JUST MADE 33 Unique Sandwiches & Coffee — Restaurant in Athens

Our worst coffee experience in Athens.

We walked specifically to this place as it was recommended to us as a good speciality coffee destination to visit while here on an Athens coffee tour This could not have been further from the truth.

Upon arriving we sat down and observed the surroundings. My partner and I are always excited to try new speciality coffee places. We went relatively early in the afternoon and the place was quite empty, 3-4 tables of customers and three members of staff. The day was sunny and we chose to sit on the outside tables near the bar, taking full advantage of the nice athenian summer breeze. We observed the neat offer board and we made our choices. The waiter approached us and we were ready to order.

We asked what they had on offer as a filter option but the waiter did not know, he had to go back in and ask. He came back to us promptly saying that they had a coffee from Ethiopia.

We went for Panamanian Geisha as an espresso from Gruciano Cruz's farm. "Sorry we dont have it on offer at the moment" was the instant reply (even though it was on their menu). That's okay it's not the end of the world we thought, lets go for something else. We ended ordering an espresso from their house blend as well as a coffee from Guatamela also an an espresso which was offered as an alternative.

So far so good with our experience, a couple of small hiccups from the waiter's side but nothing we couldn't excuse as we both work in the same field back home.

Myself and my girlfriend we always tend to order a double espresso split in two singles as well as a filter which we share. We asked for this and the reply we received is that they can do it but they will have to charge as as two singles, (2.5 euros for a single, 3.5 for a double). Again we said that's okay lets go for two singles even though we were essentially charged 1 euro each for the effort of the barista of placing a second cup on the left spout of the portafilter. First time for everything I guess.

It was at that time that our experience started turning sour.

First hint, a lady two tables behind us walks out as she was waiting way too long for her order (in an empty shop). She was there before we arrived and I guess she had enough of it.

We politely asked to receive more information for the second espresso that we were getting from Guatemala (both coffees were roasted by Sapid roasters in Greece). The waiter looked at us like we were crazy, went back to the bar and we see him talking to the barista. They both look at us and started laughing. He comes back to our table giving us the information of the coffee saying "you can read it because I cant pronounce where this coffee is from". That killed it for us. We felt unrespected and the staff clearly demonstrated lack of knowledge for an "expertly" made beverage that were charging 3.5 euros for.

At the same time, he told us that we had to remove our card game off the table as it was a "shop" policy of no card games (IN AN EMPTY SHOP!!!).

We complied....

The espressos came first, the guatemala was half decent some levels of astringency and signs of under extraction in the cup with low levels of sweetness, a light to medium body and a short finish.

The house espresso was roasted a touch on the darker side, with a round body, but over extracted bitter and dry.

We cancelled our Ethiopian filter, paid €8.50 for two singles and a double espresso and left.

As coffee professionals ourselves we are all up for higher prices for coffee, but if you'd like to be called a "specialty coffee house" and command those prices make sure you can portray the knowledge, quality of service and quality in the cup in order to justify those higher price...

We came here 4 people for a coffee and cakes. We ordered a cake, 2 cappuccinos and a tea. After we got the cake and tasted it, we decided to order two more cakes because it was delicious. Only a few minutes later we got the coffee, and had to ask for tea spoons to stir in the sugar. In the meanwhile a fifth person joined and started to contemplate what to order. The teaspoons arrived only after five minutes. In that time the coffee got cold, and we asked the waitress if they could warm us the coffee. She rudely replied us "no". And the two other cakes and tea haven't arrives yet. So we asked the waitress to cancel whatever we didn't get and to pay for whatever we got. So she went, and instead of returning with a check, she returned with the cake we asked to cancel. So we just left the money equivalent to what we got (including the unwanted cake) and started to leave. Then the waitress started to rudely argue with us on the payment, although we gave her extra 50 cents which she didn't deserve. We added her another euro for her bad service and refused to pay for what we didn't get, and the boss told her to let us leave. We took the unwanted cake and left. I've been to a lot of cafés and restaurant, and had my share of bad services, but this one won as the worst service...

What a horrific experience. I ordered a brioche sandwich with haloumi cheese, tahini sauce and arugula. After waiting forever, since they apparently forgot about it entirely, it finally arrived. There was no tahini sauce, the haloumi was scant and completely raw, and the arugula was wilted and inedible (as was the sandwich as a whole). I returned it, only to discover on the check that they charged me for it. Perhaps they thought that because the check was printed in Greek only, I would never know (we had ordered a number of additional items). When I went in to say that I should not be charged for an inedible sandwich that I had returned, to my shock, I found myself in an argument. The woman at the cash register said "what, should I pay for it?" I told her that I don't know who should, but that I traveling in many places in the world, it was quite expected that certainly the customer should not pay for it. The entire staff argued with me before finally agreeing to remove the charge. Even tourist traps shouldn't assume that all...