Spar Café

Sunday brunch here was fantastic. The ambience is cozy. I enjoy the blast from the past with all the old photos of its history. The Service staff was friendly. The food was fresh and tasty. We will continue to make this our Sunday go to!

I'm not sure what happened over the past three months, but things have slipped a little at the old Spar. Ok, maybe more than just a little. On my last visit, the service was at a crawl, and they were not busy. Food was definitely meh. The burger I got seemed less fresh-cooked than warmed up under a heat lamp. Fries were sad and soggy. Because of the slow table service, food was tepid at best. Don't even ask about drink refills.

Again, the place was slow and eerily quiet. I'm not sure if this was a one off bad day for them, or something else. I'm not sure I'm going to go back anytime soon to find out, though. Bummer.

Spar used to be one of our absolute favorites, but unfortunately every time we've gone in the past year it's gotten progressively worse. The food used to be great and so was the service.

Recently the food has come out wrong, cold, and on dirty plates.

Last time we were there we waited for 45 minutes just to order drinks, even though the whole place was empty except for us and two other tables. Our food took just as long once we were finally able to order. The ketchup bottle on our table had mold in the cap, and 3 out of our 6 silverware sets had food crusted on them. When we asked for clean sets the waitress rolled her eyes.

The prices have also gone up substantially. I understand inflation, and I understand that many businesses are struggling to stay afloat in Olympia, but come on. If the food quality was as good as it used to be, the new prices could be worth it, but at this rate, we're scared to even go back.

Very disappointing to lose our favorite date / birthday / dinner with friends spot.

I can't imagine a better start to my day than breakfast at the (McMenamins) SPAR Cafe in downtown Olympia.
Service is always top notch, It makes you feel like you're home. Tons of regulars tells you this place is solid everyday.
The history of the place takes you back in time with preserved fixtures and photos to compare the yesteryear to current times. The Ambiance welcomes you.

In summary: $25 for a plate of hummus with veggies and pita? Get it up youse not mine.

Family and I were discovering downtown Olympia.. many different shops and lots to discover... we were getting hungry when we came up on the Spar Cafe.. I saw the big McMennamins sign and thought a beer would be nice..we weren't in and they were passing to lunch hour and there was a 30 minute wait... I said well we go anywhere else it will be thirty minutes tell we get there and seated so we stayed... the place is littered with old pictures of scenery and more so plenty to look at... the waiting area is small so diners are close together.. didn't stop me from taking up a small conversation with strangers...lol nice problem they were from the area but had never dined there... when seated we were is a booth which was cool cause you can close the curtains for privacy... we didn't but it's an option... menu is a two pager... I had the hammerhead cheese steak! Super grind! Very good.. my side of Cajun tots.. yes! i also ordered a hammerhead beer 6.2%... very good.. kid had a burger and wife ate a Morphys club... glad I ordered what I did cause man so good and filling with the beer .. pow.. bed time.. wife's sandwich turned out to be more bread than meat but she ate the whole thing.. thee waiter was super nice ... but I do got to say good prices are outrageous these days...

We only sat outside because we wanted to get the ambiance, which was nice. Our server was super nice and helpful. The food was okay, but not great. I had to give it two stars though because they need to tweak the details. My bacon was thin and overcooked, so it was disappointing. When we tried the catsup, old catsup was caked in the screw top. I have no problem with refilling bottles because that's what restaurants do and that's perfectly fine, but clean out the lids, guys.

$9.50 for an everything bagel with whipped cream cheese!?!
It was tasty, but not worth $9.50. I also had the Spar's breakfast. It took forever to get our food on a Friday morning, and it was COLD. Our server never refilled our drinks or checked on us after dropping off our food.
Except for the fact my food was literally room temperature, the flavor was fine.
Total bill for 2 breakfasts with water was just under $60. Definitely NOT worth the money because of the lack of service and the fact it was obvious our food sat waiting to be delivered for quite some time.
We're all used to spending a lot more when we eat out, but I also expect decent service and at a minimum WARM hash browns and eggs.
I certainly will not be returning anytime soon.

Food was delicious with shareable portions! The servers were efficient and fun! Even photo bombed our pic! Thanks Em! Hahaha we had a fabulous breakfast and be back again soon to enjoy it all again!!

The pizza is pretty big here. Next time I won't get the large size! The ambience of this place is great and I'll definitely be back.