Café Ventana

PROS
— Beignets! Gotta love deep fried dough goodness. Don’t forget about the Unilocal deal for 3 free ones with a 10 buck purchase
— almost perfect set-​up: open seating style with plenty of tables, chairs, sofas, and even a bench bar style facing the window (similar to Kaldi’s in Delmar), outdoors patio
CONS
— pretty expensive for average food and caffeine options. Barring the beignets, I’m not sure why any coffee addict would come here for drinks, when Comet Coffee and Northwest are far cheaper (and quality) options. There is a $ 4 bottomless cup option for hot coffee, fortunately (nothing special about the roast though.)
— service tends to be on the slower side for anything that requires prep

What a great place! The staff is super friendly, the food was amazing! They have their own syrup blends which make their coffee and teas shine! Will definitively come back!

First visit, Chia Tea was our of a plastic bottle pour in a glass with milk and served (REALLY) & $ 4.50 could have bought the whole 32oz bottle at IEA. Beignets were tuff and very small. Server was nice. Won’t be back.

In news that isn’t news to anyone, they’re still super rude here. Came here for a meeting against my will, ended up sitting in the corner by the fireplace and watching bemusedly as the barista gave a customer major attitude for politely asking for a hotter re-​pour because she had left his coffee on the counter without calling his order/​name out, and his drink (plain black coffee – not a big deal) had gotten cold. This was after hearing same barista complain about her working hours, various customers, and how she was TOTALLY DONE with working there.
Hmm. Funny. I was TOTALLY DONE with this hellhole, too.

Nothing special food or drink-​wise, but the quiet room area accessed through the patio was nice and a great study nook find. Ordered a turkey avocado spread sandwich which was described as coming on wheat bread, but came out on white. I have noticed this place is often hiring, so I imagine high turnover has a hand in the consistency and quality.

1. Had to pick up my own food (3 plates) and carry them through a small rickety door which almost made me drop my food.
2. Nobody that works here will tell you that you pick up your own food until it’s been sitting for 15 minutes.
3. My order was the eggs Benedict, received biscuits and gravy with over easy eggs.
4. When asked about the poached eggs, the «cook» asked «what’s that?»
If you want to eat at a place that knows what they’re doing, don’t eat here:
At least the coffee was decent.

The bottomless mig is great. They have a study room in the back that is fairly sound proof. The coffee was a bit bitter for mu taste, which is weird since I like the burnt taste in coffee. They also have live music from time to time on the porch.

Service is usually very good. I enjoy the food and the fact you can get some alcohol or coffee or coffee with alcohol. Alcohol is limited which I love for a coffeshop. It’s not a place people are getting drunk. But people go to enjoy a beer, bloody mary, or momoso.
I love the atmosphere. I enjoy sitting on the front porch reading or inside in an overstuffed chair. Sometimes there is live music.
Beignets are awesome. I’m glad they are changing the brunch menu this Sunday. I was fortunate enough to be there to sample the French Toast. Amazing! !d
Great place for book club, meet-​up with people, or just chill alone

My little piece of New Orleans in STL. Nothing to say but beautiful atmosphere and great food.

