Java Dream Coffee Roasters-PENN VALLEY — Restaurant in California

Wow, the coffee, the atmosphere, the service were all amazingly great! I rarely splurge on treats for myself but I had driven by the coffee sign on Pleasant Valley Rd for months and one day I decided to get myself a coffee. From the moment I walked in I was blown away. I am artistic by nature and can appreciate a good design when I see one. The color theme used throughout the interior was lovely. I especially loved the teal color on the serving counter in the pick up line matching the chairs and other furniture. It obvious to me that every little detail of this place had been carefully thought about and excicuted. Not to mention the cleanliness and attentiveness of the servers. My order was taken immediately by one server and the other server started to make it immediately. As I was taking in my surroundings and enjoying the scenery, my order was ready and I was on with my day... ...Next time I'll be giving myself more time to sit and enjoy the scenery and perhaps I'll try getting a bite to eat. I do not like to support the big brand, chain stores, but I do like to support the Mom and Pop stores. However, all to often the mom and pop stores are not consistent. Sometimes the service and food is great, sometimes it's OK, sometimes it bad. I'm really pulling for any mom and pop shop that can provide consistency... I'll be stopping by the next couple months to see how the consistency is here, but based on the cleanliness, organization, and service I experienced the other day, I'm thinking this will be one of those mom and pop places I'll be supporting...

Over the past few months, this place has really gone downhill. When we first moved to the area, the coffee and breakfast were great, but lately the quality has declined significantly. The coffee has become some of the worst I’ve ever had either overly sweet, bitter, or just completely lacking in actual coffee flavor. I’ve even started getting heartburn from just the iced coffee, which makes me wonder if they’re using old espresso shots.

Food wait times are absurd. Even when ordering ahead, I’ve waited over 30 minutes. More than 3 times one of the younger girls stands there chatting to her friends that come in to see her for 15+ minutes and is a terrible multitasker and consistently messes up my order. The pricing is high for what you get, and the portion sizes are wildly inconsistent. Take the lox bagel, for example: you’ll get a tablespoon or two of salmon buried under a mountain of microgreens. If the food isn’t a priority, that’s fine, but then the menu needs to be scaled back.

What’s worse is the number of times my order has been incorrect, even with something as simple as an Italian soda. That shouldn’t be difficult to get right. I really wanted to support a female veteran-owned business, but at this point, I don’t think this is the right venture. It might be time for this location to make way for a truly solid coffee shop.

And finally, the limited hours and days just make it harder to be a...

So, I was super stoked to find another place in the area that does some breakfast items. I checked out their menu on Google just to get an idea before heading in. I'm a huge biscuits and gravy guy, so when I saw that I was pretty excited. Went in and asked for an order of that and a coffee, the coffee was very good and the staff were friendly, but sigh 😕... the Google menu indicated this order was to be 3 biscuits and gravy $9.50 (which would have been the most expensive order of B&G I ever placed, but not insane today and in CA I suppose, small town and niche shop) and the mobile ordering software gave a 404 error... my first disappointment was to find this order to be $10.95 (ok, I'm here now, let's see anyway) and so I thanked the girl for my order and headed out. Apparently Google menu is either a typo, or the order was prepared light as there were 2 biscuits as opposed to 3, and the gravy seemed to be the same canned type I've had a gas stations. Perhaps I'll stop in at some point and try a sandwich instead, but otherwise a pretty disappointing first...