Olive Branch Cafe and Bakery

My family and I came here after going to Magnolia Farms because the menu looked good. We had to wait in a line that was seat yourself, which I thought was odd for how packed they were, but the menu didn’t disappoint. The trouble came when our food came out — the quiche had no crust and was basically a glorified omelette, the Caesar dressing was either not the correct dressing or the worst Caesar dressing I’ve ever had, but those were minor problems compared to the other problem we had. My cousin is unable to eat dairy because she is currently breastfeeding and her son is allergic — she ordered a salad but forgot to ask for no cheese on top. When it came out with cheese, she admitted to forgetting to order it without cheese, explained the situation and requested a new salad. Our server informed us that she didn’t think they could make another salad but they could pick it off, and my cousin said that she could just pick it off herself if that’s all they were going to do. The server took the salad and came back a few minutes later, with what was clearly the same salad with the cheese taken off the top but still plenty of cheese below the surface of the meal. We told our server that we would just pay for a new salad if that’s what it took to get one without cheese, then waited several minutes for a new one to come out. When it finally came out, my cousin said that it was delicious but not worth the hassle. After all of that, the restaurant did in fact charge us for both salads.
Next time we come to Waco, we won’t be coming back to the Olive Branch.

Service was good but my order was subpar. Had a chicken sandwich that was somewhat bland with a side of what looked like Ruffles potato chips. Waiter gave us a complimentary brownie for the extended wait and having the wrong order. That actually made it worth going there. Looked at their desserts on display and looked promising.

After reading previous reviews, we dined with caution and didn’t expect much. Fortunately, we were pleasantly surprised! Salads were a large portion with fresh chicken & homemade dressing. (I’m very picky about salad dressing.) others had soup in bread bowls & said they were tasty. Bread looked fresh and tasted good. Good value for good food. I like supporting a local business and this was far better than a chain soup/​salad place. Also nice to be waited on. I gave it 4 stars because they deserve more than their overall 2.5.

Ordered the «American breakfast» which was almost $ 9.00 and it was really bad. The sausage patty was obviously a frozen «heat and eat» type thing and apparently the only way the can cook eggs on the weekends is scrambled. Honestly it was what I would cook for myself in a huge rush in the morning, not restaurant quality whatsoever. Avoid, unless you are looking for a good cup of coffee and a place to sit.

Kitchen problems. Waitstaff is abundant but it’s not their fault that food comes out after a 40 minute wait. By then the scrambled eggs were cold [though the plate was warm] and the bacon room temp. Ok because bacon. Server got the eggs reheated. Meanwhile I tried to eat the soggy stuffed French toast, stuffed with what should have been chocolate given the color but no sweetness at all. I like dark chocolate but not even syrup could redeem the brown muck. Top layer of bread was good.

Here’s what I was recently told by a waitress on a Sunday «On the weekends we only prepare our eggs one and that’s scrambled is that ok?» Now if it wasn’t ok would that have prepared them over easy? Is a restaurant in business to serve me food the way I want to eat my food or to do what’s convenient for them? It’s my money that I’m spending but I’m not allowed to order my eggs the way I like them prepared but only on the weekends. If they are going to do this they should post a big sign at the entrance letting me know this so I can choose whether I want to proceed.
Today, the food came out super fast which is a bit unusual which leads to me to believe both the eggs and back where already prepared and sitting up a heat lamp in the kitchen. They were definitely not prepared to order. This might be acceptable at Mickey D’s but not here in my humble opinion.
Why not hire more kitchen help? Right now I’m not a very satisfied customer thus the reason I’m on here. Perhaps the owner will read this and do something about it. I doubt it.
Also, the have a coffee blend who’s first word is Plantation. As an African American I don’t take too kindly to that being one of my coffee choices.
The bottomless coffee is good and reasonably priced so I will give them that.
When a man is hungry what is he to do?

This place gets one star because the waitress was attentive/​courteous and the coffee was great. The food, however,…was sad. I ordered the American Breakfast. It consisted of three scrambled eggs, three slices of bacon, breakfast potatoes, sliced tomatoes, a sausage patty and a choice of bread (I choice a croissant). The food arrived quickly. Too quickly. The kind of quickly that makes you look around to see if you accidentaly received the food of someone who ordered ten minutes ahead of you. Nope, it was mine. I took one bite of the eggs. It was a half hearted attempt of a scramble by the chef. I would call them, «chunky, burned in some places, undercooked in other places» eggs. No eggs for me I guess. On to the bacon. You can’t mess bacon up, right? WRONG. I can live with crispy or soft bacon, but this was a foul fat kind of taste. I quickly moved to the potatos, which were not bad but at this point I only ate one as I figured this plate was not going to be paid for. The sausage was a poor excuse of food. McDonald’s does better.
The waitress stopped in to check on things and I politely let her know breakfast was a bust. She asked if they could try something else and I declined. She was very nice and only charged me for the coffee and croissant. I think that was fair since that is what I consumed. She continued to check on me the remaining three hours I worked from the shop and I left her a nice tip for her service.
net-​net: really bad food, good service, great coffee.