In CWE, but this is really close to the CWE that is near IKEA and SLU. It’s pretty large, lots of outdoor patio space, ample parking/​lot, and with relative numerous outlet capacities. So why only 3 stars? The customer service is a little subpar (maybe it’s just that one lady that doesn’t have it down at the register b/​c the rest of the staff (particularly the cooks) are wonderful. I think the owner was there today and she seemed nice. And other Unilocalers are right, this place for food/​drink is probably 10−20% higher than other coffee shops.
Pros:
1) Parking
2) Bottomless Coffee for $ 4 or refills for $ 0.50, cold brew available
3) Looseleaf tea. I actually love mixing the bag of looseleaf with white and green, but it’s not a pot and it’s only a cup for around $ 4 – 5.
4) Spend $ 10, get 3 free beignets. But there were no chocolate beignets today! The beignets are not as light as I would like them, but by no means are they doughy. They were still great, except you really need to eat them hot.
5) There is an «indoor voice» study/​work area that you can get through the patio. It also has private conference rooms that you can rent. It’s a little dark inside there.
6) Good BLTs and large/​fresh cut sweet potatoes
7) Omelets are large too (again around $ 10+)
8) Hours are great for a local shop, 7am-​8pm
Cons:
1) Cashier service. You know what I don’t like is when a cashier tells me that I can add a tip on my card out-​loud vs. letting me if I want to or not. It was kind of odd and made me free uncomfortable.
2) 1pm weekend has brunch live music. I love this except the live band duo was awful. It wasn’t jazz and was just a lot of loud bass and off-​tone singing. But you can’t really hear it from the inside of the private conference area much.
3) Older couches/​furniture and there is a lot of trash on the floor at times
4) Frozen pre-​made quiche. I feel like they should make it fresh daily. This kind of bothers me, especially for the price.
But this is a great place to work with large groups. It is mostly filled with SLU students and then some locals.
I don’t know if I will be back, but I’m glad there is a space like this. It just wasn’t completely right today for me.

GUYS. Seriously never has a place had a complete 180 for me. A new manager, Jen, has really turned this place around! She apologized to me for my prior experience (I assume she saw my Facebook review) and ended up paying for my whole meal. Incredible. Everyone seemed so much happier working there today (even on Easter). My parents now have it marked on our ‘to-​go’ places for STL! Thank you Jen!!! We appreciate it!

The space was very pretty, especially near the fireplace and under the chandelier. Service was okay. Coffee tasted pretty good. The black bean breakfast burrito was something like 25% grease. The driveway into the parking lot isn’t wide enough for cars to go in both directions…

I’m a SLU grad and frequented Café Ventana to study and caffeinate myself. The café itself is really cozy with great outdoor seating. It’s a cool spot to grab a coffee with friends and study after a long day of classes. As far as service goes, the workers were always friendly and willing to assist you should you have any questions. Honestly, I was always underwhelmed with the food and bewildered at the high prices for menu items I was never impressed with. The drinks were always the hit for me, I love that you can add assorted liquors to your coffee. That in itself kept me visiting.
(Parking is a bit pesky. There is a parking lot but it’s usually packed.)

My girlfriend and I made a spur of the moment decision to have Sunday brunch at Café Ventana. We won’t be going back.
The only reason why I’m not giving this place one star is because they have a great fireplace. It is super nice and cozy, especially on a chilly day. Sadly, everything else was pretty bad.
For their brunch they have a selection of items. You can pick 2 plus drink and pastry for $ 20 or 3 plus drink and pastry for $ 25. Sounds like a good deal, right? If you want coffee though, it is extra. I don’t mean a latté, cappuccino, or anything like that. I mean just regular drip coffee. THAT is extra. For Sunday brunch. For… reasons?
Previous reviews made mention of their beignets and they are advertised quite prominently inside. Remember how the bunch came with a pastry? Welp, that doesn’t include beignets. Why would it?
We ordered the quiche but were told it was not available because it was not yet thawed out. I don’t know what’s worse; the fact that they serve frozen quiche for Sunday brunch or that the place had been open for several hours before we came in and they still didn’t have everything ready. I suppose I could look at it as a blessing in disguise since I feel confident it would have just as been disappointing as everything else we had.
Good news! If you spend at least $ 10 you get 3 FREE beignets with your Unilocal check in. But you have to make sure you mention that BEFORE you pay. If you try to claim your check in reward after you pay then you’re told there is just «no way to ring it in.» And that comes from the manager so thanks for nothing Café Ventana. See you never.

Closest coffee shop to SLU. Head here for french influenced breakfast and a good (but slightly pricey) specialty latte. Super awesome vibe with a study area– comfy chairs, long work tables or even a private study room for groups.

If you can’t make it to Café du Monde in New Orleans (and not many of us can), then the beignets and café au lait here might just do the trick. The atmosphere is lovely, the coffee isn’t over-​roasted, and it’s just a nice space to be.

