Kavasutra Kava Bar - Tempe — Attraction in Tempe

Horrible Customer Service Today (But Yesterday Was Great)

To start off, I’m not some Karen or someone who prides themselves in their reviews online. I’ve never left a review of any kind on any company ever in my life. But this was so bad I made an account just to leave this review. Never experienced anything like it in the service industry. So today (1/29) at about 9am I walk in for the second time of my life and this girl working just has a very hostile attitude and tone. Thats not enough for me to complain, I’m not one of those entitled people who cares about employees smiling or making small talk and stuff like that. I really don’t care honestly. All I want is to get what I’m paying for and that’s good enough for me. But I also don’t want to be disrespected at a new place I plan on going to often since I discovered it yesterday (1/28).

Anyways she asks in an aggressive unhappy tone “do you have a rewards number?” I reply “no”. Immediately after she says “what’s your number?” Then I say “I don’t want to make one right now”. Then her hostility greatly increases and she snappily says “not talking to you”. Like I’m an idiot for assuming she was talking to me when not even two seconds ago she was asking about my rewards number, and lots of retail places will just sign you up by asking for your info cause they get rewarded for it. So given the context, not an unreasonable thing to assume. I then respond “oh ok”. She gives me my drink then I walk towards the door. I hear her say something in the background but it was faint so I just kept walking. I also didn’t sleep much and had an AirPod in listening to a podcast. Then she raises her voice in a very aggressive tone say “thank you, you too”. Then it clicked that before that she said “have a good day” or something like that and I missed it. She had a disrespectful tone to her the whole time so I replied calmly “you’re welcome” and kept walking.

She really exhibited a lack of self control and bitterness. I don’t know her personally, she could very well be a lovely person, and just was having a rough day. But off of what I experienced all I can go off of is she would be the time of person to hold a grudge over me saying the “you’re welcome” thing and not consider how she was treating me the whole time I was there and make returning an unpleasant experience which I’d like to avoid. She should definitely be talked to, I don’t wish she gets in trouble or loses her job. It makes me wonder how many others she’s treated like this and turned off from this wonderful bar. I started coming here yesterday to get off of Feel Frees so I’ve been going through major withdrawals and not been sleeping. Noah hard feelings on my end I just hope she doesn’t continue to treat me or anyone this way. She doesn’t need to smile or make small talk, just be respectful/neutral/mindful of how she’s talking to people. I never did anything to her and had a completely neutral attitude and demeanor the entire time. Worst thing I did was say “you’re welcome” after tolerating all her disrespect.

But I’m a fair person and she did get me the drink very quick I was in and out. And yesterday when I came in, the girl working around the same time was awesome. Great service, above and beyond, which I don’t need at all to be satisfied, but she was really giving the gig her all. Great energy, smiling, making small talk, the whole shabang for what most service based employers ask of their workers. She was great. That’s all though, hope I can have more positive experiences here. I’ll change the review if our next encounter is neutral, doesn’t even need to be positive, just not negative. Not that I’m the type to think a review is going to make any sort of impact on how the business does lol. But some business owners care about that so I’d definitely change it if I don’t have another atrocious interaction with this woman. That Newshyt is some goodshyt haha and I’d love to keep coming back. If you read all this you...

The Kava sutra bar has an old-school everybody knows your name type vibe. If I remember correctly his name was Nick the bartender who was really friendly and made you feel welcomed. When I asked questions about the menu it was more than willing to educate me on what they offered and he asked me if it was my first time ever drinking kava which it was. It's a relatively small place but that's what gives it that personal ambience. Handful of bar stools couple of bench style seating a foosball table and some places to sit by the window. Some big TV screens a few paintings on the wall. With a tiki style vibe. This is a more traditional kava bar were they raise the shells if it's your first time drinking kava where the bartender will yell out "shells up" then say the word "mauli" if I'm saying it wrong please forgive me it's equal to the word "salud" in Spanish which basically means blessings. It's a place you definitely want to go to after a long day at work when you just want to wind down and chat with a friend or two. I believe it's veteran owned and operated. There is memorabilia on the wall hinting to that. Definitely some patriotic vibes there as well which is something you don't really see in Tempe which is A okay with me and everyone else that seemed like regulars there. The price is range from anywhere from 5 to 6 dollars all the way up to roughly $30. I highly encourage anyone visiting Tempe or just anyone that lives in the area or is willing to make a trip like I did from Phoenix or anywhere else in the valley to try out a really cool hole in the...

Drink was fine. Off vibes. Judgemental about cannabis and alcohol while mixing kava and kratom (dangerous/bad for liver). They had trump flags up, and the waiter didn't even know the difference between noble and tudei kava. No real strains listed. The waiter was visibly inebriated but clear-minded. Friendly enough, but definitely not a conversationalist. The other client was a buff mixed bro with his head down. 2 drink per-hour minimum, so not a place to hang unless you have tolerance. The drinks aren't weak, but understand that you're still paying bar prices: just like with alcohol bars, a single drink can cost as much as a full at-home session. They do not sell herbs to take home for personal usage. The shell was a little bit gritty (not super noticeable unless you're a kavaseur). makes the drink stronger, but is definitely not ideal / the healthiest way to drink kava. Not an excess amount of grit at all, i just like very clean extractions. I did not try the Kratom, as I almost never do kratom (too addictive for my tastes). I would have asked more about the kratom, but no one EVER knows that much about it, so i doubt they would here. Also, i just wanted to leave for vibes reasons.

Weird vibes, and the country music + trump stuff etc can be very offputting if you're not a straight white dude / care. Crazy...