointed to find only 3 thinly sliced avocados in my salad. (I seriously got less than a quarter of an avocado!) I would also probably recommend asking for extra dressing because 1 small container is certainly not enough. (No, it’s not free if you request for extra dressing.) The menu states the salad comes with cilantro; there was none to be found. The salad itself was well, quite underwhelming. Although they were generous with the chicken, there were only a few small thinly sliced onions and red bell peppers. All in all, the salad was mediocre and it is something that I wouldn’t recommend for others to try. For the same price I would rather order the Chinese Chicken Salad from My Sister’s Café located across the street from the Wells Fargo building. I also order an oatmeal raisin cookie that was delicious. However it was slightly burnt.
All in all, this place is good with large menu with lots of options to choose from. They also have sandwiches (hot and cold) which I would like to try next time. Their breakfast pastries are mouth-​watering and look super tasty.

I got a soup and it was very basic for starters. The large size was $ 5 and it was so small. I thought they got my order wrong but unfortunately it was that size/​price. The bread that came with the soup was really oily and dry-​also not good. Because it’s right under my office I will probably give them a few more chances but not looking good thus far.

Not impressed. I went just before Noon on a Wednesday and it was a madhouse even though the line to order went relatively fast (but NOT the line to pick up).
This place caters to those who work in the Wells Fargo Building and surrounding buildings, so if you are not in that demographic, just don’t even bother coming here.
I do like that they have a Veggie Menu with six vegetarian options and also serve egg sandwiches all day. They also have salads with clearly marked vegetarian options, including a vegan option. What I don’t like is that I feel like I never left the office by coming here since it’s everyone who works nearby.
I ordered an egg sandwich with no meat and added cheddar. I also got the small version of Dawn’s Vegan Salad. Both were okay, but nothing I would come out of my way for again.
Definitely try to avoid the rush over lunch if you can.

Ordered the chicken and white bean chili and the chairman. The food is pretty good, but took about ½ hr at least to get it. When you enter there are a lot of people standing around and its because they are waiting as well. Even the online orders had ½ hr. or more wait. You can order on a tablet which I find sort of weird or at the registers in the corner if you can find them. Hopefully since they are new they will become more organized.