Coffee Culture Cafe & Eatery — Restaurant in Ontario

What is the Coffee Culture's policy about when is a "customer" actually becomes a "customer"? The following is my experience butressed by a youtube video i recently saw about a black man in Philadelphia who was arrested for sitting in a Starbucks, in my case I was not arrested. I call it.... A black Philadelphian enters a coffee shop in London, Ontario. I think that one of the arrested black guys in the Starbucks youtube video looks a bit like me. On February 26th at approximately 9:15 PM, I entered the Coffee Culture Cafe and Eatery at 260 Dundas Street. I had just returned from a gathering of friends Honoring London icon Roy McDonald, the group was led by London Town Crier Bill Paul and included people such as former city councilman Ed Corrigan and more than 25 others. We were at the London Main library on Dundas street sharing stories about Roy. Our group broke up approximate 9:10 PM and many decided to continue our discussion across the street at the Coffee Cultures Café and Eater.

I was the first of our group to arrive. When I walked in the Coffee Cultures and Café and Eatery and notice three people standing in line ahead of me. I had to use the toilet so I immediately, put my hat on a table, thereby reserving the table for some friends who were coming in behind me. I walked to the washroom, noticed it was locked. Then went to the counter and asked for the key to the washroom.

The manager told her employee not to give me the key to the washroom because I was not a customer. I explained to her that I desperately needed to go to the washroom, and I would buy something when I came out of the washroom. She again said that I was not a customer and could not have the key to the washroom.

She said that she watched me when walked in and she would not give me the key to the washroom. I again told her I would buy something and I was in fact the forerunner of a large group of people who were coming to sit drink coffee. Finally after I made a loud enough fuss [and I think one of my colleagues vow to purchase something for me] the manager gave me the key to the washroom. I went to the washroom, and when done I returned the key.

At that point I was so angry over the treatment that the manager heaped upon me, that I emptied all the money I had in my wallet and “let them have it” for the use of the key. It was somewhere between $65-$110 in total. Because I was so mad, I did not take the time to count it. So I don’t know exactly how much it was. With that, I turned and walked out. That was the last time I saw Coffee Culture Café & Eatery or the money I left in there. [Addendum: i returned and purchased coffee and cake without incident one month later.]

In short, I think the Coffee Culture Cafe and Eatery should reevaluate their policy regarding emergency access to washroom so that people besides me don’t have to be humiliated. At what point or when does a “customer” become a “customer” The Coffee Cultures...

It's with a heavy heart that I have to write this review, because this has been one of my favourite places to eat and relax for a long time, but my recent experience has been so poor that I won't be returning to this Coffee Culture again. From my experience, coffee shops often function as community hubs, and people are usually welcome to sit, chat, and partake in personal activities while they enjoy their coffee/tea. This Coffee Culture was no exception, and I found myself here again this afternoon along with my girlfriend.

We had been relaxing for about an hour, and sipping on our (rather expensive) drinks, when we set them aside and played some cards, just sort of enjoying the atmosphere and the space. The restaurant was busy, as downtown restaurants tend to be, and the majority of the tables in the store were full. Usually it's pretty quiet, and the staff are pretty nice, but for some reason today the manager was making a real fuss. He was shouting every few minutes about changing the wifi and kicking people out, and loudly complaining even to customers about "squatters taking advantage" of the store. About 20m into our card game, he came over to our table, and accosted us for "not buying anything" in an extremely passive aggressive tone (despite our still-warm coffee cups sitting on the table), and accused us of using up space that was reserved for valued customers that they had to "turn away at the door" (even though there was no one in line). After that, he told us to leave and stormed off.

It's not that we didn't understand his point, but he treated us like dirt, and not like people who are probably liable to buy more food/drinks within the next few minutes. He could have phrased it like an offer to buy more, which we absolutely would've, but he phrased it as an accusation and treated us with complete disrespect. I've never heard of any casual coffee shop kicking people out, and haven't run into anything else like this at Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Williams, or anywhere else, despite often doing homework and playing games for extended periods of time in the past.

Anyway, the place itself is okay, and it's not the worst place in the world, but if you run into a short haired grey manager with wiry glasses, avoid the place like the plague.

TL;DR: Decent food and coffee, but they'll kick you out for no good reason. Avoid middle aged manager with short grey hair, as he is a prick, and will probably treat you badly. The other staff are good though, especially Kyle! If you find yourself in downtown London, go for Williams, Starbucks, or the Fire Roasted Coffee Company. Also the wifi like...

I am very disappointed with this place. I have been a customer of coffee culture for several years. Woodstock, Ingersoll and London. This location is by far the worst. Now as far as I am concerned, this is not a fancy place as some seem to think. I think London is relatively new to cafe's and baristas are concerned. The menu is basic and seens all the food is outsourced. The coffee....well, nothing special at all about this coffee. Its all very mediocre. Its a Timmies with some lipstick. Discount lipstick at that. I am not sure if there was a managment change, but I was gone for a few years and when I came back the old C/C was differerent. Just is. Now today when i went in and got some cold looks and didnt feel very welcome. The owner, a mid aged fella seemed to almost try to find a reason to come speak with me and make me feel unwelcomed. I was tidying my bag before hitting the road and places a few cans of soda pop on the table for a few seconds. Man, was that dude all over me. He was ready for the pounce. Then he almost searched for the staff for support and they fell right in line saying that I left the toilet room a mess. Absolutely not true. And a habbit of mine is to leave the space I am in a little better than when I got there. Its been a habit for 25 years now. There is nno personality in the place, I believe they use to have some great art by local artists. Adding a licquor license is almost a last ditch effort to drag some sort of business. Its sad to see. It needs an identity and needs to stay...