Cosmic Café and Ciderhouse

The staff is always friendly and welcoming, the food is prepared quickly, and everything I’ve tried has been consistently delicious. I also really appreciate the wide variety of vegetarian options. Highly recommend!

What a beautiful day we had on our bicycling journey from Center City Philadelphia. We rode north on a bike/walking path to Boathouse Row. The weather was gorgeous. As we explored the area north of the City. Then we came upon a lovely place to buy lunch and some mint tea. It is called The Cosmic Cafe and Cider House. Where we ordered a tuna on marble rye and a turkey bacon BLT wrap, with two glasses of delicious mint tea. The service was extremely good. The food was absolutely perfect. And the mint tea was so refreshing. I am so glad that we discovered this hidden gem, just off of the Schuylkill River. As it's nestled underneath the trees and a cool soft breeze is felt. We had such a relaxing time eating lunch outside of The Cosmic Cafe and Cider House.

Really awesome dog friendly cafe. Have light food like cookies, hamburgers, ice cream and tons of other food in the menu. Also this food are tasty and here is the best place over the river to drink coffe and eat in romantic atmosphere in center!

I got extended exposure to Cosmic Cafe following a recent weekend working in Lloyd Hall for a race. They have an excellent menu including breakfast and lunch options. I recommend the ham sandwich. You can customize everything and most dishes come with a small side. As a runner and frequent Lloyd Hall visitor, I also appreciate the cold water container outside the shop free for use by all. There have been plenty of hot summer days where I refilled my bottle without having to get in line or even thank anyone - so I'm thanking them here!

Friendly staff, but the food was not very good (especially for the price). Had the cosmic hoagie and the combo wrap; the chicken on both were so dry. The worst part of the experience was the flies (inside and outside). We thought they were maybe just hovering by a certain section, but we tried the different tables and they just followed us. Not sure if it would've been better upstairs, as there was some sort of event upstairs, so we were not allowed to eat up there. They also have a water jug outside for people to fill up their own cups/bottles. Saw some jogger run up and just take a swig directly from the tap. Disgusting. It's a shame because it's a nice location, with a good concept. The food quality just isn't great, and the flies are absolutely horrible. *Wow, what a snide response. A) you can use good quality chicken, and still ruin it by overcooking it (hence, the dry chicken in both meals), B) you can try to control the flies that are inside your kitchen and dining areas (and probably control the outdoor insects to an extent, by choosing not to compost so close to the dining area). Great customer service with that response, though. 👍

1. I was immediately greeted. When I mentioned my allergies, they took the time to check every single ingredient. (I got a veggie wrap). Extremely friendly people! 2. The food was yummy! We also got one of the fresh pressed juices. 3. Love their cause 4. Beautiful scenery

Stopped here midday for a breakfast sandwich. It was excellent and served by a very nice man. Great stop for a quality meal on the trail.

I have been coming here for over 2 years! During the late Spring through early Autumn there are open mic nights with talented musicians. Weekends are often busy and popular social eatery. Outside patio has a view of the Schuylkill River and lots of opportunities to listen and watch birds. The head chef and managers pride themselves on fresh, high quality ingredients, food preparation, kind and patient service. Their servers are always friendly and sweet. Highly recommend! Outside seating is dog friendly!

Love the ciderhouse at the cosmic cafe. Sometimes I will walk down here for an hour or so and drink a hot tea or a cider and watch the exercisers go by. Other times I grab a drink and listen to the band/guitar dude. It's just a nice place if you want to sit outside on a patio and enjoy the fresh air. I rarely get food - but when I do the food is solid.

Stopped in as I was parked nearby on Boathouse Row while my son visited a college crew team. Hungry after the four hour drive here, I got a large latte and a ham and egg breakfast sandwich. Wow...that is the biggest breakfast sandwich I ever saw for $10. Also - incredibly good! What a deal! The caffe latte was delicious...piping hot and perfectly made. There is a small bio on the wall about Chef Peg and her efforts to employ and help differently abled and others that need a hand up in life. Reading it, and then sampling her excellent fares...well, this is clearly a labor of love that you should support. You'll be deliciously happy you did!

