Cushman Market & Cafe — Restaurant in Amherst

I went here yesterday for the first time with a friend who goes here often and recommended it, but our experience was so bad and so preventable. Note: I understand the circumstances and stress placed upon a restaurant because of COVID. Also, I have been managing restaurants for the past few years, with the same POS & online ordering system they use, Toast).

I ordered my 1 sandwich online through their online takeout portal with Toast at 1:15. I got an email saying that my sandwich (cold, not a panini) would be ready in 10 minutes at 1:25. My friend went inside to order right after I had done the online ordering and she placed an order for 3 sandwiches (2 cold and 1 panini). I got an email 5 minutes after I had placed my online order saying that my order had not been approved by the restaurant yet, and to contact them. So, I went inside, and was rudely ushered out by the girl working once she realized I was there for an online order and didn't have to order at the counter. I had to force an interaction with her to get my inquiry about my order across, and when she went to check on my order she said that they were working or starting on it. About 10 more minutes go by and I ask the guy working and he knows nothing. Then my friend's 3 sandwiches (that she ordered after me) are ready. Then the girl comes out so I ask her and she too knows nothing and was again was rude in her interaction with me. Finally, 30-35 minutes AFTER I initially placed my order, my 1 sandwich, that didn't even have to be pressed in a panini maker, is ready. I understand if this was a big order but for 1 sandwich, that is absurd.

I don't know how many people were in the kitchen, and it was just the two of them working the front of house but they were clearly in the weeds. The girl was straight up rude and the guy looked frazzled beyond belief. It's great they were getting busy and had business, but they 100% could have, & should have, handled my order better.

A restaurant can have great food but it can be reduced to nothing if it has bad hospitality and that is what I experienced. Having been in the weeds while working in restaurants myself, I understand that there is a lot going on and you can't give your full attention to everything. However, making sure that guests still feel acknowledged, welcome, and heard, is of THE MOST importance. It doesn't matter how small or big, fancy or casual the restaurant is- hospitality is important! My sandwich was good but it was also a sandwich that can easily be replicated at home (Lady Rowena: goat cheese, pesto, tomato & green leaf lettuce on a baguette). So, why would I spend money to get poor customer service on a meal I can make just as easily?

Additionally, I would say that the staff working are not properly trained in Toast. It seemed like most guests who were waiting ordered by phone or online ordering. Toast has a setting to throttle online takeout orders- aka rather than giving me a 10 minute estimate, Toast could have told me, 15, 20, 25, you name it- had they throttled the ordering system. Also, the fact that my order had to be manually approved on the POS system, without the ticket being sent straight to the kitchen, may have also been a factor in this mess and thats something they should consider operations-wise. Understand what your POS system is capable of and how it can be used to your benefit in smoothly operating your restaurant.

I don't normally write reviews but I will if the experience was atrocious. My experience was also so preventable. There is just lack of training, lack of hospitality (could be great when its calm, but mastering hospitality under stressful conditions is key) and poor operations in place. Again, I understand its COVID and operations are different than normal, but I saw a lot going wrong. Hospitality & knowledge of your own POS system can't be things a restaurant lack even during a pandemic.

Oh- and a sandwich (wrapped up) got dropped on the floor while it was being put into someone's bag for their order, and they didn't even re-wrap it in new deli...

To share some background information, I have been coming to Cushman at least once a week for 2.5 years. I am a graduate student at UMass Amherst and I regularly come here to order food and work.

However, today for the first time I had a off-putting experience, very uncharacteristic of my favorite spot to work. To elaborate, I came in early and ordered food and was working on my laptop at the four person table near the outlet in the middle of the restaurant. About 10 minutes after I was served my food, I was politely asked to consolidate my belongings to one table ( I had my coat and backpack on the chair next to me). Fine. Totally understandable. However, my friend arrived a few minutes later, ordered food and sat diagonally from me at the same table so she had enough room to comfortably eat her breakfast. Again, about 10 minutes into her eating her breakfast, we were both asked to condense into one table. We agreed, and said as soon as we were done eating. Yet, a few moments later, we were told by the same person to move immediately. This is not how regular customers should be treated, REGARDLESS, of how busy the restaurant is. I could understand if we didn't order food and were taking up the entire table but we were in the middle of EATING. Additionally, there were people around in other booths in groups of two that were NOT asked to move.

Also, after I left my friend, the woman who asked us to move the 3 times, proceeded to spray cleaner on my friend's laptop and her face. Shockingly terrible service.

Needless to say, we are both extremely dissatisfied with our experience this morning and will probably not be returning and will spend our money elsewhere.

As a warning to others, if you want to be left alone while taking up a four person table make sure you are one middle-aged man or two older women at a booth and you will be guaranteed not to get asked to move while eating your breakfast. Heartbroken, I won't be returning to my favorite spot...

kind of a nice neighborhood upscale bodega, eclectic deli, and breakfast and lunch place in the back. the market section has high quality stuff handpicked, and is quite pricey. selected wines and cheeses and yogurts and bread and such canned goods a few necessities, all will not disappoint except if you wanted something cheaper :-) the breakfast and lunch restaurant in the back is really quite good. some vegetarian sandwiches, some sandwiches made with turkey - and that seems to be a pretty common sandwich filling here ( and the turkey is real, self-roasted, unprocessed turkey breast) - and also some classics like BLT etc. the real standout is breakfast. the holla French toast is to die for! thick slices perfectly cooked real maple syrup huge portion. blueberry pancakes made with a good amount of blueberries on the weekends. really yummy breakfast sandwiches made with all kinds of combination of things. including smoked salmon, herbed cream cheese, cheddar, bacon, ham, veggie sausage. great eggs great omelets. they also have bowls called hobo bowls, with kale and potatoes and cheese and meat and such. I think I got to try those they sound intriguing. the lunch sandwiches are also yummy although sometimes a little small sometimes normal size they vary a bit :-) the small selection of grocery is and such seems well thought out but of course it's pretty upscale and pricey. if you're getting just a few items maybe better that then having really lousy stuff to finish your recipe with, true? and you can buy wine and such! there's a nice patio to the side of the restaurant in the Cushman Green is right there and so is the bus. puffers Pond a short walk away what's...