Mad Hatter Cafe + Bakeshop

Category:	Cafe
Address:	1802 W Main St, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Phone:	+1 919-286-1987
Site:	madhatterbakeshop.com
Rating:	3.9
Working:	7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 8AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

John Morris

Too dang expensive! Will not be back anytime soon! Price 2/5 - 1 coffee smoothee - $5.18 (basically the exact same thing and taste as a Caramel Frappe at Starbucks, for $2 more and with less quantity). Two slices of cake - $5.50 & $5.00 each (black & white cake and peanut butter cake slices. Youll be lucky if you get a fresh cake slice that isnt stale or crusty after having stood open to the air for a week or more) Total = $17.86? Nearly $18? For two pieces of cake and a small caramel Starbucks frappe clone? Then they wanted a tip so I gave 20% just so that I didnt look like a jerk and now my cost was $20 after taxes. Too expensive! Service 4/5. We were met with smiles and kind requests. The service was as quick as you could expect but the fine details on the "caramel coffee smoothee" (otherwise known as Starbucks Caramel Frappe) were missing. No whip cream. No caramel design on the walls of the cup. The smoothee wasnt even iced and had the consistency of cold coffee flavored milk. It just looked like a light brown goop dumped into a plastic cup. Cleanliness 5/5. This place is clean! It has a 98.5% rating, the counter tops even where they are cooking or baking, are spotless. Tables were all kept clean. Nice atmosphere on a Tuesday afternoon. Quality 3/5. I ordered a slice of the Black & White cake. The "butter cream frosting" tasted like plain, salted whipped butter to the point I was scraping it off in disgust. It was literally like taking a bite of a stick of butter. Not to my liking at all. The worst part was how STALE the cake tasted. I came in so excited by the treats I saw behind the glass and then watched in horror as this old, battered THING came out from a fridge wrapped in cellophane with maybe two slices worth left on the cake sheet. It looked old and sure as hell tasted ancient. The cake breading crumbled HARD with consistency of hardened cookies and sand, while tasting like refridgerator air. And I paid $5.50 for this pile of old s#!@? My wife faired much better with her peanut butter cake slice. Because it came from a freshly baked cake. I am interested to try out other things here and may give it a shot again some day but for the prices, Id have to sacrifice my childs college education in trade.

Jessica T

I am a Durham native, but had only been here once about 14 years ago. Decided to go early this morning for breakfast. Was incredibly busy, and the cook mixed up our order -- realized it after we sat down and started eating. No problem, it happens. We let the young girl running the food know that our order was wrong and she was asked to let someone know and to please re-make the very small part of the order that was incorrect. FIFTEEN minutes later, we had to flag her down and ask about the food. She informed us that the cook said that he would in fact *not* make it; alternatively, he could "give us a plain biscuit." Seriously? We kindly asked if she could please send the manager over. Again, after waiting several minutes, she came to our table to let us know that the manager was TOO BUSY to briefly see us, and had completely rejected addressing this issue at all. After $100 spent, an incorrect order, mediocre and supremely overpriced food, and ridiculously crappy management, we will NEVER again eat here. On the way out, there were several people complaining at the front counter, one woman demanding a refund. Definitely choose somewhere like Elmos over this place!

auggie west

RIP OFF and not good on top of that. You will leave hungry. I ordered the egg breakfast for 6.50 which is about par with the other places I eat around here thinking it was a reasonable deal. But then I realized the fruit that comes with it is just a garnish and you dont get eggs, potatoes, and toast you get 2 eggs and potatoes OR toast. So if I wanted toast it would cost 6.50 for two eggs and toast?!? Unbelievable. My potatoes were deep fried which is the lazy way to do potatoes. They are always overly dried out and crunchy on the outside and dry on the inside and these were no different.I got my daughter eggs and toast and for being a bakery, their toast was eh. My husband ordered pancakes which sounded like a lot. Nine silver dollar pancakes with no sides really ends up being the equivalent of 2 normal sized pancakes. These people are really too excited about themselves. The coffee was eh. Usually when I pay what I paid there, I leave full and I get waited on for that price. Here I had to get up and wait on myself every time I needed something and I left hungry. We went somewhere else to top ourselves off after this meal.

A Private User

I ordered a 12" round Black and White Cake for a 30th birthday party from MadHatters. When I made the call I expressed to the decorator that online reviews were troubling me and I needed her to address the negative comments. She (Anna) said that the complaints were geared toward the crisco/buttery buttercream icing and that most went wrong in that they ate the cake right from the refrigerator. She told me that the cake needed to be eaten at room temperature to avoid thick or chunky icing. I must say, after 45 minutes of the cake sitting at room temperature, it tasted amazing. The cake was moist, the icing was delicious, and I was complimented throughout the night on my choice. Also, it was beautifully decorated. Whoever wrote on it had lovely handwritting. Im glad I took the leap of faith on MadHatters providing the cake for this birthday party. I wouldnt have done it any different. I may have ordered a smaller cake though because even though the 12" says it will feed 25 people, it will feed at least 40. It was huge.

A Private User

I work at a location that holds multiple weddings, birthdays, and other events every week. I have gotten to sample my fair share of Mad Hatters cake, and if there is one thing I can say they are NOT, its consistent! One week, a cake from them will be deliciously moist and fluffy. Next week, it will be dry and crumbly and taste like it is weeks old. Their icing is also very hit or miss - just today I sample a chocolate butter cream that was to die for! But next to the cupcakes that had that fabulous butter cream were some with a god awful icing that I have tasted from them before - its like Crisco and powdered sugar that have been poorly whipped together. I would STRONGLY suggest sampling from them before you set an order up. Taste all their icings they offer, and then make sure they know which you want to put on your cake. Otherwise, you will wind up with the thickest, greasiest icing you have ever had!

A Private User

I have never written a review before, but in this case, I felt I had to. I ordered a 6" round white birthday cake with vanilla cream frosting. In my 55 years of eating birthday cakes, this was absolutely the worst tasting birthday cake I have ever eaten. Unfortunately, I did not read the reviews about this bakery before ordering. If I had, I would have ordered from some other bakery. I see I am not the only one who has complained about their vanilla buttercream frosting. It tasted like pure butter crisco with some sugar thrown in. I touched the icing with my fingers, and it was really greasy. It was disgusting and totally inedible, and I had to throw it in the garbage. My husband agreed that it was really bad. As another reviewer mentioned, a bakery should know how to make vanilla buttercream frosting. So, come one, Madhatters, get with the program. I will not order anything from them again.