Java Docks — Restaurant in Area A (Egmont/Pender Harbour)

Ordered some food with some friends visiting from out of town. This was our experience.

FOOD: Food was okay, nothing special. A little pricey for the quality but not bad.

DRINK: Not ordered.

CLEANLINESS: Good.

SERVICE: The service regardless of anything else is what prompts me to give this place a 1 star rating. As soon as we entered things already felt off. We ended up ordering, sat down, and ate. We also needed to use the washroom but they rudely said they have no public washrooms (just 1 for them). I found this ridiculous as their sign cites public health guidelines but this hasn't been a thing for quite a while since mid-covid. Personally I think they just want to save the effort in cleaning and the money needed for soap, toilet paper, etc. Either way, they were rudely refused and then I sat back down to finish my food. We finished our food about 10 minutes later and continued to chat. Within 5 minutes we were being awkwardly stared at which promoted us to leave within a few minutes. Reading through previous reviews I realized that they used to have a sign that stated to leave after finishing your food, so the vibe made sense in hindsight. Having travelled all across small town BC i have spent hours in cafes chatting with owners, friends, etc. This cafe caught me so off-gaurd with their lack of hospitality. Even a busy franchised cafe doesn't make you feel like you need to leave after 15 minutes. Especially after spending $30 there. Reading other reviews some people had great experiences, which genuinely shocked me. So my guess is it's either dependent on the workers in the back (we had 2 females) or the demographic/familiarity of the customers. Either way, if you're passing through I would recommend fully steering clear of this place.

PAYMENT METHOD: Cash...

We were technically robbed. I hate to leave a review like this but it's my honest experience. We ordered a medium mocha ($5.00) and a medium white mocha ($5.00) The total came to $15.75. My partner was paying when I realized that didn't add up correctly. He had added a tip and paid before I could say anything. I thought "no worries I'll get a receipt and check it". This is when I saw the cashier take $5.75 in cash out of the till and put it in the tip jar. I thought "maybe that was the tip made through debit? I'll make sure to get a receipt" The receipt they gave me was for the debit sale and is not itemized. My partner left a tip THROUGH DEBIT of $1.58. I have no idea why the $5.75 came out of the till. It was so busy and the service staff already seemed on edge and nervous. A lady in front of us had already spoken rudely to them. We decided to cut our losses instead of making a scene, mostly because we didn't have an itemized receipt. I just want others to be aware this happened and to be careful of the total they tell you. The coffee tasted just okay, so it doesn't make up for the $5.75 that was taken from us. There were also piles of dirty dishes on a table...

I should have paid attention to what some other customers wrote. The food was just okay but certainly overpriced for nothing special; however, the real problem was that the two ladies who were working (I think one is an owner) gave off an awful vibe. The lady who took my order at the counter was just not nice and the lady cooking next to her was talking about something personal and how distracted she was. The icing on the cake though was when I searched for a WiFi signal I could see that they had two channels available (normal and 5G) but when I asked if they had a password posted, I was dismissed with a curt “no” and a nasty look that said why are you bothering me. Oh and did I mention their sign that says please eat your food and leave as soon as you’re done and that they will not let you use their toilet!

For the life of me, if you are going to open a restaurant, treat your customers as guests, not pests. You know, it’s nothing personal, but when I’m spending good money at your restaurant you shouldn’t make it seem like I’m doing you a favor by...