Ella Cafe

I stopped in here while waiting to meet up with a friend, intending on just grabbing a cup of coffee and hiding in a corner.

Like anyplace else in BillyBurg, this place gets packed on the weekends. They have a sit-down area in the back, so a lot of people come in here for organic brunch items.

My cafe au lait was pretty tasty and I got to eavesdrop on these people talking about their slutty friend. Caffiene and gossip, all in one breath? Thank you.

Good cappuccino and home style food. Had a salad, soup and sandwich there. Pricey, but hits the spot. Oh, and it's all organic.

The space is really nice as well. Front end is more coffee shop type feel and towards the back you get a brunchy/restaurant feel.

Ella seems to be one of the few places within a 2 mile radius from Lorimer that are open pre 11 AM. In fact, we did quite a bit of walking looking for a place that served breakfast.

Although we were greeted with A/C (on this 90 degree and humid day - score!) and nice wood panels, there was no hostess and seating was DIY. We opted to sit in the cafe portion and just ordered from the counter.

I got organic pancakes w/strawberry and apple compote and a side of sausage kielbasa. I have found that ever since I started my power walk revolution, I need to eat more protein. The breakfast platter includes a drink and I opted for iced chamomile and spearmint tea. The tea arrived icy cold and was perfect. No simple syrup or extra sugars needed. It was refreshing and very minty plus a beautiful shade of light green. Also, with every drink, they gave a tiny shot glass of freshly squeezed organic juice. The juice they gave us were a combination of orange, pear, and apple. Really good but I gave mine away since it had oranges. The pancakes arrived and there were literally 3 strawberries and one apple wedge cut up into three pieces. Hardly a drizzle of fruit. They also forgot to give me syrup but I stole some from my friends. The little containers of syrup are enough for 2 servings. When I got my sausage it was in the shape of a patty instead of a link. The whole thing reminded me of a McDonald's breakfast but in a slightly more upscale and organic manner. Don't get me wrong, it's not an insult. I loooooove McDonald's breakfast especially sausage biscuits and Sprite (breakfast of champions). To get the pancake breakfasts were more of a treat. I felt 8 again. Oh yea, the pancakes at Ella were fluffy. Good stuff and just the right size.

I'd return. The place is cute and there is a good selection of food to choose from. And if you've come just for tea, I highly recommend it.

This place was such fucking garbage. Places like these piss me off so much. How dare you serve such shitty food, call it "organic", and feel like it's ok to change $10+ for everything? Hell nah.
My manfriend and I were going to some movie in McCarren Park, but I was hungry as hell. We ordered the chicken sandwich, the steak sandwich, and a side of mac and cheese.
The food was all terrible. Totally gross, totally inedible. Why ask me how I'd like the steak in my sandwich done if you're just going to overcook it? Seriously, I couldn't eat it (and if you read my reviews you know I eat EVERYTHING). It was totally dry and bland. I was so pissed at myself for spending $30+ on shit food when I could have gone to any deli corner for something better/cheaper.

People! Avoid this place at all costs. Ella Cafe, stop faking the funk. Don't pretend like you know what you're doing with your high costs when your food really is disgusting.
PS. Your staff sucks too. Not cool to smoke right outside the door, come back in, not wash your grimy disgusting hands and then proceed to touch my food.

Just popped in for a coffee before work, which I have to say was very tasty. And very organic, right down to the milk. Bright, sunny morning cafe. Friendly and quick service. Can't comment on the food but looked like pretty standard cafe fare. Don't know if I'd rush back for lunch but definitely a good spot for your morning fix.

Second visit - had the bacon/egg/cheeze on a bagel. Dry and really hard to eat. Get the coffee, run from the food.

It's nice to have a restaurant in the neighborhood to get a healthier meal, made with mostly organic ingredients (especially in the meat department). It's doubly nice that they are more responsible about waste and offer containers and flatware made of biodegradable materials.

I'm not sure why I find it somewhat lacking, then. Maybe it's that thier preparation is not particularly inspiring. Maybe it's the spotty, stange service. Or maybe it's the fact that they don't acknowledge or specifically offer any Gluten Free options in thier menu, even though they indicate Vegan and Vegetarian options. Being a healthier restaurant, it seems they should get with the times on this. Whatever it is, I don't frequent this place as often as I probably should.

