Poets Cafe — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

I went to the Poet’s Cafe with a friend for brunch. The place was quiet with 3 or 4 other tables occupied. The building itself is stunning, but that’s where our positive experience ended.

Upon walking in with my 1-year-old in a small umbrella pram, we were told we had to park it at the front of the cafe. I expected the waitress to give us a high chair, but were told that they did not provide them. Instead of him being able to sit in his pram quietly in the very corner of the cafe, where our table was located, I had to balance him on my knee.

This worked somewhat well while we drank our coffees, apart from the obvious danger involved with an infant sitting in close proximity to a hot drink. However, by the time our meals came out, he was starting to get a bit cranky, as a travelling, out-of-routine toddler is sometimes wont to do. I tried my best to keep him quiet, but he was making some level of noise.

After a few minutes, a grey-haired man with a sour expression on his face walked over to us. He pointed at my son, and said, “Oy! You be quiet!” before walking off. We had no idea who this man was, but later realised he was the manager. I continued trying to quieten my son, who, surprise, surprise, had paid no attention to the command of the grumpy old man.

A few minutes later, the man came back and told us we had to go outside. I asked what was to happen to our food, and he said we could take that with us (apparently we had to do that by ourselves, as there was no offer of help from any members of staff.)

At this point, a lady who had been sitting nearby came and told us not to let the man bother us. She offered to carry around my son while we finished our food. I agreed to this kind offer, as I saw no other option, after the pressure the manager put on us to silence my child.

The lady carried him around the front of the cafe while we scoffed down our food, and looked up to check on him very regularly. However, at one point when we looked up, there was no sight of them. We rushed outside, but there was absolutely no sign of them.

There was a very kind group of mums who helped us look. My friend by this stage had called the police, as we were unsure of whether my child had, in fact, been kidnapped. There was absolutely no assistance given by any staff members at the Poet’s Cafe; apparently they were just happy to watch the whole event unfold.

After what would have been about 5 minutes the lady and my son were located by some of the mothers who were helping us look, in a shop nearby.

I am incredibly thankful that the outcome was a positive one.

We paid for our orders. The waitress who put them through seemed visibly shaken by what had happened, but no words of apology or remorse were offered.

Before we left, my friend called over the manager and asked if there was anything else he wanted to say to us. He replied that, no, he did not have anything to say to us, except that he never wants us to come back there again.

Needless to say, that was completely unnecessary, as I have no intention of returning.

I have never experienced such rudeness from someone in the hospitality industry. I am not sure where his disdain for children came from. Perhaps he somehow skipped childhood himself and now feels others should do the same.

I doubt that anyone on the other tables that were occupied while we were there would not return to his establishment on account of my child having a little cry. However, if I were a bystander who witnessed this unfold, this man’s behaviour is what would lead me to give my patronage to another business who treats their customers with kindness.

Those who work in the hospitality industry are supposed to be hospitable to their patrons. There was not a shred of kindness shown to us by the staff at the Poet’s Cafe, despite going through the worst 5 minutes of our lives.

The Poet’s Cafe is an aesthetically-pleasing building, but we found its staff to be cold and heartless. I do not recommend going here if you have children. Actually, I do not recommend going...

This establishment IS NOT child-friendly at all!!

We were eventually greeted at the door where it says to wait to be seated. It was a colder morning and there were plenty of tables available inside which is where we would have liked to sit as I have a 13 month old. We were told that prams are not allowed inside and that we could have either 2 of the tables outside that were big enough to fit 3 adults and our baby. We sat down and I asked if I could please have a high chair brought over only to be told they don't have any. ( I have never known a cafe/ restaurant to not have high chairs).

Just before the food arrived, my daughter soiled her nappy and needed to be changed rather quickly so I asked a waiter where the bathroom was. He said that the ladies room is down the side of the building. I asked if there was a change table in there and I was told that there is a bench in the ladies room I can use. When I went in it was a cold piece of marble connecting the 2 sinks. #1 this is a safety issue as only half of my daughter actually was able to lay down and #2 it's not hygenic at all due to urine and faeces.

I had a look outside and thought there must be a disabled room with a change table but there wasn't and I needed to change my daughter fast so had to just use the ladies room.

We got back to the table and I said to my husband that I was actually quite annoyed about this whole experience as I felt our daughter was not welcome there as it was clearly not child friendly.

The food was quite good although hard to eat with a baby sitting on your knee.

At the end we got up and paid and I said to the server how I was told to use the ladies bathroom to change my daughter and that if anyone asks where a change table is in the future, not to suggest the ladies bathroom as it is completely not suitable. He did apologise and said that I should never have been told to use that room. Instead for future reference there is a public change room across the road a couple of minutes away.

Very disappointed in this place and will not be back.

You need to have a sign up saying not child friendly or at least make customers with little ones aware that there are no changing facilities or high...

I have always loved going to The Poets Cafe at Montville. The atmosphere and decorating is quite lovely and staff are polite and professional. Today however, my family and I (five of us and no children below the age of ten) stopped by for some coffee and cake for afternoon tea after doing some shopping and were ‘served’ by an incredibly rude and obnoxious staff member. I have to assume that he was the manager as he was not in uniform like the others and would often walk around to tell other staff members what to do. A middle aged man with a closely shaven grey beard. He first assumed that we were only coming to steal a table to sit and eat our own food at, but we were only holding souvenirs from other stores that we had just shopped at, to take home with us. We didn’t realise that he assumed this and continued asking which table we could sit at, as he amusingly (to himself) replied “no” to each empty table that we pointed to. Once we explained that we wanted to order coffee and cake, he then allowed us to sit at a table, we decided to sit outside. The other staff that served us were lovely, might I add. After we had ordered and were sitting and waiting for our coffee and cake to be brought out, he came back to our table and said “oh, your still here?”, to which we replied that we had ordered and were waiting for our food to be brought out. While we were eating he walked past our table a number of times and stared at us, he also yelled at a random lady (who went to use the toilets around the side of the building, which I have to assume were staff toilets?) right in front of us as we were trying to enjoy our afternoon tea. All in all, he really ruined our time spent at the cafe. I love going to the cafe but will not be going while he is working there. Absolutely atrocious customer service skills. I hope he realises that he is turning customers away. I’m not the type to write reviews about anything, but I’m truly offended by the way that my family was treated...