Vista Cafe

Vista Café is convenient due to its location and the view it offers of lake union. But the customer service and food are really pretty disappointing. The cashiers appear appropriately stoned most of the time. The prepared food is abysmal. If you are desperate just get the packaged yogurt or sandwiches on the other side of the counter.

Location and environment are fantastic compared to other dining locations on campus. This place is clean, odorless and comfortable with a nice view.
Lunch is poor, chicken is tasteless and salad is bad. Won’t go there for hot lunch again. However coffee and snack maybe a good choice if you prefer a quieter place.
This place is far from main UW campus, and almost no one knows this place.

Worst ban mi I’ve ever had. Bread is tough, cold. They are trying to make things faster but the quality of sandwiches really suffers. Go with the curries, they are much more tasty.
View is great.

This is an ok place to grab a lunch if you’re in south campus and don’t want to venture up the Ave. Do realize that this is more of a cafeteria than a «café». Their hot sandwiches are respectable and their chilled prepared meals don’t offend. The coffee option is usually only drip but you can also get expresso when a barista is on duty. Plenty of seating options. Nice view of portage bay. No complaints really.

The grilled sandwiches are good, although pricey. You will fare better here than at the Rotunda. The view is great and they have lots of indoor and outdoor seating. The service was lax and a had a bad attitude when I was there.

I’m still a fan… this is my most common place to stop for a cup of coffee on weekday mornings.
The folks working here consistently seem to care about what they do and make-​up some good sandwiches and such.
My only gripe is they shut down between quarters leaving UW staff to walk longer distances for their morning drip…

I’m sort of surprised this is only the second review! I guess you would never know about this place if you weren’t a UW south campus person, but you don’t need to be a UW person to go here. The menu is sort of decent upscale cafeteria, and fairly affordable. You get a discount on drip coffee if you bring your own mug, and they have composting, which is nice.
Besides the fact that my department essentially uses the café as an unofficial annex, and thus it is a good place to stalk down professors, the best part is the patio on a warm day. Tons of outdoor seating, great view of the lake, the houseboats, etc., and you don’t even have to buy anything to use it (unlike Agua Verde).
It’s not a foodie destination, but if you’re in the area and you need to hold a meeting or get some work done, it’s good.

This is the best place to buy lunch on south campus if Agua Verde is too crowded. It’s also farther away from the med school, and so is less crowded than the Rotunda. The menu is limited to soup, salads, and toasted sandwiches (which I think are the best sold on campus), plus random snack food and Mexican Coke. The highlight is the great view of Portage Bay through the giant windows; there is also outdoor seating, but it’s not covered. To get here, go into the south end of the Foege building on the first floor.