Rosie’s Coffee Bar & Bakery

I visited this place, and the customer service was great, and I bought the flourless chocolate cake, and it was very tasty and high quality.
I would definitely visit this place again. It’s the only place I have found in Madison to have yummy flourless chocolate cake.
They also have a peanut butter cake that looks really yummy. I will have to buy that next time I visit this bakery.
A+

I stopped in for donuts and a lattee and I have to say the service at kwik trip was better and faster. The guy behind the counter was on his cell phone when I walked in and seemed a bit annoyed when I wanted to be helped.
I got a few donuts and a lattee to go. They weren’t busy at all yet it still took about 10 minutes to get my lattee.
The lattee was okay, nothing special. The donuts however were not that good. They looked a little sloppy and tasted greasy and day old.
I did though look at the breakfast and lunch menu and they sounded tasty. I will be back to try something else but will probably stay away from the donuts and just have water with my meal.

Nice but pricey. Wanted quiche but didn’t want to pay $ 8. Don’t mind paying for a coffee refill since I know that I’ll have to up front but the first cup is like $ 2.50? I’m thinking a chip for a refill given to you when you order might be a nice thing. I guess I never realized the coffee price since I was always ordering for multiple folks in the past. My sausage /​egg /​cheddar breakfast sandwich on a biscuit was very good though. Went at 7:15 on a Saturday morning this time. Very mellow.

My experience at Rosie’s was disappointing. We visited Rosie’s for breakfast ordering both the breakfast sandwich and the biscuits and gravy. The breakfast sandwich was on a dense rubbery croissant that felt and tasted as though it as microwaved with cheap American cheese and a egg patty. The biscuits and gravy — awful. Dense bricks of biscuits with a sub par gravy. The worst were the breakfast potatoes coated in dried herbs making them inedible. After a few bites we looked at each other and said «I’m sorry, this is really bad» — needless to say we did not finish our food and left.
The barista stood behind the coffee bar talking about an older woman who put a $ 0.70 tip in the tip jar and complained that «that’s not going to pay the bills!» It was a really sad experience — I can’t say that we will go back.

Ok, Unilocalers. Just got home from my third try at this place. I’d sincerely wish that I could score this place higher, but I cannot. The point that burned me the most is that when they run your card at the point of purchase, they offer you your coice of gratuity before you’re even seated. Ok, I bit on the 20% option, only because I’ve worked for tips, and you’d seriously have to (expletive deleted) me to not earn that. Well, guess what? Ya know what you get in terms of service for your 20 percent? Jack Shit, that’s what! I had to go back to the counter for another glass of milk, at which point I was told «That’ll be another $ 1.57, sir». Sheesh! Yeah, whatever.
Put it on my tab. So, for my betting against the house for another 20 points, I received absolutely ZERO service at the table, and I cannot believe for the life of me that any of the meals I’ve had there was made to order. I truly want to support locally owned small businesses, and I’ve gone out of my way to try this place more than once. I live walking distance away, but the sad fact is that The Clown with the Golden Arches is even closer, and they do a better job with breakfast. At least I can see my hash brown go in the fryer. At Rosie’s I’ve tried the quich twice, and they’re batting .500 in terms of their daily «specials».
No bacon for you, round eye! Are you kidding? I can only hope that this Rosie is the same slob I see on TV. That way, I can use the same baseball bat twice. Caveat Emptor, Unilocalers!

Girlfriend and I had lunch here and enjoyed it thoroughly. I had their BLT with turkey and cheddar, along with this spicy sausage and potato soup. Girlfriend had a veggie sandwich on sourdough. Safe choices but all of it was delicious. Serving sizes where proportional to price. Also grabbed one of those monster cinnamon rolls which was great. A little, and I mean a little, tough but it was great. It I had grabbed one fresh I’m positive it would be ¹⁰⁄₁₀. Right before we left it was doughnut happy hour (buy 1 get 1 deal) so I HAD to grab a maple bacon doughnut. Staff was super happy and ultra friendly. Atmosphere was very nice all around. It will most certainly be a place I’ll return to.

