Specialty’s Café & Bakery

It’s times like this where I wish I could’ve just eaten the 3x deep fried bean and beef burrito for 1.25, maybee then I’d understand how this sandwich was so unsatisfying. The bell peppers were sour, the lettuce was already old (as you can see) and for a bag of chips and a sandwhich for 11 $? Quiznos could’ve given me a better deal at this rate. Sorry, no can do ³⁄₁₀

My experiences at the various Specialty’s locations have been pretty positive overall. This morning, as I was waiting for Bolt Bus to Portland, I stopped in for coffee and breakfast. Ordered drip, was told that they only had dark roast left. That was fine, I’m not that picky, but it made me wonder why they hadn’t stocked up before the inevitable pre-​weekend rush. I also got an egg & cheddar breakfast sandwich. I was pleasantly surprised with this. It’s fairly substantial and the ciabatta bread seems to be dusted with olive oil or something similar. The egg and cheese were good. No complaints.

While waiting for my Bolt Bus, I dropped by Specialty’s to grab some food before my 3-​hour ride back home. Because I came in around 8:30 am, they only offered the breakfast menu. I love Specialty’s sandwiches, but their breakfast items ain’t crackin’!
I ordered the egg, ham, and cheese sandwich. These sandwiches come on ciabatta bread (personally not my favorite) so I asked to substitute it for a croissant. They said they ran out of those… it was 8:30 in the morning… why are they already out? They must make a limited amount of baked goods in the morning because I overheard the lady in front of me order something that was also «sold out». Fine, whatever… I’ll try the ciabatta.
This was NOT a good sandwich. First, the ciabatta had a hard crust (I understand this is what a ciabatta is… which is why I don’t like it) that dug and cut into my gums with each bite. And the texture was so tough… I could feel my TMJ coming on! The ham and cheese were fine but the egg was that fake spongy stuff that was dry and left a weird aftertaste in my mouth. I was sorely disappointed, considering it was $ 5.32 for this! Should have gone next door to Starbucks and get their breakfast sandwiches which tastes way better!

Rude staff, and incredibly slow. 20 minutes for a turkey sandwich at 1:30pm? I get you have online orders to fill but surely it makes sense to have at least one of your 10 cooks make things for the people waiting in the store. Ridiculous. Never again.

Good food, but…
Their online ordering/​pick up seems to always be behind lately. Are they short staffed now and prioritizing walk up orders? As I write this there’s like 25~ people waiting. Order an hour early I guess.

This place is right next to where I work so I went there today. I ordered online and went down right at noon and my meal was waiting for me, I didn’t have to wait at all! The sandwich was pretty good, nothing extraordinary but the bread was amazing, you can definitely tell they make it. Definitely a good place to grab a quick lunch!

If I could give them zero stars, I would. Forty-​five minutes to receive a club sandwich ordered online while I stood there watching walk-​in after walk-​in order, receive their order, and leave. When they FINALLY found my order, I asked to speak to the manager, whose emotional response showed zero remorse or zero concern at all for having eaten up over half of my lunch break just waiting for an order their website indicated should have been ready 18 minutes prior to its final delivery. There’s no one calling out names on orders (forcing people to walk up and paw at other folks’ order bags to see if their name is on it), and at least half the counter staff seemed confused about what to do with stacks of pagers and order sacks piling up. It’s possibly the most atrocious failure of a café I’ve been to yet. I can’t encourage people enough to stay away from this place.

I pass this place everyday, and I’ve always thought about going in. What’s put me off? The smell. It just smells like stale coffee and food… But I gave it a chance.
I walked in, not knowing what to order so naturally, I wanted to look at the menu. The cashier kept asking what I wanted. Girl… I don’t know!!! So, I finally just felt pressured and looked for their specials — I went with the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Javiva. I regret it.
The drink was sooo sweet. Über sweet. I should not have gotten a 16 oz — definitely get that in a smaller size if you really want to try it! It was the kind of sweet where I felt sick after halfway through the drink.
I want to come back because they seem to have Panera-​style menu choices, but I’m not sure how much I would want to come back for a drink.

Wasn’t able to actual give this place my money because they close at 5:30, yes thats FIVE THIRTY IN THE AFTERNOON. After reading the reviews for this place I did myself a favor by dumbing it down and going to starbunks before I caught my train.

Third time in a ROW that I’ve gotten a wrong order in what should be a simple process. Large salad sizes have been reduced but are still $ 13. I complained along with another customer. Never going back and suggest you that you do the same. Many great options like Sprouts are nearby.

Average at best. The breakfast sandwich are really greasy. The lunch sandwich don’t have a good selection. The coffee is so so. There is almost always a line but the online ordering system is great.

I have ordered from this place for work 5 times. They have screwed up our lost our order every time.

