Java Cat

Madison, United States

4.2

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 608-223-5553
Website:
www.javacatmadison.com
Address:
3918 Monona Dr, Madison, WI, 53716
Lake Edge
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
1.1 miMadison Metro East Transfer
2.6 miDuctch Mile
2.7 miDutch Mill P&R
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Breakfast
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Hipster
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
No
Caters
Yes
Good for Working
No

Today

Today 6:00 am – 7:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Madison) 07:55 Thursday, 29 May 2025

Business hours

Monday 6:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 6:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 6:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 6:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 6:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm

Description

Specialties

At Java Cat, it’s all about coffee and community. And don’t forget about THE best Gelato in Madison.

Our aim is to serve the best gourmet coffee, authentic gelato and delicious fare with a friendly smile in a fun and relaxing atmosphere. We serve only 100% fair trade, organic coffee roasted by our friends at Just Coffee Cooperative, located here in Madison. We produce the best handcrafted Italian gelato in the area. Our bakery is locally sourced and breakfast is served all day. Sandwiches and wraps, soup and salad round out the menu.

We support our local community in as many ways as we can. We participate in several annual fundraisers, including the upcoming Java Jive, which is celebrating its 20th year Sunday, September 27th at the Brink Lounge. Last month, we were scooping gelato at Sundae Fundae, to benefit the Wil-​mar Community Center and Olbrich Gardens.

We encourage the arts. We have a rotating art show where artists of any medium are invited to display and/​or sell their work. We often have live music, seldom a weekend goes by without a local musician, and now we even have a house guitar. If you play, stop on down. We never charge a cover for music and we take no commissions from the sale of artwork.

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Nearby

Near this location:
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20 reviews of Java Cat

