Mad Hatter's Bake Shop

They have great breakfast burritos & muffins, usually a wait on weekend mornings but they have cute outside seating, great for spring weather here in NC. Also they have a special decorate your own birthday cupcake for kids, my girls love that... more

I took a friend here for coffee today and was amazed to find out that the Mad Hatter charges $5.00 for an iced mocha. It was just a bit of coffee and chocolate milk in a plastic cup full of crushed ice. Five dollars? Really? ---- They offer a selection of mediocre cooked food and pretty nasty danishes. The brownies and cookies are OK. The best thing there is the selection of croissants trucked in from the incomparable Guglhupf. Come early in the morning if you want to get one. If you come early in the morning, you'll also avoid their arbitrary midday wi-fi cutoff. ---- Not nearly as nice as Joe van Gogh or even the Broad Street Cafe, but the convenience to East Campus is hard to beat. Pros: Close to E. Campus, free coffee refills, Guglhupf croissants Cons: High prices, low-quality food more

The cakes are awesome! i would recommend the Strawberry Shortcake. The German Chocolate is also VERY good! more

I purchased a piece white cake with chocolate icing from Mad Hatter's last night. I was shocked to find that most of it was icing. You could see where 1 pan of cake had been sliced in to 3 pieces and then stacked with excessive amounts of icing between each layer. Basically, each layer of icing was as thick or thicker than each layer of cake. The cake-to-icing ratio was way off. The cake had a good flavor, but I ended up scrapping the layers of icing off the cake. Otherwise, it would have been too much. I first went to Mad Hatter's 14 years ago and they made some of the best cakes around. As of late, the quality has taken a nose dive. It is obvious that Mad Hatters is making some adjustment in this shaky economy, but that doesn't mean you fill a cake with icing. I would rather have a shorter cake than one made taller with icing. more

We would go here anytime! My family has gotten lunch there many times and the food has always been wonderful. They have a nice selection and healthy options for kids. Their baked goods are hard to beat, and they have a large variety of specialty cakes to order ahead of time. We often like to stop in and browse the variety of cakes they have already available and select one of our old favorites (the mint is amazing, and the ever present black and white is always a nice treat). I love scones, and their chocolate chip scones are exceptionally yummy - but due to the high demand their batches sometimes sell out fast. Pros: amazing food, great service more

Wow. I had just picked up the phone to order several cakes from Mad Hatter for a party I am having. I am not going to place an order based on the negative reviews I have just read. Have been several times myself and thought the food was okay, but yes the wait staff was rude, and I figured at least the cakes that they built their business on would be safe. Obviously not. And obviously they need to get rid of the cake guy that seems to be coming up again and again in the reviews before Mr. Personality drives everyone away with his charm. Bye Mad Hatters. There are plenty of other great businesses that will be happy to give me my cakes.......... more

Ok, first, let me say that I actually like the place ""ok"". I think their bakery/cake stuff is ok. I like sweets. I like coffee. I like hanging out with my friends and drink coffee and eat sweets. This place is good for that. Pros: Bakery's pretty good. Cons: The worst noodle soup in the area. more

As a Duke undergrad, I loved the cakes at Mad Hatters, so when it came time to choose a baker for our wedding, Mad Hatters was the obvious choice. I ignored the advice of a florist, who told me that he was embarrassed about the looks and taste of a cake from here at a recent wedding that he helped with, thinking that surely he was just being dramatic. The only part of our planning process that went smoothly with this baker was the meeting where they got their money. After that, it made absolutely no difference what I had asked for (specifically no fondant icing) or how many times I called trying to speak with Jason, who I was told was the only person I could speak with to confirm my details. Not only did my cake come with fondant icing that was so dry it just fell off the cake when it was cut, the cake itself was so dry it must have been made MANY days ahead of our big day. Guests and family also expressed their disappointment with the cake, since I'd talked up how good it would be - how embarrassing! It pains me to even see pictures of the cake from our wedding day because it makes me angry all over again thinking about the $1,200 we wasted with these horribly organized and unattentive bakers. Don't make the same mistake I did.....or at least be prepared to write your own bad review after your event! more

after frequenting a number of like priced, quick food establishments, it is nice to finally see one deliver on their hype. i am sick of eating so so food out of baskets or the ubiquitous metal tray. at mad hatters, i got a tasty fresh meal (spicy shrimp wrap one time and goat cheese salad another time) in a great portion size on a real plate served in a warm light filled dining room surrounded by local art. considering their organic and made from scratch food the price is a bargain. i can easily spend as much at whole foods without the portion size, service or ambiance. i will come again and again - next time the specialty hot dog! Pros: good price for what you get, rotating local art, light filled warm dining room Cons: more seating would be great - another move to a larger building? more

thank you mad hatter for having delicious organic food and friendly service. the atmosphere is wonderful and cheery. thanks for having the intelligence to cut off wi-fi at lunch - its nice when people are talking and enjoying the food and not clicking away ignoring each other. when i want to get some work done (wi-fi is only off during the lunch hours) i come in the early afternoon and surf away with coffee and cake! love this establishment and hope they will be around for years to come.... Pros: great food, great service, friendly atmosphere Cons: sharing parking lot with whole foods more

