Mad Hatter Cafe

Cute place. Worth trying!

I was very pleased with my visit today. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, which was savory and filling. I got freshly made tortilla soup on the side, which was filled with veggies that tasted fresh. I definitely suggest ordering just that on a cold day like today! Service was very friendly and helpful.
Great location, plentiful seating and creative atmosphere. Oh, and a good lunch that won’t break the bank. I’ll be back!

When one is stuck in a hotel for an entire month for work, you end up seeking convenient, good food.
One morning I was lounging in my hotel room, browsing Unilocal Dallas, and this place popped up as being withing walking distance of my hotel. Needless to say, I was excited. The hotel ‘food’ was so awful I was willing to buy cereal at ⁷⁄₁₁ to avoid it.
Mad Hatter took care of me for breakfast and lunch lots of days, and even dinner (to go) some days. Their sandwiches, pasta, baked potatoes and desserts are all freshly made and super flavorful. My top two favorite things were the philly cheesteak sandwich, and peanut butter pie. I’m home now and considering finding a new reason to come to Dallas just for that pie.
Seriously. This place is packed for the lunch hour and there’s good reason for it. They’ll treat you right and you’ll leave happy.

Great spot with excellent food and huge portions. The staff is always very upbeat and seem to enjoy what they do. One of my go-​to spots in Dallas for breakfast.

Stumbled upon this place while looking for a different restaurant, but it worked out for the best. FYI this place is actually located on the opposite side of Federal, right next to Serj’s. I wasn’t very adventurous today and ordered the tomato basil soup with a side house salad. The soup was a little different than I expected since it had a thick consistency, almost like a pasta sauce. But it was very flavorful and I loved the chunks of tomatoes. Also, kudos to the side salad not being just three leaves of lettuce. It was a decent size and very fresh, otherwise pretty typical for a salad. They say all their dressings are homemade so that’s pretty cool. And the peach ice tea was oh so refreshing and didn’t taste like I was drinking sugar packets.

There is a guy here that is TRULY sold on the Alice in Wonderland theme of the café. Because, I kid you not, he stopped by my table to tell each person in my party of 4 that the rule of Mad Hatter Café is that there are no rules — or something to that effect because I have never seen Alice in Wonderland.
But whatevs, that is not where my beef lies.
Funnily enough, my beef lies in their beef. I ordered a beef tenderloin salad and was given ground beef. I was with my coworkers so I wasn’t about to raise hell — but that is super insulting. The description clearly states medium rare beef tenderloin. I got overcooked burger meat.
What?!
I mean, it’s one thing if they told me they ran out and apologized but they tried to put one over.
They lost my business. Neglected employees needing to make conversation with a group clearly lost in their own conversation + cheating me out of medium rare meat? Nope. Sad too since I work, quite literally, down the street.

I am in love with the veggie tamale! I roaming downtown looking for something new, saw good Unilocal reviews and took a chance.
The tamale is huge, the biggest I’ve ever seen. Filled with perfect veggies and on the side are the best black beans I’ve ever tasted, seriously good! Also, seasonal veggies are on the side.
It’s a small, dine-​in restaurant near St. Paul station with colorful décor and nice guys in the back. When I go back, I will pull myself away from the tamale and try a salad. There are specials on the board as you enter and mesmerizing desserts staring at you. It’s definitely worth a try.

First time here and since I work across the street I have no doubt I’ll be back. Ordered the Philly, raw onions and no mushroom. It was awesome, bread soft and meat was tender and cooked perfectly. Added a Coke and kettle chips and I’m good! Staff super friendly and attentive. Checked on me a couple times and helped me with the menu. Overall great lunch spot, will need to try them for breakfast and dessert sometime.

Learned of this restaurant through Unilocal.I wanted to eat a good salad for a fair price and decided to check it out since I love down town. The parking wasn’t as hard to find as I thought it would be, so that was nice. It was a bit hidden, but the atmosphere was very laid back, they have a couch for you to sit down, a TV and very cool paintings. I ordered the Cobb salad and it was delicious and the price was good as well. I will definitely be coming back to try another salad, but this is definitely a place to visit.

Do yourself a favor and skip the BS over priced hotel breakfast. You don’t go to the Mad Hatter for the coffee, you go for the kick ass food. I had a croissant sandwich with egg, bacon, jalapeños and tomato. It was excellent. The staff is friendly and happy to see you there. We’ll be going back.

Found this place on Unilocal and decided to give it a try. Upon walking in we were greeted by four gentleman. We wanted to try the breakfast but it was past 11:00am so I tried the blackened chicken. It was very tasty with a homemade flavor. This place has awesome customer service.

Came in for a late lunch today. It’s conveniently located and has good reviews on Unilocal,but I was slightly disappointed with the food. I ordered the southwest chicken salad ($ 8). The chicken to salad ratio was 2:3. A LOT of chicken, overly salty chicken, so hot that my salad was wilted and warm. The croutons are outstanding but the rest of the food was mediocre. I can see two microwaves in the kitchen from my table. Décor is mediocre, cleanliness is mediocre. All cups and the takeout boxes are Styrofoam and dishes are plastic. Please consider real plates and paper takeout products!
Despite mediocre food, the service was great. All the workers were cheerful and helpful and my food was ready in minutes which makes me want to go back to check out their breakfast. Hopefully breakfast is better than lunch!

