Willes Fine Foods — Restaurant in Brisbane City

I’ve eaten here once before and it was very run of the mill. For as average and basic as it is, I’ve felt compelled to write this review due to a recent customer-service encounter that’s left a sour taste behind.

Yesterday I heard that the owner used a derogatory term to describe a customer on the phone (yes he hid behind his phone). The term was so bad I cannot even re-type it here, but it’s a sl*r used by killers, bullies, and I guess now spineless owners of mediocre cafes. It’s a type of bullying I do not think represents the bulimba area, but I’m not from this neighbourhood so who’s to know.

I do know cafes though - and this is what I can say about my experience here.

Willes coffee is watery and has a burnt-after taste. If you’re seeking good coffee, park-bench espresso nearby is fast and high quality, and Bellissimo Coffee down the road is divine.

The meals at Willes often come out cold, sloppy, and the ingredients are not the best. If you’re seeking filling meals - Cafe 63 and Oxford 152 are within a one minute walk of this place and have quality ingredients, larger quantities, even the drinks feel fresher and more flavoursome.

Willes character, is either lacking or aggressive. If you’re seeking a cafe with a calm but vibrant ambiance, with their own personality - Fiddle Leaf near the soccer field would be perfect.

All these suggested places have a much more efficient, and nicer customer service team - and I have not once been fearful for my life in any of these places. I wish I could say the same about Willes but they seem bent on being an archaic cafe that slips out with the times. I would say it’s a shame but if they went, not many would miss their food, or...

The food itself was fine, great value for money. Very oldschool which is nice to see these days. However, I'm leaving a review because of the woman who i believe is the manager.

My family sat at a table out the front and shuffled it slightly (10cm) so we weren't taking up the walkway. She immediately came out and was rude/abrupt to us because she spent "half an hour" moving it in the morning as the concrete is uneven and makes the table wobbly.

When we went to order, I asked if she needed my table number, she said rudely "I know where you're sitting, I wouldn't have been able to take your order if I didn't put it in 1st , people don't know how to read." Then said "there's a half hour wait on food". It ended up being a 10 minute wait, so her not communicating with the kitchen could've scared off potential orders.

I'm a venue manager myself, and the worst thing you can do is act like the customer is stupid. I was asking a simple question that required a simple response. Her attitude and overall demeanour was horrible. She acts like the customer is the problem. I always say "never attribute to malice, what could be attributed to ignorance or not knowing". Customers dont know the systems, staff do because they are there every day, dont get mad at the customer for not knowing. If I was the owner I would think twice before having her as the representative...

I’m an aboriginal support worker and I bought my aboriginal client in this cafe for lunch last week and the service was really awful & we where treated like criminals, we order out coffee and lunch and sat at table 10 and I started to feel really hot (flushes) so we moved to a small table where there was a fan above it and I took the table number 10 with me a few seconds later a lady with blond hair in a ponytail came out and snatched the number and said in a harsh voice this stays on that table over there and I said our food is number 10 , she said back you have a new number & she walked off in a huff , when they brought our food and coffee over it was just plonked down onto the table , there was no enjoy please enjoy your meal or anything.. I have never felt so humiliated like that in a coffee shop before , and my poor client was so upset thinking it’s her fault for being a colored black aboriginal… please guys stamp out...