Spruce Confections — Restaurant in Boulder

What a complete horrible experience. The wife and I got a sandwich across the street. There was a crazy lady barking and going on near the store so we decided to go across the street and eat at the confections place and planned on trying a dessert afterward. It was not crowded at all so we started to eat. 5 minutes into our meal a pompous guy come out and says hello! Then says this is reserved for paying customers only and we can’t eat there. The wife says we will leave then. And I said and we will never come back. We got into our car 5 feet away and fonahes our meal. There were 11 free tables besides ours but he went around and made sure the other two people had purchased something. Then the idiot gets into his car and takes off. He didn’t even pay to park in the parking area like we did. While we finished we looked around and saw a couple small prints saying for spruce customers only. They were not very big which is why we didn’t notice them. And even if we had, we would have sat down because we intended on having dessert there. But I don’t want to give my business to someone that treats people that way. At all. And if I was a customer looking into wether to shop here or not I would like to know information like this which is why I took the time to write a review. I will NEVER even think about trying this place again. And when it comes up in conversation you can guess what I’ll have to say about the...

After waiting in line, I ordered 2 cafe americanos (they don't have decaf) and a pastry. The male barista bungled my order and gave me only one drink. While waiting for the second drink ( you always have a wait here), I went to the condiment area to add to my coffee. After waiting several minutes, I asked about the second drink. They realized their mistake and said they would make the second coffee. I then went to retrieve my first coffee only to discover someone had pilfered it. Went back to the batista/ cashier, explained what had happened, and asked for a replacement coffee which I paid for again. Not paying attention, another batista, female, asked again what I needed. I explained again what had happened and, incredibly, she said I would have to go to the back of the line to order. Flabbergasted, I explained again what had happened and stated I should not have to go to the back of the line in light of all that had taken place and it was their fault for bungling the order in the first place. Good customer service would have been for the barista to commiserate that my coffee was stolen and offer to make a second coffee immediately. An offer of a free coffee would have been nice, but not necessary. But to insist that I had to go to the back of the line and reorder was beyond the pale. I have been going to Spruce for many years, but...

On the far west end of Pearl Street, the vibes this place emanated turned me around. Extensive outdoor seating with local looking folks of all generations sitting gathering together, merely talking and sharing and eating and sipping. They don’t have much indoor seating at all, most of their “dine-in” seating outside in a courtyard of sorts and along the quiet west end Pearl Street.

They don’t have wifi, but they certainly have the pastries you’d want. Creating a true third space. Instead of going on my iPad, I turned to the page to write. A dude sat reading his book in the sunshine, drinking his cup of joe. A mom, her two small children and seemingly the grandparents all sat for lunch together. A true gathering space uninhibited by technology distractions.

I got a cortado. It was good. The barista very sweet, very kind. A great local spot to get lost in...