Insomnia Coffee Company - Littleover @ Central Co-op — Restaurant in England

My husband & I have always loved our visits to our local Insomnia where it's always been welcoming & a cheerful atmosphere as well as great hot drinks!

Unfortunately on this occasion we were kept waiting while the server busied himself wiping down the shelf right in front of us, only stopping to tell us the café closes at 4pm Sunday times - it was only 15:05 No greeting, no smile as he asked what we wanted... I ordered hot chocolate & was told there was no cream... No apology or explanation... If I wasn't so desperate for a hot drink & a sit down, I'd have left the shop as I went to sit down & waited for my husband to bring our drinks over....

One of the other servers came to clear a table next to ours so I took this opportunity to ask her if her colleague Partick was alright as I shared how unwelcoming he'd been towards us... We weren't expecting her response... "He's fine." No apology on behalf of the Café, or to even say, "it's not like him, but I'll go & check, thank you for letting me know..." but her response was just; "he's fine" & returned back to the serving area...

Maybe the staff were having an 'off day', although one of the servers was really kind towards my husband bless her as she took the time to explain why there wasn't any cream & hadn't been any all over the weekend...

My husband’s coffee was fine & my hot chocolate was really really tasty, just wasn't hot enough so I was able to drink it in one go, so I ordered another & asked the same lady who cleared the table next to us if it could be hotter this time as I explained how my previous one although very tasty wasn't that hot. Again, no apology, no explanation, just "so you want it extra hot?"...

Unfortunately although my drink was hotter, it lacked flavour so I couldn't finish it. On a positive... the packet of crisps we had was tasty, so was my husband’s coffee, hence awarding 3 stars for food.

Not a good experience, but hey, like I said, maybe some of the staff were having a 'bad day' or coming towards the end of their shift so feeling tired...

Hopefully it'll be a better...

Having wanted to shop local, I thought I'd keep giving this café a try. I've been going regularly for the past two months to get a well-rounded perception of it. There is usually a good atmosphere in the café and it can get quite popular at times. There are some downsides however... They have periods of not having any decaffeinated coffee, so this limits my options, and there doesn't seem to be any effort on the part of the staff to get some ordered. I realise the café is meant to be promoting staying awake all night and day with strong coffee, but please spare a thought for those who don't drink caffeine and still want to enjoy the taste of great coffee. There are good hot chocolate drinks as an alternative, although sometimes these have lacked the syrup in it that I paid for. When decaff is available as an option, the coffees are really tasty. The serving staff can be a little brusque and not particularly friendly, but I guess this could be explained by it being busy at times. The service staff sometimes mumble the name of the order so it's difficult to hear whether the order has been delivered at the end of the counter. Sometimes there can be a pile of used cups and dishes etc at the end of the counter and there will be unwashed crockery on some of the tables - it would be good to see a system of maintaining a more orderly environment, although I do see the staff trying to make an effort to do this when they can. All in all, I would really like to make this my regular haunt for relaxing and savouring an enjoyable coffee - if only also because it's local and less of a trek and it seems like it has a lovely community atmosphere among the patrons, but there are quite a few things currently with how the café is being run so far that is making it unlikely. I'll just have to...

I've visited here several times and if I'm honest I haven't always had a positive experience and have encountered problems of missing items when ordering my drinks. Cream especially is one thing the frequently don't have available. On one occasion we wasn't informed till after our drinks arrived and when we enquired was given attitude off the lady serving us saying 'Well complain then cus it ain't my fault' despite this as a local business owner I understand the pressures of working in hospitality and catering and try to avoid giving negative reviews.

However today I promised I'd leave a review as upon placing our order the gentleman serving us turned and asked his colleague if they had cream and she said they should have but if they didn't she would pop to the store and get some. This was like music to our ears as we've never been offered thisin the past. I spoke to this lady who made our drinks who also happened to be the new manager and I explained my past negative experiences but helped praise on how much better I found the service and environment since she took over. Just her small act of kindness of offering to pop next door to get cream if it was needed just highlights how much the customer service has improved. Speaking to other locals who also visit here also agreed that the new manager is like a breath of fresh air.

Long may this level of...