Matador Coffee Roasting Company-89 — Restaurant in Arizona

Our wonderful Sunday (7/25/21) morning at the Old Town Shops of Flagstaff, Arizona; (thank you Chris at Brightside Books and all the fabulous people at Collins Irish Pub), was brought to an abrupt halt when we visited Matador Coffee Roasting Company. My partner wanted to go to Starbucks, and I have a love for that company, but, I try to support locals when I can--hence, our trip to Matador Coffee. Independent stores--why do you make it SO hard to support you?

I wish I could share something, anything about our stop; the taste of the beverage or the aroma of the beans; but, since we were ignored--and I do mean ignored; not a look, glance, wink, head nod, hello, or goodbye, I have nothing.

Actually, I have one thing. There is a cowbell on the counter, that says Ring For Service. My partner desperately wanted to ring it till the cows came home. But the barista, was directly in front of us, making a drink and refusing any form of eye contact or acknowledgment; I was intrigued by this level of detached indifference and attitude.

I have a second thing: we got back on our bike and rode to Starbucks. We were greeted, met with smiles, and happily spent $60.00 on beverages, VIA’s, and ground coffee--(Komodo Dragon).

Side Note: Shout out to the muralist whose work is featured on the outside wall of Matador Coffee. Knowing what we know now, we should have grabbed our photo and...

Beyond disappointed, and that’s being extremely generous. There were more staff than customers, and it still took nearly 20 minutes to get a kids hot chocolate, a short-poured 20oz latte that was really only 16oz made by a careless manager, a black drip coffee, and a microwaved breakfast burrito. All the while, I was given the opportunity to listen to staff talk about the details of the manager’s pregnancy to include her experience with labor and delivery.

I recall my first experience at the original matador years ago and it being memorable enough to seek out this coffee shop upon this visit to Flagstaff. This experience was absolutely memorable but for all of the wrong reasons.

Message to the owner: I myself founded and sold a very reputable and successful coffee tea and kombucha company on the East Coast some years back. Candidly, I would fire my entire staff and close a location down before I allowed a group of rogue employees to destroy my company’s reputation the likes of what is...

Driving through Flagstaff we came upon Matador Coffee and decided to stop. The Barista was amazing. She was exceptionally helpful on suggesting different coffee options to drink, told us about the different flavors of beans they had for sale and what they tasted like, and make the entire experience there very pleasant. We ended up getting the Raspberry Truffle Coffees and they were a delicious treat. The Coffee flavor was subtle, with the raspberry flavoring adding a nice complement to the coffee. We ended up buying a bag of their Whiskey Coffee beans to try at home and would suggest to anyone to try this flavor. It has a sweet whiskey flavor mixed with a medium roast bean quality. If you are traveling through or staying in Flagstaff, this is the place to stop at. Added bonus, the bathrooms...