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Sun Prairie, WI
Like the coffee, love the tea! Very nice group of people!
Place rating: 5
Belleville, WI
Great place. Drive by 100 times at least. Kicking myself for not stopping before. Staff and owners are amazing. They are selling my lip balm there too. Even if they weren’t this would be my new go to place when in the area. Highly recommend for coffee, Bakery and a comfortable friendly environment.
Place rating: 4
Madison, WI
Cute eclectic coffee shop in Monona. Delicious coffee, sammies, sweets n’ treats and even a drive through window. Love it all
Place rating: 4
Madison, WI
The good: friendly staff, convenient location, inviting atmosphere, gelato!
The ‘Meh’: coffee.
I’d never talk you out of going to Java Cat. The staff is awesome and the service is quick. My only gripe is the coffee is just mediocre. It’s the nearest café to our home but I often find myself going out of my way to get something better.
Place rating: 4
Madison, WI
I like this place. It’s an ambitious little spot with a lot of heart. That said, I’ve had some mixed experiences– primarily with the food offerings. Their sandwiches on a good day are REALLY GOOD. I’m crazy about the hummus panini and the cinnamon stuffed French toast. Unfortunately, the half dozen or so times I’ve ordered them the quality has always varied. Nearly half those times something was forgotten, and a couple other times the preparation seemed sloppy and rushed resulting in a sloppy/​burnt sandwich. I’m not one to complain in person, especially when it seems an undertrained employee or busy lunch hour is at fault. It seems turnover of counter staff is pretty common. The owner though is always very personable. And the mocha latte is fab!
Place rating: 5
Madison, WI
Java Cat is reliably wonderful. Great gelato, warm, friendly service and excellent coffee! They won’t let you down!
Place rating: 5
Madison, WI
Great first-​time visit. The owner was on premises & personally welcomed me. Very comfortable seating with fireplace. Great choice in Tea & Bakery items. I will be back! Friendly neighborhood feel.
Place rating: 5
Madison, WI
Stopped here for a Sunday morning coffee, and was pleasantly surprised by this place. Excellent latte, and my nephew loved his hot chocolate. A competent guitarist played acoustic 80’s covers at just the right volume to not distract from conversations. I was impressed with the selection of pastries and gelatos, which I will have to try on my next visit.
Place rating: 3
Madison, WI
I’ve heard people rave about this place, so I decided to give it a try yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the lack of parking. I parked on the street out behind and around the corner from the coffee shop.
The place was pretty packed (and small) but I could see a couple of spare chairs and decided to stay. I got my coffee and scone and proceeded to wend my way through the tightly crammed tables and chairs. Unfortunately, I am a bit of an introvert who needs some breathing room, so this place is not ideal for me. The kicker was when a youthful hipster arrived with his god awful twanger and harmonica + speaker… once he began caterwauling, I was outta there!
I’m used to places that have plastic dish tubs to place used utensils and plates in… there wasn’t any signage indicating where to place these items– upon inquiry, I was instructed to leave them up on the counter.
The coffee was fantastic and the scone was pretty good. For those of you who crave close human companionship and lots of noise, this is your go to place!
Place rating: 4
Madison, WI
So Java Cat is tasty. It is convenient, I love their drive thru, but it is incredibly slow. Their prices are a little high but in a pinch, I pay it. I have not had any food or gelato. Apparently, I am only addicted to their coffee. I will probably keep going back.
Place rating: 4
Madison, WI
I stopped for breakfast to go and really liked it!
I’ll admit, I mostly stopped because I had the Bucky Book coupon, but was pleasantly surprised how good the coffee and food was.
I got a small cup of cold brew coffee. It was quite good! I also got the breakfast wrap (which was really kind of a breakfast burrito) filled with veggies, and that was really what impressed me.
I think the food menu could have a bit more variety/​options (especially since the breakfast wrap was so good).
The place was clean and the lady who rung me up was very sweet.
I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in Monona!
Place rating: 5
Madison, WI
Love this place! Great coffee, good food, and a comfy place to hang out and get some work done. I can’t believe how friendly and efficient the staff are, even with a drive thru window to tend to as well!
Place rating: 4
Sun Prairie, WI
First time here in a few years. I definitely won’t wait to come back. Coffee was excellent, service friendly and music very enjoyable. Nice job Nick.
Place rating: 4
South Bend, IN
First time here. The place seems like every other run-​of-​the-​mill coffee shop. The children’s artwork of cats on the walls is a nice touch.
The thing that takes this place to the next level is the gelato and gelato-​based drinks. I got a javalato with Mud Pie gelato, and it was great.
Definitely looking forward to coming back with my girlfriend.
Place rating: 5
Madison, WI
This review is for the service and the gelato. Both get five stars from me!
Every time I have been here I have been blown away at how helpful the staff is. They are always friendly and they never seem irked if I ask for a sample. Sweet stuff.
The gelato — oh the gelato is tasty! I love that you can get two flavors — even in the small which runs right under $ 4 but is a hearty small for certain. I almost always get some cake batter (because I’m an addict) and then try something else on the other side. I have never had a bad experience here. Definitely a must stop on summer bike rides or after walking around Olbrich Gardens.
Place rating: 4
Madison, WI
Java Cat is a 3 – 4 star coffee shop. Latte prices are comparable but a tad on the high side for the market.
The coffee is consistently good and they have a nice selection of sandwiches and rotation soups. They also have a decent pastry selection and a little gelato counter.
Java Cat is go to coffee joint when I’m in the neighborhood. It’s consistent and has decent hours.
Place rating: 5
Mount Horeb, WI
Thank you to the Java Cat Coffee staff this morning.
Customer service was spot on– friendly, suggested menu item to me and asked the owner to make it, as she does best.
Perfect cup of coffee and the best breakfast wrap in town!
Place rating: 3
Boise, ID
I came here on two different occasions. The first being for a study session and the second purely for gelato. I had a mocha purely by their suggestion and was not at all impressed. It was weak and very watery. I also got a cookie which was only ok. The baristas did not seem as if they were totally confident or really knowledgeable about the food or coffee either. When I ask for suggestions at coffee shops, they usually have a great, creative drink waiting to suggest or at least ask for what kind of drink I am looking for. She said the mocha was their most popular so I figured it had to be good. But it was not.
Now, the gelato. The gelato is great. I had party cake or was it birthday cake? Cake batter? Something to that extent. It was really good. They have a good variety and they let you sample ones before you choose. Not sure how it compares to Michaels down the street but I would go back for the gelato.
Place rating: 4
Kansas City, MO
Great caffeine stop.
Nice location right by the lake and within walking distance to the botanical gardens and the lakefront park. They really ran with the whole cat theme in the ambiance, they place is covered with fun cat things in all sorts of ways.
The baristas were very nice and helpful. They were using Just Coffee which was cool. They weren’t exactly gourmet espresso trained, but the americano I got can out well and the gelato was defiantly great. They have some great options to mix the two in affogstos and gelato-​espresso shakes, yum!
Overall not bad coffee for a reasonable price, I would suggest getting the brewed stuff with some gelato and enjoy it on a walk through the park.
Place rating: 2
Middleton, WI
WARNING! JUDGMENTAL BARISTA RANT!
Wow, these baristas need some training. I ordered a 16oz Iced Latte. Nothing too difficult. The girl who served me pulled 35 second shots (23 – 28 seconds is the standard for espresso shots) then poured them over the ice in my cup deluding the shots, then added milk and more ice. It tasted awful…
If you come here just order a regular cup of coffee or tea and then get some gelato. Don’t waste your money on their «more complicated» drinks.
Rant over.
They do use just coffee which is a plus!