Old Milwaukee Cafe

Just warm yummy home cooked food from great people that love what they do. This is the closest to Sat breakfast my grandma made at home. If you read the reviews the ones that complain and give fewer stars regarding the wait and the product never really have true home cooked family traditional breakfast growing up. That’s their loss and our culture’s loss. Food home cooked traditional style is more expensive to make than the mass produced crap most people call food.

Needed some pancake action this morning, so I headed for Old Milwaukee where they always serve great pancakes (I usually get a blueberry). I don’t eat here very often, maybe 4 times a year when I get a craving for really good pancakes. These pancakes are always perfect, never had a bad one. That being said, my trip there today reminded me why I don’t come here that often. Being particularly hungry today, I ordered one blueberry pancake, 2 over medium and some ham. It was all good and tasty, but when I looked at the bill, it all came back to me. These three items, plus a cup of coffee, came to $ 18.93. Basically twenty bucks for breakfast for one. I don’t mind paying for good food, but this is just a little over the top. There was no option to make this order any cheaper either, everything was ala carte.
I like the food here, but the prices are too high and the server is about as sunny as the weather around here. Nice hot sauce selection too. Perhaps this place should be open on Sunday, a premium breakfast day, so they can book more sales and not have to have such outrageous prices.

Closed signed posted this morning. Not sure if it a seasonal thing, temporary or permanent

We have been to the Old Milwaukee a few times (maybe 4 or 5, not sure) after my initial review.
After being there a few more times and having tried different items on the menu I thought I should update the review to reflect my feelings about the place.
Our bill last time came up to $ 52 for two people. Nothing too fancy, just regular eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy and coffee for two. I thought it was a bit pricey for breakfast.
Also it helps to know that this is a mom and pop business. The husband cooks while the wife waits and serves the food. They sometimes have a girl helping when it is REAL busy. Expect to wait at least 30 to 45 min or more for your food when the place is full.
I still think the food is great, fresh and well prepared, but because of the price we are just not going to be eating there as often.

This place is tiny! There is seating for about 18 in the whole restaurant. The food is very good, but I would not recommend bringing young kids here. Even well behaved ones will probably bother the adult clientele in such close quarters and I just kind of got the feeling that they aren’t crazy about kids. That being said, if you are looking for a place to go on a breakfast date or catch up with a friend, this is the place. Good food and decent service. Parking is on the street only, but was pretty easy to find, even on a Saturday morning.

Delicious food, amazing service. We ordered biscuits and gravy (hamburger gravy, which was a nice change), a blueberry pancake (tiny flavorful blueberries!), and the Spanish scram petite. Also, sausage links. Everything was great, and was the perfect cure for a hangover.
There are three shelves of hot sauce choices, from the standard Tabasco to the exotic. And every table has a special custom gourmet salt blend, which is also for sale.
I can’t encourage you enough to go here. It’s a small place, so it’ll be hard to get a table at peak times, but it’s well worth it. And if you find yourself needing brunch on a random day? This is your spot.
A booth opened up after we’d already had coffee and the server offered to let us move. This ended up being a great choice, as our food totally filled up the larger table.
Bring your friends and your appetite. You won’t be disappointed! You’ll be supporting a literal mom and pop business, so you can feel great about feeling so full.
¹¹⁄₁₀. Will devour again!

Locally owned and operated by two amazing people, this is a place to check out. We went on a weekday and found a table. The food does take a while to cook, as there are literally only two people that work here, but the service is outstanding and the food is most definitely worth the wait.

Stumbled upon this place on the way home from my Dr appointment in Tacoma. Was really wanting some eggs Benedict but they don’t offer that on the menu, bummer. Had tried calling first to see if they had it but there was no answer & I couldn’t find a breakfast menu online, so I stopped in.
I ended up ordering scrambled eggs with hash browns and a pancake. My biggest complaint about this place was that it was honestly the slowest service I have ever had. To be fair they were full, but full meant 10 customers total, including myself. It’s a tiny little place! I was surprised it was filled up on a Tuesday at 11:00 am but given that it only takes 10 people to fill the place up, maybe that wasn’t so unusual after all. Anyways, it took a full 30 minutes after ordering for me to get my food, so word to the wise, don’t drop by if you’re in somewhat of a hurry or hoping to be in and out in 30 minutes like you can get away with in some places.
The portion sizes were great. More than enough food. Would have even been plenty if I’d split my order with another person. They brought me the biggest pancake i’d ever seen, light, fluffy and pretty perfectly cooked. The scrambled eggs were fine, nothing noteworthy about them, but the pancake was definitely the best part of my order. The hash browns weren’t crispy enough for my liking. They had a small amount of crispy bits on top but the majority of them were more of a baked potato consistency. I also like their impressive shelf of hot sauces, you can walk over and grab whatever you prefer and they had all the hot sauces I’d ever seen, plus some I had never seen.
The menu seemed a bit limited, would have liked to see a more extensive menu, and some faster customer service but again, given the small size of the place I suppose those things are to be expected.
The price was fair as well. $ 12.57 with tax for two eggs, hash browns, two pieces of toast and the biggest pancake I’ve ever seen. I left with more than half of my food left over.
I would probably be back again if invited by a friend or family member, it was decent but I’ll definitely keep searching for that «great, out of this world» breakfast place.

