Hale Coffee Company — Restaurant in Toronto

I went today after work and walked in at around 4.20pm. I was acknowledged by an employee who seemed mildly upset we walked in. I checked the closing time and it says 5pm so, since me and my friends were just looking to grab a drink and maybe sit for 15/20 minutes we decided to stay. I assumed the employee must have been just tired. I asked if they served herbal teas and she rudely pointed to a menu on the table. I picked my tea and she rolls her eyes at me right before making the order. She has the same bad attitude while my friends order as well. We sit down (at that point is 4.30pm) and I can see the employee is very upset and after she slams a metal container on a different table I asked her if she has issues with us staying there consuming our beverages. She rudely replies she is “closing in less than an hour”. At that point I point at the sign with opening times and tell her “yes, closing time is at 5pm, we will leave before that”. She rolls her eyes again and does ABSOLUTELY nothing to at least pretend she is not super pissed about HAVING CUSTOMERS. I worked in hospitality for many years and I am pretty sure that if a cafe states that closes at 5pm, people should be able to sit until before closing times without feeling like they are creating a disservice to the people working there. I don’t know if she was having a bad day but the whole experience was HORRIBLE. If they want to be out at 5pm, they should close at 4.30pm to have time to complete closing duties without impacting customer experience. For reference, we left at 4.50pm being mindful of ACTUAL closing time. I am not asking for 5 star service but just someone who is maybe not so OPENLY disappointed by getting customer DURING...

I just dropped by Hale coffee for the first time (typically go to a different local cafe but was picking up tahini’s next door and thought I’d kill two birds with one stone). I tried to pay with cash, she said I can’t give you change so I paid with my card. When I received my order, the colour was VERY light (I order this drink everywhere I go, this is off), w no lid- whatever, no big deal. I asked for a straw, which they don’t have. I noticed she had left all the syrup at the bottom, so I asked if she could stir it if that’s the case. She did it begrudgingly, while stating “just so you know, there are stir sticks behind you”. Didn’t see them.. but regardless, the drink should have already been stirred. So much attitude in such a short encounter. I feel bad for the owners, these kinds of employees will run your business to the ground! Finally tried the drink, it tasted just how it looked. ended up having to buy another coffee from my regular spot. Needless to say, I will not be coming back. Just read other reviews and people seem to be complaining about the same things: expensive bland drinks, with bad service. Do the owners not check the reviews? Seems like this is something that should...

I mean this location is just a closet-size version of Hale. Some locations are super cute and decorative but I won’t penalize them for size. I happened to be at the Hungarian Consulate (that’s another review!!) so decided I needed a special treat to reward myself for being excellent.

This location doesn’t have the plethora of products I usually enjoy at my regular Hale on the west side…sigh but they do have something called an Espresso Tonic with tonic water and…why? I can’t imagine this would be good so I tried to order an Espresso martini just to be rejected once again. Fine, settled for a regular ol’ Americano and it was lovely. Very rich and strong just how I like him…er,...