Specialty’s Café & Bakery

Horrible experience. I ordered soup and a cookie. They lost my order and then told me they were out of the soup I ordered. 30 minutes of waiting wasted and they didn’t give me a refund. Get it together! I’ll never be back.

Cobb sandwich barely had any avocado spread. And the whole sammich was just so-​so today. Buuummer. I’ve been craving this for a week (as the 1^st one was so good!). Usually takes once for a place to mess up my order for me to boycott the place. And a $ 9 sandwich is not something I’m willing to pay for if it isn’t exactly as advertised

Typical sandwich/​coffee place, nothing special. Stopped in to grab a sandwich to take to the convention center. Small place but they have a nice selection and were quick. Two stars because they completely messed up my order and I couldn’t eat most of it (ordered a sandwich, asked for no cheese, mayo or ranch; it came out with cheese and covered in ranch). I was long gone by the time I realized their error, not cool.

A very nice place for a quick lunch or breakfast, if you’re in pill hill. Awesome soups and pastries, good coffee and huge selection of sandwiches.

I’m a big fan of Specialtys but can’t say that this location lives up to the rest of the chain, service wise. The food is the usual but all bread items I had were old and dry… at noon. Staff had good attitudes but struggled through order taking. Back of the house seems fine. They do a big business with the med center there so maybe don’t need to try.

Damn this is the tiniest Specialty’s I ever did see.
Housed inside the Polyclinic, this place is clearly meant to be a bkfst and lunch quick-​stop for employees. There is very little seating, three tables and a counter that can fit about 4 people. Now, I think the poppy bread that they put the smoked ham sandwich on is a thing of beauty, so I am willing to pay 10 bucks for a ham sandwich with extra ham. But alas I was not informed that they were out of the poppy bread and was very sad when I was handed my sammie on sourdough. The woman who handed it to me apologized that I was not informed before finishing my order and even offered me a cookie on the house. I turned it down but it was nice that she offered. The bread turned out to be pretty good, but I was still pretty bummed that I had paid ten bucks and not gotten my nummy poppy seed bread.
This specialty’s is on the way from my apartment to the central library, so I was hoping this would be a good lunch spot before going to the library to study. Alas, it seems to be very busy at lunch and that getting a seat can be quite challenging. But if you can take your food and go, it seems as good a specialty’s as any.

Okay for what it is — but I have to say, when I pay for a spinach and bacon salad, and there is no bacon on it, and the staff response to having this pointed out to them is simply «oh…» I’m not impressed. They do seem to have a captive customer base — patients and folks who work at the Polyclinic. That translates into not having to work very hard to earn my patronage, apparently. Oh…

This shop is in the new Polyclinic building at Madison and I-​5. I stopped in because I was waiting for my mom to be done with her doc appointment. The staff was incredibly friendly and the service was great especially considering it was 12:15 so right in the middle of the lunch rush. I had the hot Philly sandwich and a freshly brewed iced tea. The sandwich was really good, although a little too heavy on the peppers, but that is just my personal taste and was easy to fix. The bread was fresh, as I saw the guy take it from one of the cooling racks that had just been baked. The veggies on the sandwich were fresh and crisp. The iced black tea was really good as well. Some may say that is no big deal since it is impossible to screw up iced tea, but I have been served many iced teas that were undrinkable.
This is not a place that I would go out of my way to make a special trip for, but neither is any other bakery/​coffee bistro. But if you’re in the area and need a nice, friendly, clean place to grab a sandwich or salad, this place is really good.

The staff is awesome and remember you. I’ve even had one add something awesome into my drink.
As a vegan, I’m super excited to see vegan chili because not all vegans want to eat salad (I hate salad) all the time. The guy giving me chili even told me the little breads they give with soup are vegan as well!

I went here once and got a breakfast sandwich. It took so long for something so simple. It also didn’t taste very good. It was extremely bland. I usually try to give places the benefit of the doubt so I went here again and got one of the vegetarian sandwiches. I watched them make my sandwich and they put stuff on there that I asked them not to so I had to get their attention and remind them. They took really long with that too. I could tell they didn’t know what they were doing and what went on the sandwich. On a plus side, it ended up tasting pretty good but definitely not worth the price. I don’t think I’ll give this place another try.

I come here because it’s in the building I work at. The coffee is actually no bueno most days, however the cookies are bomb dot com! I like the salads as well, specifically the Chinese chicken one, but it’s like 7.99. Kind of pricey for what you get. The girls are always super nice though. They do have «day old» baked goods for cheap :) try the wheat germ chocolate chip cookie. Nom!!!

Staff were very friendly and service was efficient. I was in town for SakuraCon 2013 and when I’m in town for Sakura Con 2014, I’ll be back for sure. The club sandwich and peanut butter cookies were unbelievably good.

A welcome chocolate chip cookie coma! Veggie warm sandwich was delicious! Nice space, but needs more sitting areas. Can’t stop thinking about the cookies!

i have been here multiple times because it is a convenient location. Food takes FOREVER to come out. and they often mess up my order. There has been multiple cases like this. One time i ordered a drink and i waited and about 5 min and i ask «Excuse me is my drink almost done?» the barista said «im sorry i didn’t realized that there was a ticket up» it turns out there were 5 other drinks that were in the printer waiting. VERY disappointing and i thought Specialty’s has better quality.

Awesome breakfast sandwiches. Great coffee. Service is a bit slow.

love their turkey and cranberry sandwich

I ordered a four cheese sandwich thinking I was getting a grilled cheese. What I got was, quite literally, a four cheese sandwich. Four slices of chesse, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles between two slices of cold bread. I was disappointed, but that’s my own fault I suppose. Then I wondered why it took 15 minutes to make.
I don’t usually order baked goods or pastries during lunch so I can’t comment too much on that. The offerings in the pastry case looked good, but nothing stood out as something I couldn’t find in any other café or coffee shop. Ordering lattes and coffee beverages was always a hassle, whether the person at the register just couldn’t find where the correct ordering buttons were and I had to repeat my order three or four times or the barista completely forgot to add the flavored syrup. This is a new location so I’m sure there are still a few kinks to work out. Even if things ran more smoothly, I’m not too impressed.

Fresh new location in the fresh new Polyclinic Madison Building off I-​5. Nice, simple and clean inside. Dependable turkey & cranberry. Good iced vanilla latte. Busy lunch time with clinic customers. If anyone is handicapped, they probably need assistance to open either of the 2 doors. They don’t appear to be handicap-​friendly.