Origin Coffee Lab & Kitchen — Restaurant in Arlington

My wife and I visited here on a Saturday late morning. We figured we would stop in and get some coffee from a local place instead of a big chain. It was busy. My wife wanted a regular drip coffee. Nothing fancy. I went for more of a speciality coffee. I went to order on the convient pad they had for people waiting outside.

I put in my wife's order. She wanted some room in it to add creamer and sugar. When I was presented with the option not to fill it full, I was kind of taken aback. They graciously listed the price for that service as free. I thought, "Well, no kidding." It sure beats being charged extra for less product. I rolled with it and splurged on that freebie.

I ordered a pumpkin spiced latte with an extra shot of espresso. My wife's drink came out first. I gave it to her along with two creamers and a packet of sugar. As she fixed her coffee, I returned to the window to wait for mine. After a long while I got mine. I thought it was pretty good. Just on that alone would rate about 4 stars.

The reason for the low rating is my wife's coffee. I don't know if it really qualified as a coffee. It seemed that the hot water was waived near the grounds and it somehow managed to pick up some of the flavor. It was extremely weak. Now I admit that adding creamers to a coffee will change the taste and make it weaker. However, there was absolutely no way that two creamers could make the coffee that weak. I did have a sip of it to see how bad it was. Now, I have been known to drink bad coffee before, but this was bad enough for me to tell her to throw it away. We had already walked away and didn't want the hassle of the long line to get a replacement.

It seems to me that they are more concerned with the fancy drinks then getting the basics done correctly. Perhaps they should go back to the lab and figure out how to get their drip coffee done correctly.

Oh, if you get a large coffee, don't count on the lid fitting correctly. Is is a hair larger than the cup. Definitely not a lid for traveling. I had to forgo one...

The espresso is great and the food is wonderful—BUT, the self-service kiosk system is horrible!! I’ve stood in line to place an order for more than 15 minutes with just two people in front of me. The issue is that the menu is extensive and varied, and displayed on a tablet-sized screen that requires lots of scrolling around to find what you want. A good barista could take a complex order in under a minute or so—but when you ask the average customer to navigate pages of menu items, each with a half dozen options, on a tiny little screen, ordering can take well over 5 minutes to complete. If ordering drinks and food, or if ordering for a group, the time at the kiosk can stretch out well past the tolerable. I've walked out in frustration several times. Ordering a pastry out of the display case is an ordeal because there’s no easy way to figure out which description on the menu matches the six or eight items on display. The place is popular, so if there are four or five people in front of you, the wait to place an order can easily be half an hour. I live in the neighborhood and don’t go there nearly as often as I would because I know how long it will take to get my turn in line. Try to go during their off hours; it will save you the aggravation.

Basic Burger, the establishment next store, has a similar system, but the screen is four times larger to reduce scrolling, pop-up menus appear with the most common options applicable to your main selection, and the menu offers about half as many choices. Customers navigate their system quickly and easily, and I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes even if both kiosks are busy.

Hey Origins, if you’re going to keep that contactless ordering system, go talk to your neighbor and learn how it’s done. Or better yet, put someone up front and bring back customer service. The drinks are made in a reasonable time; the ordering needs...

I arrived mid day to grab coffee, a bite to eat and get some work done. The place is beautiful and they were playing nice music. The staff smiled and were welcoming. I attempted to order something to eat, but they did not have anything that was on the menu that I could eat ( I am a vegetarian They were out of most items even though they appeared to have a good sized kitchen. Maybe it’s more of a breakfast place and I should’ve gone earlier?I was starving & needed to eat something so I ordered some cake, a chai latte and a sparkling water. No staff took my order, He showed me where I can self serve on an iPad and pick a number to return to my table with. I did so and placed my order leaving a 20% tip, but when my Order was ready pointed, and showed me where to pick it up. The latte was so full that A LOT of it spilled onto the saucer when carrying it back to my table. Up on tasting it and not only was it not hot, but it was so sweet. I could barely drink it. My cake was a bit stale, and I only had a few bites. What seemed to be the manager was very friendly and walking around saying hi to patrons coming in and interacting with the staff. I did enjoy the atmosphere and stayed for a while drinking my sparkling water and getting my work done. I found it odd that Nobody observed or cared that I didn’t eat my cake or drink my latte, even though I was there for over an hour. To top it off I had to park in the garage underneath and my parking was very expensive as well. I’m not sure if they validate but if they do, it was not obvious/posted annyw and nobody said anything to me about it either. I probably will not return to...