Extremely overpriced food/​coffee that doesn’t even taste good. Do not get lobster bisque… it was way too salty and tasted nothing like lobster. Probably reheated soup in a box? The toast that came with it was so stale I couldn’t even eat it. Stop selling last week’s bread for premium prices. It’s not even edible.
Prices have gone up a lot in recent years. Wifi is spotty and slow. The only saving grace is that this place is fairly close to SLU campus, so students will continue to come here and waste their parents money.

I hate giving a 1 star review, but I feel the need here.
I was on a road trip from the Chicago Area and wanted to find a good breakfast spot. I saw this place didn’t get great reviews, but I saw that it was more about the service than the food.
So, I thought I’d give it a try because time wasn’t really an issue.
I don’t understand the reviews about service because this was almost cafeteria style. You order your food at the counter and they call out the order number for you to pick up.
My problem with this place is the quality of the food was horrible. Everything tastes like it was yesterday’s food and was so freakin expensive for what you get.
I had a mini cinnamon bun that I could have used as bricks to build the sturdiest building ever made. They were so dry that even the cream cheese didn’t help.
My friend got the biscuits and gravy and it stunk so bad I almost gagged. The reason for the smell was all the cheese they use in their gravy. Um, cheese on biscuits and gravy?
He couldn’t even eat half of it. The biscuits had the same problem as everything else… Extremely dry and was left over from the day before and kept out all day.
He also got the mini beignets that were supposed to have cream cheese and had nothing. These looked disgusting. They were in no way beignets.
The worst part is immediately after we ordered (10 minutes before we got our food) we realized that there was a check in special. The woman behind the counter told me it was too late that the owner only allows this if said before ordering.
I should have canceled my order and made her re-​do everything.
The service besides the check in part was one of the highlights of the experience. But, all the service in the world cannot make yesterday’s food not taste like yesterday’s food.

My husband and I had breakfast here this past weekend with out friend Mr. Y! It was a Sunday around 10:30a. We easily found a parking space in their little lot and made our way inside. Most tables were already in use and the place grew more crowded during our time there. There was even live music that began about a half hour into our visit! Yay saxophones!
Although it was already beginning to bustle, there was no line! I warned the lady working the register that it was my first time and that I might need help choosing between all the yummy looking options. My husband had already made up his mind and was set on the Paleo Breakfast. The woman was kind enough to point out the Paleo Breakfast was included in their Pick 2 brunch deal. This helped me narrow down my choices and make decisions — I went with the NOLA Apple French Toast, the chai tea and the seasonal Apple Cake. All of that for only $ 20! We also got an iced coffee for my husband, which allowed us to use the Unilocal coupon for 3 free beignets!
We left the counter with the Apple Cake and waited for our order number to be called. This apple cake was a slab of beautiful coffee cake the size of my head! Plenty to share between the three of us! And boy was it delicious! It was one of my favorite parts of the meal. There were large slices of soft, seasoned apples, crunchy brown sugar crumbles and moist, sweet cake!
Our drinks were ready next. My husband wasn’t crazy about his coffee — he said it tasted like an Americano. My chai came in a cute little cup. The foam on top looked so inviting, I couldn’t help but sip it immediately and then, of course, burned my tongue. The chai was nice and not particularly sweet.
Finally, the main courses were ready and we all dug in! My husband loved his Paleo Breakfast — he said the sausage in it was awesome and he wants to go back for more!
My french toast consisted of two long, thin slices of bread absolutely covered in cooked apples and syrup. I usually prefer thicker slices when it comes to french toast, but the apples and super sweet syrup made up for that!
Our friend Mr. Y got the Beignet sliders. He said they were fine, but nothing special and wouldn’t get them again.
We all were disappointed in the beignets. Mr. Y recently came back from a trip to New Orleans and said the ones he had there were three times the size, were SUPER soft and were covered in mounds of sugar. These were small, which is fine. The real problem I had was how hard and flavorless they were. My friend Mr. Y had ordered himself one pf the chocolate filled beignets which he said was much better! Mostly because it was filled with chocolate and how can you go wrong? The gooey chocolate helped with the texture and lack of flavor.
While I certainly won’t go back for the beignets, I will return for the paleo options, the french toast and the seasonal pastries!

