Ava Roasteria - Progress Ridge — Restaurant in Beaverton

Worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life. I am not one to complain about customer service nor am I one to return a food/drink item even when my order is wrong. The past three times I have been to this Ava, my drink has either tasted poor, taken forever to be made, or never was made until I asked where it was. The customer service has been lacking significantly more times than not as the staff has not been welcoming and they rarely smile. I feel more like I am an inconvenience to them then a customer. I have not complained about these experiences as I keep hoping things will improve but today I have decided to share my experience as it was horrific. I hope that this review can encourage the owner to make positive changes to promote a welcoming/friendly environment where there is communication when things don’t go smoothly. Honestly, with this experience, I would love it if an Insomnia replaced this location as that is a welcoming environment😊

I usually go to Ava when I am looking to walk around the shopping area/pond with my toddler as it is not my favorite coffee place and based upon past experiences.. Upon ordering, the female (who I later found out was named Sydney who said she was the manager?) who took our order advised us that the sandwich would take 20 minutes to make since there were 4 sandwiches in ahead of us. I told her that was fine and I very much appreciated the forewarning. Well 20 minutes pass and I go to the sandwich maker (who I found out was Collin as I appreciated his service) and asked about it and he said he didn’t have my order and asked who took my order. I pointed to the female who took my order. He said he would look into it. A few minutes later, there was a sandwich on the bar and I asked Sydney if that was the sandwich I ordered. She said it was a sandwich with turkey and not bacon (which I ordered). She did not exactly answer my question so I wasn’t sure what to do. At that time, another customer asked Sydney if it was her sandwich on the bar and Sydney said “no., it’s with turkey and not bacon.” Again, that was not an answer to the question so this customer, seemingly looking for some sort of additional information said, “okay….I guess I will just wait.” Still no communication from anyone about our order’s status so I wasn’t sure if I was expected to just take the sandwich I didn’t order so I asked her if I should just take the sandwich on the bar. She said “No. Just give me a second.” As she was making beverages, I heard her very annoyingly say (through her mask mind you), “I wish I could kick that baby out!” This was clearly my child as he was squealing by this point. I was not sure what to do so I walked away.

I am not one to allow my child to scream without taking him outside as I find it embarrassing myself so my husband took my toddler outside. Once my husband and toddler were walking out of the door, I went to the Sydney who was now taking orders and asked her if I could just get my money back since it is clear she wants us to leave based on the comment she made about wanting to “kick my baby out.” Her response was “I was trying to get the order right.” There was no apology whatsoever and only justification. I asked her for her name, which she gave me and I asked who her manager was. She said that she was the manager. I told her that it is really unfortunate that she is the manager and making comments about wanting to kick babies out. I told her that we would already be out of here had our order been made correctly in the first place. Poor Collin gave me the correct sandwich and I told him I appreciate how nice he has been and made sure to get his name. I fully believe in reporting any positive with the negative and I think Collin did an excellent job while likely being embarrassed by his manager’s behavior himself. Sydney refunded the money and I said thank you and walked out. Her actions and statements were the worst customer service I have ever experienced by ANY person, let alone...

After some time away due to the coffee shops inconsistencies I decided to give them another shot and have been going daily for months. Everything has been fine they have not been running out of chocolate or cups etc at the frequency from before. What I'm writing about today is a bit of a shock and that is the poor customer service I received and how uncomfortable the barista made me feel for sending my drink back today .This is actually the first time I have done so. Another barista made my drink before I had a chance to tell them the way I usually like it regardless of this if the drink had tasted good regardless of who made it or how they made it if I had liked the drink I wouldn't have sent it back. I come every day and order the same drink every day and know how it should taste. The drink today was awful and tasted like watery milk. I went back in and told the barista who has worked there for sometime and told her it did not taste good. A typical first response in my book when a customer lets you know they didn't like the drink is to say something like I'm sorry it wasn't to your liking would you like me to remake it for you and could you tell me what was off with the drink. In my eyes that is the response I expected but this barista proceeded to start arguing with me and made me feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable to the point I said please stop arguing with me and could you please remake my drink . This person is typically very friendly so I was surprised at how she responded to the situation. Is it Avas policy to argue with customers and make them feel uncomfortable when they mention there drink doesn't taste right? I pay daily for a drink and good service . This person needs additional training on interacting with customers and additional customer service training. It's easy to deliver good customer service when there is no problems , when there is an issue and your staff argues with customers then that's a problem that requires you to provide extra training to your staff. Frankly after how uncomfortable they made me feel I don't know that I will give Avas a...

Update: Ava seems to have improved their food offerings! I was at the Kruse Way Ava the other day and they actually had bran muffins! I think the coffee is better too...is it just me or are they using a better coffee? Anyway, I have updated my review to 5 stars from 3 because now it is truly an awesome place. :)

Like all the Avas, this place is gorgeous inside and out. Their Progress Ridge Ava is perched right at the edge of the big pond and water feature at this awesome outdoor mall, so parents can easily sip a coffee and have a sandwich while the kids play in the water.

I would give this place 5 stars, because it is so dang pretty and conveniently located...but the food sucks! The coffee (and all the drinks I've had here) are decent. But all the food seems to have come from some mass-produced impersonal mega-bakery like Costco or something. It is lacking in flavor, the bread for the sandwiches is dry and tasteless, and pretty much all the bakery options are super sugary and decadent (like characterless tiramisu or cannolis) - no bran muffin or tasty scones here folks.

This business is clearly doing extremely well to be able to afford the locations and the decor that they feature at their shops; why, oh why, Ava, don't you get real quality pastries and bread from one of the myriad wonderful local bakeries we have in sw Portland/Beaverton/Tigard?!? If you did you would be getting 5 star reviews and have so much more business! It just grates on me every time I find myself at an Ava Roasteria, which is more often than I would like because quite often they are the only coffee option in the area I need to be that is still open (did I mention they are also open late? I do really appreciate that...