Sweet Lee's Bakery — Restaurant in Montreal

I tried very hard to fall in love with this little spot but just can't.

Since their first few weeks I've been visiting with some frequency. The problems that I first figured were growing pains appear to continue upon every visit. It boils down to organization I believe. That, and staff seems to fall somewhere on the spectrum between complacent and irritable. The only exception I've marked to that is apparently the owners brother who is the bright spot otherwise seemingly disorganized operation. It's hard to fault the product too much, but the quality of product doesn't compensate for the experience of entering the place and having to navigate the service experience and disorganized pricing.

I don't wish failure on them and I hope they can overcome this barrier, however my pastry shopping I'm going to do elsewhere from now on.

---------In response to the owner's reply------- Hi Greg! Thanks for taking the time to reply! First and foremost, I totally concede that online reviews (positive and negative) can have an impact on small businesses. We deal with our own in my work! But the best means to manage those has always been (in our mind at least) to try and create the best possible experience we can for our guests and minimize the number of negative reviews. Believe me, we fail at times too! And when guests bring it to our attention directly rather than jumping straight to a keyboard, it's always very appreciated.

Which is precisely why I did express my concerns directly to the cashier then (I didnt see a face I recognized to bring to directly and being somewhat pressed for time took it up with the person serving me). I've also done this in the past. In fact, in 2014 I wrote your business directly about some frustrations I had then in service. I finished with:

"It wasn't a great experience for me today in your business, and as a business owner myself, I'd prefer my guests bring their concerns to me rather than all their friends."

...then signed off with "Wishing you sweet success,"...

Liana responded "We will be installing signs and other indicators to help direct our customers. Sadly the option of changing our counter around is not possible and we've also considered the "take a number" system. We will be sure to improve on this matter as quick as humanly possible."

That was 3+ years ago and the same feeling of walking into a disorganized chaos exists. After 3+ years of coming back and 'giving it another go' and my feedback directly when I felt it necessary, my last visit just kinda felt like I was done coming and done sharing my feedback with staff directly. So I went to my keyboard.

I empathize with you and the infrastructure issues you are dealing with. Believe me, I know how hard it is to put out small fires; they seem to arrive too when you least want them. I hope you can overcome them.

If you have anything further to respond back to me, please feel free to do so by Facebook; you've already found my personal...

There's something to be said about how you treat your customers. I've never had a problem when I simply jump in to get some goodies to go. The staff is very friendly and helpful. However I decided to have a bite with a friend and this is where I didn't like what happened. I'd like to emphasize that I understand any business is entitled to enforce whatever rules they wish but we can also all agree, there is a good and bad way, we are also entitled to our opinions of said rules.

So, my friend and I bought coffee and we each bought pastries as well. We asked permission to eat food from another location and were told it was fine but considering two businesses own this location it was only 50% okay. This is the first problem, as a customer that's none of my business. Whatever set up you have isn't a detail I have to worry about. I asked permission, I was considerate, I took the time to make sure I was allowed. So my friend and I eat and by the end one of the staff comes to see us and tells us it's not okay. "you wouldn't bring food from another place to a restaurant" and that she "didn't want to see this happen again" as though we were two school boys being scolded by a teacher. As though we committed some sin. So I just wanted to eat and now I'm in an ethical debate. I bought goods at both businesses that own that location, I paid for my physical real estate but now I'm being hassled because I brought food from another restaurant. So if I had a lunch I made myself in a Tupperware, I wouldn't be able to eat it with a coffee I purchased or a dessert I'd want to have afterwards? I wasn't in there free of charge, I paid money. So the minimum I deserve is to be treated as a paying customer and not be invalidated because I committed an honest mistake. Not a "thank you for understanding", not a "unfortunately", no we are immediately treated like villains because we were hungry, it was lunch time, we wanted to save some time, we wanted to be in a place that was cozy...

As of March 2024, absolutely heartbroken about what has happened to this place.

For as long as they had been in Verdun, Sweet Lees was my go-to place in a neighborhood with tons of option for both coffee and baked goods. They were simply the best.

I was crushed to find out when dropping by yesterday that it suddenly looked like a completely different business, now almost all seating and with the food counter a tiny fraction of the size it used to be, with their inventory naturally cut down just as drastically.

Despite how upset I was about it, I still tried to give them a chance and check whether the quality of the food and drinks were still the same. Unfortunately, again, instead of being reassured I had to face the reality that I would have to completely grieve what Sweet Lees used to be.

Matcha latté ordered to drink on the spot arrived at a tepid temperature already too barely over room temperature to be enjoyable to drink, let alone sit down and enjoy at a leisure pace. Considering how much they sacrificed to get more seating space, it's strange how this gave the message that they wanted me to hurry up drinking and just get out of there.

Also ordered a little cup of maple syrup trifle. Custard was incredibly stodgy, which is sort of an issue when it is the main component of the dessert.

I never though there would be a day I would leave a negative review about this place. To be fair, I also never thought that Sweet Lees would one day be run by people who'd decide they'd rather be a middling coffee shop with fancy furniture than a fantastic rustic bakery.

If anyone needs me, I'll be busy mourning...