Roots Bakery & Café — Restaurant in Sámara

Don't go here. The staff is terribly rude and the food was ok at best. the pastries were dry. I tried several, all to the same effect. most importantly, the staff is unacceptable. They are not trained and quite rude/dismissive. For example, I asked if it cost extra to take a coffee to-go vs in-house. He said, yes. I said, how much more? He said, I don't know... more. I said like 10 cents or ten dollars more. He rolled is eyes and just stood there. I asked if he would find out and he said no. I then asked if he could ring both options and I would calculate the difference so we would both know for the future. He huffed and said no and told me to take it or leave it... But he already had my credit card so he kind of had my back against the wall. I said I would take it, because the coffee price is on the wall and when I see the receipt I will be able to know that cost difference. He huffed again and just walked away (with my card in hand so I couldn't leave) then he made me wait almost 15 minutes to get the cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll (it wasn't busy and they're was at least 4 people working) when I got it he didn't give me a receipt and still never told me the total. It's possibly they're scamming "gringos". There's a bunch of better pastry shops in town so maybe find a better place with nicer staff who does...

Had the veggie wrap and the Hibiscus iced tea. The iced tea was good, not too sweet. The vegetarian wrap was okay taste-wise. Basically potatoes and scrambles eggs inside.

The prices were without service and tax, i.e. expect the prices to be 23% more then shown on the menu. Very confusing, I know it differently from other local places. Thought restaurants are legally required to include tax.

As an example: the "normal" wrap is priced at 3.9k CRC, the veggie wrap turned out to be 4.6K CRC (strange but ok), with "hidden" fees you pay 5.6k CRC. It's 45% more then what I expected when looking at the menu / black board.

The location is next to the busiest road junction here in Samara. There are tables inside and outside and they are clean and good etc.

Service was okay.

Update regarding your reply

Maybe I'm confused, but the bill (attached) shows the blackboard price, e.g. 1.5k for iced tea, and adds both tax and service (the later makes sense, now as you explained it). I'm changing it to 3 stars, just to...

Exceeded my expectations.

Timely, accommodating, professional, and delicious.

Relative to the US, service in CR can take a bit longer. I did not find that this was the case at Roots. Not only did they bring the food out within a reasonable time but they all had masks, wore gloves, and were professional.

The pastries in the case looked like they were baked well, this coming from a former pastry cook.

I asked for an omelette and a substitute for the home fries and the accommodated this side salad. The fruit cup was just fresh fruit, no syrup or ordinary fruits like grapes, etc. this one had papaya, bananas, strawberries, and mangos.

The bagel and cream cheese was delicious.

I really enjoyed this place and would highly recommend it. I stopped by soon after opening, around 7AM,...