Brewed As. — Restaurant in Northland

[Update: Company has followed up and seems sincere and convincing about their desire to prevent such events reoccurring - consulting their staff, taking my feedback seriously etc. While that doesn't change my experience, it does give me hope that management is actively attempting to keep their establishment optimally staffed, trained and motivated. Keep this in mind if you read the following review. I increased the service star to four accordingly.]

Oh jeez, you won't like this review. Nice environment if you like tension. Bring a sword and shield to fight off the warring seagulls that the staff have given up on. The customers have to clear their own tables immediately as the outside dining space has been surrendered to the warring clans. I personally watched a waitress roll her eyes and avoid helping as birds snatched food from babies hands and left them crying while the disgruntled parents cleared their own table. Don't expect to be considered to be more than a wallet in this establishment. [note: this review ruffled some feathers... It's probably a bit over the top but it does reflect the discontent of my experience] Regarding the food, the salad dressings are basically just white vinegar and sugar. Worse still the staff gave the impression that a small kids waffle was the same as the large adults fruit and yogurt waffle... no. Who feeds a child ice-cream and a dessert waffle for breakfast and doesn't bat an eyelid? [note: they did later provide a couple of pieces of fruit and yogurt when approached about the issue]

Oh, and they overcharged for an additional meal which we did not order or eat. That's a circus,...

To the Manager/Owner, I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the experience my family, friends, and I had at your restaurant on Sunday, 24th August.

We came in for breakfast, and as usual, I ordered my favourite dish from your menu, the Eggs Benedict. Unfortunately, when my food arrived, I discovered a short black hair on my egg, which was highly unappetising. I promptly took the food to the counter and addressed the issue with one of your staff members, who wears glasses. Her response was quite dismissive, claiming it was just an eyelash and showed no remorse for the incident. This reaction was unacceptable, as I expect a higher standard of hygiene and professionalism from your establishment.

While the food was replaced, the egg was not warm. As a diabetic, I could not afford to skip my meal and had no choice but to eat it. This situation could have been avoided with more attention to detail and better customer service. My family and friends, who have always enjoyed your food, were particularly disappointed by this experience.

Moreover, my friend received the wrong order and had to wait an additional 20 minutes for the correct one, which should have only required a quick reheating. The lack of efficiency and care in handling this situation added to our frustration.

Despite the poor service and the mistakes made, we were still charged for the meal. This was quite disheartening and demonstrated a lack of accountability.

I hope the owner or manager will address this issue and extend an apology to us. As locals, we support businesses in our community and expect great service in return. Kind...

I've been to Brewed As twice in the past week, and both times received terrible service. The first time was for breakfast on Friday morning ... We got there just after 8am, and it was quiet, we sat down at a table and waited, and waited, and waited. I made eye contact with the staff member behind the counter, who was clearly disinterested. Twenty minutes later, and still no service, we got up and left to go to a different cafe for breakfast. Yesterday, I was there for lunch with a friend, and again, it wasn't terribly busy - there were empty tables around us. We tried to order what we wanted at the counter - cabinet food and coffee - but were told to take a seat at a table and they'd come to take our order. Ten minutes later, still no service. I ended up going back to the counter to place our order. When the food finally arrived, it was really good, but making payment was another story. We got to the counter, the staff member standing behind it told us to wait a minute as we watched her pick up a bottle of cleaning spray and a cloth, making her way over to an empty table (which had been empty the entire time that we'd been there), and proceeded to clean the unused table before coming back to ring up our bill. There was no smile, no thank you, no basic customer service from this staff member who was clearly disinterested in doing her job, and obviously didn't want to be there (it was the same person who'd been there the Friday before when my husband and I ended up leaving). It's sad ... Brewed As would be a great cafe if they improved their customer...