Great café and bakery for breakfast and lunch. Good variety of food items. You can order online and pick it up. Perfect option for people with busy schedules. Friendly customer service. Very tasty foods.

Updating again — the service has improved and since my diet has narrowed, I only order online. I couldn’t tell you with certainty if that’s why my perception of the service has improved, but I do not *hate* going here now.

Specialties is certainly one of those quick breakfast and lunch hot spots in the downtown areas as it has fairly quick service and several options to choose from.
Come in the morning and grab yourself a pastry (just don’t look at the calorie count posted on the wall) or a breakfast sandwich. The breakfast sandwiches are seemingly giant. I ordered a sausage one that crazily enough came with two sausage patties, lots of egg, cheese, all on a ciabatta. It was more than I could eat.
Fast forward to a time I stopped in for lunch and the food is all so-​so.
The wild mushroom and Gruyère soup was seriously tasty — side note, have them add croutons to it.
The salads are dismiss-​able. Shredded lettuce and some hit or miss toppings. It was nothing I couldn’t have made at home… especially for around $ 8. A small portion is plenty for one person however.
They also serve several sandwich options. The place can get crowded around lunch time for sure. It’s a decent stop for lunch in the area.

I work in one of the Union Station office buildings and on many days I don’t want to venture out into downtown for food. With the overpopulation of Asian places in the neighborhood, some of the time I just want a basic sandwich, and Specialty’s is right there in the same plaza.
My issue with them is that for last 3 – 4 times I have ordered online, they have either gotten my order wrong or omitted items altogether. It still ends up tasting fine, but when I order a salad that contains chicken, plus an extra side of chicken, and a banana for pickup, I often get a salad without chicken, one single side of chicken, and no banana. I don’t always have time to check my order bag (and I shouldn’t have to, IMO), but they just keep messing it up.

Pretty good food once you get it. Slooooowww as a slug mixed with an old turtle. The pop machine has limitless options. I would suggest calling in your order or doing it online and picking it up later.

I love their cookies. I really do, despite the awful price. But I can’t stand the customer service. I swear the employees have bad attitude compared to starbucks next door even when it’s super busy. At starbucks even the newbies are at least trained.
I just hate their new staff, which is the same group of people, I’ve noticed after the remodeling. They’re all young, maybe around my age and I’m in college rn but they can’t stop disrespecting people… or maybe just me. Obviously they don’t get good training. I hate that I have to have the cashiers (worst staff) get my ordered cookie because after some bad service I don’t want them near my food.
But I realized I’ve spent way too much on their snacks and there are starbucks, Tullys and uwajimaya nearby so I won’t be back as long as those staff is still there.

I stopped here one weekday morning and wanted to grab some breakfast. I think their cappucino scone is pretty good so I had a craving for that scone. Unfortunately, service was a bit slow. They only had one person manning the cashier box, and he was also getting the pastries as well. They seemed understaffed and I felt like they could have had one more person to make the line go more smoothly.
And to top it off, they didn’t have the scone that I wanted! It was only 8AM! Why!
EDIT: I think they got rid of the scone or something because I’ve checked back at least two more times, around 8AM, and I didn’t see the scone anymore.
Also I saw this lady come in with a box and just ask for all their day-​old pastries. I don’t know what kind of arrangement they worked out but apparently you can do this. I didn’t see her pay either so I’m not sure if she pre-​paid or she just scored like 10 pastries for free!

It’s worth noting that Specialties is a café and a bakery. There is plenty of great baked goods in the cases out front, ranging from cookies to croissants to quiche. I like to stop here in the morning because it’s on my walk from the bus stop to the office, and the only other breakfast options on that path are Starbucks and Tully’s. Both are fine, but crowed, neither can compete with Specialties for breakfast options, and I can get good coffee at work. Another quick breakfast option is steel-​cut oatmeal. So Specialties it is!
The café part of Specialties is very good, but I think you really need to order online to make it work out, because they tend to have a load at lunchtime, and you could be in for a bit of a wait. I think they must get a lot of takeout orders, because the seating is somewhat minimal at my local Specialties. Other locations have better seating. And don’t be expecting any actual service. When your order is ready they’ll call your name, and you need to go up to the window and grab it.
The online ordering process is very good. You can set up favorites, customize your order, etc. They have this part of the experience figured out way better than most other restaurants.

Such awesome cookies!
I don’t go often enough to know if the food or service is spotty, but i do know I’ve really liked the food so far. Lots of fresh greens in the sandwiches, the fruit is fresh, and the bakery items are just yum.
You would think fresh greens and fruit should be the standard, but I’ve been to a lot of sandwich shops. Freshness and an abundance of it is just not a priority for most lunch places.
I would have to say I’m not a fan of the bread, so that would be a big down side if bread is your thing. Even still, I would love to have a place like Specialty near my work place.