Cafe de Olla

Pretty Good Food, Arrogant Owner. I live in town and have been here a few times. I have no complaints about the fake fireplace, the weird porch chairs and decors as in other reviews. The food is pretty good and they tell me that a patio with a fire pit and live music and bar is coming. However, the owner has been less than hospitable to us in the past. Tonight, I used the Rest Room which was bereft of toilet paper, and with a prominently posted sign «let us know if we are low on supplies!). I emerged and informed Arrogant Owner «the Rest Room is out of toilet paper.» It took him a long time to bother and look up from his taco duties. Finally, he replied «oh, are we» as if it could not be true. No «thanks for telling us!» or «so sorry for the inconvenience!» Please, Arrogant Owner, hone your customer relation skills. But, since others have posted similar opinions, I guess you don’t care.

Absolutely delicious made-​to-​order burrito bar (similar to Chipotle and Qdoba, but local.) Plentiful vegetarian and vegan options.
The Good: The ingredients are obviously fresh, are delicious, and the food and ambiance is very satisfying. Portion sizes are «two-​fisted» ie the burritos are big enough for two very filling meals. Also they don’t charge for extra guacamole, so pile it up! The prices are good, and the amount of food you get for the price is great, especially considering how delicious it is. The staff is really nice and friendly, the interior is nice, and they’re working to upgrade an area outside by adding a bar and outdoor seating.
The Bad: They use one spoon for veggies and one for meats. If you have allergies this is a major issue due to cross-​contamination of ingredients. For example they’ll use a spoon in the beans, then use the same spoon for all the other veggies you want. The next person in line has a spoon that’s been dipped in all the ingredients. I don’t understand why there isn’t a spoon dedicated to each ingredient! To be honest this kind of grosses me out. They could easily go to the dollar store and buy all the spoons they need for $ 15.
The Ugly: No cilantro in a Mexican burrito restaurant. What?! I don’t get it! Also the burritos are served on flimsy paper plates with plastic utensils. This doesn’t match the décor or nice feel of the rest of the restaurant.

Unpleasant ambiance. Tasteless burritos. Expensive and unfriendly staff. Burritos are huge but unbelievable bad.

So glad we popped in to see what Café de Olla was all about. I had no idea it would be a burrito place. The menu is great & the options make it so easy to have what you want, if you are into having your own thing. We decided to try a burrito & a quesadilla. The pork melts in your mouth. Taco chickpeas are wonderful. Fresh ingredients. Friendly staff that obviously really love what they do & that goes a long way. The dining area is quirky with patio furniture, which actually is really comfortable & relaxing. I could eat here on a weekly basis. Simply outstanding! Can’t wait to go back. Gotta try the breakfast burrito.

Been there twice, and it is a surprising treat. The «Build your own burrito» is a great idea. I will warn you, if you are into petit little portion plates with «cute garnishes and drizzle» you will be sadly disappointed! The burritos are HUGE… literally busting at the seams… not at all like those little pre-​fab jobs they have at those Tex-​mex chains. They have awesome soups as well. Lucky is the one who gets to try their Corn Chowder.’. it is simply the best.
The décor is a bit «different» Guitars hanging on the wall, patio furniture, and yes… they have a fireplace… well… sort of. Its actually a TV with a video fire dancing cheerily in the hearth. Bright side I guess is maintaining it is easy… «hit off»
Finally, I cannot say enough about the staff. The times I went, I found them enjoyable to interact with. Friendly, polite, and appear to really enjoy the people they serve.
A great place to grab a quick «stomach busting» bite to eat!

This place is all about your expectations. If you come in expecting a nice sit-​down place for date night, you will be disappointed. If you come in expecting a home-​grown version of Chipotle, you will be quite happy, I think.
It’s kind of like dating a nerd– sure, the trappings are a bit awkward (the parking lot, the décor (hello fireplace television!), the layout of the restaurant, the lack of chips… all pretty awkward), but its heart is in the right place– and the heart of the matter is that you can walk in, and walk out pretty soon thereafter with a huge-​ass customized burrito chock full of tasty, quality ingredients, all for about $ 10. Worth it? Up to you.

My husband and I were really excited about this place — Peterborough needs a burrito place! And we’ve had some great service, esp. from Tony, he’s friendly and hard working and we like to chat with him when we go in. He makes a great burrito! Last visit, though, we got the weird guy with a beard who appeared to be on something… it was a particularly snowy day and the parking lot wasn’t plowed, and as we pulled in, my husband was afraid we would not be able to get out. I placed my order and just casually said ‘Have you been slow today?’ thinking maybe I could introduce the topic of plowing the lot, since they were likely slow due to weather. The odd guy answered ‘I’m not slow today, I think I am normal’ or some strange thing… So I tried again by asking if BUSINESS had been slow (I guess I was not clear in my first approach!). He was sort of over-​pronouncing things, too, with mock enthusiasm, it was just weird. We both agreed he must’ve been on something. It was off putting. Bummed out, too, that my veggie burrito cost significantly more than my last visit about a month before. I was not sure if prices had increased or if it was an error, but it was not worth the price this time around. Not sure we will return.

