Lake Country Radio Cafe — Restaurant in Lake Country

Came here years ago and fell in love with the homey atmosphere, drinks made with love and rotating artwork. I didn’t even know a new owner took over until reading other reviews but I could feel it was different since I have visited.

Their service has disappeared. Instead of a friendly smile I was met with a blank stare and he looked rushed to serve me even though nobody was behind me. As well they have a chime that plays if someone is standing at the front because they installed a wall between the kitchen and the counter. The chime was incredibly annoying to listen to while drinking our coffee, and when we asked about it the barista seemed borderline offended that we would ask about it and had a scowl.

As well their coffee is no longer served in mugs and ceramic cups but disposable paper cups.

I had their matcha latte and it tasted like dirt and milk and they didn’t even attempt to stir in the flavouring. Was not very high quality.

Their food also used to be handmade by the last owners but now items are cold and packaged in Saran Wrap. Even my little scone I got didn’t even have a plate to eat it on, nor was heated up.

They have stopped rotating local artwork, for a coffee shop attached to an art gallery it seems like a perfect idea. Now they just have one artists “cool” hyper realistic portraits of celebrities.

They’ve installed a lot of, what I would call, tacky decor. A DJ booth, fake moss wall, and the aforementioned non-rotating art. Which all clash wildly with the cottage, small town cafe vibes. As well they have closed the unique small room that had a comfy couch and only made their seating space smaller. Why does a small cafe need a DJ booth?

All of this makes me quite sad and I can confidently say that this cafe has taken a turn for the worse. It used to be my favourite cafe in the world and now it is more akin to a second cup clone.

Would not recommend going here.

Edit due to the reply by the owner:

Passive aggressively saying I missed the ownership change even though they have a name that changes 1 word of the original cafe, used the same logo and kept the same google page for the reviews, passive aggressively saying I must have confused the food they served me with the display food.

This is the kind of response I expected. A fake apology and zero accountability for the points that were fair criticisms they could change. Calling me a keyboard warrior instead of a customer who was genuinely rooting for the business and was disappointed.

This is the kind of attitude you’ll get at Lake Country Radio Cafe. The owners reply...

My wife and I drive from West K to use the old coffee shop often for years but our first two visits since it was taken over by new owner were sadly disappointing. The unique little rooms with comfy sofa were closed off and our usual orders were not as good plus served in bags no pottery mug or plates now? Tuba melt was so thin and for $10 just overpriced. The latte was smaller and more expensive than Starbucks:-( the scone was hard and stale. $26 for scone,thin sand-which drip coffee and small late? In paper bag. Just disappointed and hope it changes. The owner was behind the counter but no greeting or smile or hello either time. It’s a cool spot but sometimes it’s not a good thing to change something if it was working so well as it was. Food used to be brought to you with garnish on the plate and a nice heavy mug of hot drip coffee highland grog also gone:-( Please open up the side rooms bring back the comfy chairs sofas and fix the food value. Definitely bring in China for non to go customers :-)

Updated on another visit We came back really rooting for things to have improved. No smile or pleasantries from the owner again! Coffee was just so so and again all paper cups and to go cartons. Carrot cake was now a third smaller in size than used to be and in comparison to the one on display for almost $6.00 so higher cost and smaller size :-( still tasted good but terrible value. Tables were littered not cleaned and place was almost empty in the middle of Saturday which surprised us. Outside looks better brighter new paint and glad to find some comfy sofas back which is good. Plastic containers of plastic cutlery instead of real and just not the same vibe First second third impressions count! Very sad to see this because we will keep trying but not for many more times. Where is the hello and how are you or please thank you? Let alone no highland grog no plates mugs etc People work hard for their money now more than ever so little things really count and we drive from west K to be customers! We are putting in the effort it should be from the owner...

My Fiancé and I stopped here after researching some reviews and wanting somewhere to have a nice coffee and light lunch on our day off together. I’m a huge supporter of local businesses and I wanted to try this one after being recommended it a few times. We arrived and I was checking out the menu board deciding what to order. The staff member at the register was pretty unfriendly, seemed to be bothered by something. I ordered us two large caramel macchiatos, 2 ham and cheese paninis and a muffin which was about $33. Took our number and went and sat outside on the patio. Went in got our drinks, drinks were delicious and one of the paninis was delivered to my fiancé. 10 minutes passed and I still did not have the other panini so I went in and asked about it and they said they would make it again, no apology. Went back outside and waited another 15 minutes, by this time coffee was getting cold and my fiancé and I had eaten a half of the panini. I went back in to the coffee shop to see if they had finished making the panini (heating it up rather) and there was a massive line. I went to the front and tried to get the attention of a staff member but was unsuccessful. I looked into the kitchen and other people’s food was being made but the sandwich wasn’t seen. I wanted to get a refund but didn’t have the time to sit in the lineup of 8 people to get a refund for the food I paid for but didn’t receive. We ended up leaving after being there for 40 minutes.

I’m always supporting local businesses but my first impression of this local company is very poor. The coffee was delicious but the food was mediocre at best and the service was absolutely terrible. What was supposed be a relaxing afternoon enjoying local coffee and food was me making trips in and out of the shop. I’d much rather support a local company rather than a chain, but when a chain provides better service, cheaper pricing and on par or better food it makes it hard to want to support the mom and pop shops. I rarely ever write poor reviews but after this experience we...