This place is just really overpriced and customer service is nonexistent. Oh and they take a good amount of time to make anything, so don’t go when you’re in a hurry. But the main thing that will keep me from ever going back is the lady who took my order, I truly felt like I was just annoying her throughout my whole ordering experience. Not fun, and I am not returning.

After my visit to IKEA I was wanting a light dinner. I was pleasantly surprised with the two different quiche options that Café Ventana offered. I also had a craving for a Bloody Mary. The vegetable quiche did not disappoint, tons of veggies in each bite and a nice crust to finish it off. Now the Bloody Mary, I was a little worried when I noticed that it looked like it was made with tomato sauce, and not juice. I then took my first sip, it was so spicy it felt like my lips were burning. I grabbed a glass of water. I went in again… more fire. Finally I got brave, I took my drink back to the counter. I explained that I tried to drink it and it was just too spicy. The lady behind the counter was wonderful, she told me it was her mothers secret recipe and a lot of people found it to be very spicy. My question is than change your recipe. She quickly credited me my money back. WOW, thank you. I will go back.

On a Friday morning, I pulled off from Café Ventana blasting Drake and drive– dancing because my almond milk mocha was good and the weather was great — I was like this:

Upon entering there is a heavy-​duty sewer smell. I never for a second thought it had anything to do with the café as construction is going on two doors down. The menu is written in white on an opaque glass type hanging so I had questions about the menu. The young lady at the counter was irritated as if I was bothering her; like she was not at work and I walked up to her and just started asking her if the burritos had real eggs or egg whites. On my first visit, I ordered an almond milk mocha, a chocolate beignet, 3 regular beignets and a black bean breakfast burrito + guacamole «spread». I felt that $ 1.00 extra for guacamole «spread» was high but on I went. Everything tasted great and the gentleman that was preparing the food was so pleasant he made up for the awkwardness with order taker.
Second visit, new register lady same unhelpful vibe and I placed two separate orders. I had a sandwich and a small soup that came up to $ 13 then I had to pay an extra $ 0.50 for spinach and $ 0.50 extra for tomato. The guacamole «spread» that was included in the original price seemed to be missing because I didn’t see anything bright or lime green. Yet after further inspection and opening up the sandwich the guacamole «spread» clearly had aged because it was brown.
Admittedly, I’m one of those people who just hands over my card and doesn’t really comb through the receipts for individual pricing; I just get what I like and keep it moving. I was totally dismayed when I looked at the receipt and saw there was a dollar up charge for almond milk and another dollar up charge for syrup. I asked if this was a mistake and they said no, a basic latte with no flavoring not even caramel is $ 4.20 and everything else is extra. Wait, wait — I just saw that my $ 4 beignet was frozen now I’m being violated — $ 6.20 for a small almond milk mocha?
What??? Uh thank you and goodnight! Now I’m looking like this:
$ 1.00 for syrup additions /​upgrades (the national rate is $ 0.50)
$ 1.00 for milk upgrade (the national rate is $ 0.60)
I am a gainfully employed adult and thought that these prices were high so I don’t know how these college kids can afford to eat here on a regular basis even if they are using Billiken Bucks. Why violate a few when you could align your prices properly and increase your margins overall?
Sales 201: No one should be denied the ability to make a healthy living but businesses should price according to perceived customer value not their desired markup. On well-​known items like coffee you can go at/​below market price and make that loss up with higher margin items that are exclusive to you or things people don’t mind paying more for because of their innate value (organic etc.).
Café Ventana and Felecia (*) can hold hands and run down a hill together with these blanket high as heck markups. Café Ventana has not positioned itself in concert with the prices they’re charging. In the land of the Kardashians (Calabasas, CA — a very affluent area of L. A/​USA) I have had hemp and almond milk mocha’s that didn’t cost as much as they do here. Not to be severe on my own city but how are STL prices higher than L. A? How are the prices here higher than what large national chains charge? Look, I get it — pricing is complicated yet it is far from rocket science. The Owners need to research the competition; the milk upgrade (s) and syrup are 50%-70% higher than large national chains & shops in L.A./Chicago that at least sale organic and fair trade. For these prices we shouldn’t be getting premade «spreads» and frozen items (we can do that at home Bro).
This was on my to try list and as with most places I try to give two tries. I doubt I’ll be trying again as there are too many other options that are not only more reasonably priced but have better customer service and better food quality. Not to mention Tim Hortons, Park Avenue Coffee and all the other coffee businesses coming to that area. The meeting and quite spaces in the annex are nice (hot as sin but nice).
* See my review on Tree House Vegetarian Restaurant to get details on who and what Felicia means.

