SIGNAL Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in Alameda

Coffee and environment are fine, but this place is incredibly mismanaged. They have the highest staff turnover I've ever seen at a local business - every time you go in, they are training someone you'll never see again. The daily staff are polite and seemingly competent (especially Cesar and Andrew, who somehow seem to have survived the churn) but most of their team aren't properly experienced baristas. They have a large staff compared to similar cafes, but everyone seems to be a part-time or temp employee, so I doubt they get benefits. I like to work from my laptop at the front of the shop, but twice in the last year, I've witnessed someone walk out or quit in the middle of their shift - which doesn't imply to me that they treat their people well.

Overall, it's a cute little place - and I really enjoy both the locally-roasted coffee and their fresh pastries, which are top-notch. The backyard is adorable. They've really created a great environment - if only they'd treat their crew in a manner that inspires them to stick around, this would be the...

The Central Ave location is good. Been there many times. This location, however, featured an order-taker with not an ounce of pleasantness. Also, there were four employees there - and somehow they forgot to make my coffee until i went back inside after 10 minutes, at which point the bad-attitude lady then just started it. The other 3 had been doing some assorted chores, as far as I could tell, but mostly just standing around gabbing - and there were no other orders but mine in this stretch. The bad-attitude woman blamed it on "a miscommunication." This is not a good locale for coffee connoisseurs - maybe better for high schoolers. Signal needs workers who are baristas and into coffee - not teens and young adults who treat the job like working...

I've visited this coffee shop twice now, and unfortunately, both times were disappointing. There are usually about four people working, but it’s unclear what most of them are actually doing. Service is incredibly slow, with a line out the door and customers waiting over 15 minutes just for a drink. My order was wrong both times, and no one greeted me or acknowledged customers - except for the one person making drinks, who was the only friendly and efficient team member. The rest of the staff seemed disinterested and unmotivated. I read that the other location is way better so maybe the employees at the other location need to retrain the employees that work at this location? With poor service and a lack of hospitality, I can’t...