Gorgeous setting on Kelly Drive. The chefs give my dog bacon and are so happy to see her and maybe are happy to see me too. Kids who have disabilities are hired as waiters and waitresses and do great job this place has it all. Drop in for some live music on weekends.

Horrible food and rude management. I've tried multiple times to like this place but this will be the last. I came today looking for a place to rest and snack during my trail walk. Multiple other people were relaxing, sitting on the tables not having bought anything, but there was still plenty of table space. There were no signs saying that outdoor seating was only for cafe customers, but I purposely bought the $8 juice (ridiculous) and chips to be safe and to support the cafe. Seating outside, I start eating a packed salad and sandwich I brought, and 5 minutes later an incredibly pretentious and rude manager comes out to scold me for bringing my food, telling me that outside food is not allowed, even if you've purchased cafe fare. He claimed that this was a "restaurant"--also ridiculous; it's clearly meant to be an informal outdoor space for walkers to enjoy. I can't believe this is how they treat paying customers. On a separate occasion, the veggies on their wraps have been old and rubbery, and one sandwich gave my guest food poisoning for three days. Once, when I asked for a very simple modification to a sandwich (no cheese), I was refused. Unfortunately, the only reason this place still exists is because it has no other competition. Please avoid.

It is a smallcafe with not much ambiance. The people were nice so service was good. I had an egg and cheese and a coffee both good. Many vegetarian choices.

The staff was kind and had good food the tea was good and the park was nice and Cute little place on the water in Fairmount Park

We stopped in after visiting the museum and had lattes and capuccinos. Nice servers, good price, and the outside tables provided a nice place to relax and feel unrushed. Will go back.

Cute little place on the water in Fairmount Park. We got muffins and a vegan brownie for breakfast tomorrow. Friendly counter person. Gluten-free options were a granola bar and the brownie. They also have coffee, iced tea, lemonade, etc. Nice pit stop after trudging through the park!

extremely disappointed by the service and disrespect of employees. I myself work in the service industry and felt an overwhelming discomfort while sitting at cafe. would not come back again nor recommend to friends.

This place is my favorite reward after an early morning row! Their breakfast sandwiches are delicious- piled high with egg, cheese, and meat. And they are one of the few places these days that never run out of gluten free bread. Smoothies are very good as well. As is the coffee!

It's wonderful to have this little cafe on Boathouse Row! It's located at the end of the parking lot in Lloyd Hall. The inside is small. There was lots of seating outside on the patio. I think there's also seating upstairs but not positive. The cafe has counter service. We went in and ordered our sandwiches then sat at a table outside. When the sandwich was ready, it was brought out to us. The turkey sandwich was soooo good. It was real roasted turkey not lunch meat. It tasted freshly made. The sandwich had lettuce, tomatoes and red onion, all fresh! You can choose your bread from whole wheat, white, whole grain. Everything is freshly made. The mint tea is also good. It's homemade and not overly sweetened. We were there on a Sunday. There was live music and a pop up bar outside. It was an enjoyable lunch!

I love coming here! The food is always great and so is the staff. They're the best dog friendly cafe in Philly!

This place is a cute cafe by Kelly Drive. They have WiFi so it's a good place to get some work done by the water. They serve breakfast and lunch. The salad was good.

Cute cafe right on Boathouse row We had an excellent chicken and veggie wrap with veggie slaw side. lOADS of fresh veggies!! Plenty of nice drinks to choose from such as kombucha, fresh pressed juices, Frecon ciders. The price is reasonable for the great quality and location. We sat on the sunny patio by the water. It was refreshing to eat from real plates and stainless forks versus disposable table ware. Very nice place- we will be back.

I live in East Falls and I frequent this favorite place of mine often. It is a good half way point for my bike ride. I like to bring friends, as well, when they visit from out of town. The food is awesome, but I'm a stickler for a fresh bowl of chili/soup, a few fresh cookies and cold water. A great array of freshly made goods and served with friendly faces and great music, over the sound system or LIVE!! You gotta check out this place.

