Vent Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in Baltimore

A coffee blog sent me to Vent Coffee Roasters while on a trip to Baltimore and I'm glad they did. Here's my experience going on Monday morning in December 2021:

1. Coffee: They roast their beans onsite. As you order your coffee, you can watch them roasting! They have a full coffee menu, including a section for specialty drinks. I ordered their "Bangkok" with house made vegan condensed milk, espresso, oat milk and nutmeg. It was tasty and not too sweet. They also sell a few small pastries, My toddler was a fan of the small vegan chocolate doughnut.

2. Space: It's a large space with benches inside and a few small tables in a room off to the side. During the pandemic, they ask you stay out of the main room once you have your coffee.

3. Location: It's inside Union Collective, an old Sears warehouse converted into a space for local businesses. There's a large parking lot out front and nearby are many other businesses from bars to a brewery, etc.

4. Service: It was efficient, but not friendly at all. The person at the register was fine, but the barista wasn't friendly at all. She seemed very annoyed I had a four-year-old with me and promptly told us to go to the side room once we got our coffee. Everyone is entitled to a bad day, so hopefully it's better...

High ratings made me excited to check it out! Coffee is tasty and gets bonus points for roasting in-house. I was underwhelmed by the service and atmosphere, though. The space felt a bit thrown-together and generic, and the service was impersonal and made me feel like an annoyance (I ordered one of their signature drinks to go… so not like I was being overly particular or demanding). I work at a coffee shop, so I’m always looking for other good coffee around town! Definitely could’ve hit it on an off day… always like to give places the benefit of the doubt. But overall: Baltimore has SO many wonderful coffee shops with a lot of character, great service, and great menu offerings that stand out much more than this one. Wouldn’t go out of my...

I worked in coffee for several years, and I've tried most of the coffee shops in the north of downtown. Vent is by far my favorite. I've been coming here a few times a week for the last few weeks because I wake up thinking about having breakfast and starting my work there. The coffee and breakfast sandwiches are very good. I'm quite fond of the employees as well.

I would not say that the ambiance or decoration is anything special, but those are not the reasons I visit coffee shops anyways. There aren't many outlets, and their seating is simple and stiff, but it is serviceable for a few hours work on a laptop.

All in all, I would recommend Vent to anyone, and I am so glad they survived the strictest bits of the pandemic lockdowns and...