L'Americano Espresso Bar — Restaurant in Brisbane City

We (party of three) went into L'Americano for lunch/coffee today (Saturday 28/7), as there was no wait for a table we were taken straight in. We ordered coffee and perused the menu. One of our guests ordered a Tiramisu at the same time as her coffee, I advised the waitress the rest of us still needed to decide on our meal. The waitress came back a short time later and removed the menus. I called out to her that no-one had taken our order - we then place an order (one sandwich, one bagel, and a piece of bread with grilled cheese). The coffee and tiramisu were fine - nil complaints. The cheese on toast (termed artisan toast and came at a price of $16) came out promptly. No other sign of the sandwich and bagel. After a half hour wait still no sign of our order. We asked the waitress if there was a delay, she said she would find out. She then went into the kitchen and could see her and several other staff pointing and discussing something over the iPad/tablet. No one returned to inform us why there was a delay or to give an indication if/when our order would arrive. After a 40 minute wait for a sandwich and a bagel, and no customer service along with it, we could not justify waiting any longer. We asked for the bill (which included the sandwich and bagel) we advised neither of those arrived, a casual 'sorry' was uttered but no compensation for the entire experience. I would have appreciated a bit of basic customer service (especially as there were minimal tables seated) - if the restaurant was chaotic I would have a bit more sympathy but from the waitress who couldn't understand orders (asked several times 'which bagel' we wanted...there is only one on the menu) to the $16 bread with grilled cheese, I left with a poor impression of this restaurant and...

We were very unhappy with breakfast on this visit (after being here six months ago and loving it)

We ordered poached eggs, and both serves (4 eggs to our table) were overcooked. We told wait staff we had expected soft/runny yolks and she replied that this ("medium") is how they are served here. We asked for replacement and specified runny yolks, they were re-done but came back on the original toast/garnish and were split and had run all over plate. We didn't ask for it to be done a 3rd time and just accepted.

When paying the bill we asked management about this hard poached egg policy, only to be told that was incorrect, normally eggs are runny and manager had noted the broken eggs but allowed them out anyway....

Clearly not great food/ service/staff...

This awesome cafe by Coco Republic in partnership with The Fresh Collective is quickly becoming part of Brisbane's trendy dining and coffee scene. L’americano is a little taste of the Italian Riviera (minus the Mediterranean coastline views, but if you really, really squint as you look out on to Brisbane’s Wickham Street, you could almost be there.. almost!) The ambience and styling of this cafe is beautiful and very elegant - as would be expected being part of Coco Republic. The food is casual Italian that focuses on simple classic dishes. The coffee is excellent and the service is from years gone by where ALL customers are treated like royalty. Go pay L’americano a visit, you won’t be...