Aldo’s Cafe

I sometimes get coffee here. But then I wanted to do lunch. So got the Buffalo chicken wrap. It was decent fare but that’s all I have to say about it. Mediocre.

I am really torn on this place. I love the location, the scones, the breakfast sandwiches, and the coffee selection. The odd thing is the scones aren’t out and ready until like 9AM? It seems like the pastry selection should be ready and displayed at open so for those of us stopping on our way in, we can get breakfast instead of waiting. The service here has definitely taken a turn for the worse since the really nice man with the beard got hired away. The baristas don’t smile, seem inconvenienced, and annoyed most of the time.

Just stop ordering lunch here.
I ordered a California club sandwich today, with a tiny tiny piece of chicken breast in the middle of two breads, and some tomato and avocado, etc. it’s reeeeeeeally disappointing!!! You can’t imagine how tiny the «sliced» chicken was!!!
Coffee is fine. But never ever order food here again!!!

Incredible location and environment, capable of opening up and creating a beautiful outdoor space. Plenty of seating in the area, as well.
Slightly more expensive than other options, while not offering a significantly better product. Employees could be more friendly: Be prepared to not receive the basic acknowledgment or «you’re welcome.»

Healthiest option on campus! Simply great! I isually get their soup/​salad and sandwich combo which comes with fruit. ove the ambiance also.

Self-​serve ice cold cucumber water. Huge sunny windows. Comfy couches. Friendly baristas and other customers. I loved this place even before we got our perfect lattes and just-​baked, still warm, not-​cloyingly-​sweet huge blueberry muffin.
Stopped by over Spring Break, so not sure whether it would always be like it was on our one visit, but we had a great first experience there.

I’ve had several business lunches at Aldo’s over the las year. I’ve had a decent meal every time. Today I had a cup of the bean and bacon stew and the chicken carbonara salad.
The cup of soup was bowl sized. The salad was huge. Then bean and bacon soup was OK, a bit salty. The Chicken Salad was fantastic. Creamy noodles and fresh greens tossed with bacon and big chunks of chicken.
The menu seems to rotate or else I’m just not paying attention. Aldo’s is in the Wisconsin Inst. of Discovery — it’s a lovely setting and offers a bit of an upscale dining room in the heart of the UW campus. Give it shot.

Good spot right on campus for some
Coffee and a few lunch/​breakfast items. I got a chai tea latte which was good and the rancheros burrito wrap. It is just the wrap and nothing else with it on the plate. It tasted fine and the latte was good. They have free wireless in the building which was great but their are no outlets anywhere to plug in. My computer desperately needed a charge so I only got about an hour of work done before it died.

I’m updating my review because now that the menu has changed, they don’t even have good salad or sandwiches anymore (bring back the BLT at least!). Also, I waited a ridiculously long time for a bowl of soup today, and when I got back to my office, I realized it was only about 2/​3rds full. That’s pretty unacceptable, to be honest. Also, the workers care more about gossiping amongst themselves than actually serving customers.

Good coffee, friendly baristas, nice setting both in the café and other spots to sit in an interesting building, tasty pastries. Have only had lunch a few times and it’s always been good. The breakfast menu is currently a bit odd which is why I’m not giving it 5 stars, though the menus do change from time to time.

Summer hours are a little shorter than usual (they close an hour earlier), but are still long enough for a midday coffee break (you know, like the one you need around 2PM after inhaling a huge lunch at noon?).
They also have lunch items available between 11−3PM on weekdays. Although I haven’t tried all the options, the options that I have tried have all been pretty good — at least when compared to most café foods.
For those of us working in the medical sciences center across the street, Aldo’s is a blessing. The brightly-​lit café with a high-​ceiling is definitely a welcomed reprieve from the cramped quarters of a typical lab.
Remember to check in on Unilocal for 10% off their frappes!

Over spring break there were some changes made to the menu at Aldo’s Café, and the new menu is not an improvement. I had the California Club sandwich. There was a large chunk of chicken breast on the sandwich, but both the chicken and the sandwich bun were MICROWAVED before serving. The texture of the chicken turned to leather after it cooled. The sandwich was served on a small plate with no sides (no chips, greens, salad). My companion had the panzanella salad which looked fresh and delicious, but was the size of a small side-​salad. The cost of these two lunch items (plus drinks) was almost $ 20. It didn’t seem like a good value. Although we have been weekly loyal customers for several years, we’re going to find a new spot for lunch.

