The Coffee District — Restaurant in Bemidji

I ordered a doppio macchiato & the new barrista was charging for a caramel macchiato which is over. $5. My drink is under $3 for two shots of espresso. I respectfully told her it was incorrect. She acted offended. The other barista that knows my drink, explained it to her. She fixed it & walked away from the register. I pulled out my loyalty card to get it stamped & waited for a long time. I finally asked the other barista if she could stamp it. That barista went & asked the original 1 if she could do it. The other barista lied & said she did. I didn't even have it out until she walked away & she didn't come back until another customer came, which is why I had to ask the other one. They act like I'm lying to get free punches & I forget to ask for them all the time (I've rarely ever not tipped them well). I called & the owner Maddie answered. I asked if she was the young lady wearing glasses w/ long hair in the back, that helped me, to verify if she was she was 1 of the baristas that served me & she immediately said it doesn't matter what she looks like & accused me of trying to judge her, based on her looks. I don't care what people look like, so long as they're making good coffee & act reasonable. That says almost everything already. This helps explain a lot of their bad reviews. She also said said if I feel that I'm being repeatedly mistreated, which they've often done to me for no reason, then it's time for me to go elsewhere. I think they're racist. I am clearly Latina indigenous. If they want people to support locally, then they need to act welcoming to all, be responsible, & not lash out or act offended, because they forgot something simple. She offered a refund. I guess a refund is much easier to give than reasonable, non-discriminating customer service for them? Says a lot. I've never seen them mistreat a white customer, but racism is still a MAJOR problem in Bemidji, even among self-proclaimed liberals that behave in very racist ways....

The lady who handed me the coffee was the owner of the place, very friendly. I was the fourth person in line and was there for maybe three minutes total, which is very impressive! I took off a star in the food category because the drink was too sweet, more in it for the coffee. But what I could taste of the coffee was dark and nutty/chocolaty 10/10 for the beans. Just order your drink with a specific amount of syrup and you'll be good to go! (I'd suggest 1.5 "pumps" for a large us you want to taste the flavor of...

I love seeing this beautiful coffee shop come to life under new ownership. I used to frequent the other coffee shop that was in this building when I was in college and have made a point to stop when in town. Comfortable seating of varying shapes and sizes is available through the shop. I was able to order a vegetarian breakfast sandwich with all I wanted on it. And that isn't even the coffee, if you're having thoughts about that salted maple latte, just do it, I promise...