I had my first experience here today for lunch. The atmosphere is really nice here, with its cozy, rustic coffee shop ambiance. I had the Cuban wrap with a side salad. Those two things together were $ 13, which seems waaaaaaay overpriced! Although tasty, the portions of each were very small also. I used a Unilocal check-​in deal for 3 free beignets, which were decent and warm. The service wasn’t terrible but wasn’t the best either. I won’t say that I will never come back because this place would make for a good location for a casual business meeting over coffee, and the centralized location is nice, but this may very well be my last time coming here because the prices are too high for what you get.

I loved this place! They had a large menu, everything from savory to sweet options for breakfast and lunch. A cute, hipster, coffee shop vibe was ever present as it was full of SLU students studying and hanging out. The Banana flambé french toast I had was delicious, although I would’ve preferred it to have a little less sauce — it was a bit soggy. I also got a delicious, unique latte and a yummy, warm chocolate beignet. Would go back soon if it wasn’t so far from home.

Ugh. So I’m not super picky on coffee at all. This place has been on my list to go to for a long time but I doubt I will be returning. So I wanted an 8oz Carmel latte with almond milk. They said I could only get a medium or large… ok. So I did. The total for that is $ 6.20. Really steep. I get paying extra for almond milk but a dollar extra? Then a dollar for Carmel. Whatever, I reluctantly paid. When I got it, i was taken aback by how MUCH Carmel was in it. It was so full of syrup that I tossed half of it out. The plain beignet is $ 2.50 and the chocolate one is $ 3.50. They were fine but I wouldn’t get them again if I had to pay that much. Given they’re right by a college you’d think their prices would reflect that but they do not. Disappointing.

So, here’s the thing. The ambiance of this place is wonderful. Throughout grad school, it was the perfect place to study. But here’s the other thing: everything else about this place is truly terrible. Horrible customer service. And the prices are unreal. I mean, I just bought a plain bagel and it was $ 4. Oh, AND I WAITED TWENTY MINUTES FOR THE BAGEL. 20 MINUTES.
And my 20 oz. vanilla latte? $ 6. I wish I was kidding. The cons of this place far outweigh the couple of pros. It just seems like a total mess here at this point.

Good for SLU students as its right across the street from campus. For us non-​SLU folk it can be a little crowded. That being said, it has lots of space and you can usually find somewhere to hang out. They do have sufficient parking which is a refreshing change of pace. I’ve always had pretty good coffee here and have even tried a few pastries (you get a free one for signing in on foursquare).

I can’t believe how overpriced this place is! When I was at SLU as a student I would not eat here because food was expensive. But, back then, if you did buy food it was enough to fill you up. Now I can spend the $ 10 on a wrap but I at least expect it to be enough for a meal. Alas, it is not and the food is underwhelming.
I just ordered a medium iced coffee and a wrap that was the size of a mcdonalds breakfast burrito and paid $ 14. I want to like my neighborhood coffee shop but it looks like I’ll be spending more of my time and money at Starbucks.

The bathroom is a weird reason to like a place, but whoever decorated Café Ventana knows what’s up. The ceiling is plastered with a collage of magazine cutouts and the upper half of the walls are coated in chalkboard paint. The fixtures look straight out of your idea of what a mansion should be when you were a kid, resulting in a room that is a 12-​year-​old girl’s fever dream. Perfection.
The crafty, shabby chic mix is carried throughout the space, with one of my favorite pieces being the window pane that’s been hung and converted into a menu board. So cute.
I’m not a coffee drinker so I can’t comment on their beverage selection, but I did have their granola with vanilla yogurt. Café Ventana managed to do the impossible and serve me something with raisins that didn’t make me want to chuck it across the room. Their house-​made granola was the perfect balance of crunchy and chewy, and when my order came up the barista was kind enough to ask if the yogurt to granola ratio was okay (it was).
Ventana also has a nice patio out back if you want to bask in the sunshine or escape from the buzz of people chatting (and, in our case, loudly guffawing) inside the café.