This wonderful restaurant serves breakfast all day. The meals are always fresh, and taste divine. If you’re in the mood for a homemade blueberry pancake, this is definitely the place to go. Pat and Chad put their heart into ensuring each customer is well cared for, and you’ll always get a thank you. I love coming here for breakfast by myself or with a group to conduct a breakfast meeting. It’s a lovely local place.

Went for the first time a few weeks ago. The wait was about 30min to an hour, we waited outside since there was no space inside. When we were seated we looked over our menu and ordered about 10 minutes later. The service was very slow, but it was understandable since there are only two employees: the chef and the waitress. I got the café scramble with bacon and my boyfriend got two pancakes with banana slices (an extra $ 4). I understand that because there was no additional staff that there would be a long wait for the food and long wait for service, but it got annoying after a while. The food was good, big portions, but I probably won’t come back. It was high priced and slow service. If you enjoy a «mom & pop» type of service, this is what you’re looking for.

Breakfast is on point. The hash browns were potatoes. I know that sounds dumb but they had them as potatoes and turned them into hash browns themselves. I mean they are so good I’m writing a review about them! You can literally tastes the difference.
The seating is what it is. It’s a tiny place with minimal seating. There is a bench right outside and you guilt watch people eating to speed up the process.
There are two people that work this place. The cook and the server/host/expo/busser…yeah your food might take a little time to get out but it’s worth it.
One of my top favorites in T– Town!

The food was okay, typical diner food. The 1.5 hour wait was unacceptable. It was a total waste of my morning. Won’t be going back or recommending it to anyone else.

Let’s just get the negatives out the way first. The seating is lacking. There are literally 5 – 6 booths to seat people. There is no waiting room, so I can only imagine the hell on a crowed morning and a growling stomach. The wait time is a little long, but I’ve experienced worse. However, the breakfast was really good. The portion size is large and the server was nice. I would definitely go here again, just not on a crowded weekend morning.

Cool little place… really little lol! But despite the small size, they provide big, delicious breakfasts! The shelf full of hot sauces was a great touch, and the coffee is mighty tasty! 4 stars instead of 5 because the wait for the food was super long… well over an hour!

This place was amazing, food was great. Service was great and friendly… Only reason it got a 4 star instead of 5 was due to room space which isn’t much and that in return caused a long wait to get seated… If you have the time to wait then I recommend this place… As its good food and all 6 or so tables will probably be full… If you’re in a hurry to dine and go then you might want to look elsewhere.

They were super busy. Having only 7 – 8 small tables on a Sunday morning meant I stood I crowded corner for half hour+ before being seated. Server was nice and greeted everyone as they came in trying to organize all of us. The great reviews gave me patience. The food was not worth the wait. Hash browns were mushy with no crispy outside. Only crispy was weird bits of skin that was off putting. The worst was the eggs scrambled with cheese. It came out with overcooked eggs with raw, cold cheese on top. Good server saw my look of dismay-​i thought I hid feelings better than that –and she took it back. So, about 10 min later it all came back. Cheese melted with rubber eggs. Not good. Server seemed attentive but during my long wait I noticed how long folks were waiting– way too long for the simple food on offer. I think they need another cook. Keep the waitress.
The blueberry pancakes looked good. Should have ordered that but im not going back.

First time here and it didn’t disappoint. I had the cinnamon roll french toast which was very filling and delicious! I couldn’t eat half, along with the home fries which were also decent. The hubs had a Denver scramble– good and hot. My dad had meat lovers scramble– again good and hot. Overall the food was good, freshly cooked, and worth trying out. I give this place three stars simply because of the wait (which we knew about). I probably wouldn’t come again just because of the wait, unless I was seriously craving the French toast or I came early enough not to wait.

Been coming here once a month for 10 years. Like family. Never had a bad experience. Sometimes there is a line but only because it’s so good. Best breakfast in Tacoma. Great French toast. Bacon is out of this world. Pat is most amazing hostess. Remembers our standing orders every time. Feels like having breakfast at warm and cozy mom and pop diner. But even better.

Loved it! Unilocalers are not exaggerating… (this place is so small you have to go outside to change your mind)
Everything was cooked perfectly. Portions were large for me, I took the rest home and enjoyed it later. Very friendly and accommodating.
I had corned beef hash with sunny side up eggs. Perfect.
The short wait was worth it. Just don’t be in a hurry, be patient and you’ll enjoy it better!

We came here on a Friday afternoon an hour before close and we didn’t have to wait! I got the strawberry french toast and my bf got pancakes and eggs, hashbrowns, toast and sausages.
The portions here are huge, definitely bang for your buck. My strawberry french toast was covered in whip cream with strawberries (just how I like it). you can’t really go wrong with this dish. It was not overly sweet, which I also like. Also, I only got two french toast and I was stuffed. The strawberry french toast was not on the regular menu. I believe it is a seasonal dish.
The pancakes here are HUGE. They make it from homemade batter. I tried the sausages from my bf’s dish and I really enjoyed it as well.
It is like a mom and pop kind of restaurant. Service was fast as there weren’t really anybody here. The owners were friendly as well. I would return if I am ever in Tacoma.