If you’re looking for a bright spot to chill or a place on campus for a quick, midday catchup, few cafés in the area boast the kind of table space and year-​round natural sunlight that Aldo’s slash the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery building has to offer. No outlets to spare in the café section though, so I’d think twice about camping out here with a laptop.
The coffee is marginally better than the next nearest spot, Peet’s across the street at Union South, but it also costs a few shiny pennies more.
Lunch is generally fresh, but it’s a little pricey. Expect there to be some cheese or cream or mayo concoction in most of the options. The long wait times and so-​so menu execution make me want to say skip the food unless you’re feeling fancy and slightly desperate for sunlight.

Diamond in the rough. If you can get by their gimmicky paper ordering system, this place is worth it. I highly recommend the fresh made-​to-​order deli style sandwiches — especially the turkey club and the amazing BLT with fresh (crisp) bacon crumbles and just the right amount of mayo to leave you wanting more. If this place was closer to my office I’d eat here every singe day. Rookie tip: Be sure to allow an extra few minutes to find Aldo’s buried in a corner of the Discovery building (ironic, right?).

UPDATE:
Sadly, the service here has really taken a turn for the worse. The last few times I’ve come for coffee, the people have been downright rude and condescending. A small latte takes 3 times as long to prepare as it should, which was never an issue before. The coffee has also been less consistent in quality, and a few times a co-​worker of mine was given the wrong tea! When she went back to tell them, they argued with her and said that she was mistaken. Turns out they put the tea bags in the wrong container and were actually giving her the wrong tea but did not admit to it until a week or so later.
No longer my go-​to stop for coffee, unfortunately. Also, they changed their coffee club card so that you now have to buy 15 drinks (used to be 10) to get a free one! That’s a lot of money to spend to get one ~$ 4 free drink!

Food quality and service is progressively getting worse. They used to use cashews in their salads and now it’s peanuts. They are also very unorganized and inefficient with their food orders.

The food at Aldo’s is excellent. There are always good vegetarian options available, and it is conveniently located on campus. The lines, however, are very long. The service is the reason I rated it as a two.
Once, I ordered a chai latte, was charged for the drink and then proceeded to wait 20 minutes for my order. When it still hadn’t come out, I asked the cashier when I would get my chai. She responded that they were out of chai! So I wasted my 20 minutes only to have them try to figure out the register system to refund me. They ended up giving me a free beverage on them. When I went next time to use this beverage, they had mysteriously run out of coffee lids so I couldn’t take my coffee with me! I think if they get their act together they could be amazingly successful!

The coffee and food here is great.
I love that they are serving Just Coffee, a locally roasted fair trade, organic coffee that is delivered by bicycle. They use organic and locally sourced products for their other menu items as well.
Nice atmosphere, with an open air patio on the east side in the warm months.
The line for service can be long, but they move quickly and the wait is never very long.
The prices seem reasonable for the quality of food — the old «you get what you pay for» matra!

Many campus buildings have cafes in them, but few have cafes that you actually want to eat at. Aldo’s is that café, one that makes you happy you forgot your lunch.
Aldo’s is fantastic for lunch, drinks, and snacks while you are at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (WID), or if you just want to escape the long lines across the street at Union South.
One of the best things about Aldo’s is John, the manager. John is always full of energy and excitement. John has a good attention to detail, following all of the orders to make sure everyone gets what they want. His positive energy is also infectious, I often find myself smiling when I’m just walking by because of his fun attitude towards great service.
I haven’t had many of the sandwiches, but the grilled portobello sandwich is my favorite.
Give Aldo’s a try, it is worth forgetting your lunch for.

Completely reasonable lunch option on UW campus.
Came during the lunch rush on a Friday. Walking up, it seemed like the service was going to be chaotic, but it actually worked really really smoothly. Basically, you write your order on a little piece of paper and hand it to the guy. The food is pretty much ready by the time you’ve paid.
According to their website, they have some kind of local/​seasonal ethic, but that wasn’t totally obvious from the menu. I’d love it if they’d try to point out which of their offerings were in keeping with those principles (hint: not the tuna sandwich) and if they’d include some organic ingredients. I also wish the menu was a bit more adventurous. As it is, they have tuna, turkey, roast beef, a club, a vegetarian sandwich, and a special. Not exactly ground-​breaking lunch fare. It would be great if they’d stretch for some more adventurous flavors or combinations in the sandwiches.
I had the pulled pork sandwich special, which was quite tasty and well-​priced. I appreciated that there wasn’t too much barbecue sauce on the sandwich, so I could taste all of the elements, and that it wasn’t so overloaded that it was a great big mess to eat. Though this place isn’t too exciting, the food seems to be good enough that I’ll probably go back and try other things.
Sandwich and a diet coke: $ 7.73 incl tax.