The Spotted Cow Cafe — Restaurant in Barre

I had been wanting to try this place for awhile, so I was excited to do so for the first time recently, when I had the opportunity. Just the other day, I visited with my fiancé & his cousin, after the kids were off to school around 9am. It wasn't too hard to find, though much smaller than I had expected. When we first walked in, I noticed how crammed the dining area appeared, with very little space in between tables. In fact, it was so close that you could probably almost touch the table nearest yours! I suffer from severe anxiety, so I wasn't interested in staying to be seated, so we instead explained to the owner (or employee?) that we'd be getting our order to go. We told her we were interested in coffees & something from their baked goods section. She then proceeded to make our coffees, and I couldn't help but wonder whether she was on her own, because of how long it took her (we only had 2, but the service was really slow!) Then another woman (employee I'm assuming, or possibly an owner?) emerged from the back & rather than help to finish our order, began taking orders from other customers behind us, who hadn't been waiting nearly as long as we had been, which seemed unfair, because normally you'd think first come, first serve....but apparently they don't operate this way. My fiancé had his heart set on a blueberry muffin as well, but working person #2 who maybe could've/should've assisted us first, went & sold the last of them to the folks behind us! Granted there was only a few left minutes prior, that's not the point. I believe the woman must have overheard us talking, because she then mentioned how it would be another 40 mins until more muffins were available. I don't know many people who have that kind of free time, or would wait that long for a muffin. Anyway, I will say that what we ordered was pretty good. Between us 3, a coffee cake muffin, cookies & cream muffin, & chocolate peanut butter oat bar. My fiancés cousin enjoyed his regular coffee, but we thought that the Butterfinger tasted more like "plain chocolate" or basic mocha & weren't too impressed, though it was at least freshly made. They also had a dog randomly roaming around the café...I love animals, but this just didn't set well with me. Not everyone likes dogs/other pets, some might also have pet allergies or phobias of dogs. It just seemed out of place at an establishment that serves food. I'd be worried that a young child might be afraid of a dog (my 5 year old daughter who has Autism & developmental delay is afraid of medium-large dogs, for example!) or someone elderly or disabled could possibly trip over him/her, seeing as the animal did seem curious about people & was actually approaching & smelling the customers right in the main dining area. Personally, I feel that you have only one chance to make a good first impression, and we honestly left disappointed & not just about the dog or blueberry muffin. The overall vibe was just really "meh" & we had looked forward to a much better overall experience. I'm glad others seem to really enjoy it, but we're in no rush to return anytime soon! 《Notes: If the dog is a service dog, I...

You guys what happened today? I came here after seeing so many enticing and beautiful photos on their Facebook page of what seem like incredibly delicious baked goods and coffee- I even saw a great espresso machine. I was happy and eager to try and feeling positive when I pulled up and saw they were busy as well as a nice outside area for my dogs and I to enjoy after. Sadly that's where the good ends here - I walked in and saw tables to the left, a cash register, to the center a bakery case with a menu behind it and laid out on top of the case and to my right another bar with seats and a menu laid out on the far end of it with a cooler of soda. Behind the cash register someone was being checked out and behind the bar area there were two women chatting. I was not greeted by anyone. I approached the bakery case and picked up the menu . Reading it for a few minutes-more patrons walk in and the cashier finishes checking out that person. I look up and around and see that the several people seated were also looking around for waitstaff. Ok they are busy I'm waiting patiently and admiring their pretty looking muffins ... more minutes go by .. I stand by the bar now - the two women are still chatting - stopping only when the door opens but they say NOTHING or acknowledge no one at all, including myself standing right in front of them! Another patron walks in, looking just as confused as I was before approaching the far end of the bar as soon as she walked in. Not 2 mins later the rest of her family walk in thinking they are going to be sat down, and just as confused as the rest of us, they are ignored as well by those chatty women that see all of us in the dining area and right in front of them not knowing what to do or where to order and not even a "hello". Meanwhile there is a young lady bussing a table and is stopped by the family to ask if they seat themselves- she says yes but breakfast just ended a couple minutes ago, but they have the bakery case and some bagels and cream cheese and a single lunch special. At this juncture I was pretty annoyed but staying cool and I just wanted to order a coffee and get out. But what made me leave right after all that was those two women that just let their fellow employees flounder around them instead of a simple " we'll be right with you" or a standard " we are understaffed - thanks for waiting" or maybe taking my order or asking if myself or anyone else needed anything - the poor busser had to deal with us and I just didn't know it was that hard or big of a deal to get a coffee. Maybe again sometime but I honestly went far out of my way to come here and show my support for a local coffee spot because places like Starbucks are destroying the quality mom n pop place. So disappointing as I didn't get to even try anything, albeit the pastry just...

My sister and I have tried coming here twice now. The first time was completely packed, everyone was sitting down and it was very cramped, no one even had a drink or food in front of them, not one employee in sight. The parking lot was so full we were lucky to be in my tiny subcompact car or we wouldn't have been able to park. Second time we walked in, no one greeted us, there's no signs anywhere explaining anything. Apparently you stand near the back of the place to order coffee, and you go up to the little iPad station to order baked goods. When you try to order baked goods an employee has to walk through all the customers in line and ask people to move so you can point to the baked good you want from the case. There was only like 4 options... 3 muffins and one banana bread thing. Are you serious? We figured all this out by watching the regulars come in. This place caters exclusively to regulars. Not sure how anyone would become a regular here, maybe the service was good in the past. So incredibly unfriendly and unwelcoming. Employees kept walking past us, we were obviously confused. We had to ask an employee if we could be seated. She said yes of course, sat us down and gave us 2 menus. Mind you, that same girl just picked up two cups from that table and didnt even clean it off. No one came back. We had now been there for 25 minutes. Finally, we got up and asked what we were supposed to do because we wanted to order. The girl seemed overwhelmed and was like "uhhhhh I can...uh yeah, I'll take your order." While looking around at the other customers. It was no where near as busy as it was the first time we came. When I started to order eggs and toast she told us the kitchen closes at 12. What?? You're open until 6pm. No signage anywhere. No one thought to tell us that when we asked to be seated? So you only serve coffee and muffins until 6pm...? So we just wasted all that time there and ended up leaving to find a different place to eat at. I'm trying to live a healthier lifestyle so a muffin wasn't what I had planned to order, so we just left empty handed for a second time. We really tried to give this place a second chance because we thought they were just understaffed or off their game the first time. My sister left so sad and disappointed, she recently moved to the area and wanted to support local businesses. What an absolute train wreck of a restaurant. My sister wanted to go here so bad for a flavored coffee flight and a blueberry muffin but after this nonsense we will never be back. Such terrible customer service. The idea of a great place is there. Completely...