This build your own burrito bar is a favourite lunch/​too lazy to cook dinner stop for me. The only issue is I (stupidly) end up getting the burrito which is the size of a small toddler so lunch ends up putting me in a delicious food coma, even after only finishing half of it. The service is great, everyone I have interacted with has been very helpful and courteous. The prices are exactly what you would expect for what you are getting. I highly recommend their sauces, especially «The Deathly Hallows» for you heat fans out there.

For what it is, this is a five star place. Great, fresh, made-​to-​order burritos. A person can be totally stuffed after a $ 9 lunch. I’m so glad they moved to town.
Highlights: pulled pork, corn salsa.
They make everything in house, as far as I can tell.
Nice music, too.

Not exactly what I expected in terms of selection and dining experience but I thought the food and service was great.

This place is so terrible. They don’t have real tortillas for burritos, just sandwich wraps. The burrito fillings are completely bland and have no seasonings whatsoever. Also, what’s up with the super weird patio furniture inside? Overall, just not worth the trip… from two minutes down the road.

I was mildly excited about this place.
Meh…
Giant burritos, don’t get me wrong. Plenty of food for the money.
The lawn chairs and Patio tables inside are mildly ridiculous. The attempt to update the interior went horribly wrong, right down to the stupid television with a video of fireplace flames playing in a loop.
Random guitars hanging on walls with nothing tying them to the owner, food, community or anything else. A vapid attempt to be relevant.
The owner… oh the owner. Smug, and full of angst. He reminds me of Ramsay Snow from Game Of Thrones. He may want to smile and greet his customers or acknowledge their presence in some way. Perhaps just make an attempt.
While he’s at it, he may want to cater to people in the area that crave quality ingredients, atmosphere, and that wish to enter a business that is warm and inviting… respective of the community. Our community is about art, music, great food, health, amongst many other things.
It may be the case that this place needs to focus on quality instead of quantity. This, in all things. The business might last longer.

I had been meaning to try this new «chipotle» like burrito spot for lunch. I asked around and didn’t hear good things, but decided to try for myself. Decided to do our weekly ladies lunch there. We were all very disappointed and none of us finished our food. Here is my list why;
–The meat is very blend. No matter which you choose, it’s all flavorless and not appealing. But not only the meat, the toppings were not flavorful or delicious.
–The staff was not friendly, not at all. Almost annoyed with our questions about salsa, toppings and so forth. Friendly, happy service goes a long way.
–The way you get your food is not productive and is very very slow. 1 person stands at cash register waiting, while 1 person attends to what each customer wants. That one person asks the customer which meat, toppings and so forth. Wouldn’t it make sense to have that same person to then ring up the customer so two people could be tending to two people at a time?
–Way too pricey for what you get. An extra $ 1.50 for guacamole?!! Not even good guacamole, like store bought, flavorless guacamole. I spent $ 11.80 for a burrito and can of soda. That’s outrageous! And then to get grumpy service and terrible, bland food? Never again. Lesson learned. No more ladies lunch there. Very disappointed because we were really excited for a nice new lunch spot. I am really hoping the owner reads this review and can make the necessary changes. And I do believe necessary because everyone I asked about this place, gave me the same review. Bad service, bland food. It would be great to have a delicious burrito spot to eat for ladies lunch in the future.

Disappointing. It is possible that they are still working out the kinks but we went here and they didn’t have a host of things that basically made me want to leave. No drinks, no tacos hard or soft, no salsa… So that’s a lot of key ingredients for a mexican food place. The parking is pretty tight to back out of a spot, i am always worried i am going to hit the building. The ordering was really confusing but i believe they should be able to work that out, I think that they will be able to work out these details, i would like to try again and re-​so review. The staff is really friendly and enthusiastic. They are always busy, even when it was just my party of 4 they were still a little slow to process our orders so i am not sure how that works when they super busy.

An awesome little Mexican place. Very tasty burritos. Build your own or order from their specialty burritos. Easy to order and go, or there is space to sit enjoy.

Very friendly place. Well known for burritos but try their excellent salads too. Nice ambience. Good place to grab quick bite on your Miller State Park trip.

Friendly people, awesome food, laid back atmosphere. Burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, and more! No fish tacos, but they do have taco tofu, and home made salsa.

We just dropped in not even knowing what this place was. We were pleasantly surprised. They have the best burritos around. And the prices are great!!! Definitely worth the trip.

New place on Peterborough’s «restaurant row». (Slight tongue in cheek, but still, it is nearby the Pearl, Bantam Grill and Mia Casa).
If you have been to chipotle, you know the drill — burritos with various protein and veggie options. I like Chipotle a lot, but this place is better. The flavors are brighter, the tortillas are first rate (Richard and Maria’s, I suspect) and they have far better veggie options. (Sweet potatoes, anyone?) They also have various ways to kick up your dish.
And these are local folks. Your money is not going to a corporation far-​far away.
The interior is spare and cool, good music, very clean. There is porch seating but it is not very elegant.
But one quibble is workflow. When a line forms they bog down a bit. I would call this a learning curve issue. Otherwise, this is a must — try if you like burritos. It is a perfect fit for Peterborough’s surprisingly crowded restaurant scene.
Did I say one quibble? Actually, there is another. No beer. Yet…