Kowalski - Leipzig

This might be the worst customer service I've EVER experienced in a restaurant in my lifetime. I wish I could give you negative stars! You might consider...

We come here multiple times whenever we visit Leipzig. There is a wide variety of options on the menu, from pasta to schnitzel to red curry chicken, and...

Café Kowalski is a pretty modern café-cum-bistro, offering a wide range of hot and cold beverages, cakes and hot cold food. The ambience isn't too...

We went to cafe Kowalski with some friends and our little girls (a 3 years and a 10 months old) tonight. We first met with a friend and his daughter for a Spritz and afterwards, when he left, two more friends joined us for dinner. That is when the waitress started to be pretty unfriendly with us. First she didn't want our friend to enter with her stroller... where her baby was asleep! At that point we had to decide if leaving or convincing the waitress that the stroller would fit close to our table. By the way, we were in one of the corner of the restaurant, the stroller would not have created any trouble to the other customers. We finally convinced her we were right and we all could finally sit. The waitress was never very accommodating (for instance, she used to pass close to our chairs and move them away with her legs, like, I don't know, she wanted to show superiority and arrogance) but the worst happened when we had to leave. Separately, all of our friends went to the cashier to pay their parts. One went to the toilette to change her baby and she was told by the same, unfriendly waitress "but then you come back to pay, right?"...like if we are accustomed to running off restaurants after dinner.When it was our turn to pay, we were told to pay also the Aperol Spritz and the apple juice of our "friend with daughter" (see the intro of the review), which I was sure he paid. The waitress said (quote): "your friend with glasses... "puff" disappeared!"I then said "I am sure he paid", and the waitress, with her peculiar, unfriendly manner, replied "and I am sure he didn't!".I sent a text message to my friend and he, of course, said that he had paid indeed. So after another couple of "my friend payed" "No he did not!" we moved to the cashier to talk to the manager. Then, and only then, the "I-don't-give-a-s**t-that-you-are-a-client"-waitress asked to the other waitress if our friend did pay to her before leaving and, as it was very predictable, she said "of course, he paid to me".So, waitress, before being so sure that we did not pay ask your colleagues instead of keeping to contradict me.Talking about food: it is not so bad but nothing really special. Portions are quite satisfying and the environment of the place is ok (probably if you are german and have no babies... for instance, there is not a single dish for kids in the menu), but the service is reaaaally slow. We had to wait 1 hour for a sandwich (ham and cheese), a dish of spaghetti, a lentil soup and an omelette. And the place was just half full. We had to insist to have at least the food for the children as soon as possible (it was nearly 9pm already).In Italy, where we know what it means to do catering and food services, we are used to very different treatments! (by the way, we spent like 100 €, not just sitting there for two cokes).They did not deserve any tip nor more than 1 star in this review.

The atmosphere is very modern and tidy, but at the same time sofas and books are provided. At the end of the day, the place makes a modern but still welcoming impression. The cake display is located right at the entrance and shows some of their house-made stuff. The three of us went for dinner and breakfast the other day. The late night service was very prompt, warm hearted and caring. The morning (well, okay, lunch as it was a late breakfast) was less good. After all, it really depends on the individual member of staff. The food was very well. Specifically, there are some local specials such as Ragoutfin (despite its French name, it appears to be a local thing). The bar offers some cocktails and wines which are well worth trying. The breakfast menu includes Arme Ritter (toast with egg/dough and apples) which I can recommend. The place is ideal for meeting friends or business. But for a romantic dinner the outdoor seating to rear might be option. However, the main space is very open and modern and presumably not ideal. In sum, we enjoyed the place, the food and the evening service a lot.