Drift Cafe Village Plaza — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

I actually LOVE the coffee here and highly recommend it but for the first time since this business opened in CH, I had really bad service. I arrived 7 minutes prior to closing time at 4:53 and the guy working there told me he was sorry but he had already cleaned and put everything away so he could not make my drink. Having worked as a barista, a server, a cocktail waitress and a hostess, in high brow and low brow establishments, I know it’s really annoying when a customer or group comes in so close to closing time, and I remember me and my work friends groaning when we saw people approaching the door so close to closing time. Yet in all my years of experience, I’ve never worked at any establishment where it was ok to refuse to serve someone before closing time. If closing time is 5pm or midnight and a customer orders something at 4:59 or 11:59, unless it is explicitly stated, service doesn’t stop until 5 pm or 12 am or whenever. Of course it’s ok to have prepared for closing and even shut down certain services before closing but you don’t just outright refuse to serve someone before closing time because it will take 5 more minutes of your time to serve the customer and you want to leave work early. Has this service ethic changed since the days I worked in the food service industry? If this employee goes on to pursue a professional career as I did, he will have to learn quickly that outside a small University town, the real world doesn’t work this way. It doesn’t bend itself to fulfill your own personal needs. Of note, the person who refused to make my drink was the only employee in the establishment at the time and after I left, he proceeded to lock the door, again...

We went to Drift for brunch and, unfortunately, the service completely overshadowed what could’ve been a really enjoyable meal. When we arrived, the hostess told us there would be a 15-minute wait because the kitchen was backed up, which we understood, but it was confusing since there were several open tables and we overheard a server say she was only waiting on one table. Personally, I’d rather be seated and wait a bit longer for food than stand outside for 15 minutes when there’s room inside.

Once seated, things didn’t improve much. Our server, Gina, seemed disorganized and unfamiliar with the system. It took more than 15 minutes just to get our drinks — my cappuccino was actually a latte, and my friend’s iced matcha came out hot. When we sent it back, Gina later asked if she had even taken our food order (she had — we’d already discussed substitutions).

The food, once it arrived, was excellent, fresh, flavorful, and well-prepared. But other servers ended up helping us more efficiently than Gina did all morning. To make things worse, my friend’s matcha, which had been delayed by over 30 minutes, wasn’t comped as promised. When we brought it up, Gina said she couldn’t adjust it because it was “under her name,” and brushed it off with, “Are you sure?” which felt dismissive.

Overall, Drift’s food was fantastic, but the poor, confusing service really tainted the experience. I hope management takes note, because with better staff training and communication, this place...

We felt humiliated twice during our visit.

First, I ordered a blue matcha, which was described as tasting like matcha. Instead, it tasted like oat milk. I waited for someone to check on our table so I could ask about exchanging it, but no one came until I was halfway through my meal. When I raised the issue, I was told I’d have to buy another drink if I didn’t want the now-tepid blue matcha. I repeated back what the server said so she could hear how it sounded. Reluctantly, I was allowed to switch to a drink I knew, but by then, a scene had been made, and I felt embarrassed for even asking.

On top of that, the avocado in my meal wasn’t ripe, my side of potatoes was smaller than expected, and water refills were slow—we had to ask for them. At the end of our visit, the server told us we’d need to leave because there was a wait. However, we had been there for less than an hour, there was no visible line, and there was an empty table across from us.

We had brought friends who trusted us to pick a great spot, which made the experience even more disappointing. This was the second visit in a row where I’ve noticed a decline in both service and food quality. I’m not sure...