Some of Madison’s very best coffee, get the poor over, peaberry bean is my favorite. Also love the breakfast sandwiches, and cinnamon rolls.

If there is one thing they are great at, let it be the cinnamon rolls! To die for :)
Love the coffee bar, so creative to use the space this way.
People are friendly and you’re supporting a local business owned by a woman! Way to go Rosie’s!!!

I’m surprised by some of the bad reviews. I’ve only been here twice, but both times were great. Here are my highlights.
Service — I had courteous, quick service both times.
Food — I had coffee both times. Once I had a donut and another time, a cupcake. The coffee is good. I got a nitro cold brew last time and it was yummy. The donuts are fabulous! They are very fancy, more like french pastry than a typical donut. The cupcake was just ok.
Atmosphere — the space is nothing special, but I think they did a good job with what they have.
Cost — no surprises here. Exactly what you would expect. Less than $ 5 for a cold press and donut.

Don’t order your latte while you’re on your way to Rosies because the older man who answers the phone may not only make you feel horrible for doing so, when you get there to pick up your coffee and you ask for a pumpkin square, he may act like you’re an oaf while he tries to figure out what you mean by a pumpkin square by rudely asking, «what do you want?» And when you point to the item you want in the case he says, «oh a pumpkin bar» as if there is a considerable difference between the meaning of a baked item in square or bar form.
I love Rosie’s, have visited quite often and have previously ordered while on the way to work, but this time was different. The older man was definitely not in a good mood – I’d rather believe that than think he’s just a mean person – and then passed that having a bad day feeling right on to me. Thanks. Not really. Take my money, I’m outta here. Maybe I’ll stop at Starbucks next time.
I get it, sometimes you just have a bad day, but this was cold. Not cool. Not cool at all.
2 stars for great coffee and food.

Rosie’s coffee bar expertly crafts their coffee, Ronnie is truly an artist and one of the best baristas in Madison. Any coffee you order she makes it with expertise and it will always have the perfect balance of flavors. Kathleen is also great as is the rest of the staff.
The doughnuts here are amazing I recommend the maple bacon or raspberry filled, the simple cake doughnuts are also very good. I must also say I am in love with the almond scone. I have tried the bacon egg and cheese biscuit and found that to be above average, as well as the main Monona club in lunch offerings.
If you are looking for a local gem of a café stop into Rosie’s where the staff is friendly and the owner Coz actually really cares about her patrons.

Maybe this trip was a one-​off, but it was not good either way. I really wanted to like this place. Small, non-​corporate coffee shop? Okay! I got there around 6:50 AM and didn’t leave with my drink until 7:15 AM. There were two other customers there.
Apparently, their barista doesn’t come in until after 7? You open at 6:30 and all you have staffed is a cashier who doesn’t know how to make drinks, why would your barista not come in until later? Then, when your barista does show up, they make one drink at a time, one step at a time. I’ve worked in a coffee shop before, it’s possible to make two drinks at a time, and it’s possible to froth the milk and pour the espresso at the same time.
They have i-​pads to pay on. The barista’s wasn’t working and they spent 5 minutes just trying to figure that out before deciding that we should pay at the cashier’s i-​pad.
They also apparently don’t stock their lids well and it took another few minutes just for them to find a lid for my Vanilla Iced Chai. Which didn’t taste great enough to make up for the wait.
The saving grace for this place was the cake donut I got. Really tasty and helped make up for the bad start to my morning.
All I can say is I’m lucky my job is flexible with when I start work. I’ll go back for a donut. But not for coffee.

Quite remarkable donuts and good coffee.
Found this place via Unilocal and I’m sure glad I stopped by. I do often seek out donut shops and enjoy the gourmet options and unique twists. This donut shop is pretty awesome. The standout donuts are a type of filled/​pocket hybrid. They essentially make a oval shaped pastry, slice it like a bun, and squeeze some amazingly fluffy frosting up inside. The Oreo one was omg amaze balls, and I don’t even know exactly what the chocolate one was but it was equally amazing.
In the words of my family member: «I don’t even normally like donuts but these are amazing!».
As for the coffee, it was good but the service was disjointed from the baked goods area. It took 5mins or so to make my coffee which is pretty slow. And the store was empty so I’m not sure why it would take so long to push some espresso out and into a cup.
Overall, great donuts! Would like to see a few more raised donuts with holes in the future.

