Simpli Coffee Picoas — Restaurant in Lisbon

Did this place get new owners or new management in the last months? I used to love this place so much but sadly it's gone from an amazing 5 star experience to just 3.

I understand sometimes in business it is necessary to make changes, like the new very limited kitchen hours and doing away with table service and changing to ordering at the counter so you have less staff, but why remove all the things that made this place so amazing? It's alienating to all us locals who came here several times a week, not just for coffee but for regular meals.

All the amazing, friendly, knowledgeable staff that were here for quite some time and made you feel at home are gone - they all seemed to disappear all art once, sadly. Replaced with new staff that is not that knowledgeable or as helpful or friendly as the previous employees.

They used to play great music - Brazilian and electronic and chillhop great for socializing, but now it's been replaced with a super cheezy pop music playlist on repeat that makes it very difficult to sit and talk, read a book or do other things you would do in a cafe. Besides that, it's really bad music played LOUDLY so you have to shout to have conversations. People come to cafes to socialize, to read, to do many things - it's not a bar or a concert venue. And at least before the music was special, had a good vibe...now it's like really bad radio.

I noticed that many other regulars have stopped coming as well - I see way less people each day then before so hope they are able to reflect on the changes they have made and see which ones are making it a less lovely place to be. I went from coming almost daily to now barely coming at all. So sad to see this place get ruined so quickly the last few months.

UPDATE: Just saw the business reply and it's interesting to notice that in the business' response to my review they deny some things and deflect others back to their customers. For me, when a business does this rather than take ownership or responsibility for changes, it reflects poorly on the business.

I ordered the same time as normal and could not get what I usually did. The worker told me the kitchen hours had changed and they'd now be stopping at a certain time. Yet the reply says it must have been me.

Other reviews commented on the change in music having an impact on how it feels to work and socialize now, but they refuse to address it - it must be me. Or the other reviewers. Not the business.

And it's the clients not being able to deal with the new employees that is the issue rather than how they are trained.

So...

I had one of the most disappointing experiences at Simpli today. I’m 35 weeks pregnant (almost 9 months), and it’s very obvious that I’m expecting. I come here almost every Saturday for breakfast, so I was truly shocked by how I was treated today. The Brazilian employee Morgana completely ignored the fact that pregnant women have legal priority in Portugal. She insisted on serving the next customer first and seemed annoyed when I mentioned my right to priority. Her attitude was impatient and dismissive — very different from how she treated others. I felt embarrassed and disrespected. This wasn’t about “cutting the line,” but about being treated with basic empathy and respect. In every other café, staff immediately notice and kindly prioritize pregnant women, elderly people, or those with disabilities — but not here. When I asked for the Livro de Reclamações (complaint book), she still made me wait and only brought it after I insisted again, which is unacceptable and against Portuguese law. Simpli should seriously train their staff — especially Morgana — on empathy, respect, and awareness. No pregnant woman should have to argue for her legal right to...

I was a repeat customer in Simpli, attached are my 11 visits from last two years (not including when we came with wife or friends, and they paid, was plus extra +10 times or so). Two weeks ago I left a negative review because of bad service and terrible experience in Simpli, the owner has cynically replied that "nothing has happened what was written, customer just does not understand our concept (?), and he can go find other coffeeshops of his liking", after that owner has sent a complaint to Google to remove my review due to "unrealistic, fabricated or false information", which is absolutely baffling and unprofessional. If THAT is how you treat your regular customers, by cynically implying that "nothing happened, customer does not understand our concept", and then openly lying to Google about fabricated reviews (??) then I hereby request from you to refund me EVERY EURO spent in your place, because you are just a bunch of crooks and shameful wretches, without any consent to your regular customers that was continuously coming and spending money in your "coffeeshop"....