This was definitely the worst experience at a cafe I've ever had. I stopped here Saturday morning for breakfast and ordered the $12 egg plate with red potatoes and sausage. It was disgusting. The scrambled eggs were watery and there was table salt and pepper unevenly distributed across them. The red potatoes were mushed together with orange yams and the sausage, which I expected to be beef, tasted like ground up chicken in a patty that had been unfrozen and refrozen multiple times. I walked my plate back to the cafe to return it and told the elder white female cafe employee who wore an apron and looked like the chef that the food tasted off and explained the reasons why (what I listed above), and they rudely responded to my complaint about the bad food with "Well it's just you". There was no offer to refund my food or make it right. I was very disappointed in this establishment and do not plan to return.

This place is pretty much prime location if you are near the boat house area or near the Philadelphia art museum. The outdoor seating area is beautiful and it's nice to hang around and eat lunch watching ducks, geese, the trees and the river. However, the PRICES are too STEEP! A regular sandwiches are $14/each. Nothing special about any of the sandwiches or their food. It looks like they use organic or locally grown produce, but it still does not justify the really high cost of their food. Their drinks (coffee, tea, etc.) are about $3-$5 on average which makes it comparable to other cafes. If you are local, unless you are really hungry, do not waste your money in this place. If you are only stopping for coffee, or tea then it's ok (price wise)

I don't mind paying extra for a bagel with cream cheese but it's ridiculous that they spread it on like butter hardly no cream cheese wish I could post a picture of what they give you owner needs to stop cheaping out on the cream cheese when people are paying for it

Grim. * * * Imagine a cross between a hippie vegetarian restaurant and the men's room in a bus station. The staff mean well, and the food is reasonable for cheap vegetarian. The park that Cosmic Cafe is in is beautiful. The building itself is another story. Lloyd Hall, the municipal facility that leases space to Cosmic Cafe, is decrepit and depressing. The Cosmic Cafe staff keeps their quarters clean. The city bathrooms in the same building are another story. Because Cosmic Cafe has limited space, you have to eat upstairs if you don't want to eat outside. Outside is nice enough. Upstairs has the same institutional tilework, cheap seating and linoleum floors you might find in an inner city nursing home. I was depressed as soon as I entered the place, And the depression lasted a good half hour after I left. The food is average, But even if the food was legendary. Nothing would make me want to go back to those bathrooms or that upstairs seating area.

The Best place in the Art Museum/Boathouse Row area to have a sandwich, and the view can't be beat! This little outdoor cafe is right on the Schuylkill river. Cosmic Cafe serves great food sandwiches (made fresh to order), snacks, coffee, espresso bar, and other beverages, all at reasonable prices. It has out-door seating and usually there is live music on weekends. They have also just opened up a bar for Adult Beverage service :)

Meh...I don't know what to say about this place except I only go here in a pinch if a need coffee or a quick bite in between races. Prices seems to be on the higher end although it does look like they use fresh fruit veggies to make their juices.

Yes, I'm a fan! I really enjoy stopping by, getting some homemade food and relaxing by the river. This cafe offers fresh juiced veggie/fruit juice, delicious sandwiches, sweets, smoothies and refillable tea and lemonade, to name a few things! Servers are always lovely and are more than happy to deliver your food if you decide to eat on the balcony one floor above or just outside the cafe. If you happen to be in the area, I definitely recommend stopping by!

This is a great place to stop by for a quick lunch near Boat House Row. It's perfect after a visit to the Art Museum, especially since the museum is undergoing construction right now and the cafe there isn't always open. There's plenty of free parking nearby, but gets a little trickier during the weekends. I wouldn't recommend eating inside. The place seems very chaotic and messy. Not dirty or unclean, just haphazardly arranged tables and boxes everywhere. There isn't much seating and with two entrances to a small cafe there's constant traffic and people standing around waiting for food. This is more of a takeout spot, where you order a fresh made, (organic and locally produced when available) healthy food to enjoy outside. The cafe has plenty of tables to eat outside, but there's tons of beautiful spots by the river within walking distance too. I ordered the Organic Turkey Mushroom burger and loved it. It was huge and came with a side of potato salad. You could tell everything was made that day with fresh ingredients. They also have a huge selection of fresh pressed juices that I would love to try next time.

