Cafephilia — Restaurant in Birmingham

Staff Spoke rudely about me and my partner loud enough to hear. Making me feel targeted for being autistic. But we were polite and respectable. Went there with my partner for some lunch. I'm a bit awkward with ordering because of my autism. Despite the food being decent and my partner liking the coffee we could overhear staff rudely insulting us while we ate and judging us. Very unprofessional since we weren't exactly complaining 'Karens', we were polite with manners and had discussed unrelated topics amongst ourselves at an acceptable volume. They were incredibly rude, judgmental and we could hear that conversation out loud between 3 staff members as we sat respectably.

Very judgmental and cliquey place - if you are introverted, have social anxiety, autism or are different in anyway - i wouldn't recommend. Its a shame cus the experience ruined what was good food and coffee. Been to the other coffee shops in Moseley and its always good service so plenty of other good options.

My partner doesn't want to go there now despite it having vegan options, which was the main reason we sought it out. But now we have purchase remorse. Inclusiveness bragged about on their socials feels very Art school Snobbishness

We feel targeted because of my partners anxiety and my autism. We've been to many vegan style places around Birmingham and have a great time and we were hoping to just enjoy the food and coffee and add it to the list as i live nearby and it would of been a convenient place to go to often. But not with staff that verbally speak about you loud enough to hear in cruel derogatory ways - we're not karens that complain about the food or the time it takes. We just sat there having a conversation that was entirely appropriate at an acceptable volume, we didnt haggle or cause any problems. They just judged us for BEING DIFFERENT - Moseley and Birmingham are a town full of diversity and different wonderful people, treat people different for being different and you lose customers.

When you go to a cafe, you pay for the experience - our experience was to be verbally judged loud enough for us to hear. We just left with dignity rather than cause a scene. As respectable as we enter but i feel its important for others with Autism or Anxiety too know, if they want to avoid this experience.

It's ironic because there was some advertising for an open mic, I put on art events in venues in the city and have been planning to do some more in the area. I know which venue i am not gonna put on art & live music at with my collective. While my partner blogs about places that are vegan friendly. Why Why? Treat customers like they are less than you when treating us well could of led to a venue hire or a positive review on my partners vegan blog???

This is my first online review but i was motivated to write this because i haven't been made to feel that bad about being autistic or socially awkward in anyway since school. Food is fine/Coffee is fine - But please train your staff to have some decency to polite respectable people who are different!

If you pay £20+ and are respectable customer the last thing you expect is to feel awful to the pit of your stomach, like you are less than a person

Went there because it had vegan options and dog friendly. But when staff are rude about you loud enough to hear in a prejudiced manner - it is hard not to...

After I finished my yoga class today at lunch time, I did not feel like going straight home. It was a lovely sunny day and I wanted to enjoy the sunshine a bit longer. This place is on the way home, I hadn’t been there in a while but I had some lovely salads at CP in the past, so I decided to have lunch at the cafe. The first thing that hit me the moment I stepped in the place was the heavy stench: it smelled like something gone bad and cooked, or dirty plates left in the sink for too long. Also, the place was filthy to say the least. There were a guy and a woman at the counter and after I placed my order (an halloumi salad, a lemonade and a single espresso macchiato) I was told to help myself to the bottle of lemonade which was in the fridge behind me. That wasn’t a problem for me at all, but after I got the bottle from the fridge I waited a few minutes for them to hand me a glass, which they didn’t until I expressly asked for it. Then I found a table in the front part of the cafe. There were still dirty glasses and cups on it, but none of the staff took any notice of them for a good half an hour, despite their serving clients sitting very close to my table. And I take the only reason the guy finally cleaned the table was because I stopped him to ask him how long I still had to wait for my salad (I take half an hour is enough to prepare a salad right?). He just replied they were still preparing it, but after a few more minutes he arrived and presented me with a bowl full of lettuce, two and I want to underline two teeny tiny slices of tomatoes, and a few charred remains of what once were thin slices of halloumi. The lettuce was drenched in oil, of course, and the plate with the caramelised onions was placed inside the salad bowl. No bread accompanied the meal and the waiter just dropped a fork on the table, without a knife or a napkin (I take I was expecting too much!). Anyway I ate the oil-soaked-salad and then went to the counter to have my coffee. The woman was making it and oh dear! I had asked for almond milk and she burnt the milk in the jug the first time as she used too little of it. She managed to get some froth at the second attempt and then she asked me whether I just wanted the froth on top of the coffe or also milk poured inside the coffee! Do you know what an ‘espresso macchiato’ is mate? However, the icing of the cake was still to come: there was no sugar of any kind at the counter, and when I asked for it she simply replied she was too busy and told me to go to one of the tables and get one! Well, that says it all I guess! I drank the so-called coffee (more like burnt drink) as quickly as possible and I left, never to come back again that’s for sure. Clearly these people couldn’t be...

I gave this place a shot today (mostly because of the personal responses by the owner on a lot of these reviews). I was pleasantly surprised! I rarely use my writing juice for reviews, but I was really glad I turned up.

I live a mile out and have a project I need to write for the duration of the year -- and I can't work in my makeshift office at home for more than three days in a row or I get twitchy. This was number #1 on my list of cafes to try and the closest to where I live -- I think I need not look any further.

Liked -- It closes down quite late at night, at 10; I found out after ordering my drink that they have a variety of milk alternatives (including Oat Milk) for folks who'd like to steer away from dairy; their portions are generous (just see the pic); seating was comfortable; atmosphere was pleasant and it's on the quieter side for a cafe (which is a huge plus); the toilets were clean. Prices were spot on.

The music, in hindsight, gets a big fat thumbs up. You can't go wrong with a bit of James Brown or Aretha Franklin ♬

Loved -- first time I've had a vegan cheese on nachos, and I'm typically not thrilled by vegetarian nachos. But I was VERY surprised at how good this was. I hope it wasn't a one-hit wonder (Damian made it and then chased me down the road when I accidentally left my doggy bag at the till -- sorry!); I would definitely order it again. Guacamole and salsa tasted great and are made fresh!

More focus on sound: there's a serious lack of quiet cafes in the midlands and down south, especially in busy areas, so this place is a big plus for people like myself who want to be able to meet friends and not have to shout, to share ideas, or focus and work on something important. I fell in love with an Artisan cafe in London, where the placement of speakers was taken seriously, and generally paying more attention to improving the sound-culture in a cafe made all the difference. Music should improve not get in the way of a cafe experience -- and there is a secret to when you know you have the balance just right: allow for silence in-between the music. If you have it just right, the silence will go...