Degraves Espresso Melbourne — Restaurant in Melbourne

What an abysmal service experience.

My partner and I went here for brunch on a Sunday afternoon. This is not an area we frequent but I love the vibes of Degraves, so we picked a spot at random. It's a tiny spot inside with packed tables outdoors, and we wanted to sit inside. There were two servers, a male and a female. Both were unwelcoming; we honestly should've taken the hint and gone to another place.

The female guided us inside, my partner first. The male didn't notice my partner was being led and stepped in front of me, totally blocking me from going inside, in order to yell after him to ask why he was going inside. My partner, most polite man alive, smiled and said he was following the female server. Only then did the male move out of my way, no apology or even acknowledgement that he had just done something insanely rude to both of us.

We were served by the female. Fortunate because even though she never showed a single sign of welcoming or hospitality, she was at least efficient and got everything right.

Our food came -- it's unimpressive and small for the price point, but expected for the location-- and though my partner's meal is listed with toast on the menu, it didn't come with any. Again, he's the most polite person in the world, so instead of calling someone over to waste their time in case he made the mistake, he got up and grabbed a menu to make sure he was right. The male server saw this and inquired, and said he'd bring toast over. Please note my partner, most polite person in the world, mostly orders meals FOR the carbs. He won't really start a meal unless he has the accompanying bread. I watched as the toast went into the kitchen window and the kitchen dutifully rang the bell, but our existence was already, in that VERY short time, completely forgotten by the servers. I watched them stand by the entrance, chat and giggle, no thought given to scanning the dining room to make sure everyone was happy, no thought to the incomplete meal they just served. Had they, over the course of the next few minutes, given even a perfunctory glance to the VERY SMALL dining room, they would have noticed me trying to get their attention as the single piece of toast sat in the window. As it was, I had to wildly wave my arms around like a crazy person to finally get their attention. And the male, instead of coming over, YELLS across the dining room, 'Do you need something?' as if I'M being the rude one. Which, yes I guess it probably appeared that way, if you were missing the context that the servers served an incomplete meal and then didn't care about it one little bit. At that point he knew he messed up and apologized several times throughout the rest of our visit.

Hey servers? You don't have to work there. As someone who worked in hospitality, specifically cafes, for years-- I get having bad days. You don't get to pass on your bad day to other people. You don't get to make your resentment of customers so clear. You expect to be treated with respect when you go out to eat, and your job is to show people a nice time. That's quite literally your job. If you hate it, stop doing it.

We will...

Horrible food and Genuinely ripped off. Me and my partner went for dinner here on the 15th of September 2023. We had the unlimited sangria + feed me tapas for two, which would’ve included 6 tapas in total which dishes we couldn’t choose. We started with 3 dishes, 2 shrimps split in half swimming in oil that we thought tasted off and made us nauseous (feeling it still to this morning as I write this review), 2 potato croquet of some sort (tasted bland, but fried well), and a tin can of anchovies with crackers (can’t complain). Then we had the bruschetta that was good. But then came the calamari… the last straw. This thing was burnt with a bitter after taste, rubbery, and unseasoned, we both took one bite and decided to send it back to the kitchen. They did offer to replace it, but we declined. After it was sent away we were told the dinner course had concluded. At the time, perhaps it was the ridiculously strong sangria that distracted me, but if you followed the story and counted the dishes, we are still missing one!! Unfortunately, we didn’t realise this until leaving the restaurant recounting what an awful experience it was. The reason I give a one star review on both food and service is because not only did we pay the full price of 98 dollars to eat subpar food that is borderline dangerous, we weren’t offered a refund on the burnt calamari, and got scammed out of one dish. So to anyone thinking of going, reconsider! (Sorry for the bad photo, it’s not my thing)

ADDIT: 17/09/2023 20:30 - response to owners' comment Maybe I wasn't clear enough. The course that we had was not the normal feed me tapas on your menu, but a special that you had put on a blackboard outside the restaurant, advertising "feed me tapas (3 tapas) + unlimited sangrias (for 1 hour) for 49 dollars per person". This would have included unlimited sangrias and total 6 tapas of your choosing for the 98 dollars that we paid. We chose to eat there as the advertised menu/option seemed worth the price. As you mentioned, we had the Anchovies $12, Bruschetta $8.5, Gambas $18, Bombas $12, totaling $50.50. The 5 sangrias that you mention, which is meant to be unlimited, is included in the price. If you are implying the staff decided to remove this advertised deal without asking us first and decided to charge for individual dishes, that is a scam. I would also add that your staff came to us to ask if we wanted more sangrias, mentioning the one hour is coming to an end. If you imply that the staff still charged for the advertised 6 tapas + unlimited sangrias, then you did not serve 6 tapas, and that is also a scam. By offering someone a replacement dish and them refusing your offer, that does not mean you have replaced the dish. I am not going to argue on the spot for the restaurant to refund me. In my experience, it is the restaurant's...

My husband and I came for breakfast here with 2 young children - our first and last time dining here. We dined outside. As soon as we got there, I sat at a table with our children and my husband went to order. A while later a female staff member came over and gave us menus - I said we didn't need them as my husband was ordering at the till. Instead of her saying no, it's table service, she just too them back and left. Then a while later, my husband was told at the till it's table service, and to sit down. Very poor communication. It was very cold but our heater next to us was not turned on - other people's were. I was very hungry and thirsty and just wanted a croissant and water - very simple. Croissants are not on the menu, but are visible in the front window. I asked for a ham and cheese croissant. I was given cheese but another meat that was not ham - misleading. It wasn't as nice as ham. My husband's granola was just massive chunks of watermelon, some mint, a tiny bit of yoghurt and some granola - very dry and a small serving. Staff were constantly walking past our table - they'd look at us, see us looking at them, with open menus, waiting to order, and just ignore us. Our table had no table number whereas others did - very odd. Extremely poor service - waited ages, probably 30 mins, just for menus and to be served - I had to go up to staff and say we are still waiting to order. Cutlery and serviettes were not bought out with the food - it all came separately: inefficient and disorganised. We were sitting outside but all they seemed to care about was people who wanted coffee. The table of 4 sitting next to us all got water, cutlery and menus immediately upon sitting down - we got nothing. Very inconsistent. The male staff member there seemed to know what he was doing - the females didn't. The food was very overpriced and not that nice. We never received a juice we ordered and has to ask that it be taken off the bill - they had no idea about it. Only when we had already finished our food, we were given a stack of 4 cups on our table. No water ever came, although we asked for it when we ordered our food - basic training is for water and cups to be put on the table immediately. Very disappointing - don't waste your time here. Plenty of other cafes around with better food and service - I'd never return here. Staff need...