Surprisingly, the Alice in wonderland gimmick is not too cheesy. The staff are super playful and have lots of witty banter among themselves. But the food really shines here. Some things are pretty standard, but it’s the little things that stand out. I ordered an unburger with a side salad and a slice of peanut butter pie. The turkey patty seemed like a frozen patty, but it actually had a good flavor and texture. The bun and vegetables were fresh and had a good texture as well. The side salad was like any other salad, except they offer their in-​house salad dressings. I went with the mango vinaigrette and it was out of this world. So much flavor! And to top it all off, I decided to try their dessert. I mean, it looked good and it only costs two dollars. Let me say that it was wonderful! The filling was creamy, but not too sweet. The portion they give you is just enough to end your meal but not feel like you went overboard. The crust was actually delicious. Never have I enjoyed a crust like that. It appears they make their own graham cracker crust, and it had just the right amount of butter to make it taste like a cookie! Another time, I ordered a beef tenderloin salad. That salad was the bomb! The meat was tender and juicy, the combination of vegetables were awesome, and that mango vinaigrette!
The only real complaint I can find is they didnt have a bathroom. I could have actually went into the office building that was attached to find a bathroom, but I didnt want to wander. Regardless, this place is a great lunch spot.

Unique, dive-​y feel with really well-​made food. Their Cobb Salad is my favorite one in the area. Soups and sandwiches are delicious and the freshly-​made desserts look so yummy. I hear they have great breakfast food & kolaches. The servers are friendly and will say anything to make you laugh. Fun atmosphere!

We randomly walked in for a Saturday breakfast, we live downtown and were extremely impressed with friendly and personable staff. We had thee cinnamon roll and biscuits and gravy, everything was delish! I enjoyed the music and atmosphere too. There is some really cool wall art and you can people watch the street walkers.

Good food, good prices, good location, good folks. And the cute one called me sugar… Cali men need to catch up! Get the tweedle dum… And order a biscuit! Delish!

I was in town for work, and I stopped by Mad Hatter Café for lunch one day. It was so tasty I decided to stop by there the next day as well.
Some highlights:
— its themed from Alice in Wonderland. Took me a few minutes to figure it out (no childhood, I know), but I guess that explains the fairly playfully aggressive staff. I like it.
— The Tamale looked different so I had to try it. The shredded pork inside was delicious although the portion of meat was a little light relative to the tamale. I wish it was stuffed with more ingredients (onions, peppers, tomatoes, poblanos, etc) if more meat isn’t price competive. The verde sauce was pretty enjoyable, and the beans were fantastically seasoned. The steamed vegetables were simply that. I wish the portions of the sides were 2x as bigger. I’d pay a few dollars more.
— The vegetable tomato basil pasta bowl was tasty and quite filling although the tomato basil soup mix portion could be greater, and more diverse veggies could be added.
— The peanut butter pie dessert was out of the world. The peanut butter was just the right degree of creamy. The chocolate was dark, heavy and complemented it well. And the crust was not too sugary. I almost thought about ordering more to go to just make a dinner out of this majestic dessert. It was also only $ 2!
Overall:
Food: 4 stars
Dessert: 5 stars
Portion /​Price: 3.5 (5 for dessert) stars

I ate here with my other half on a quick little Dallas trip, and found them out on a whim on a search for a cheap lunch at a nearby restaurant. I didn’t exactly have my hopes up as the furnishings both in the inside, as well as the exterior presentation left much to be desired, but I’m really glad that we gave them a shot. Upon entering you’ll note the really laid back atmosphere, sparse wall decorations, and relatively small seating areas. The speakers played a myriad of video game, and fantasy music which was quite entertaining. The staff was immediately welcoming and genuinely seemed happy to serve/​help us.
The food is certainly the main attraction here as we were both very please with what we were served. I had the pulled pork sandwich, which paired very well with the spicy mustard they served it with. My boyfriend had the beef tenderloin cheese steak which we both found to be quiet exceptional. Both orders were prepared and presented just as they should be, and we cleaned our plates of every last bite.
Although this little hole-​in-​wall based out of the Hartford Building in downtown Dallas appears quite unassuming, their sensational food and great value is anything but. Don’t let the outside dissuade you from giving them a shot, you won’t regret it!

This place is a hidden gem right around the corner from the DART St. Paul station. The sausage kolaches are scrumptious. They make their own croissants so the bread is buttery and flakey. Hence why a sausage egg and cheese croissant samich is to die for.
Lunch is great here too. They have different items every day and you can really tell they take care in preparing the food. The guys who run this place are always friendly. If you are tired of eating the usual junk food downtown check this place out fa sho.

Staff is polite and full of character. It’s right near the DART rail so their is easy access, however, I would not recommend driving with the construction going on outside.
It is nestled in the Hartford building and has lots of Windows if you like to people watch. There are a lot of ting people walking around it seems.
The décor is properly themed but doesn’t seem to jive well with the Alice in Wonderland theme, but it is pretty and clean all the same. It is a little loud in the back where all of the single seats are for people dining alone. This is due to the speaker system being located there. The music is timeless classics such as Sister Golden Hair.
I ordered the Portobello Melt and it was pretty good. It can with a mound of bean sprouts on it which I love! The Portobello cap was tasty but because it was quartered it was hard to keep inside the sandwich. Pieces were falling out left and right! It came with a side of what tastes like Italian dressing and I didn’t feel like it enchanced the taste at all, but it was not bad.
One final tip: their peach and regular tea and not the super sweet «southern tea» you get what seems like every where in Dallas. So, if you usually get half sweet half unsweetened like I usually do, don’t!