St. Elmo's Coffee Pub - Old Town North — Restaurant in Alexandria

I started going to St. Elmo’s Café & Pub for breakfast, and while the food and coffee were good, the service was consistently unpleasant. From the beginning, I felt a sense of not being wanted by the staff. The cashier—a heavier-set white woman with glasses—always gave me a stale, unpleasant expression, as if she didn’t want to serve me. I noticed that most of the customers were white, but I didn’t think much of it until the staff’s behavior toward me became more noticeable.

On my last visit, a young white male took my order. His only words to me were, “You can tap,” with no greeting, no thank you, and no acknowledgment beyond that. I said “Good morning” to him, and he just stared at me. As I began ordering, the same white woman who usually took my order was making drinks. She looked over at me and rolled her eyes. While I waited for my food, a few white customers came in, and the male cashier immediately greeted them, engaged in conversation, and was noticeably more pleasant. Shortly after, a Black male customer walked in, and he was not greeted at all.

The contrast in how customers were treated was undeniable, and it became clear that this wasn’t just bad service—it was selective. If our president made segregation legal again, I strongly believe this place would have a “Whites Only” sign on the door. I will never go back, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone who values fair and...

I go to this coffee shop frequently. Because sometime I love it and sometimes I hate it. Why I love it is because it's a nice cozy trendy coffee shop. And if its my lucky day then the barista of the day will make my hot caffe latte the right way. The right way is simply a nice smooth looking milk foam on top. But sometimes they give you a latte with just flat milk all the way to the top of the cup. This frustrates me because I am a coffee person and the right cup of coffee makes my day. So my suggestion to this coffee shop is please train all your barista to have a similar set of standards on how to make a caffe latte. Which all starts from how to steam the milk the right way, all the way of not letting espresso sit too long in a cup and pouring the milk in the pitcher into the cup the right way. I am sorry but it is disappointing when a coffee shop doesn't have standards and it is hit and miss every time. On top of that spending almost $4 for a 20oz cup of latte and it not being done the right way is simply upsetting. STANDARDS and COSISTENCY are important. On top of that baristas need to understand that customers come for coffee for different reason. So please make it right and be consistence. Because either you are making someone's day or your ruining...

This was my first time here and in general everything was ok, it was a few distinct interactions that led me to give 3 stars.

The Food I came around 3pm on a Friday(7/18). I ordered an iced vanilla latte, a cup of fruit, bag of chips and a Monroe sandwich with romaine lettuce instead of spinach. The interaction between the gentleman that took my order was pleasant which led me to believe this would be a good experience despite the my total being $25. The food came out quickly which was great. The sandwich was good and I loved my coffee. After I finished my sandwich and chips I started to eat my fruit cut. After eating one grape I noticed MOLD on the other grapes below. I calmly and politely asked for a refund despite being totally grossed out wondering if the one I had just eaten had mold! When I told them why no apologies or sorry or ANYTHING was offered. They just reversed the transaction via the register which is suppose to give me a refund even tho I never received a receipt of the refund.

The Atmosphere I enjoyed the atmosphere. I came here to work on my computer instead of going to a Starbucks. It was quite but crowded which I like. The staff wasn’t rude but there weren’t particularly nice either. It was just an overall...