The greatest item on the menu is the "Mediterranean" Salad, which consists of organic lentils, arugula, goat cheese and olives. This is good and is delicate, though sometimes the lentils can be slightly underdone and it could use a touch of citrus. Many of the other salads are too sweet for my taste, but I have not tried the Ceasar or the Cobb. Just note that these salads do not contain the organic chicken, so you'd have to ask them to substitute for $3 if that's what you want (Why is the organic on the sandwiches and not on the salads? Annoying).

The grilled salmon is decent. The organic roasted chicken is just ok. You pick your sides. I've tried the mashed potatoes (watery), the grilled zucchini (good), the grilled asparagus (good), the organic greens side salad and the ratatouille (the very best of the bunch).

Tomato soup is good....

Just recently tried an Avacado and Tomato Omlette, and I thought it was really quite delicious, and the potatoes were nice and crispy-skinned. I'll need to come for brunch some time.

I do very much appreciate being able to get an organic cup of coffee with organic hormone-free milk (though I'd prefer an unsweetened nut milk option).

All in all I am glad this place exists, but it's not always my first choice.

Hey Ella,

Your menu looks delectable but I'd never know since you suck every time we try to go to your establishment. What are you? A sit down place? Not a sit down place? Your staff is clueless, and painfully apathetic.

You'll find many delicious sandwich options at Ella, along with their tasty breakfast options such as the un-unique, but perfectly crafted egg, sausage and cheese breakfast sandwich.

But I have to give Ella a demotion on stars due to the service. Their attempt at being a pseudo sit down restaurant simply doesn't scale. As the establishment gets busier it makes it increasingly difficult to order food and predict if you can get a seat or you'll need to get it to go. It makes me understand why similar places such as Fabiane's have table service only at certain times. Ella could take a cue from them.

They also need to learn their menu it seems. When I ordered the pancakes I was asked if that was on their menu, which indeed was as pointed out by me. The server promptly pressed a button on his register which then flashed PANCAKES on the display. There did seem to be some confusion where they were telling people to not order off the menu which is plastered across the wall and to use a paper menu instead.

The food is good though, so my recommendation is to either stick with just doing take out or go at a time when there aren't more than about 10 people there freaking out the wait staff and your chances of getting a seat are better.

Consistently high-quality and tasty. I'm constantly thanking the delivery gods that Ella reaches me in Greenpoint.

Every restaurant that serves it should offer breakfast all day. Ella's famed Meat Skillet w/ eggs, bacon, & kielbasa is a perfect protein-packed meal any time of day. And it comes with rosemary taters, 'shrooms, onions, swiss, roasted peppers, and choice of toast. What more could you want? Breakfast all day, bitches!

Oh, how about the best damned Grilled Salmon you've ever had for under $15? Simple, fresh, crispy, savory, it's probably my favorite to-go dinner in Williamsburg. They even give you two sides. I prefer the Grilled Zucchini and heaping Mashed Potatoes. Though the Mustard Spaetzle, Ratatouille, Asparagus are all tastebud-pleasers in their own right.

I've had their chicken too, but found it a tad dry for my taste. But Ella can cook a mean burger, as most of my coworkers can attest. Their salads are decent too.

One day, I'll actually hoof down there to dine in, but for now, I look forward to trying their whole delivery menu.

I'm really conflicted about this place. I work in the neighborhood and I've had take-out from them no less than 10 times, eaten almost everything besides the brunch menu, and the food is by and large pretty good. Their half and half lunch menu is nice. I like the burger a lot, just good meat cooked well, when the tomato soup is hot its amazing (esp. the meatballs) the salmon wrap is small but good. I used to crush that tomato bacon wrap all the time. But then I noticed when I'd ask for a side of dressing I'd get a side of sass (hey-o!)

So yeah, the service, particularly the front counter service, really has been awful and dismissive here. Finally, I decided I'd just boycott them. It was that astoundingly bad. To the point where you're about to cop them an attitude back, like you're in an episode of Seinfeld with a maniacal cashier. Like why "hipsters" in a broad-term are loathed by so many. Like acting indignant I have to place your order. It's like why are you working here then? And shockingly there never seems to be a floor manager there reining in the brats. Ok calm.

Now I hesitate to overreact and moan endlessly about the service, there are already so many crazy Yelp service tales in general, but at Ella it has been a total turn-off in the past.

I will say though in Ella's defense, recently, a few of the jerks I haven't seen when going past the window and I've spoken to two employees (inside my work actually) who seemed very nice so I think I'd get good treatment if I went back and they were in.

My boycott isn't over but maybe, maybe I'll give it a try again one day.