Rutabaga Juicery & Eats - Annapolis — Restaurant in Annapolis

9/20: Rutabaga has the best fresh juices in Annapolis, period.

The reason I did not give them five stars is for several reasons:

1. The staff at the counter are often aloof.
2. They obnoxiously ask you for tips when you use a credit card which I find rude. The tip jar is very visible. If we wanted to tip you, we would. It’s rude to ask in front of other customers.
3. They often advertise discounts on juices that are inaccurate. I have often been charged full price for a drink that was advertised as 50% off. There was no explanation and no apology for the mistake.
4. They don’t offer delivery service.
5. Their credit/debit card system is often ‘offline’ forcing them to type in my number manually. This lengthens the POS time and add ones more step to the process. Fix the dang machine or get a new one.

I literally have gone there almost every day for about three months now. Not a single employee of rutabaga has taken the time to learn my name or build rapport. Being a local business is all about connecting with your local community and I think rutabaga has missed the mark here. Build a culture around healthy clean eating and joyfulness and this business will absolutely takeoff. But right now my sense is that they are a run-of-the-mill local business that will eventually fade due to a lack of culture. Refer to all the other businesses that have tried to thrive in West Annapolis. So sad.

Again I think rutabaga has the best juices in Annapolis and I will continue to patronize them. My hope is that they improve their customer service to make things even better for people like me.

10/12 UPDATE: A few weeks have gone by and there has been zero response to initial feedback. Based on past performance, one would expect the owner to reach out and provide some sort of explanation, solution, or (at a minimum) showing of remorse. Downgrading review by one star.

10/16 UPDATE: Still no response from ownership or leadership. I went there for the last time today. Store was unattended and messy. You received a month to respond. See ya, Rutabaga!

10/30 UPDATE: Very kind response and follow-on email dialog with ownership. Expressed my concerns and hoping they can make some changes. Changed my rating back to 5/5 due to ownership...

I come to Rutabaga through the drive through for lunch several times throughout the week and have been for years but my last few visits have left me less than impressed. Today I admittedly walked in before closing at 4:55 for a regular açaí bowl, nothing special. I was standing in line behind a mom with a handful of kids when I heard the guy behind the counter say “we’re closed.” The mom turned to me, we both looked very confused at each other looking at our phones that said 4:56. I worked in service for over a decade so I totally understand the frustration of a group of people walking in right before closing, but the door was unlocked (because it was not 5pm) we waited in line behind the people who got to order in front of us, then got turned away and were out the door prior to 5pm closing time. It would be different if they ran out of something but that was not communicated and the guy literally turned down a line of people who were happily waiting to spend their money here. Prior to this experience, I walked in again shortly before closing and the girl behind the register felt she had to check with her other coworkers if they wanted to make my very regular açaí bowl. I was allowed to place an order that time, but I was not happy with the service and felt genuinely confused by the experience. Why be open but make it seem like such an inconvenience when people want to actually order food? I’m a young person, I get that work isn’t everything but your work ETHIC still matters, it would have taken these kids an extra 10 minutes- tops to help the family in front of me today. Just a poor...

I love coming here for my clean food fix! The staff is usually nice and the restaurant is usually really clean. I would recommend extending summer hours and perhaps investing in a juicer that performs better because it usually stops working after a heavy work load. Juices, blends and bowls are my fav! UPDATE: Hubby and I have been coming here consistently (4-6 times per week each) the past few months and we’ve found that the consistency really various which can be frustrating for the price point. For example, he loves the no.21 blend and some days it’s thick while others it runny. I usually go back and forth between juices and the cacao bowl (I’m a bowl lover and sort of biased to bowls because a family friend owns an amazing bowl shop back home in Hawaii) and have found the bowl to have a runny base and when asked for thicker base they put whole chunks of ice cubes (not blended). I asked if this is normal and they’re response was yes that’s the normal for the thicker base, so watch out for whole ice cubes. Some days the toppings are generous and other day they’re a little skimpy (I.e. my bowl today had two pieces of strawberry chunks rather than a nice serving like in the past). In all, I still enjoy the product but there is room for...