Carma's Cafe

What am I missing? I am a long time (though off and on) Baltimore resident and I thought this cutesy little place everyone talked about on St. Paul Street would be fun to try. Yeah, right, fun like diarrhea! Maybe no one has told the owners that vegetarian does NOT equal "without taste"? I had Tortilla Soup. Bland, bland, bland. Maybe it would have tasted better if it was somewhere near warm? The service I got wasn't at all friendly or welcoming. I felt like my presence was an inconvenience to the staff. Everyone was so cold on the day I visited that I actually felt awkward - why should someone feel like they are imposing by patronizing a restaurant? I felt the prices belonged to another restaurant - one with great food, good lighting and a housekeeping staff. I thought the Health Department visited eating establishments in the city but maybe they missed this one. The place was just filthy inside. And cold sesame noodles do not a meal make. I mean really, the noodles were alright but, lets face it, they're NOODLES. Noodles don't' require an awful lot of culinary skill. They were good but I can get good NOODLES anywhere. I will say this - the baked goods LOOKED really great but after the way the soup settled into my stomach, I was afraid to have anything else. I guess I caught the place on a bad day but I'm not one to make the same mistake repeatedly. If the owner is out there reading this, clean the place up and hire staff with the capability to smile...then take some cooking classes at BIC! And stop trying to hard to appeal to "young, cool, hip" people; people older tahn 20 have cash and appetites too! more

I've tried this place twice, both times with an open mind. Both times, I came away unhappy. The first time, I was in Baltimore for business (I live in DC but travel to Baltimore with some regularity) and had heard good things - so I went to check it out. The heavy set, older woman behind the counter was RUDE, RUDE, RUDE. The food was nothing to write home about. I had a Spicy Jeremy that would have been more accurately called a Sickly Jeremy. My second visit was equally bad. I went back on my next trip to Baltimore several weeks later thinking "OK, last time the place was having a bad day". Again, I encountered the rude woman...as well as an older gentleman who sat behind the counter working with a computer rather than engaging customers. The older woman I met on my first trip was equally as rude and condescending on my second visit. This time around I had coffee which was raved about but tasted like spent motor oil to me. I opted this time for gazpacho...I didn't finish my meal and stopped for something on the way home because I couldn't stomach what I was served (and I will add I was served SLOWLY) at this cafe. Maybe a 40-something business woman isn't the target demographic for this college town eatery but I was majorly disappointed in both the rude behavior and the not quite good enough to be called mediocre food I was served. The prices are good but only if the food is edible. Even small amounts of money spent on food you can't swallow is money wasted. On my next trip to Baltimore, I'll be skipping this best left hidden spot. I didn't find the establishment very clean and the staff certainly were neither inviting nor polite. There was a peculiar odor in the building on both visits (and it was not from food that I could identify, more of a rotting vegetation like smell mixed with something vaguely chemical) that seemed to cling to my clothing for hours after my departure. In short...a stinky, dirty restaurant with nasty staff and bad food isn't my idea of a good business lunch. more

Carma's rocks. Try the Icelandic style yogurt with granola. Or the Southern-style sweet tea. Or the fabulous coffee. And they've got lunch, too! more

Carma's is wonderful. Its small, privately owned, and nestled in the middle of Charles Village. The menu doesn't change a lot, but there is still enough on it for most to enjoy. The best part is that the food is ALL natural. Carma's does not use any prefabricated food or ingredients. It is 100% natural, which is difficult to find at times. Carma's only fault is that it is open only in the morning to late afternoon, Monday-Saturday. more