Congress Cafe

Been there for breakfast every Sunday since I found this hidden gem! Gotta have the acai bowl and Mexican spiced mocha!

We ate here right after Christmas while visiting my sister who lives in Cali. I couldn’t believe how cute this little spot was! We sat outside since the weather was finally warm enough to allow us to and the owner got our drink orders while his wonderful wife got our food order. They were the nicest couple!
The coffee drinks were great! I love a good americano and they make a great one! My boyfriend had a dirty chai that was delicious, too! Watch out though, they send your coffee out in these adorable mugs that you will absolutely want to buy when you are done. We left with 5 of them. They are handmade in Mexico and are just beautiful.
The food was fantastic! Everything was homemade and perfectly spiced. My burrito was awesome as was my boyfriends. My sister had a bagel sandwich which was also very tasty. It was like being in an awesome coffee shop that also served great food! I wish I didn’t live so far away or I would be there everyday!

Really disappointed. Nothing tasted fresh and our food took a long time to. come out. Portion size was quite small for the price. My eggs were powdered which is unacceptable for a breakfast spot. Service was friendly, and my café latte was very good.

Great little place for a fair priced breakfast. Delicious food and wonderful service. Love eating here when we stay in Old Town.

I have to say, this place is a jem. People here were really nice and the food was surprisingly delicious and the coffee was great too. I was concerned by a few of the reviews but my breakfast was great. I had the eggs rancheros. The eggs were perfect over medium. Probably the best rancheros I’ve had. Would be a regular stop for me if I was a local. Great alternative to the tourist traps on San Diego Ave.

I got the breakfast burrito with bacon instead of chorizo and it was amazing! Definitely one of the best breakfast places around. Old town is also a really fun place to walk around after you eat.

Décor seemed a little shabby and ambience was sub par. Great coffee served in a clay mug was the highlight

We were surprised at how good the food was! Everything we ordered was satisfactory and beyond. Would recommend this place to the president and even my mother! Serve staff was great too. Nothing to complain about.

Just in town for Marine Corps Boot Camp graduation and found this place… awesome service, coffee and a great breakfast!

I love this sweet place in the heart of Old Town. The service is so good; they go the extra mile. My hot chocolate was delicious; the perfect temperature and sweetness. The food was just right. I sat on the cozy patio, and had such a lovely time. Highly recommended!

Love this cute spot… friendly service, nice and quick and they serve the coffee in the cutest cups. Second time here and we would love to be back (:

I live down the street this is the place to go for there mexican mocha iced or hot, I am a fan of there croissant breakfast sandwich with a side of fruit, they are dog friendly so you can sit on the patio with your pups and they will bring out water for them my pups love stopping by here during our walks

It’s a nice atmosphere. The coffee, pancakes, and hash browns were fine. The service was good and not-​so-​good. The waiter, who I think was also an owner, was real nice. I had to keep asking for coffee, though. That’s not a big deal, but as someone who drinks beaucoup coffee, I like to have my mug filled a few times without having to track down the waiter.
I’ll be back for lunch another day.

I still don’t know why all of their egg dished are made with «fluffy scrambled eggs» — these are the institutional style eggs that you get a a hotel ‘free breakfast’ that are neither really scrambled eggs… nor fluffy.
Coffee was excellent… waitresses were adorable… food was okay. I had hoped for better.

This is a really cute spot and has a great location across from a public parking lot but get there early before Old Town gets really busy. They have an outdoor patio and a small handful of tables indoors. Despite the nice people watching view outside, we went with the indoor seating b/​c it was pretty darn warm out. The inside is small… only a few tables but it was early enough that it wasn’t too busy yet. Breakfast choices are pretty standard but affordable in price. Food is decent tasting and filling. We tried the breakfast burrito and enjoyed it! Although my favorite part was my coffee and the cute mug that it came in. I almost bought one on the way out but managed to reign myself. Service was really friendly which is good because I imagine this place caters to tourists. Overall a cute spot to grab a quick and cheap bite when out and about in Old Town.

Unimpressed. My omelet came with a McDonalds style hash brown… How hard is it to make hash browns? Just pathetic.

Cam and I come here once in a while when we’re super early to the train station. Issac got me started here because of their «Mexican Dark» coffee. It’s a decent cup of joe in the morning, much better than the office coffee. Today, we got our coffee at 99 Cups, so we just ordered some food. It’s pouring outside, so we opted to leave early to avoid traffic on the way to the train station.
Emy: Egg sandwich with sausage and cheddar on a plain bagel $ 5.95. I thought my sandwich was not bad other than the fact that my bagel was rock solid. It wasn’t from the toasting, but I think the bagel itself was faulty. Nonetheless, it made my sandwich very difficult to eat. My picture is really bad because everything smushed out of the sandwich due to the hard bread.
Cam: Breakfast burrito $ 8.95. Cam absolutely loves this burrito. I’m not a fan because of the beans, but he just raves about it. Beans, cheese, potatoes… what’s not there to love for Cam?
I’m bumping up the rating to 4 starts because the service is always great here and Cam loves their burrito. My sandwich was mediocre because of the hard bagel, but I hope this was just a fluke. The cashier and chef are super nice and always willing to talk stories. I wish I had more time to just hang out and enjoy my food rather than rushing to the train station.

I had hopped better for this place when I visited. I came in with a hankering for some morning chorizo for breakfast, but what I was experience here was not much to be desired.
I ordered the breakfast burrito which included eggs, chorizo, hash browns, rice, beans, and some avocado which I had to pay extra for. Unfortunately, the burrito was not very good and it suffered from a number of set backs. First of all, the chorizo was lacking in flavor. It did not have that strong chili pepper and garlic chorizo flavor, and secondly, the way it was prepared in conjunction with all the other ingredients, left everything mushy and texture-​less. Finally, after paying extra for some avocado in the burrito, they served be pieces of black clearly passed its day avocado. I was not very pleased with this.
They should make the chorizo and eggs separately, the hash browns separately, and then add the crispy hash browns in the burrito on top of the chorizo, then continue with the following ingredients, so that each ingredient has its own flavor and level of texture. This burrito was a one dimension of mush, and did not provide much in the realm of flavor.
I do give them credit regarding the old avocado, because when I brought it to their attention, they did bring be a small plate of fresh ripe avocado: the avocado slices that should of been in the burrito. But still, I think they could do a better job.

To be honest, it was the sign out front that got us. «Best coffee in Old Town.» Hmm. I’m listening.
Not sure who the other candidates are in Old Town for that coveted Best Cup of Coffee trophy, and I haven’t tasted any of those competitors. But, I do know the coffee we had last weekend doesn’t stack up. I ordered a basic cup of regular coffee, and found it watery and weak. Nothing notable, except the cup itself was pretty cool.
The omelette I ordered was tasteless, and I was floored it was served with a hash brown patty that looked exactly like the ones McDonald’s uses. Total for our two breakfasts was $ 25. For this type of place (an open-​air café), I’m not finding much value in that. I recently bought a CASE of cereal for $ 20, which was clearly the better deal.
Also, the service. Very friendly. Loved our server. But considering how slow it was that morning, it was surprising how long the plates took to make it to our table. And not once was a coffee refill offered? Not that I was dying for more of this mediocre brew, but I wouldn’t have turned it down.

Really enjoyed coming here on a cool peaceful Sunday morning. The restaurant is small, but very cozy and just perfect for having a light breakfast.
Our meal:
Western Omelet (no ham)
Croissant sandwich with fruit
The staff are kind, friendly and pleasant. The restaurant is clean and decorated with checkered table mats.