Breka Bakery & Café - Davie — Restaurant in Vancouver

So firstly I would like to say for the record that I'm not some Internet Karen who undeservedly leaves bad reviews and nitpicks at businesses, I've worked in the service/restaurant/bar Industry for 10+ years, and this is actually the first bad review I have ever had to write in my Adult life.

Earlier today, I walked into Breka with my dog to get some takeaway food for lunch. The lady behind the till smiled at the dog whilst she was taking my order. I was then turned around by another worker who had the most hostile and aggravated look on her face. She said you cant have the dog in here. I apologized immediately and mentioned that I didn't realize as there wasn't a sign on the door, and as we all know, many Vancouver cafes and eatery's don't mind dogs standing for a couple of minutes whilst you order food to go, my bad. The worker rolled her eyes and then replied with one of thee most condescending, hostile, and frankly just mean comments I've ever heard from someone in the industry, She said "ehm there's food in here, obviously??" Its honestly not even what she said, it was the way she said it. I genuinely heard someone gasp behind me as the way she replied was just so rude and uncalled for. She actually said it and turned her back and walked away before I could even reply, which to me was just so unbelievably unprofessional and made it 10x worse. To say I was embarrassed was an understatement, I was left standing there with the dog absolutely mortified, I ran out of there. I have never been spoken to like that in any establishment in my life, and I've worked in bars and restaurants for years, not even by a customer. For the record my dog is a miniature dachshund and probably takes up less then a foot of space. I waked out feeling so embarrassed I decided not to get food elsewhere and just went home. I was extremely courteous of when she told me he had to leave, the whole ordeal just felt so nasty and uncalled for. " Service was slow and moody" is a review from another customer I've seen on here. Not too sure about slow, but definitely can confirm moody. "she began rolling her eyes condescendingly about us to her coworker" is another review. Seems to be a very common theme happening here.

I had just got back from a quick run with the dog, and the rain has been so bad this week I decided to wear my worst clothes and shoes to do so, and my hair was also crazy because of the wind. I'm left wondering would she have been a bit more polite if I had been dressed better, and was this just an old classic case of profiling.

I've lived across the street from Breka for 5+ years, and have probably spent a small fortune here over the years. I go here 3/4 times a week. It's so disappointing that I wont be going anymore because I would genuinely be worried of being spoken like that to again.

We all have bad or off days in work, but this was just too far.

Here are some more extremely relevant reviews from other customers online -

"Please train your staff on what basic customer service looks like. Very disappointing on what was otherwise a lovely Sunday afternoon." "For white people only branch Don't go there if you're black call Brown they will give you a treatment like we are cleaning a dirty toilet" "I know everybody’s busy, but in such rude attitude it’s NOT ACCEPTABLE! No one deserves that from YOU! I feel SHAME ON YOU to working on your job in this way not respecting people or the work itself!!! Miserable experience!" "Out of all the Breka locations this has to be the worst one. Their service is absolutely horrible. The staff are rude at best. Busy or not." "Vancouver standards of "quality customer service or care" aren't appropriate for this establishment. This place has gone downhill. I'm shocked since I have been supporting Breka Bakery and its staff with overly generous tips since I moved to this city."

There are just some of a very long list. Are all these people wrong?

(The photo is of the big bad dog...

I like Breka but I have only been to this Davie location once and haven’t been back for a very long time.

This location is not particularly big, but they have a decent collection of items.

Unlike other locations, this one seemed to have a dedicated window to serve delivery orders, which appeared to occupy quite a lot of their manpower.

We arrived at a bad timing, just when the rush lunch hours started. We ordered a spinach artichoke pocket (which I had before at another location) a chicken and bacon pocket, and a small hot matcha latte. It took quite some time to prepare the food. I asked if I missed being called 15 minutes after my order, they were still too busy to heat up the food for me. Unfortunately, when I had our food, the matcha was only lukewarm, not hot enough to be enjoyable.

There was also an unusual episode while we were here. There were a senior couple who both had mobility issues went to the washroom. Meanwhile, a group of four senior people took their table and chairs. They brought the medication the couple left on the table to the staff. The senior male came back and asked them why they took his table and was upset and said they were terrible. The staff were all very busy and probably had no idea what’s going on. Not their fault as cafe is not a serviced restaurant and this could happen at any other cafe. Just not something happened that I have seen before.

Food was always good for Breka and this location is no exception. It looked so good that I forgot to take pictures! The two pockets were both a little bit on the greasy side but very delicious. Just wished my matcha latte was hot enough to wash down the grease.

Would not mind coming...

IMO one of the greatest coffee shops in the city. This location is a little small and, as a result, occasionally cramped compared to the other Brekas I've checked out, but the overall vibe is somehow still pretty chill. All of the food and drink I've had at this (and other locations) has been outstanding. The size doesn't stop them from carrying the full selection that other Brekas offer. I really like the breads they use for their sandwiches, they're all different and each have something a little interesting about them. Good array of vegetarian options. Their sweet stuff is also all delicious. I really enjoy getting their cakes for a special treat but the donuts are also really noteworthy. Yeasted donuts aren't usually my favourite, but I would eat theirs any day, they're so fluffy and rich that they seem to melt in your mouth. Besides the usual selection of espresso drinks and teas that every coffee shop carries, they have some more uncommon stuff, my favourite of which is the Lavender Tea Latte, but there's also a bunch of specialty mochas. The prices are great considering the quality. While it's certainly not fast-food cheap, I've found that my bill here always ends up being considerably lower than what I'd pay for the same amount of food at other coffee shops in the city. The staff here is very nice, and service is generally pretty quick once you order, and even though there's usually a bit of a line, they have an efficient system to keep things moving. You will likely be asked what you want before you reach the register, but they've been patient during the few times when I've needed an extra second to see...