If you love to cook and are into interior design but don’t want to spend a fortune on your kitchen remodel, you should look into Cafe.
You might have seen the stylish matte white and black finishes and metallic trim and knobs, and that’s reason enough to love it. But as appliance experts, we appreciate how those good looks are backed by GE’s reliability and service network.
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Are Cafe Appliances Good Quality and Reliable?
I’m here to help you decide if it’s right for you.
First off, GE makes Cafe appliances. GE has several product lines: GE, GE Profile, Cafe, and Monogram.
Basically, Cafe’s designed to be focused on design. Its products come in more finish options than you’ll find on GE or GE Profile, but without the pro-style features and price tag of Monogram.
GE revamped Cafe back in 2018, to catch the attention of people who want a stylish kitchen at a good price.
In our opinion, it’s doing a great job.
You can do your whole kitchen in Cafe appliances, or choose just one piece.
I’m going to cover the whole lineup here, one at a time.
Refrigerators
Refrigerators, which range from just under $3,000 to just over $11,000.
Cafe’s have technology on par with LG and Samsung, but they tend to be more reliable.
We also like that most Cafe fridges are counter depth —you don’t lose much storage space compared with standard depth, and they fit into your cabinets so much more neatly.
Their true built-in fridges are also a more affordable alternative to brands like Sub-Zero.
Cafe makes 16 different models and sizes. Like all of its products, most are available in smudge-resistant stainless steel or matte black or matte white with your choice of Cafe’s brushed metallic hardware.
And don’t feel like you’ve missed out if you have to settle for a specific hardware color that’s in stock or might ship faster.
Cafe let’s you easily swap out old knobs and handles with other colors. Its’ easy too, all you need to use is an allan wrench to refresh your look.
The Cafe four-door models have a special platinum glass finish. Not only is the outside stunning, but when you open the doors, it’s jaw dropping.
Complete with beautiful LED lighting and humidity controlled drawers, it’s just what you need to keep your fridge feeling organized and your food fresh.
Coffee lovers might be into the Keurig K-Cup dispenser that some models have on the door alongside the water. They let you do things like preheat water for tea or dispense a specific amount of water for a recipe.
I think it’d be pretty great not to have to take out a measuring cup to cook.
In addition to full-size fridges, Cafe makes undercounter wine and beverage fridges and an ice maker as well as a handy fridge drawer.
Ranges
Onward to Cafe ranges, which start at just under $3,000 and go up to just nearly $13,000.
That puts them in line with competitors like Bertazzoni and KitchenAid.
You’ll see lots of designer kitchens with a Cafe range – the matte white or black makes a cool statement in many different designs.
Cafe has slide-in 30-inch ranges and commercial-style 36- and 48-inch ranges.
The 30-inch models come with either a single or double oven — a slightly smaller one on top and a slightly larger one on the bottom.
They can be all-electric, induction and electric, gas, or dual fuel.
The ovens have high-tech air-frying modes (that’s a focus lately for GE) and, as a result, stellar convection.
The only difference?
Double oven models don’t have a warming drawer.
You might not be as familiar with induction cooking, but Cafe’s induction ranges come with a special feature.
You get all the advantages of induction: faster boiling and more precise temperature control than with gas, plus all the safety and energy efficiency benefits.
You also get access to Hestan Cue. Hestan’s a cookware and appliance company that makes smart pots and pans for induction ranges.
When you cook with them, your stovetop syncs up with them. Essentially, the program monitors the pan temperature and cook time for you. You’ll never burn an omelet again.
The commercial-style ranges have heavy-duty cast iron grates and extra-spacious ovens with smooth gliding racks.
The 36 has a gas cooktop and a single electric or gas oven. On the dual fuel 48, an 18-inch oven and 30-inch oven sit side by side, just like on other premium pro-style ranges.
Its cooktop has a griddle in addition to six gas burners.
Cooktops
Looking for something with more design flexibility? Cafe cooktops are another option. Price-wise, they fall from just under $2,000 to just under $5,000.
Gas rangetops have a commercial feel, with knobs facing out into your kitchen.
They come in 36- and 48-inch widths, with the option to mix in a griddle.
Cooktops, which drop more seamlessly into your countertop, come in the same widths and can be gas or induction powered.
Wall Oven
Range or cooktop, you might want more oven space. A wall oven will be next on your list, and Cafe’s pack a lot of value into the design. They run from just under $3,000 to just over $7,000.
They’re basically identical feature-wise to the ovens in Cafe ranges.
I already mentioned how much we like their air-frying and convection capabilities. It’s so much easier to make appetizers for a crowd on a baking sheet as opposed to in one of those tiny countertop fryers.
We also like the design options: There are single and double configurations, plus a French door style — the perfect complement to a Cafe French door fridge.
And we’re big fans of Cafe ovens with GE’s Advantium technology. It’s a single appliance with five cooking modes: convection, microwave, toaster oven, warming/proofing, and precision cooking.
Also, if you have an older 27 inch wall oven, Cafe makes 27 inch ones that are easy to slide into that niche. That’s a bit unusual, since 30 inches is now the standard U.S. size.
And like its fridges, Cafe ovens are smart. Wi-Fi’s a given. There’s a scan-to-cook feature that lets you snap the code on a packaged food, like Duncan Hines cake mix, for example, and the oven will take it from there.
And there’s GE Precision Cooking, a bank of guided recipes that’s available on any oven with a 7-inch display.
Range Hood
If you’re going all in on Cafe, you’re probably going to want a matching range hood to go over your stove or cooktop.
They’ve got a plenty strong 590 CFM ventilation system. The remote control is a nice touch too. Say you’re sitting down to dinner. You can turn down the fan and light without having to jump back up.
Dishwashers
For some brands, dishwashers are an afterthought. Maybe they’re incentives to throw into package deals.
Cafe dishwashers, like any GE dishwasher, are solid and quiet. We recommend them on their own merit.
On the outside, there’s a hidden top control panel–all the better for keeping the focus on design.
Inside is an advanced wash system. GE’s claim to dishwasher fame is that its machines have more water jets than anybody else’s.
For Cafe, that’s no fewer than 140, including specially designed jets to clean Swell and baby bottles as well as really get between the tines of forks in the utensil basket.
The racks are adjustable, there’s a third one for small items, and you get Wi-Fi.
What more could you want?