BEST LATTES IN MADISON!
My husband and I have been looking locally for good breakfast places and this one is my favorite. The menu is not a lot but the food is great! The lattes is what I really go for. I’m a coffee drinker and I can tell good quality-​made lattes over bad. I had a Chai the first time I went and you can really smell and taste all of the spices, which is what Chai’s should be like — not all watered down with milk. This one tops Starbucks for me. The latte art was also an added bonus :)

*Disclaimer: I actually visited back in March; this review has been in my unfinished drafts for awhile. Aaaaanyway…*
Big band music was playing when I visited, always a favorite. The overall vibe is of having stepped back in time a bit, helped along by the large black and white photos of the owner’s family weddings of the past; very sweet and charming.
The accent walls are painted in wide horizontal stripes in beige and brown, suggesting (to me, anyway) the layers of a mocha cake. There’s a lot of subliminal messaging going on here.
I came for lunch, and ordered a Smokey’s Beef sandwich. It was really good, with a super delicious dense bun. Maybe house made? They are a bakery. It was a hard decision because the menu items all sound amazing. Somewhat pricey compared to similar local places with similar offerings, but not too outrageous.
After my meal, which did not include dessert, I chatted with the owner, a delightful lady clearly devoted to her business and her craft. Found out she uses only butter from Switzerland which has a very low moisture content in her baked goods, and only King Arthur flour which is the only flour that the European Union allows to be imported from the US due to its quality standards. Also, they were soon going to be installing a new kind of coffee process, some Victorian era thing, which sounded intriguing. I need to go back soon and check that out. As well as some sweets, which is their forté, after all.
Great coffee, I might add! Cheerful service, overall pleasant atmosphere.
Weird things:
Odd placement of bar/​counters and cases, no indication that they serve anything but baked goods from the small glass case placed right smack in front of the door upon entering. I didn’t realize they served actual food, too, ’til I walked around to the side.
An old lady patron complimented me on the perfect fit of my jeans. Awkward.

Just picked up 2 dozen incredibly fresh donuts. First time here. They didn’t mind at all that I practically cleaned them out! They still only charged me a dollar per donut even tho they added in some top shelfers! I ate the maple bacon bar. It has now become my favorite donut I’ve ever eaten in my entire life! I just wish I had taken a picture before inhaling it. So soft, fluffy, chewy and not too terribly sweet either! I shared them with my coworkers and everyone is raving. Good job Rosie’s! Super nice staff too! Such a cute place. I will be back.

I’ve heard great things about Rosie’s so when I drove past today I decided to stop in and see what all the fuss is about. As soon as I walked in the door someone called out to greet me and I headed toward the ordering counter. Breakfast is supposedly served until 1:30 pm on the weekends, but when I got there at noon, the first three items I tried to order were sold out. One of those items were the potatoes, so I was offered the choice of greens or paying an extra $ 1 to upgrade to fruit. While $ 1 may not be much, from a customer service standpoint they really should have offered the fruit for free since they were out of potatoes.
I ended up ordering the breakfast sandwich on a croissant (they were out of biscuits), a donut, and tea. The donut, which they forgot to give me until I asked after all my food had been delivered, was delicious! They have a nice selection of Rishi teas that comes in a nice pot with a timer and they’ll refill the hot water if you ask. The breakfast sandwich was a let-​down. The scrambled eggs were unseasoned, greyish and overcooked, not light and fluffy.
I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that it was just a really busy day (mother’s day), but I see in other reviews that running out of food seems to be a recurring issue. I’ll go back, because I do want to try the biscuits and gravy and those rosemary potatoes, but I’ll be earlier next time!