Cute little cafe that is a perfect stop after walking the schuykill river walk. Very tiny inside with window seating for perhaps 8. Nice angled view of the river Outdoor seating for warmer weather. Only thing that could have been better is if the soup was hot. I saw how they assembled the chicken noodle soup. They take a bowl out, put in broth, then cooked noodles and a big heap of cooked chicken. It was very good soup and a very hearty portion. Next time I would ask them to heat it up We had : Chicken noodle soup Ham and cheese on marble rye ala Seinfeld Egg and cheese sandwich Carrot, apple and ginger juice. Homemade cookies. All were good, homemade and healthy. You order at the counter and its delivered to your seat via friendly staff. I'll go back.

The manager is rude beyond compare. This place is located in a tourist area. Perhaps she thinks its OK to be exceptionally rude to tourists because they are not repeat customers? I don't care how hungry or thirsty you are or how beautiful the scenery is...go somewhere else and give someone else your hard earned money.

One of the best little spots in all of Philly. Great atmosphere, awesome lunch, delicious cocktails, and live music on Sundays. And the most friendly service to boot.... we love it here and so does our dog!

First time visiting this cafe. Had a strawberry and banana smoothie with protein. Very good and refreshing. My boyfriend had a smoothie as well. Without the protein. And a chicken salad sandwich on raisin bread. We wil definitely visit again.

Nice place for a break if you are out for the day on the water or parks. Prices are expensive but not a whole lot of other options. Got some ice cream and a cool drink

The staff were very unfriendly and unwelcoming. Wouldn't even give me tap water when I asked saying I had to purchase a water bottle. I wouldn't go back.

Fresh pressed juices with a river view. Cucumber juice with kale spinach parsley and lemon is a favorite of mine. They also have various lemonades and limeades but have a bit too much sugar in them for my personal taste. A great stop after a run or a bike ride.

An interesting little cafeteria situated on the side. The cafe is rather small and confined and includes only a counter around the perimeter . Outside there is ample seating. There was a gentleman playing guitar and singing outside which went along woth the beautiful afternoon wonderfully. The menu consists of all day breakfast items (YAY!) as well as lunch/sandwich items. You order and pay at the counter and they will then call your name and bring the food to you outside. I ordered the breakfast burrito ($10) and tea. The burrito was huge and stuffed to the max with scrambled eggs, tomatoes, roasted sweet and regular potatoes, cheese and black beans. Unfortunately, the black beans were not cooked long enough and were hard. :( There is a good selection of herbal teas as well as the classic black tea. I would like to give this venue another chance since I enjoyed the area.

Peg and her staff are awesome (especially Tara). Thank you for helping us pull off an amazing baby shower for our friend. The Regatta room was perfect and so many of our guests asked how we found the place! The catering was delicious and pricing very reasonable. The price paid included linens, plates, flatware, wait staff and selected menu items. If you are looking for a great space to host an event try the Regatta Room at Cosmic Café. There is also an outdoor space.

My mother and I stopped in after our walk on Kelly drive and got some smoothies and sandwiches. Both were amazing! This is a great spot in a beautiful location with great food! The smoothies we fresh and just what you need on a summer afternoon after a walk and the sandwiches were fresh and filling. We will be back without a doubt!

I love this place! Whenever I meet my friends for an afternoon walk on MLK, I stop here first. Everyone is so nice, and everything is yummy. I usually get an iced coffee-yes even in the winter. Luckily for me, the iced coffee comes with free refills. They sell alcoholic beverages as well. On a cold day, I recommend the warm apple cider with a shot of bourbon in it.

I found this place by accident and I'm really glad that I did. The food was really tasty and fresh (had the chicken spinach burger which was really great and the free refills of tea with mint and honey... *lesigh). Service was friendly. And the location was really nice (what a beautiful view!) Only qualm is that the place could have been a little cleaner, visually.. it looked like the seating areas upstairs and downstairs could have used a quick clean. Will definitely return for more of the delicious food and view!

I stumble upon this cafe today. I bought a turkey mushroom burger with a cucumber salad and my friend bought a turkey bacon wrap. We both really enjoyed our food. The turkey burger was well seasoned and not dry. I would highly recommend this place.

The food is always amazing here. The always go the extra mile. The people are always super nice. I take an 8 mile walk/run and at the end of that trip I look forward to this place at the end. I get the homemade mint tea with a slash of lemonade. Delicious. I love this place.

Great location along the Schuylkill River and near Fairmont Park. Enjoyed the Breakfast Burrito. Food was tasty/fresh and the staff friendly. Will definitely come back when I am in the area.

