Beat Street Cafe — Restaurant in Christchurch

Funky, cheerful, personalised: everything a local cafe should be. Beat Street's in an old house, and the decor is shabby chic: which is great if you're relaxed, and put off by stainless steel sterile and antiseptic decor of many of our inner city cafes. Beat Street has a series of spaces each with its own charm: the main hallway-plus-room area where you can hang out and indulge in people-watching, chat with the staff, be public; there's also an inner sanctum with a collection of toys where children can enjoy themselves ( often taken over by mums catching up with each other!) and a couple of indoor tent-tech spaces, warmed by directional hearts but probably not for the faint of heart on driving-rain/snow winter days! (There's also an outdoor area: largely uninhabited as I write in a Chch winter) Beat Street management have a unique sociological experiment going on at the till that I won't detail here because it's work best under the radar: but check it out for good citizenship ideas... Beat Street's fare is good too: not a huge selection, but all of it good in terms of taste and tone ( leaning towards natural, gluten-free, organic: not obsessively so, but certainly bent that way..) Oh and did I say that the coffee's...

Just after 9am and 3 degrees on a frosty Chch morning. The three tables inside the cafe were in use and the windowsill-width bench in the walk-through area is not safe to use a laptop on. I went out to the unheated (but covered and walled) outside area and sat at a soaking wet table. Another couple followed me through and we commented on the constant rain of condensation on our heads and possessions (including my laptop) from the roof above. When the waitress delivered my coffee I asked if the gas heater on wheels could be wheeled in for a few minutes to dry the place out. She came back and said no, 'he' said it's not worth it. The sun will be up soon. NOT WORTH IT FOR WHO? Seriously, I can overlook the microwaved egg and bacon bagel, zapped so long that the egg is the same texture as a tennis ball and the bread of the bagel requires a hacksaw to get through, and I can overlook the burnt, bitter coffee, but I can't overlook bad service. I asked for my over-microwaved bagel to go and most of it ended up in the bin, along with the terrible coffee. The Christchurch cafe scene is a competitive...

Went there as part of a mum's group. The man (owner?) behind the counter was not wearing a mask and looked annoyed that I came in. The other parent who arrived before me said the chef wasn't wearing a mask when she arrived. The chicken melt and milkshake were excellent but I suspect the food may be the only good thing anymore. I went to use the toilet attached to the playroom and there was no soap and a smell of cigarettes - so unusable. No change table in either toilet which is strange and frustrating for a cafe seemingly catering towards children and families. When I left I told the man that since we were expected to wear masks coming into the cafe, that he should be wearing one too. He basically rolled his eyes at me, said "ok" and went back to looking at his phone and ignoring me while I stood in front of him. Overall I was disgusted by the experience and will be telling others. I have been coming here since Beat Street opened and I...