I have a love/​hate relationship with sweet things.
I hate how much I love them.
I wasn’t always like this, though.
Recently (and perhaps it’s because I gave up eating sugar for a while and now it’s all my body wants) I see a sweet, some chemical reaction happens in my brain and I can’t settle my tum until I’m sinking my teeth into a crazy good confection. I can pass up Chips-​Ahoy, Oreos are easy to ignore, but when I come face to face with a scratch made baked good, I always lose.
Coz and the team at Rosie’s don’t help me fight the urge. They opened with the intention to leave the world a little sweeter than they found it, and they do! They not only make some of the best donuts in Madison, but their cakes are crave-​worthy and make cookies that you have to hold with two hands… TWO HANDS PEOPLE! In addition to a case that’s filled with various other awesome treats, the staff is just so sweet! They’re always up for a little conversation and not shy when it comes to talking about the coffee bar. They feature several rad brewing techniques that would make any coffee connoisseur proud, and feature JBC, Madison’s award winning roaster. On my last visit I had a siphon brew, my first!, and I can’t wait to return for the same. In addition to being one of the smoothest cups of black coffee I’ve had, it comes with a free show!
I haven’t tried anything savory just yet (shocking, I know), but I look forward to doing so, then coming back here to update y’all. In the meantime, know that you can’t go wrong with anything that has sugar, and that goes for the staff too, which I’m pretty sure is just a bunch of cookies, dressed up like humans with arms and legs and warm smiles and a friendly nature.

I’d love to give this place a glowing 5-​star review. But after several visits, I just can’t. The place is kind of a mess, to be honest. I’m a little shocked by all of the love it’s getting on Unilocal.Perhaps I’ve just gone on the wrong days, and missed it’s normal greatness.
The layout of Rosie’s is confusing and awful. The first thing you see when you walk in is not a sign of what they offer. You don’t see a smiling face. You see the desserts. Not that there is anything wrong with baked goods, but it’s awkward. And then you are given a choice to walk left to the coffee bar or go right to the food/​bakery area. I believe you can also order smoothies and fancy coffee drinks at the coffee bar. But who and where you pay or where you go for certain things is confusing. Their sloppily hand-​written (in chalk!) signs are also unpleasant to look at and look unprofessional.
The pour-​over coffee (that you can order on the left side) is fantastic. They do a nice job with the coffee, no doubt. But they go way too far in explaining all of the accolades the coffee has collected. Server, I don’t care how may awards the coffee has won, calm down and go get me my coffee. I’m not even sure if you can order pour-​over coffee at your table, or if you have to go to the bar and order it. There is batch coffee offered over to the right side.
I wanted to try the Biscuits & Gravy that others have liked, but they were sold out the last time I went. My roommate and I shared two sandwiches and both were mediocre. Not exactly sure what made my turkey sandwich «tuscan», but it was not very good. The quality of the meat was also questionable and did not appear to be the greatest. The pasta salad that came with my sandwich was flavorless and mushy. My ginger chai latte was fine, but had a lot of clumps of cinnamon in it, which made is somewhat unpleasant to drink.
It’s also difficult to even find the place, due to poor signage. You’ve likely driven by Rosie’s and never even noticed.
The donuts were good. I’d order them again.
What I’d recommend is walking in and sitting at the coffee bar. Order some delicious pour-​over coffee that they will repeatedly tell you won tons of awards. Order a donut or two. Consume. Then leave. Or for much better food (and good coffee) hop just down the street to Crema Café. Crema does almost everything better.
Also, why are you closed on Sunday?! A coffee/​breakfast/​bakery spot being closed on Sunday makes no sense.
I’ll give Rosie’s another try or two, but those Biscuits & Gravy better blow my mind, or I’m likely done with Rosie’s. You can find great coffee and baked goods at a handful of other establishments, and I can’t really see myself going here as often as I thought I would. Rosie’s in it’s current form is quite a disappointment. The coffee and donuts are great, everything else… not so much.

overall pretty good experience. Décor is nice, new and very clean. Breakfast menu is very limited. Bakery menu is very large and is apparent that this is what they specialize in.
Tried a small yellow cake and Oreo doughnut… it was pretty tasty! For breakfast I ordered a croissant sandwich with egg and bacon and a side of potatoes. They only have ketchup packets (this bugged me).
I would come again!