XS Espresso Kotara — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

I wish I had read the reviews before deciding to eat here. My teenage daughter and I walked in and straight away the place looked dirty. We sat down but before we did I had to flick away the last persons crumbs from my seat..then i noticed the table was absolutely filthy.I said to my daughter let’s just change tables, However The next one was just as bad! So I walked over to the counter to ask for a cloth just to wipe it down. One staff member looked up at me didn’t even acknowledge me standing there and just continued her conversation with the other girl.While a third girl said she would come and clean it for me even though I offered to do it myself.She Then proceeded to spray the table(and us as well.) We ordered our food that was ordinary to say the least, the cutlery was was dirty there were no napkins and at that point I thought i wish we had gone elsewhere because The place was disgusting! It was so hot and sticky there was no A/C on which made it a really uncomfortable and unpleasant experience, and because the doors were wide open the flies were everywhere! We may as well have been outside on the street they were so bad! Honestly with so many reviews that I have NOW read about XS Kotara and their cleanliness you would think they would step up and do something about it! But it seems they just reply with the same answer to everyone who raises this concern in their reviews but they do nothing to rectify it. The health inspector seriously needs to pay this place a surprise visit if that what it takes to keep this Filthy, Hot, Fly ridden place open! I don’t usually complain in reviews but seriously Do yourself a favour and spend your money elsewhere! And if any owners read this..You need to really do something here about the state of the tables and chairs and get your staff to CLEAN after each customer has finished because we shouldn’t have to ask them for a cloth to do it ourselves before we sit down in your restaurant!

**Please don’t respond to this review with a reply that you’re sorry to hear about our experience etc etc. It appears you don’t do anything to fix these issues raised! Just really take on board and Listen to what paying customers are saying about the state of the place and fix the problems raised if you want customers coming back and...

Went there at 4pm on a Saturday, there was only one customer waiting for their food when we came in and they waited for AGES for their food. I ordered a burger and asked for the side of fries to be Mac fries which was supposed to be beef, cheese and pickles and my friend got one waffle. It took them a long time to make our food considering there was only one other person before us and when they brought our food out my thin beef mince burger patty was pink in the middle and undercooked (which is gross) and the onion was cut so chunky and thick it was overpowering. but also my "mac fries" were also wrong and they sent one of the other fries options which had barbecue sauce and bacon, I don't eat bacon or barbecue sauce and was disappointed but considering how long it took them to make it I wasn't going to ask them to fix it. Also while we were ordering they had a long list of things they were sold out of taped to the counter. The tables were sticky and uneven and would wobble around we had to put napkins under it to stop it moving. I got the Nutella brownie as well and it was like eating a piece of chalk it was so dry and crunchy, I wasn't able to finish any of my meal because it was either wrong, undercooked, or had clear quality issues. After we ordered a small group came in not long after and they sent their food back at least 3 times because it was wrong..... it wasn't even that busy considering at that point it was just me and my friend and this second group. The food is expensive considering the quality is gross and they send out incorrect orders anyway, wouldn't recommend going here if you want something that's cooked properly and is of good quality for a similar price go to Table 1 Espresso in Warners Bay, much better quality and value and even quicker service considering table 1 is a million times busier than...

Normally don't write reviews but this just bothered me for some reason.

Food was okay and so was the coffee

The problem I have is that some staff member someone who did not look happy and pretty sure everyone probably knows who I'm talking about.

Would not let me do a simple substitute

I asked for a peanut butter choc acia bowl

I just asked for no choc chips and just chai seeds instead

They told me no substitutes and had to just get no chocolate chips and pay a extra 2 $ for the chai seeds.

They said it's there policy.

I get that I do but at the same time if you want to have a successful business have to learn to adapt. Look at all your reviews for example clearly there's a reason your only rated a 3 star

The chai seeds are 2 dollars and so are the choc chips

So is it really that hard to just tell the person making the bowl and be like " hey can you just add chia seeds instead of choc chips "

Something that's so simple

Ive worked in a cafe for so many years over 6

And if you honestly can't accommodate something so small then shouldn't even be working at a cafe honestly it's just embarrassing. Do better and be better for customers, and maybe you would get...