Sven’s Cafe

Great food, coffee, tea, wifi (that doesn’t constantly need to be refreshed), and awesome staff. And they have gluten free bread!

I’ve been wanting to try Sven’s in Bay View for a while. It’s been difficult to get there at the right time. I once walked in right before they were closing.
I went for a walk the other day downtown and stopped in the downtown location. They told me it was the same menu. Score!
I decided on the Sven, with grilled chicken, sauteed red peppers, and a house made Caribbean sauce on grilled sourdough.
The chicken was tender, the sauce was delicious with the right among of tangy flavor and not over applied, and the peppers complemented the chicken and sauce well. It was a good sandwich that I would order again.
Sandwiches are served with chips and a pickle. I think I paid $ 7.99. I thought it was a good value. I won’t be racing to go back for lunch, but I wouldn’t object if someone suggested it.
However, I do want to try one of their breakfast sandwiches some day. This location has Simmer Café a block away, Uncanny Soup Co a few door down, and Capriotti’s across the street. That’s a lot of competititon. I hope there is enough business for everyone.

Delicious almond latte. Seriously tasty. Super nice staff. She accommodated my kids creatively. I would go there again!

Decided to stop here for lunch since it’s two blocks away (downtown Water street location). The first thing I have to say is the staff was some of the nicest I’ve encountered. Right away I was greeted and offered a menu, and the girl working was so sweet she made me feel so comfortable. The menu items all sounded awesome, but I’m not really a «stock» person and usually end up doing a build your own, which was the case. I got chicken, avocado, onion, red pepper, grilled on 7 grain with Balsamic. It was really tasty.
I definitely felt there was enough chicken, peppers were red and tasty, but it was a bit scarce on onions and avocado, but really not a big deal. Also, I’m not a big fan of potato chips as a side, but that seems to be standard at most places. I left full and enjoyed my meal, the atmosphere was chill and relaxing, really bright space, perfect for lunch. I’ll be back.

I tried going to Sven’s over my lunch break. I ordered a sandwich with cheese, tomato and avocado. I sat and waited for my sandwich for over a half hour. At the half hour mark I asked an employee if she could check on my sandwich and she walked right past me and did not even acknowledge me. The service here is terrible. My sandwich would have been good if the avocado was not hard as a rock. It was definitely not worth the $ 7.33 that I paid. I will not return to Sven’s and its a shame because it’s very close to my work.

Really I couldn’t believe how awesome the place is, the coffe is the best and the food is 10 outta 10, simply the best coffee shop in the downtown area.

Stopped here for lunch on Sunday. Amazing! Everything is fresh, delicious and well priced. The young lady who waited on us was very helpful and sweet. Had the soup/​salad combo African chicken soup (yummy!) and salad of field greens. Fresh brewed unsweetened tea was awesome. This was my first visit to Milwaukee and I was beginning to think there was nothing but soda, beer, cheese and sausage. I heard the angels sing when I walked in here!

When I want to escape the office for a relaxing lunch, I’ve found that Sven’s fits the bill well.
They have a simple selection of soups, sandwiches and salads, plus baked goodies are available, and the employees are friendly. This last time I had the albacore tuna sandwich with kettle chips and a pickle — they were out of the pasta salad which was listed as a possible side. I added a 16-​ounce iced tea, a brewed peach version that was unsweetened, and my lunch came in at under $ 10.
The coffeehouse music adds a chill vibe to the place. There is counter seating along the window, and sometimes it’s nice to just zone out and watch the cars and people passing by while you eat lunch away from the office.

I started working downtown about a month ago, I have ate at Sven’s for lunch numerous times a week. I can’t get enough!
Breakfast sandwich I didn’t die over, the bagel seems stale… I’ll give it another try another time.

I worked across the street from here for a couple of years and tried Sven’s a number of times. Eventually, I got so fed up with them, I stopped going all together.
The problem is that there was never any consistency… except that the quality of the lunch sandwiches was consistently crappy. There was massive employee turnover which I doubt really helped the situation. One guy even told us it was his last week on the job, happily.
My paninis often had barely any chicken, but an overload of mayo or other sauce. I don’t want a hot mayo on bread sandwich, I want some filling. The roasted peppers were always green peppers, so they were bitter. On non-​grilled sandwiches, the mayo or condiment was always in one spot on the bread, no spreading around. Really, the name of the game was always sloppy, and stingy on the expensive stuff. The last time I went there, my panini consisted of dripping mayo and 2 small pieces of chicken, it was disgusting.
The only saving grace was the soups, which were purchased from the soup place in the Milwaukee Public Market. Only they sold them at Sven’s for much cheaper than at the market, so that’s a score. If you order a soup and half sandwich combo, you’ll get about a ²⁄₃ sandwich and a bowl of soup, so at least you don’t feel like you’re getting ripped off if you find a sandwich you like. The only one I can still stomach is the cold tuna salad sandwich, but it’s not very exciting.

