Marche Museum Cafe, I feel so conflicted about you. On the one hand, you rescued me from starvation (or at least munchies) when I was studying at the library over the break and found all their vending machines broken. You offered me savory scones with cheese and generous helpings of thick bacon.
However, when I returned the next day, proudly showing my husband my scone revelation, you gave me some sad news. Due to a 'baguette malfunction', you were not serving sandwiches. And since you were already on a special spring break menu, you were serving nothing but soup or a salad, and some pastries. No sandwiches of any kind, no bread with the soup, nothing.
We decided to go for the soup and a scone. The scone was still great, but the soup was terrible. I left more than half, which is an absolute first. I've eaten plenty of mediocre onion soups, but this was really just a bowl of slightly bitter water with the texture of onions. Yuk. And no side of bread (but still the same price of course) :(
Now I ask you: Was there no solution you could think of for your baguette malfunction? None whatsoever? You run your own bakery (Marche Provisions), were none of those breads good enough for my sandwich? How about the countless other amazing bakeries in town whose bread, quite frankly, is better than yours? Were you too proud to visit one of those so you could at least still serve lunch in your cafe? Too proud to let them profit from your 'baguette malfunction'? As your customer, perhaps you will allow me to remind you that I would rather eat panini on a DIFFERENT bread, than a big plate of nothing at all.
PS: Hang some stuff on your wall please, even with only 5 people there the cafe can be painfully loud. Also: how about replacing that tiny, thin prison flatware with some real knives and forks, or simply plastic?
A nice change from the majority of campus and vicinity lunch options who feature heavier offerings for students looking to stretch their dollar. Think European cafe overtaken with college students; the initial concept of a sophisticated atmosphere overpowered by casual PacNW academic types. Marche Museum Cafe is the preferred place for student/professor meetings outside of their offices, coffee with visiting UO guests, and GTF study breaks.
I had a delightful small meal of a mushroom-cheese panini, with a side "salad" for lunch the other day. I don't know why I thought my selection would be a healthy option-one can make a healthy grilled veg and cheese sandwich at home, but here you are at the mercy of French preparation; white bread (brioche/country blonde?) was perfectly toasted, thanks to the wonderful coating of butter; the sauteed 'shrooms blended nicely with the creamy, melting havarti slices. The petite portion of delicate mesclun greens tossed in a vinaigrette (that's it, no other veg) would have been all but consumed in two normal forkfulls, but were stretched over several bites by use of the tiny, seemingly flimsy forks made from recycled tinfoil or similar metallic compound.
Pros:Local business; quality ingredients; nice outdoor patio area, very good coffee; decent prices; good food, vegetarian options; small portions
Cons: inconsistent, rough-around-the-edges service; cramped ordering area when busy; cafeteria-style dining area can get noisy and needs more upkeep (read: table wipe-downs) during peak times, small portions
The food is good, if sometimes inconsistent. Â The service has really gotten bad. Â It's total chaos in there. Â No one appears to be in charge: can't tell what's going on when you enter; no one appears to want to help; they didn't understand what I was trying to order, though I was just ordering a cappuccino and a cookie. Â Get it together, people.
Review Source:Slipping a bit. Last two times I've been here it has not been busy, but there are no straws out for drinks, the self serve area has been messy and the self-bussing station is overflowing. Charging $2.00 for an iced tea and not doing refills is silly and strange. I enjoyed my cheese sandwich, but on my next visit I ordered the quiche of the day which was supposed to be olive and feta, and it came out and was zucchini. Big difference. I think the counter help had forgotten to change the chalkboard sign for the day.
I'll return, but my expectations aren't high which is too bad because I could see this being a place I'd like to go to regularly with some improvements in service and cleanliness. I enjoy the outdoor patio in the summer.
I go here pretty often because I work about 50 meters from it. (In a neighboring building at the UO.) It's the best option on campus for coffee hands down, and I can get my Mexican Coke there too, so I'm a fan. The workers are pretty good at remembering regular customers as well.
