Caffè Nero — Restaurant in Cambridge

RACIST EMPLOYEE JOAO Deeply concerning incident that occurred at the Cambridge location outside of the main station yesterday. I have always believed that overt and covert racism was not prevalent in the UK until I encountered Cafe Nero’s employee Joao‼️

The day had been extremely hot across the UK, and due to the weather, the trains had stopped running from Cambridge to London. My daughter and I, who love Cafe Nero had visited Cambridge University for their open day.

At the end of a long wait for the train back to London, we decided to visit our favourite coffee shop to purchase a cold drink with ice. My teenage daughter went to purchase a bottle of coke and requested a cup of ice. Initially, Joao informed her that he had ice, but then he quickly changed his stance, stating that there wasn’t any ice "for you"! What does that mean? My daughter returned and I was shocked by what she told me.

I decided to observe Joao's actions and noticed him providing ice to all the white customers who asked for it. I then approached him myself and requested some ice, only to be told the same thing he had said to my daughter; whilst hold a cup of ice in his hand.

Joao even insinuated that I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I want to clarify that I am a well-known public figure, and I fully understood the disdain Joao expressed towards my daughter and I. His attitude wasn't a lack of customer service skills, but clear dislike.

I asked him again, and he shoved the cup of ice in my hand in front of a long line of customers! We don't tolerate segregation in this Country!

This experience was a complete shock and deeply marred what was otherwise a fantastic day.

Overt racism is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated in any...

The service has definitely improved. Roughly one year it was sooooooo slow, a bit of a spectacle - like in those sketches with animated sloths/a movement a minute/simply a different time zone? Some people had a good laugh, others left frustrated, because they had a train to catch. Now it is different - overall really quick and efficient - congratulations!

Unfortunately, the quality has significantly declined, especially for products like the milk shakes. "Milk" shake is actually the wrong term, because there are definitely more smashed ice cubes in the shake than milk - I saw it today since they mixed it right in front of me, but you can of course also taste it. It's basically ice cold water with a bit of milk and then the flavour/syrup you choose - chocolate, vanilla..., and that's certainly not worth £4.

By the way, it doesn't have to be like that. Over the weekend, I was in a café Nero in London, and the shakes there were really good. Try 70% milk - 30% water (rather than 70% water - 30% milk), and you might actually get a milkshake! And it might taste really well too! - Yes, water is cheaper than milk and you want to maximise your profits, but... think of your reputation, which translates...

I felt being disrespected, I never thought ordering coffee would be so difficult like this in my life. The staff purposely talked to me quietly and asked me some same questions many times like I have hearing or English listening problem! I told him please don't put too much coffee in my drink but he kept asking me if I want strong coffee or whatever the other option is (he talked so quietly I barely heard anything). I don't come from the UK but I think my English is good enough to communicate and ORDER COFFEE, for one moment I really thought I have to learn English again but actually the staff was just being rude to me. I brought my own cup to buy coffee here. I gave my cup to him when ordering the drink. He took my cup, left it at the cash desk and came back to me with the drink in a normal plastic cup of Nero. I had to remind him again to put the...