Cute little place downtown. The Belgian waffles were excellent and my boyfriend enjoyed his sandwich. Kettle chips were excellent.
Parking would be difficult if you didn’t live or work downtown.
It is not open on weekends so because I don’t work downtown I can really only enjoy it on days off.
The wait was moderate, and the café was clean and nicely decorated.
I was really pleased with the excellent prices… Very reasonably priced for what you receive. There also seemed to be a lot of coffee options.

Awesome little place downtown!
We got breakfast here, and the portions were massive! We probably could have split a sandwich and have been fine. They really pile on the toppings!!!
The staff was very friendly, and coffee in a mug is bottomless. Their coffee was very good.
It seems like they also have a very yummy looking lunch menu!

Breakfast sandwiches!
I didn’t have one, but I love them. And now I know where I can get them.
(And soups, and regular non-​breakfasty sandwiches, and pastries, etc. Café stuff, ya know?)
I did have assorted caffeinated beverages, however. The coffee was good, my friend Amy seemed to dig her cappuccino, and then I got some tea to go.
Staff? Friendly, helpful, nice. The gentleman who I can only assume to be Sven was on premise, too. Boisterous in a good way, he was.
Need a spot for a downtown meeting? Looking for a locally-​owned lunch option right on Water Street? Sven’s has got yr back, MKE.

I went for lunch and had a Matterhorn sandwich. It was HUGE! Not a complaint. I could have easily split it with my friend. It was incredibly tasty. The ingredients were all fresh. There was great flavor from each component. I will definitely be back!

Breakfast review… being a smoothie lover, the list was a tad overwhelming to say the least but went with the wild berry and saw him use a purée. Ugh why can’t we just use fresh fruit peeps and have less options?!?
The breakfast sandwich decided to go with the ham, Brie, n egg sandwich on a crossaint instead of bagel. Sandwich was a Lil lacking of flavor. If you toast the crossaint on a flat top it would go a long way instead of hot eggs steaming the bottom and basically making it mush. Not impressed with what I got here. Meh!

Best bagel café sandwich in town.
Pick the sandwich then the bagel.

So happy to find a café in downtown Milwaukee that serves breakfast sandwiches!
The egg & cheese sandwich on a croissant is my favorite. Fresh, lightly toasted and warm. Great bagels as well.
Long selection of sandwiches for lunch but can’t go wrong with the classic grilled cheese on a panini.
Order at the counter and food will be brought out. The lunch wait can be a little long, but worth it.

Sven’s is a nice spot for lunch downtown. Upon entering, the coffee smells delicious! The sandwiches are filled with fresh ingredients. I had «The Olympus» with: melted mozzarella, pepperoni, turkey, roasted red peppers, spring mix, and garlic mayo. The bread is homemade and the sandwiches are served with kettle chips and pickle. Humongous cookies are on display although I managed to control my urge to try one. They also have hree homemade daily soups and four salads.

Sven’s within the last year opened the second location here in East Town. If you are within the radius it is certainly worth checking out. There are a variety of menu items both basic breakfast style and lunch (soups, sandwiches) that should keep you covered.
Luckily there was a small line which gave me time to overlook the menu as I came in on a whim.
I ordered the Bacon Egg sausage and Cheese on a Croissant. I also asked if they had hot chocolate which isn’t on the menu but i wasn’t sure if I was just overlooking it. It is not but she said she would make me one anyways.
That is excellent!
I would like to take the time here and comment on the customer service. The two employees that i noticed upfront were excellent in their customer interaction. Of course I am going to be impressed with this young lady inventing something for me not on the menu.
The sandwich was piping hot and the to-​go container maintained the heat for my walk. It was still piping hot when i opened it a short while later. (4.5÷5)
The hot coco wasn’t what you would expect then again they don’t serve it! (n/​a)
The employees are professional, kind and courteous from what I noticed. (⁵⁄₅)

I just returned from lunch at Sven’s and went right to Unilocal to share my review.
There is quite a large selection on the menu — waffles, a variety of egg and bagel breakfast sandwiches served all day, lots of sandwiches, salads, and soups. You can also do ½ sandwich and ½ soup, which is really nice when you want both. There are hot and cold sandwiches — mostly meat, but at least 2 vegetarian options (a hummus wrap, grilled cheese… and a tuna option, for us pescetarians).
The staff was very friendly, three young men. I ordered the tuna sandwich. They have water available with actual glasses, so I did not buy a drink. The tuna sandwich comes with a pile of kettle chips and a pickle, my total was $ 7.38. I asked for it without the raw onion, and one of the staff asked if I would like some romaine lettuce instead. Yes, thank you.
The sandwich came out under two minutes, maybe even under one minute. The sandwich was quiet large (maybe 7″ by 4″?) and the bread was incredibly soft and fresh. I don’t know where they get the bread, but wow I have had worse bread at 5 star fancy pants restaurants. Really top notch and so delicious! One of the staff even came over and asked how my sandwich was.
Sven’s only disappointed me in one way: the chairs. All bar stool seating, these bar stools had hard bottoms, curved backs (and not in the way a human back curves), and the backrest was far too low to be comfortable. Everything else in the décor and ambiance was right on.