The Greenhouse Cafe & Cocktail Lounge — Restaurant in City of Ithaca

My sister and I just left the cafe, When we walked in and looked at the menu the lady right away named 4-5 items on the menu that they didn’t have, which was fine, but then when we started ordering I wanted a matcha latte which was on the menu (it wasn’t one of those things she mentioned they didn’t have) but she said they don’t make matcha at all and if I want matcha I can go to a place across the street, I decided to just order something else. She seemed irritated and wasn’t welcoming at all, my sister wanted to order a latte and apparently all the coffee on the menu comes with no coffee, you have to pay extra for espresso to be added which was new but still, whatever, we got 2 coffees and a lemonade for my husband that was waiting for us in the car, and chicken and beef sliders. We paid and asked them to pack it for us to go, after which we leaned on a bar table waiting for our order and the lady turns to us and tells us we have to show her ids to sit at the bar table?? The bar table is right next to the cash register so it was the most convenient place for us to wait for our to go order. I told her we’re waiting for our to go order we’re not ordering any drinks, she said that we need to be 21 to wait at the bar table. Mind you there were only 2 people working so no one would serve us any drinks without asking our ids, and there were only 2 other people sitting at the bar on the other end so there would be no way for us to be able to order alcohol without showing our ids. It was very unnecessary and felt like she’s just trying to inconvenience us because she wasn’t hiding that she was irritated. My sister had to sit at a different table and I had to show my id to wait for my order. After that they told us it’ll be a 20 minute wait. At this point I’d order a drink while waiting but I was so shook with the rudeness that I didn’t even want to order anything else.

While waiting we saw 2 guys walking in and heading to the cash register with half empty cups of coffee in their hands from another place, when they walked in they said hi and smiled, the lady without even saying hi first, before they even made it to the cash register points at their coffee and and tells them they can’t be in here with those. They turned around and walked out. 3 minutes later after finishing their coffee they walked back in to order something, another worker took their order and apologized for the lady’s behavior.

When we finally got our order my husband and I enjoyed our sliders and drinks, my sister wasn’t impressed. Customer service was very disappointing, I love to go to nice places and don’t mind paying high prices, but I expect to be treated like a valued customer, not like they’re doing me a favor. For $6.5 per cup of coffee you’d think customer service will be great but no, very rude and makes you want to leave as soon...

My partner and I were looking for cafes to get work done in and stumbled upon this place. We were immediately hooked and came in 3 times within that same week. Each visit, we pulled out our laptops and got a few tasks done before getting up to order food and drinks. The staff for the first 2 visits were lovely and we kept coming back because it felt inviting.

On our 3rd visit we did the same routine and had a completely different experience. Within the first 15 minutes of our arrival a staff member came up to us asking if we needed help with the menu to which we politely declined because we were familiar at this point. It is important to note that my partner and I were the only black people of 4 in the cafe and each time the server brought something to another table, she made sure to passive aggressively approach us to order.

As we were still working, she gave us the ultimatum of either ordering or leaving to which we replied that this had never been an issue in previous visits and we originally planned on ordering as usual. We were genuinely confused because we had never been told this in previous visits. At this point, we felt singled out and were no longer interested in ordering because of the way we were being treated.

She continued to stare us down in attempts to intimidate us and then came to the table to kick us out. The cafe was nearly empty at this point aside from the two patrons sitting on either side of us. We were berated and humiliated and told we didn't support small businesses despite this being our 3rd visit of the week.

This cafe was close to being our favorite in Ithaca but the treatment we received that day was the worst of any establishment I had ever been to. It felt extremely targeted and embarrassing to be treated this way in a place I genuinely enjoyed and I truly feel uncomfortable stepping foot back in this cafe.

When we asked the server for her name, she denied saying that it wasn't important. She also told us that if we planned on studying there we should have said something or gone to Starbucks for free wifi instead.

It feels very hard to believe that the color of our skin did not play a role in this situation and I truly hope that this review is strongly taken into consideration. I understand space is limited and there is a business to run, but this happened in the middle of the day with plenty of seating available for other guests. There was also not a single time before this one that we came in without making a purchase so to be accused of taking advantage of this establishment was...

We were in from out of town today. We were walking back to our car from the commons and saw the greenhouse cafe. It looked very inviting.. like a very nice cafe that should have great coffee. When we walked in and asked, we were told they did coffee, so we ordered a black iced americano and an iced latte with oat milk. We were told they didn’t have lids … no big deal. The server processed my payment, asked us to hang out while he made them, setting proper expectations. I tipped two bucks on the transaction.

While the server was preparing our drinks, my wife and I were admiring the aesthetics. The plants were nice.. my wife was commenting on the jade plant, since we tend to kill ours. The lighting was cool and the solid-wood bar was beautiful!! We were looking at the menu, too, wishing we hadn’t already eaten because some of the items looked very interesting, there was plenty of seating and they were allowing for dine-in.

Then, all the sudden the guy prepping food (not our server) super sharply told us to go outside. It was super awkward and uncomfortable because, besides us, the store was empty. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I thought maybe he assumed we ordered food. I could understand two people standing at the bar for an unknown length of time may have benefited from a seat and a glass of water while waiting, so I said “we just ordered coffee.” We we’re already three minutes in, so i was sure the barista would have been about done… but naw, dude told us to wait outside, so we bounced.

No idea why he snapped on us. He definitely missed the mark making us feel welcomed or appreciated.

I would appreciate the refund. We ordered two coffees at about 4:00 on 7/15. I would have thought you’d have the foresight to refund them automatically in hopes of not receiving an honest review.

We visit the area often and support your community. I promise I will not visit your...