Slow! Slow! Slow! We had to flag down the waitress for more tea! Sat for 20 minutes and waitress never checked on us. Why does this place attract people?

Came to visit Waco while our daughter was attending orientation at Baylor. Stayed at the Hilton across the street and walked over to check out the Olive Branch. Food was just ok, nothing worth writing home about. My husband LOVED the coffee however! He came back every morning for the next 4 days while we were there to get a cup to go. We came right before a rush so we never saw our waitress again after the initial order. We had to wave people down to get more drinks and our check. Needless to say, I am neither for or against this place. We will go back for the coffee and maybe try something other than breakfast next time we are in town, otherwise we may just hit up Starbucks and call it good.

Bad service-​if there is any service. Terrible food. Bland and way over priced. Took forever to get help and food took even longer to arrive. Was definitely disappointed

The chai tea bag had an HEB tag. This should have been my first clue.
This place smelled so good when we passed by a couple of weeks ago en route to shopping at Spice, upstairs. Smells can be deceiving. I ordered an omelette. The egg stuff was rubbery, cold and tasteless. The sausage was poor quality and greasy. Never did find the cheese. The potatoes were ice cold. My husband’s scrambled eggs were marginally better. His bacon looked like the pre-​cooked variety. He said it was lukewarm and he covered it in hot sauce. I will say that the French bread was good but could have been warmed up.
We might try the muffins, to go, next time.

Ehhh just like every local breakfast place in Waco, overpriced and lack of quality in the food. The food was cold, the espresso machine was out of order, and no milk for regular coffee. My omelet was the perfect portion size for my liking, but way overpriced. The bacon served in the omelets is the same «bacon» every other local restaurant puts in their omelets. Processed mystery «bacon» with chewy and hard chunks. The custom ordered cake was really good though! Wait staff is friendly.

This was a great breakfast experience. We both had the light breakfast and it was perfect for what we were craving.
The coffee was amazing. We had the 254 blend and it was so good that I bought 2 bags to take back home to Dallas.
The waitress was great but running like crazy. The definitely need more wait staff but I could tell they were scrambling.
Great experience overall.

The food is pretty tasty and the service was great! Our waitress was so sweet towards us and our little ones. The Mac and cheese is great!

Went to eat on Sunday and it «seat yourself» there were 2 tables that were being cleaned and a group of college girls ran past us waiting and stole both tables. This place is a free for all. Worst service. We asked the waitress who was the only person we could find if there we’re more tables because we were with our 90’year old grandmother and they said no. They did not offer to help. This place needs a hostess and a manager over the age of 20. Worst experience I have ever had!!! Don’t go there unless you want to fight for a table. Very unorganized.

This place is very much like Panera Bread, but better because it’s local. They have a wide variety of soups, salads, and pasta dishes, and they have several combo options so you can have a little of everything. Everything I had was light and fresh, and I liked how many vegetarian and healthy choices were available. Service can be a little slow since it’s a big space, but the wait never felt unreasonable to me.

Their food is delicious but the wait for food is ridiculous. I’ve come several times and every time have to wait at least 20 – 30 minutes for our food, even if there are few customers. They seem to get a lot of business on the weekends so definitely a place I’d go to during the week days intead.

Breakfast and coffee. Veggie migas were good. Espresso machine was acting up two days in a row, so a little unreliable in that regard. And they didn’t know how to make a macchiato. Oh well, nbd. Waitress was really nice and attentive, service was excellent. Veggie omelette was great b/​c it was FULL of veggies, not just a sprinkling like you get other places. No soy milk option for your coffee.

We went here for Sunday brunch and were not disappointed. The menu has a lot of variety, including great vegetarian and lighter options and has a good mix of breakfast and lunch items. I had a breakfast croissant sandwich which was delicious – the real star was the croissant! Being a bakery, their baked goods really shine. My husband’s toast was amazing as well. I liked that coffee is self-​serve, so you can get as much as you want without having to wait for a server.
The service was a bit slow, but the food was well-​worth it. I will definitely be going back!

Unilocal needs a way of migrating at least some reviews from an old location, because there’s no reason an established business should have to start over. But that’s neither here nor there.
On almost all my visits to Waco, I’ve frequented those legendary heart-​stopping establishments, a la Health Camp, Rudy’s, Fazoli’s, Crickets, etc. So I was a little skeptical when my cousins wanted to take me to a place called the «The Olive Branch.» Because really, how am I going to get my cholesterol for the day eating at a place with olive in the title? I suppose this fits in the café genre, but it does in the best way possible. They do emphasize coffee and baked goods, and they don’t go beyond soups, sandwiches, and salads. But the size of the place allows them to avoid the awkwardness that goes along with so many cafes that try to be too much. And unlike so many cafes, they take food seriously.
My salad trio came with chicken salad, fruit salad and Caesar salad. The chicken salad, which is finely chopped and served on a bed of lettuce, was delightful. The fruit salad wasn’t all that fresh. But it was February, and they have a thick, flavorful Romanoff (La Madeleine) dipping sauce. The Caesar dressing is light, a bit tangy, and quite tasty. It came with what they called a croissant, but it wasn’t nearly light or flaky enough to pass as one.