Union Roasters — Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene

I was really excited to go to the Grumpy Monkey in Coeur D'Alene on 4th st, because I had always heard great things about it! I've seen the cute Instagram pictures of folks enjoying coffee and adorable macaroons in this quaint hole-in-the-wall coffee hut, and I was ready for my turn.

I walked in one morning with my fella, and ordered my normal brew. I asked the barista taking my order about a tea flavor they had on the menu, and continued to order my coffee. After taking my order the barista starts to make our drinks and I'm standing there enjoying the local art and vibe of this place. It really was as cute as the pictures i'd seen! I noticed the barista brewing some tea and at first I thought somebody else had ordered it but didn't notice anybody else in line with us. I looked nervously over to my boyfriend, and he returned the same confused glance. I then gently asked the barista if this tea was brewed for us. "Yeah, you guys ordered the 16 oz!" I explained to him that no, I did not, I had just simply asked about the flavoring. He then insisted that I must have ordered the tea, sounding a little more abrasive than I thought he had meant to. I repeated that I did not order any tea, confusion sweeping across my face.

Apologizing in realization he said, "Oh, I'm sorry! No, I charged you for that." He then walked me back over to the register realizing the mistake. I assured him that he was alright, that I remember making simple mistakes during a busy time, or even when my mind was not at work on early mornings. I pardoned the notion, laughing a bit about it with the young man.

The other barista finished our actual, drink orders, the other barista joining her shortly after our drinks were sat on the bar. I stood there waiting, drink in hand, thinking maybe he was waiting for his system to load (he WAS using an app on his iPad for the pay system...)

He continued on leaving us standing there for over five minutes.

Obviously befuddled I asked my boyfriend if he could ask for my change as I started the car. I was pretty much done at this point. It's one thing to mess up my drink order and charge me almost five dollars extra for something I didn't even order or want for that matter, but then to go and fuss about on the cash register for a bit and not return my cash?

My boyfriend explained to him that we had paid in cash, in which the barista replies that he thought we had paid on a card.

I was caught completely dumbfounded, as I work customer service myself and am familiar with that type of cashier system he was using. Without reviving a card for the second time you can not refund any amount back onto the card. The system doesn't keep track of card numbers and you certainly wouldn't be able to track the last payment after a cash payment, which I had done.

I became extremely frustrated as I realized that he had not even accomplished returning the money onto a "card." He must have realized that he wasn't able to do that and turned away knowing he hadn't returned the funds and said nothing to either myself or my boyfriend.

I took my cash from the young man and stormed out the door.

I felt bad making a spectacle of him at his work place, but I was completely flabbergasted at the amount of attention this young man did not pay to customers.

I was extremely disappointed with my first impression of this establishment, even more so based off of the predetermined excitement of the venue. Your customers are what makes you a business, and if all else I just hope that they key in on teaching their employees the values of active listening, and order assurance.

Can't say i'll be visiting...

Shoot. I am reading the reviews, so maybe we came on a bad day, or at a bad time. The coffee was great, which is why this is getting ⭐⭐⭐. The Waffles... Ugh. Both of us thought that a) we were getting a bigger waffle for the price; and when it was obvious that that wasn't happening, we were thinking b) that we were getting a delicious waffle for the price. Like, f-Ing mind blowing. Like 'Pulp Fiction's' Vincent Vega's "Five dollar milkshake." One of us got the waffle with butter and maple (it was real maple, and that is AWESOME, and I'm guessing that's why the price was that high for a tiny, terrible waffle), and the other of us (me!) got the waffle with honey, bacon and apples. Sigh... The waffle was the most dense, non-fluffy piece of cardboard we've ever had the displeasure of eating. Even the maple and butter didn't help the chewy, thick waffle. The apple bacon one.... I'm sorry, I do hate giving negative reviews, but the apple bacon honey one was worse. The apples were chunky which is great, but they were super cinnamon-y and the sauce part was super thick, along with thick honey. If the waffle wasn't dense, it may have been fine with the two other thick things , but it just made it that much worse. And, I was hoping the bacon was going to be inside the waffle batter. But, instead it was piled high in bits on top of the bad chunky apple paste and the piece of cardboard. We were thinking we would never be back to try the cardboard... ahem... waffles again, but since we read the other reviews where others gave this 😍

I had high hopes for this adorable coffee + waffle shop, and I’m afraid it just didn’t live up to it this time. The coffee was AMAZING, so the stars are for that. The rest of it was only ok… it took a loooing time to get our waffles and the shop wasn’t even busy. I think the drive through might be the priority, but it sucks if you’re the patrons inside with a hungry baby!

And when we did receive our waffles, they were a letdown. I expected a waffle-sized waffle (does that make sense??), but it’s about 1/3 the size of a normal, diner-style waffle. The batter was wayyyy too sweet, and mine (the classic) had clearly been cooked in a waffle iron that hadn’t been cleaned well (covered in little black burned specks of previous waffles). My sister’s (the avocado one) was much better but still a tiny portion for the nearly $9 it cost. I understand food is pricy these days but for two small waffles it ran us $15.

However the coffee was decently priced, and, like I said, definitely the highlight (I believe it was $3.5/each for two iced Americanos). A saving grace, and I’ll definitely be returning for coffee...