The reason they lose 2 stars from me though is the size of their meals. Now, I'm a petite lady. I like my food, and sure, I'll eat 2 slices of cake per social event, given the chance. But seriously, I'm small, I don't take in a ton of calories, and I even prefer my lunches on the smallish side, just so I don't go into a food coma in my office in the afternoons. Â And yet, I have never had a filling meal here.
The prices aren't horrible for a musuem cafe, but for $7, I expect my grilled cheese to be more than 5 bites. Or my bowl of soup to have a little bit of substance. Even the "bread" that comes with the soup is skimpy - 2 or 3 TINY medallions of what must be a doll-sized baguette.
Sure, I can supplement with a brownie or something, but that's more cash dollars, that I'd rather not spend.
And the kitchen here is pretty much at the whim of Marche's main location -- they only get what is sent to them, and supposedly have no say in what that is. Â So, while I'd love to point out that the best deal here are the (really really good for Eugene) bagels (which I get toasted and with cream cheese) for $2 (that includes the price of cheese), it's only about 1 time out of 10 that they actually have a bagel in stock when I drop by. (Hello? Main Marche? Are you listening? THEY ALWAYS SELL OUT OF BAGELS! STOCK MORE!) Â This is probably directly related to the tiny servings of bread they give... they're probably afraid to run out of that too.
So, anyway, I'm here frequently, but now that there's a growing group of food carts along Kincaid, I'm rarely buying more than a coffee.
I've only ever tried the espresso and ice tea here and they do both well. The baristas are well-trained and consistent, *and* they use Wandering Goat coffee, which is a big plus. Service is quick and the staff are friendly. Easily the best place to get espresso and iced tea on campus.
Review Source:The prices are on the high side being it is right next to an art museum and on the UO campus. Â You have to pay to park, if you can find a spot at all. Â If you don't have a staff tag on your car, then take public transit in to the university.
The food is perfectly average, the service is hit and miss. Â Not great, not terrible, just average. Â There are far better places within walking distance.
Having their quiche for breakfast is a rare treat for me. Â Just one little slice and my morning is made. Â I highly recommend coming here for a great cup of coffee and some quiche, treat yourself to some class! Â Warm environment, really good coffee, and some quiche hot from the oven. Â Very nice!
Review Source:I went here with some friends. I ordered a burger with frites (fries). The fries were amazing, but the burger was rather dry, despite (according to my friend who is a local farm inspector) the fact that the meat comes from a good place and is high-quality. I guess meat quality has less to do with burger taste than burger cooking skills. The bun on which the burger was served was also a bit stale.
Review Source:Rick says, "I think it's time to go get some coffee."
I say, "Praise be."
If this place is good enough for the daily 10am curatorial gathering from the JSMA, it's certainly good enough for me. The coffee is Wandering Goat, which is far superior to the Allmann Bros. brownwater that the rest of the campus cafes serve. The food, which, other than my occasional bagel, I have only had properly once, is absolutely top-notch. (Who says "top-notch"?) Croque Monsieurs and creamy lemon tarts make you say très bon.
And really, that's what I say too.
It's not the very best coffee place I've ever gone to, but as far as a place to grade endless student papers and finals goes, it's quite good. There's plenty of space to spread out, a warm atmosphere, weird cafeteria-meets-bistro decor and a convenient locale. The food is a little pricey for me to indulge in all the time, but the coffee is reasonably cost-effective enough to let me make Marché my first choice for on-campus meetings and hi-fives.
Also I have a coffee punchcard. And I love places with coffee punchcards.
I was astonished at how wonderful my food was at this marche location. Often times when a place has a small little spot like this one, you don't expect much. I was wrong!
The food was divine and every bit as wonderful as if I were at Marche in 5th St. Surprisingly, the location in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum was rather cheap.
You could get a pre-made sandwich, chips and soda on campus at DUX or you could enjoy some art as well as tasty food a mere 2 minutes across campus.
Take a walk already!!! The fresh air and tasty morsels are good for you!!
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