Water Street Coffee Joint (Sprinkle) — Restaurant in Comstock Charter Township

Let me start by saying that I already know that this company has built quite an empire. I have a feeling that I will get an automated-sounding response to this review advising me to "escalate" my concern by composing an email. I know that ultimately I won't be listened to, but even so, I'd be happy just getting a gift card.

Why?

Because even though I am consistently underwhelmed by the quality of the food, I still frequent the place. I can't complain about the coffee and espresso. It gives me jitters, but it is almost always quite delicious. As for the scones, I keep buying them because I keep hoping they will be the wonderfully textured, fully baked, not-too-sweet treat I used to love so much. Now, whenever I purchase them, I instantly regret spending nearly 5 dollars on what looks and tastes like a sad and doughy cake.

But I still buy them. I visit the Sprinkle Road location a lot as it is convenient for me. Starting with this past year or so, I began noticing an annoying trend. Without my being asked, the scones I was ordering were being heated up. I speculated that this may be related somehow to how underbaked they have become. Surely not every other patron wants a heated scone? Even if that is the case, I still felt as though I should have the choice to purchase my scone unheated. So going forward when visiting the Sprinkle Road location, I simply began to specify that I did not want my scone heated. I was still disappointed every time by the scone itself, but I accepted the situation.

Until yesterday.

I went up to the drive thru, ordered a maple pecan scone, and stated that I did not want it warmed up.

At which point, the employee provided me with a bit of information. Something that would change my mind about Water Street forever.

She explained that the scones were FROZEN. Therefore, the scone would need to be warmed up. Otherwise, it would "take hours" to thaw. Yes, she said hours. Perhaps she had made a mistake by describing this to a customer. Perhaps it wasn't her fault. In the future, I wonder if the Water Street brand would benefit training the baristas to use more discreet messaging. For example, "the scones are served warm." Period. I left without buying anything. I felt horrified. Frozen scones? This was a company that I had trusted to at least have freshly baked items - even if they didn't blow my mind every time. It makes me incredibly sad to see an evolution like this. I grew up with this coffee shop. It has been integral to Kalamazoo - ingrained in the culture of our city, and close to my heart. Now when I think about Water Street Coffee Joint, the only thing that comes to...

The coffee and food here is made with love. Like a lot of other water streets, this one has very friendly and thorough staff. That being said, this spot is not going to get you your entire order within 10 seconds of you ordering it. It’s a smaller chain run by good people who care that you have a good cup of coffee so they take a little longer to prepare it. If you’re in a rush, I would suggest ordering ahead with their website and picking it up as opposed to ordering at the window. Do I think this is the most efficient thing for an advertised drive thru location? Not really, but you do get what you ordered. However - I’ve been going there for about a year and their wait time has improved a lot, so they are trying and it’s nice to see they heard the other people mention it. Their Monte Carlo is delicious and their matcha always tastes great. Not a huge fan of their queen/ice cream frappes - they aren’t really visually appealing but they taste okay. I like their smoothies - note that these are not like Starbucks’ milkshakes, they’re actual smoothies so they’re a little crunchier. Overall, it’s a solid place to grab coffee and a bite to eat. The staff is always incredibly friendly. They don’t automatically calculate a tip and there really isn’t a place to give them one unless you tell them that you’re tipping them so remember to ask them to add one on because they still...

Awesome new location with the same great coffee. My first visit was while it was raining and I was disappointed that there was no overhead cover at the speaker and menu outside to stop water from pouring in my car while making my order. This is my reasoning for two stars

(hoping the water street staff will take note of this to help the success of the new location :)

The overhang at the window is not long enough and the curb sticks out quite far, which will result in curb rash and rim scuffs if you are not careful. I have a larger sedan and cannot see how a long SUV or truck can make these turns.

With winter coming I see this being an issue and an annoyance.

I don't mean to complain and I understand this is a first world problem, but to protect my car from damage, water, and snow in the winter, I may have to...