I stopped coming here to study because a lot of faith-​based student groups from SLU started using the quiet study area to conduct entire meetings at full volume (never mind the fact that there are conference rooms in the back available for booking).
I don’t need to hear about how the people of Guatemala desperately need Bibles while I’m studying. When people reassess their etiquette I’ll think about returning… until then, there are much better places in St. Louis (ahem, Hartford).

I love the laid back vibe of Café Ventana. The décor is adorable, the fireplace is cozy… It really is the perfect place to kick back on a rainy day. My go-​to food items here are the lobster bisque and beignets. Both are delicious. I’ve had the BLT before too but the amount of bacon on the sandwich seems to vary between orders.
Easy parking, relatively quick when they’re not super busy, and an adorable place to hang out.

I’m a little obsessed with Café Ventana’s vintage décor, from the salvaged window-​menu to the gas lamp outside. Even moreso, I am a fan of their strong drip coffee paired with a heap of beignets! Nothing better than a ball of deep-​fried dough piled with powdered sugar, amIright? No, they don’t pile *quite* as much powdered sugar on those French pastries as Café du Monde, but really, that’s why that place is so darn special. That and the wait.
Oh, if I would deduct half a star from Café Ventana, it would be for that. I do appreciate a freshly-​brewed coffee and freshly-​baked pastry, I really do, but things can get seriously backed up here. My husband and I were contemplating ordering lunch after our coffees, but we noticed a table before us still hadn’t gotten their food after at least twenty minutes, and we just didn’t like the idea of waiting that long or more for our food to come out. It’s not like they’re taking the turkey out back and plucking it, ya know?
That being said, the lunch menu does look tempting, and I really want to try it on a day when we have the time to spare. They feature salads, wraps, and beignet sliders. (???) Also, I was here on New Year’s Day and heard a couple guys ordering screwdrivers. So if you’re in a Hair of the Dog mood, well, here you go.

Café Ventana is a nice little spot to have a light meal, a pastry, and a decent cup of coffee. I usually come on evenings to work and have a latte or tea.
They offer a variety of latte flavors and a good selection of soups, salads, and sandwiches. I really like the Greek salad — plenty of olives and feta which many places seem to skirt on. The flavored lattes are okay. Nothing mind blowing but interesting to try at least. Additionally, they offer a decent selection of beers and some wine. It’s a nice extra for dinners, if anything.
Seating is plentiful and most nights people are spread out across the shop’s two rooms. Patios are available in the summer for chill evenings. Usually you’ll find this place filled with SLU students (it is right next to the main campus), but I’ve never found it to be a pretentious, unwelcoming coffee shop for non-​students. Free wi-​fi is great too!
Service is usually top-​notch, but it’s rarely consistent. Never terrible, but what night you come can greatly affect how quickly you get your food or how well your drink is made. Regardless of speed, though, servers have always been friendly.
I hear great things about their breakfast too, but I haven’t had the chance to check it out as I’m only around in the evenings. Gotta make the trek soon.
PS — check in and you get a coupon for free beignets with a $ 10 purchase. What a steal!

Update time! I’ve had the steak breakfast burrito a few times now and it’s worth writing a quick note on. If you’re wanting the perfect mix of cheese, meet, eggs, and peppers than get it.
They perfectly try the tortilla so it’s not too greasy and the perfect amount of crispy. They add a few peppers in there but not too much. It’s by no means spicy but it adds a little flavor to it. They have hot sauce if you want to take it up a notch.
I recommend coming in just before the lunch rush as it can get quite popular with the SLU crowd. My next item to try here are their boozy coffee cocktails. Overall Café Ventana is a super solid spot.

Awesome breakfast panini and great beignets