Milton B - Cafétéria urbaine — Restaurant in Montreal

I initially gave this place 5 stars, but after today I am actually sad to say I feel as though I am not welcome back. Milton B was actually my new favorite café in Montreal and I was so excited to have found such a nice place to do work. Today was my one day off and I had planned days in advance to spend it here studying with my sister, drinking tea and having supper. I arrived 20 minutes earlier than she did and we were both too busy to talk much. So I think we didn't look as if we were together, but my sister had indeed bought a meal even though I hadn't yet. Then a man, who I can only assume was the owner, approached me with an unbelievable amount of hostility and anger in his voice, leaned down to my face so that no one else could hear and said "Are you going to get anything? You've been here for about an hour." No smile. No friendly intro such as "Sorry, I was just wondering.." Pure hostility. It was disgusting. Like he had just slapped me in the face with his voice. And as if he was so damn sure of himself that I was A) alone and B) not going to spend a dime, before he even approached me from across the room. So I replied "We're actually going to be here for a long time. We're eating supper here later, and we're staying for a while." Being a manager myself I was instantly turned off by such a money-hungry approach. He came at me as if he was underestimating my wealth and status. As if I didn't have a voice to stand up for myself. And as soon as he mentioned how long I had been there, I felt like he had been watching me the whole time. I do not come to cafés to be watched by strange old men. Now I know why Second Cup and Starbucks is so popular, because they leave you the hell alone. What was supposed to be a relaxing day off in my new favorite café turned into an anxiety-ridden afternoon. As soon he found out that I was with a paying customer, and how surprisingly confident my voice actually sounded when I spoke, he backed off instantly. But no apology, no nothing. Just backed away then continued to stare at me with a cold look on his face. I think he was more worried about how the whole thing looked in front of everyone rather than how he treated me (because I made sure to talk loud enough so others could listen). I never did get that supper because the way he spoke to me alone was enough to destroy my appetite for the rest of the day until making it home later that night. He made me feel small, as if I wasn't good enough to be in his café. As if I was a dog he was trying to kick out. I would have thought maybe this was just a bad day for him, but nope. He then went on to laugh and smile with every single customer that came up to the counter. So I'm curious, why me? Did I remind you of someone you hated? If I was an older man wearing a fancy coat, would you have approached me differently? Definitely. Do you know I have plenty of fancy coats in my closet? Now you do. So to wrap up, my problem is not how you were concerned about me not ordering anything. I can understand that. My problem is the disrespectful and condescending way you chose to approach me based on my age/gender/choice of wardrobe. You do not have the right to make anyone feel lesser than you just because you own a café and assume I couldn't possibly be making more money than you (haha). And you definitely do not have the right to lean into my face just because I am a woman. Next time, try not to underestimate every young girl you see in your café, and approach them all with respect. You never know which one of us might actually have a ton of status and power, and which one of us can express ourselves so eloquently in a...

Overall, this is a decent cafe. It’s large, spacious, and reasonably quiet (rightfully so as it is marketed as a “work-cafe”). However, there are certain members of the staff (in particular the owner), who seem to be rather draconian about certain rules. For example, there are a number of 4-person tables that would be perfect for two people with laptops, but they are marked “3+ people only”, and I have been kicked off the table multiple times by the owner, despite there being plenty of seating elsewhere (unfortunately the other seating was not suitable for two people with laptops + notepads). The owner explained that these tables were reserved for families coming to eat dinner (despite it only being 4pm), and implied that we were freeloading students who just take up space and don’t buy anything (we had only been there for two hours and had purchased two cappuccinos and a cake). I have also been asked a couple times if I would like to order something. By itself this is completely normal, but when I asked him to clarify (I wasn’t sure I heard him right at first), the staff member asked if I had already made an order (I had). This gives me the feeling that I’m only welcome here as long as I continue to buy things (the prices here are already slightly more expensive than other cafes). I understand this is a business, and I always make sure to buy something when I come to work, but nowhere else has it been made so explicitly clear that we are only welcome if we buy enough stuff. This raises the question “how much is enough”, and generally makes me feel uncomfortable being here. Unfortunately this is the only cafe of its kind in the area, so I’ll continue to stomach...

This place will ignore you if you have black skin 🤷🏿‍♀️

Edited for clarity given the owner response.

I ordered a coffee and explicitly asked about table service, and the cashier said that someone would come by.

Twenty minutes later of no service, I go inside and speak to a host to make my intentions more explicit. About 5 minutes later, the cashier drops off a glass of water at the table, but still makes no attempt to take my order.

Meanwhile they waited on and served other customers with lighter skin around me. I go inside a final time to make it clear this is unacceptable behavior, and then five minutes later someone comes to take my order.

The same waiter/cashier proceeds to argue with me about why they ignored me (and why someone would try to justify poor service fails me, but c'est la vie), at which I point out how others around me were served.

The waiter then has the audacity to say "don't hang me" when I tell them I'm not telling them how to do their job.

Racism has many forms and not all of them are overt.

Being minority owned says nothing about the ability to be anti-racist. History and the present are riddled with such hypocrisies, and unfortunately this location can be added to that...