Kirkland & Ellis Café

We ordered a catering through them and it was fantastic. They set up a gorgeous buffet with cool wood décor and the food was tasty! We ended up getting a breakfast catering too since everything was so perfect! They make everything in house and I must say try some of the breads! Strawberry is my favorite! The staff knows your name and cares and it shows!
Kudos team!!!

When the law school opened up its Commons area, it clearly did not taste-​test the new café. It is a bummer.
The coffee is never good, and always overpriced. The brew coffee ranges from «burnt toenail» to «passable» and I really am not a coffee snob. I always bring my own mug so I can pay $ 1 instead of $ 2.12.
The food is WAY overpriced. I have had my fair share of the food, since they’ve cornered the market here, and I have never liked any of it, except:
english muffin breakfast sandwiches. Those are consistently good — and best part is that they actually give you a real egg over-​medium instead of that weird all yellow egg patty thing you get at most fast-​food places.
I also have occasionally liked their grilled cheese sandwiches, although those can sometimes be too greasy.
Otherwise, both the sandwiches (bland) and salads (iceberg plus iceberg) have been seriously lacking.
My other gripe is that the staff yells out the number of the order really loudly, even if you are standing right there. There has to be a better method — like a sign that shows which order is out. This is a management problem though — the staff themselves are always friendly.
4 stars for breakfast sammies, 4 stars for staff friendliness. Otherwise, you’d think that all that money could have bought something better for the café.

In the beautiful law library is a convenient little café – too bad it doesn’t accept «university money.» You have to dig into your own wallet for this one but the food is pretty good. They make sandwiches fresh and are pretty speedy.
Breakfast
–Egg, Cheese & Meat on English Muffin: the cooks used a fried egg so it oozes and adds to the richness of the Kraft singles. Yeah I know, Kraft singles, but somehow those processed things still taste good because they add this weird fake creaminess that no other cheese can provide. The turkey is fresh and the egg muffin well buttered. Nice.
Sandwiches
–Verma’s Veggie (essentially a caprese): The balsamic glaze is slightly too sweet for my tastes and it throws the whole sandwich off. I like the bread, nicely herbed, but it could be grilled more. I’d like for them to put the fresh ingredients more lovingly together.
–Turkey Abstract (turkey, cream cheese, cranberry, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, horseradish on wheat ciabatta): it’s good. The cranberries are more like jam and they add a sweetness to the sandwich. I love the cream cheese mix with turkey but don’t taste the horseradish much.
–Turkey Club: it’s really creamy mostly due to the provolone. The mayo flavoring comes through and seeps nicely into the crispy bacon and fresh turkey while the well-​herbed bread has a nice crunch.
–Tomato Bisque: good taste but not creamy enough. Also, for some reason they insist on serving their soups in these containers where you have to spill the soup to open it.

FINAL VERDICT: the menu sounds better than it actually tastes but when in need, this isn’t a bad option.
Blog Post:

This establishment could offer so much more than what it is today. I suspect the only reason it’s still in business is because of the captive audience of law students. The coffee is about the best on the menu. It’s cheap and what one expects. The rest of the menu could be improved. I recently ordered an English muffin with egg and cheese thinking it would be made to order. For $ 3.25, what I got was not very tasty and probably had been sitting under a heat lamp for hours. I have ordered other items from the menu such as sandwiches and the quality is hit or miss. For the clientele that frequents this place, mostly law students, I’m surprised they don’t demand more. Except for the coffee (not espresso drinks, mind you), I’d consider going elsewhere.

The Kirkland & Ellis café inside the University of Michigan Law School Commons benefits from the captive population of hundreds of caffeine-​addicted future JDs. The staff are friendly and helpful, the coffee is always ready since they expanded the number of containers (bring your own reusable mug and it’s only $ 1), and you don’t have to go out in the cold to get an energy drink.
My biggest gripe is the inconsistent quality of the products. A grilled cheese one day can be a delicious crutch to get you through the day and the next day it can taste like a chemically-​laden hockey puck of burnt bread and plastic cheese product. I really don’t get it. Generally I avoid most of the food they make in the kitchen, not only because of the wavering quality, but also because of the long wait time until it’s completed. It’s not uncommon for a hoard of students to be waiting for at least 15 minutes every lunch time.