As I was looking for the phone number to order my husband's bday cake, I was VERY surprised by all the negative cake reviews. We have been always 100% satisfied with the selection of cakes, not only the ones on hand but I specialty ordered three large different cakes for my son's graduation party, as well as a new years party, which all were perfect. The party goers raved about the cakes and even went themselves and had a great outcome. It totally beats anyplace in town!!!!! more

have always enjoyed this almost landmark establishment during my time here in durham - wanted to relay a specific experience however Pros: good prices for organic quality food Cons: some fellow customers can be annoying - mellow out people! more

I was surprised to see the bad reviews - I consider myself fairly hard to impress when it comes to restaurants, but have been to Mad Hatter's about 10 times and have always really enjoyed the food. Staff there have never been rude to us either. Their eggs benedict and quesadillas with home-made lime sour cream are really good. Their specialty cakes are also all delicious (especially the strawberry and blueberry/lemon ones) - I've tried them all at work parties at one time or another. I have never ordered a custom cake from them however. more

Sure, the cupcakes were good. BUT when I had a simple billing inquiry I was treated very rudely. As a corporate client who probably would have given them repeat business they treated me I personally conned them out of tons of money. When I called them and tried to have a conversation about my bill I could barely get a word in edgewise. All in all, the service STINKS and I wouldn?t recommend using them for anything, not to mention an important. So much for customer service - they won?t be getting any more business from me! Pros: Cupcakes were good Cons: Services Stunk more

We decided to use Mad Hatter's for my daughter's wedding. They were gracious and eager when we first met, but as time went on, we could not get our questions answered. Three days before my daughter's wedding, I was in the restaurant to confirm details of the cake. One of the employees called the person in charge of wedding cakes and he did not want to speak with me on the phone. I confirmed the details through the employee. The layers were correct, but the icing was not. What we got was a fondant that fell away from the cake in sheets. As one who does frequent business through my work with Mad Hatter's, the cake was not the quality I have come to expect from them. A guest at the reception thought it was a packaged cake. Very disappointing. more

I met a friend for lunch there a few weeks ago. Lunch was pretty good, although a bit overpriced. I bought a cake for my mother's birthday. It looked gorgeous but when we ate it that night, it was not just tasteless but bad. The cake was mediocre but the icing was awful. I was stunned since I thought this place was supposed to be a really good bakery. Wouldn't buy any baked good there again. more

I'll never be confused for a local, but the Mad Hatter is one of the bright spots for me since leaving New York. I enjoy lunch there whenever I can, but the best part for me is the bakery. The cakes, cannoli, etc. are outstanding. The only thing that could make it better is if I could get them to make a seven layer cake. Pros: Wireless internet, good coffee, great desserts more

I saw the rating on CitySearch & decided to check it out. i was in the process of looking for a baker for my wedding. One afternoon last week, my fiance & I decided to go to Mad Hatters for lunch & to inquire about their cakes. WHOA!!!! First of all, the kitchen looks totally dirty, the bathroom had a leaky ceiling, & honestly the food was sooooooooooo wickedly bad that we did not get past two bites off our plates let alone try any deserts!!! Pros: Location Cons: Food, atmosphere, bathroom, parking more

I ordered a baby shower cake in person and immediately noticed that the male counter person was less than helpful and seemed to be bothered by having to to take my order. Despite this, I decided on a cake covered in white icing that would have baby booties, rattles and bottles with light blue icing being the accent color and the color of the wording on the cake. This was all written on the sales ticket. Imagine my disappointment when I arrived to pick up the cake hours before the shower and saw that cake was covered in dark blue icing. I immediately voiced my disapproval and they offered to ""fix"" the cake while I waited. I couldn't come back for the cake as I lived in Raleigh as I had more preparations to do being the hostess of the shower. The cake was then a rush job in my opinion. The icing was super soft since it didn't have a chance to harden and thus was a mess to serve. I paid over $50 for this cake!! An overpriced cake for the lousy service from the counter person and poor skills from the cake decorator. From this experience, I won't be going back and will continue to tell my family, friends and co-workers not to use Mad Hatter's either. I wish I had read Mad Hatter's reviews prior to making my cake order. Don't waste your time with Mad Hatter's Bakery and take your business to a more reputable baker/decorator. Pros: none to speak of Cons: poor service from counter person, cake wasn't what I had ordered, over-priced more

A studying-friendly place, where you can get some good food. However, it can be difficult to get a table on the weekends, especially on sunday during brunch hours. Pros: Studying-friendly! more