We've visited this place four or five times. The coffee and food aren't terrible, and if we were one of the hungry hikers taking a break from the Appalachian Trail to grab some civilized grub here, the particularly bitter, dark roast espresso (much more burnt-tasting than ordinary espresso), consistently overcooked contents of the breakfast wraps, and gruff and indifferent service would be a welcome break from trail and camping fare. Clearly that is the case since you will see his cafe crowded with hikers on a regular basis.

But we've decided not to come here anymore. The reasons all center around the lack of service or even the vaguest intent to provide us with what we order. To watch how drinks and food are made (which you can, as most of the food prep is all done just behind the register) is to receive obvious confirmation that the staff doesn't care what you order (requested variations just don't happen), they don't care about the food they are preparing for you (sloppy and haphazard slapping together of ingredients is the norm), they don't care what you think about that (no eye contact, no conversation with you even if you initiate it, no deviation from their unhappy work habits), and they really don't seem to care about having a job at all. In fact, it seems the mantra in these cafe staff goes something like: "We're very unhappy people, we're unhappy to be here, and we aren't happy that we have to deal with you at all."

But again, we've only been to this cafe four or five times, so perhaps we just have consistently bad timing...?

In any case, there was one time we came here (and only one) when the food was actually pretty decent and the staff was a bit friendlier, but on that occasion we made the mistake of sitting at a table in between two patrons -- seated at opposite sides of the room -- who were yelling a private conversation of their opinions at each other across the dining area. We thought it would just be a brief exchange, but they persisted yelling and laughing and carrying on for a full twenty minutes as we waited for our food and then tried to eat it in peace. But again, the food and drinks were better on that visit...it's just the patrons whose uncouth, rude holding forth made it difficult to enjoy.

In any case, we are secretly hoping that someone will open a cafe in Dalton who actually cares about their food and about their customers. Just a little bit. That would be really nice, and we would definitely give that cafe all of our business!