Brewhemia — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

I had the exact same experience as a recent reviewer ordering the vegan hash. The main ingredient, or should be, potatoes, was absent. Myself and guest both ordered this, along with two different coffee items. At $10, it's already overpriced. After waiting 15 mins or so, we received a small bowl of mostly spinach, raw, and some sauteed veges underneath, with 3 very skinny slices of avocado. The person with me actually first saw the order and thought they were salads delivered to us by mistake. Who eats a bowl of raw spinach for breakfast? I assumed it would have been sauteed with the other veggies. I had two small bites and couldn't eat it. It was greasy and tasteless, and again, a bowl of almost entirely uncooked raw spinach thrown on top. After an employee, whom I assume to be a manager, stopped to ask us how we were doing, I told her of the issue. She told me they were out of potatoes, but were substituting hash browns and thus just must have forgot. How is a breakfast spot out of potatoes? And why are you still serving this if that's the case? Take it off the menu! She tried diligently to offer a solution. I didn't want nor trust any food items after that. Especially when there is a long line to place an order. Weekends can bring a 30 minute wait according to several signs in the business, and after 10 mins of being online to place the order, another 10 to get the (terrible) coffee, and then the food close to 10 mins after that, I wasn't waiting for more poor quality food from the kitchen. She then offered me a cookie. No joke. One, I can't have gluten nor eggs, which I told her. Two, 10 bucks for a bowl of spinach and you think a cookie will solve the problem? Again, she did try very hard and was very much trying to resolve the issue. She eventually gave in and said she would give us our money back for the food. Which I happily accepted. I hate wasting food, but I really could not eat it. I didn't even mention the horrible coffee. As a previous reviewer mentioned, it tasted like something akin to celery. I kept remarking, this doesn't even taste like coffee. It was the strangest thing. It was espresso based drink with milk, no sugar or syrups. Should have had a stronger, roasty coffee flavor. It literally did not even taste like coffee. And the milk, which was supposed to be half and half, also tasted like nothing. No smell or taste of even 2%. Very very strange. I drank it, hoping the caffeine would help me wake up a bit if nothing else. As a business that is coffee-focused, and in the freaking name, you'd think they'd at least be able to get this part right! We got our money back for the food, which I appreciated and didn't even request. The coffee I can't forgive. I will never ever return. I don't know how a place like this stays afloat and as busy as it was. No doubt they will blame the pandemic, being short staffed, or whatever else. But I think it's time to put out that CLOSED sign, permanently. This place is a total joke and should not be open for business. I've had some rough hotel coffee, and even the random terrible coffee at Starbucks. But this by far was the worst cup of "coffee" I have ever been served. To call it pond water is sincerely not an exaggeration. The multiple trips to the bathroom after coming home...

I wanted to give Brehwemia less stars but I just couldn't. This place is special. They take pride in everything they do and they aren't afraid to try new things. And those things are always good. Management is almost always around checking on service and assisting the staff. They aren't just sitting at home collecting checks while quality slides. Kudos on that.

So it makes me sad to say our visits have gone from multiple times a week to only once or twice a year. I hate to be the guy that complains about price but I've watched their breakfast burritos increase three dollars in one year. I mean cmon with that. Another reviewer wrote "The prices are more than fair for the quality of coffee and food." That's generally true...but only up to a point. They aren't that good or filling to be worth nine dollars. On top of that and other price increases it is always a struggle to find a seat. You end up shoehorned in to a spot or have to take it to go (no thanks). They moved last year and this new spot is barely larger than the first one which was already too small. Why not take the opportunity to get a larger space? To keep the exclusive cool vibe? The "if there's a line it must be good" mentality? The small size may be why they had to raise the prices. They had to supplement the lower sales from all the Macbook hipsters occupying half the seats polishing their photoshop skills for hours while sipping a water. You cant have a small cafe with a large staff AND let it be a hangout for...

I'm going to preface this with the fact that I travel a lot for work. When I travel, I like to explore the locally-owned, small business options because they are usually the ones that make their craft with love. I didn't feel that when I visited Brewhemia last week. Maybe it's what we ordered or who was working in the kitchen on the morning of January 24th, but, none of the food or coffee was really anything to write home about. Both the avocado toast (which became more costly after I paid to add more toppings) and the breakfast bowl were so bland that my Dad and I had a difficult time choking them both down. And, we were so hungry! I'm talking so-plain that not even hot sauce can jazz it up. The food lacked seasoning but it's not food that can be saved by adding salt and pepper after it's cooked. The lattés were also quite unremarkable. We boxed up the food to eat later, hoping that some of the flavors will meld together and enhance one another but they didn't so we tossed them. I hate wasting food. I'm so disappointed because the restaurant is so beautifully put-together and the staff was extremely nice and helpful. I'll come back before my contract in Cedar Rapids is up and look forward to seeing what's...