Little Shop of Bagels — Restaurant in Ashland

I appreciate a good bagel, and a large part of the experience of enjoying said bagel has to do with the establishment where it is served. The first time I visited Little Shop of Bagels I was quite impressed..it was lively, the staff was friendly and the walls were bright, cheery and it felt like a nice place to relax. The second visit, which took place around a year after the first, was an entirely difference experience. The staff was disinterested in providing a welcoming experience and mostly acted as if we were ungrateful for the opportunity to even grace their door. After placing the order and getting a beverage from the coolers, which required a bottle opener, I asked the staff at the counter either for a bottle opener or to have the bottle opened. After an excessively dramatic display that clearly showed that I was out of line for asking to have my bottle opened..it was opened and simply set on the counter as they walked away.

The walls, which once were clear and bright, were now covered by local drawings and art, largely by children, however there were some very odd and kind of creepy pieces done by adults. After getting the bagels, one of which was obviously prepared wrong, we left and wrote it off as an isolated incident, and wrote a review on Facebook. Nothing came of it for six months...and then...

The owner, on her personal account, got on and made a passive aggressive "you don't like child art?". It completely ignored the substance of the review, and instead attacked a one off line in the review. No attempt was made to address the business concerns, and instead elected to labor on something largely inconsequential to the business. The owner seems to have struggled with the concept of not allowing criticism of the business to become personal. So if you're reading this, Francesca, good luck getting Google to remove this review, and I hope you have even better luck in silencing me in person as I tell everyone who wants a recommendation about where to eat in Ashland..where NOT to visit and give their...

I used to be a fan of this establishment until I left a truthful, constructive review on Facebook one day. I indicated that the atmosphere felt cold and creepy but also that I had problems with my last order. I gave it a fair three stars. Several months later the owner of the establishment comments on my review using her personal account confronting me about the local and children’s artwork hanging in the restaurant and asking me in a hostile tone if I found that “creepy.”

I’d made no reference in my review to any of the artwork but it was intended as general feedback as the place has more of a clinical feel; ie there’s never any music playing, the staff tends to kind of glare at you, etc. She didn’t seem to care about my order not being correct at all and whether or not her staff was doing their job. There was no “give us another try” or “what could we do better?” Basically the trend from the reviews is that constructive criticism is not at all accepted and if anything usually challenged. I admit my original review on the atmosphere wasn’t as detailed as it could have been but I would have been ok if I was asked to expand on what I’d originally said, versus being somewhat attacked by the owner.

Overall the place has lost my patronage because of the attitude issue, which is sad because the food is good as my Facebook...

I'm a Jew from New York and in my opinion these are the only bagels in the valley that taste like real bagels. They're really good! and the chocolate raspberry scone is to die for. The reason I'm giving only 3 stars is because of the customer service. They've messed up my order a few times, which is understandable, but they should just fix it or offer a refund. The worst was when I ordered a scone online and they gave me a different flavor, with a note in the bag saying they didn't have the one I ordered (online it said they had it). I was already far from the shop when I discovered it. I didn't want the one they gave me, and not only did they not tell me when I picked up my order that they didn't have it, but they refused to refund me when I called and said I didn't order the scone they gave me. That's essentially stealing money from a customer and is a horrible business practice. Coincidentally, (or not?) the only other place I've ever experienced this was next-door at Sauce. I really don't get it. Anyway, it looks like I'm not the only reviewer who has experienced something like this, and I would advise them to discontinue this practice because I'm betting it's driven people away. Like I said, the bagels are good, so I continue to buy their day old bagels in a discount pack and the cream cheese...