Coffee#1 Sutton Coldfield — Restaurant in Birmingham

Having a quick trip out my with mother and father to Sutton Coldfield we thought it a nice idea to have a drink in a coffee shop. As a family we decided to try 'Coffee#1' and went in with high expectations as my sister had talked highly of her local store in Bristol.

Unfortunately, as soon as we walked in we were disappointed. As a family we aren't very concerned or bothered of the over-joyed welcoming staff are trained to give, however' it's still adds a nice atmosphere to walk into, this store provided anything but.

All the staff were behind the counter and had seen us walk in, no smiles or nods were given nor the trained greeting you would expect. Two were standing right by the Point of Sale system talking to each other and throwing food to and as I was looking at the drink's menu and my parent's at the food; these staff moved away and did not come back for a few minutes leaving us waiting there. This would not have been an issue as although it is a working professional place they are still human, however; the two staff behind the till had been watching us as we were menu searching and as sale signs were being given by myself, they still chose to talk amongst themselves.

Finally one staff member thought it best to come to the till and was very awkward in their mannerisms - not talking loudly and instead of showing shyness it came across as more annoyance and not wanting to be there. She did not wait to hear our full order before turning around with her back to us and just leaving us standing their waiting to pay and finish our family order. The other staff member came and confirmed if we had our order and this is when the first staff member turned back around and realised her mistake. My mother ordered a crumble slice and the first staff member - who after finally completing our order - began to plate. As she brought the slice over to the table where the plate sat it was dropped onto the work surface, picked up, plated and served. The crumbs that had dropped off were swept off the surface onto the floor.

The first plus was that our drink's were finished promptly. Sadly, upon arrival the cups were sticky as well as the spoons, which were too covered in crumbs and on the handles finger prints.

Besides these faults of hygiene matters and attitude, the inside of the store itself was pleasant and cosy.

I will not be coming back. There's little to eradicate the other problems, I would recommend some serious staff training in customer service as a professional work environment isn't a place for that much socialisation between...

I'm in the cafe right now. It's Sunday 3.20 pm so that will probably explain why there are lots of gaps on the sandwich shelves as I suppose they don't want a lot of wastage. How I've only just noticed the place, I don't know as they told me they've been here over a year. I noticed immediately they seem to have a healthier approach to caffes and list Turmeric Latte, Matcha and Spiced Matcha amongst their drinks. Grabbed my attention straight away. Wanted Turmeric but they'd ran out so having spiced Matcha instead which has ginger in it too. It's actually delicious. Nice to have an alternative to coffee and hot chocolate. I bought Strawberry Cheesecake which looked magnificent. The cakes have a really homemade look about them. But, and here's the thing, even though the first bite of the cheese was delicious it was freezing. The strawberries were frozen as was the cake. Usually I don't complain but in this instance I had no choice but to take it back. The barista changed the cake for a Carrot Cake for me but did not think to offer me the £1 or over difference in price between the two. Nevermind. Also it's very dark in here. It's a relaxed comfortable environment but they could really do with somehow cheering it up, maybe with lighting, a lick of paint or something. Will I come back again? Yes, probably, if I'm desperate for something but I won't be...

I am afraid i wasn't terribly impressed with coffee#1.

Positives: great ambience, lighting, promotes social chat or work on your laptop etc. Great cappucino cake, wall deco, staff seemed friendly.

Negatives: (i am not a hawky critic usually as you will see from my posts, but) I requested the special filter Ethiopian blend, was told that they were trying to get rid of old stock "a Honduran blend" - i said its ok, and to my horror the barrista poured my coffee out of a canteen style flask ???!!! Not sure it tasted too great tbh. My food items and mug were subsequently placed on a tray that (the barrista did not notice this) was completely drenched from a dishwasher, i asked if this was some sort of effect? embarrassed, the barrista very quickly wiped alot of excess water away !

Most of the tables and chairs were all over the place with many old trays, mugs, cutlery etc on at least 75pcnt of tables. At time of writing this post, customers could be seen clearing or gathering used items and placing on nearby empty tables.

I have read the previous entries, maybe i came in at a bad time ? Has a lot of potential. I am not one to complain, just posting what I saw. I got my coffee...