I understand if you are out touring the area and want to grab something very quick, and this place may not be a bad choice and you sit upstairs watching the river and park which is beautiful. But if you live in this area, Do NOT even try! This place is basically a tourist trap, the food is below average and price is too high. They don't even bother to put salt into the sweet potatoes. Imagine a little restaurant inside a visitor center, bus station or rest area on highway.

I stopped in to Cosmic Cafe for some hot tea; I had a positive experience and no complaints.

Coffee and breakfast sandwich was really good. I had the Turkey bacon, egg and cheese on a fresh roll. Coffee was fresh local stuff. I was just a bit disappointed with the attitude from the cook when I complained that I didn't ask for pepper in my eggs. The server was very polite and told me that's the way the eggs are prepared and that he'll get me another one. He gave her (the cook) the sandwich, she looked up at me. When I tell her I couldn't tolerate the pepper she became annoyed and told the server "throw it out, what does she want a refund?" To be honest, the sandwich was good but not special or great. For the ridiculous prices they're charging, I would of expected a bit better treatment.

Stopped by on a random walk and had an very satisfying breakfast (egg whites on multigrain). Service was very friendly and food was fresh and filling. Thanks for the perfect cap to a long morning walk!

Chef Peg and her team are the absolute best!! We had our small wedding ceremony at Lloyd Hall and it was catered by Cosmic Cafe. The food was great (especially the apple crisp) and chef Peg and her team really went out of their way to make the day special and perfect. She was amazing to work with and I can't recommend enough!!

I appreciate this little cafe a lot. It is locate to right next bike rental, entrance of boathouse row so I would say it is in prime location. In the winter, you want to grab hot coffee here and during the summer, you want ice coffee from this place. I mean this place would be doing great no matter what because of the location. But their coffee is actually pretty good, they make fresh fruit smoothies without any sweetener. Only fresh fruit in there. Their frittata was delicious, side salad and potato were fresh. Yum yum yum. I had veggie wrap before and it was yummy. All food and drink looked very fresh to me and seems like people there make an effort to make this place pleasant. 5 stars.

Had a good cheesesteak, prices are really good. The owner was really nice to me, even brewed new coffee because mine got cold. Definitely recommend for every tourist walking the river trail and needs a little rest on its way to the boathouse row.

We ate breakfast there before going to the Barnes Foundation. I loved it, the bagel was huge and had at least 3 scrambled eggs on it, so I was well prepared for a while. My friend had the Breakfast platter with 3 sunny side over eggs, 4 strips of bacon, 2 slices of marbled rye, potatoes and sweet potatoes and onions and peppers and we both had a garnish of watermelon. The only thing was that my friend complained her toast was burnt, seemed to me it was over grilled, but my husband is picky about toast also... oh well, I still give it a five. And service was reasonably quick and they kept cleaning the tables and we were able to distance so we were both comfortable with that.

I really love this place. The menu is large and appealing and healthy, with lots of vegan and vegetarian options - and they don''t skimp on the home-baked cookies, cakes and bars! The food is carefully prepared and yummy. The folks working the counter are unbelievably patient and competent, even when it's crowded, and they bring out your food pronto. I was a little surprised to see three servers descend on our table at once with the dishes we ordered - it reminded me a bit of the old Le Bec Fin, no joke. It seems to me that the prices at Cosmic Cafe have gone up a couple dollars in the last year, which will put its food out of reach of many people. I don't begrudge the owners or workers of the cafe, however - they really do a fantastic job.

This is literally the worst place to get food. They are the only cafe on boathouse row so if you're there everyday like me you sometimes get stuck eating there. The employees are really rude, and the food is overpriced and awful. Do not spend your money on the Mac n cheese- it is simply water with macaroni noodles. Not only that but my friends and I have gotten food poisoning here.

Great food, Great catering! The Café is super friendly and the food is amazing In the café, we have enjoyed our food outside and on the balcony Recently, Cosmic Catering catered an 80 person luncheon for a family gathering. They showed up with the linens, compostable dinnerware and a fantastic luncheon of great sandwiches and salads. The cost was extremely reasonable and the clean-up after the catering left the venue spotless. Looking forward to my next visit at the Café.