How do you not know what non-dairy milk is, as a barista at a cafe in Ithaca? No, skim is still cow milk, but small plus for having oat milk on-tap at the self-serve kiosk. (Even if the staff member directing me to it believed that "oat" is a flavor of dairy milk.)

This is my second time there and it was worst than the first; I had attributed most of the difficulty due to pandemic adjustments last summer, but no, this seems to be the way they want to do business.

When you first walk in, it is a clstrfk of people, signage, and products. There's seemingly four or five separate counters, three coolers distributed throughout the store, and seating or line space everywhere else. Lineflow management is practically nonexistent, leading to 5-10 people minimum milling around, either waiting to pick up, pay, order, or try to actually look at the products or menu boards. You pay at a seperate station from where you order, and you order sandwiches, pastries, and drinks at seperate orders. While most of the staff is pleasant, I feel that they, too, are struggling to keep some semblance of structure both behind the counter and in front.

Okay, here are the perks: big but simple menu, vegan and vegetarian options; focus on organic, then local ingredients; service is pretty fast considering how packed it usually seems. Lots of sanitizer stations, barriers between seating, and outdoor (covered!) dining, as well as curbside pick up. I like the food, wish the coffee was better (it's ok, the blend just isn't my taste), like the location.

But the standing issue seems to be that at some point, they decided to do too much with not enough room, and undervalued their popularity, both with locals and the college crowd. This makes the entire experience of grabbing a coffee and a sandwich into a cacophony nightmare ordeal, and I'll probably be skipping this spot on future trips.