Santos Coffee - Acton Rd. — Restaurant in Birmingham

My only basis for comparison is the Santos in Hoover (which, quite frankly, has mediocre black coffee), but a friend suggested this location between us. I rarely get coffee if I go to the Hoover one, but I do enjoy their healthy savory bowls there. They're jam-packed with flavor and have plenty of components to them to include leafy greens, tomatoes, (I get) Conecuh sausage, beans, rice, and I think even avocado.

I paid the same price here and got the bowl in the photo after asking for my same order. It was lukewarm and the cheese wasn't even melted, no seasoning, no green veggies, no tomatoes, and the sausage they used was some greasy McDonald's level sausage patty. Y'all...please. I'm not paying $10 for this mess.

The kid who took my order had earbuds in, was sitting with his legs crossed on a stool, and acted like he could care less to be at work, much less to speak to me.

Finally, whoever planned the layout for this building must've been on something. It just winds and meanders, there's no rhyme or reason to the seating, and the comfiest chairs that sit two together are all like 8 ft from the door. It's not such a huge deal in summer because they probably keep it cold in there year-round (like it was while it's 37 degs out), but during winter it blasts you like the arctic tundra. Why put the best seats in the cafe next to the doors? To get people out faster? Geez.

The location was sort of convenient to 280, it was clean, the parking wasn't terrible, and the bathrooms smelled heavenly, but I'll go to the other location any day since it's equidistant and they don't give me $10 slop.

Also, looks like other reviewers got the Conecuh sausage on their sandwiches when they were clearly supposed to put those in my bowl and my patty on the sandwiches. Is fast food really...

Don't really like leaving bad reviews, but something was definitely off at the location this morning.

Came in around 7:45 and ordered an iced mocha and a breakfast sandwich. The sandwich came out several minutes later, but not the iced mocha.

When I asked about the coffee, they said they were working on it. So I take my sandwich and sit down. The sandwich was very good, nice and hot. I wait a while longer.

I go up and another employee greets me, I mention I've been waiting a while for my drink (at this point 20-25 mins, was tracking it based on my apple pay timestamp). She looks at me very confused and asked what I had, I tell her it was an iced mocha. She says they'll get it ready. Then I see as 3 of them huddle and whisper. At this point, I haven't really been given an explanation or an apology.

So I wait a few more mins. One of them slides a drink across the counter, but there's no indication if it's mine or not, and I'm several feet away.

Another 30-45 secs go by before one of them goes "That's yours". So I grab the drink. Again, no real apology or explanation.

I check my timestamp, about 35 mins.

I get mistakes happen and things slip through the cracks. That's not why I'm taking the time to leave feedback.

I am leaving this review because I want management to consider letting these employees learn from the situation and how to properly address customers when mistakes do happen. I worked customer service for several years and transparency, owning mistakes, and making it right goes a long way in maintaining positive relationships with customers.

I don't think there was anything malicious in my interaction, but the way the interaction went can be perceived as cold and uncaring to the wrong person.

I will say that the iced coffee was good, no...

This location is really a nice and convenient spot to go and grab a cup of whatever you are drinking. There is ample space to work remotely as WiFi and power outlets are offered and plentiful. The food has always been decent, and their offerings don't taste like other coffee shops pre-packaged and microwaved breakfast sandwiches. I've had an experience with service though that has turned me off a little. One time is a fluke though, and I hope this doesn't show a potential pattern.

A coworker and I came in and order drinks and breakfast sandwiches as normal. (We usually come in once every other week.) We got the sandwiches quickly, and at down and waited on the drinks. As my coworker and I got talking and eating our sandwiches we realized that we never got our drinks. We thought well maybe because it was really busy that morning they were behind. So, we asked about it and the person behind the counter didn't seem to care almost like we were a bother asking about it. Sensing the attitude of the employee my coworker at that point just asked for a refund and we left.

I'm hoping it's a one time thing and not a systemic issue. We will be...