Gimme! Coffee - Cayuga St. — Restaurant in City of Ithaca

I want to preface this review by saying that I used to be a barista at a very busy café, and I was trained by a gimme coffee barista so this isn’t coming out of left field.

I want to start off by saying that the drinks, at gimme coffee are absolutely superb save for one. They have really good quality control. They weigh out the espresso that goes in the shots. They have a rigorous training program for their barista. They have real macchiatos.

That being said, I have been coming to this coffee shop for nearly 15 years and nine times out of 10 I choose to go someplace else these days and that’s a very nearly universal experience with both my friends and family. They choose other coffee shops, and the reason is because they are so slow. Granted they are very busy and they do take control seriously however it’s out of hand. There are probably a dozen things that they could do to speed it up. However, my biggest issue is that I’ve been all over the world and I’ve never, never seen a service business run with less urgency. I have worked as a barista, busser, and server in more than one city. The laissez faire attitude of the employees is so infuriating. It seems like they could care less when you’re drinking out. It’s like watching the sloths at the DMV in Zootopia. I watched one of the braces take two minutes to weigh out the shop. How do I know that it took two minutes because I timed it and her manager was standing right there and didn’t say anything. If you can’t talk and work quickly then you need to stop talking. It’s feels like the business is resting on their past laurels and doesn’t really care anymore. Which is a huge shame for a coffee shop that could be great, but now is not worth the wait at all.

One last thing don’t get their mocha you’re going to be disappointed. It’s the only drink on the menu...

I really wanted to like the coffee. They have a bird friendly coffee that I wanted to start using for my regular beans at home. Unfortunately, the two coffees I received user far too grounds for the brew, making them bitter and unpleasantly strong. Maybe I’ll give them another try in the future but this isn’t one worth the shipping right now.

Edit: Thanks for the concern from the owner. It may be a matter of regional preference for very strong coffee. I definitely didn’t keep my order number and I’m not looking for refunds. I ordered drip because it was the only way I could try the bird friendly coffee beans. The drip coffee was fresh but just far too strong to balance any roast notes. I’d like to presume you don’t over roast the beans. My recommendation, if it isn’t a regional preference, is to have your staff lower the amount of beans for drip brewing. It’ll allow more nuanced roast profiles to shine in the cup without the bitterness. It’ll also save the shop on...

This is my local coffee shop and I am very sorry this event happened. The manager behaved with cero knowledge in harm reduction towards a black costumer, and immediately threatened to call the cops on brown people that were just communicating the issue in a civilized manner. It is a shame that our local coffee shop does not have the cultural and social ability to better serve the diversity of Fall Creek population. This has become a unsafe place for bipoc, disable, and other neurodivergent people. I wish @gimmecoffee would really take seriously training their managers for these events never...