Just had the most disappointing breakfast ever at this place. I knew I shouldn't have bought into the Madison hype. This city doesn't know good food at all and Sophia's just proves it.
Before I get to the food, let me describe what you are getting into. It's in an annoying location on Johnson with no convenient parking. But fine, a little walk won't kill us. Then you get there and it's a tiny place with mismatched tables and chairs crammed together. It's loud and uncomfortable as you jockey for a seat with other patrons and maneuver around them to serve yourself some water or clear your own table. I wouldn't be surprised if the place should be shut down by the fire marshal. Oh and they only accept cash which is an increasingly obnoxious practice in a mostly cashless society.
Now onto the food. In one word: abysmal. The couldn't cook a pancake or a waffle to save their life. Eggy and probably made with batter that was overwhipped. We can whip up better waffles at home with ease and Bisquick has churned out better pancakes. The waffles had pear ginger fruit on top, but neither of us like the flavor and they decided to drown it in a huge amount of whip cream. I guess that was an attempt to hide the mediocrity of the food under it. The pancakes had decent cinammon apples on top, but the apples in the pancakes were bland and neither of us could detect the cider reduction that supposedly accompanied it.
I think the worst condemnation of it was that both of us left hungry because we left at least half of our breakfasts on the plate. Yes, it was that bad. Also you can shove your tip jar up your ass. The gall of asking for tips when I have to fight for a table, get my own drinks and clean up my own food?