Leven Deli Co. — Restaurant in Denver

Update: this is a delayed response, but sometime after the owner response I went back again to see if I would have a better experience but unfortunately it was worse. Note I had to delete some of the original review to stay under the max allowed characters.

When I arrived the tables were about 2/3 full and sat at a 2 person table (i.e. didn't sit at a 4 person table wasting 3 unused seats or anything) in the back next to the bathrooms. When the food came the staff member somewhat rudely dumped the food on the table and quickly ran off, but brushed this aside and started eating. The person could have easily been busy and overwhelmed.

But then when I was almost finished eating the first half of the sandwich, still had it in my hand when a staff member abruptly (and even aggressively?) came up to me saying in a demanding and commanding way that he'll bring me a to go box without saying anything else to me or asking me if I wanted one or anything. There was some sort of rude tone and mannerism behind it. But I simply responded that I don't need one as I'm going to eat the other half as well. He gave me an annoyed, incredulous look and rushed off. I weirdly felt watched after that.

Then later after a took I sip of my coffee and had barely just set the mug down on the table when a staff member abruptly came up and swooped up my coffee mug away almost right out of my hand without looking at me or saying anything and quickly ran off before I had a chance to stop him and say that I was still drinking that and not to take it. Note that I had clearly started to speak out and reached out with my arm to stop him, but he was already rushing off with his back towards me and was clear he had no intentions of waiting to hear what I might have to say. Again it was a very clear, distinct, dismissive mannerism and action behind it (i.e. they wouldn't have acted that way towards anyone else). There was probably a little less than 1/4 of the coffee left, but still. He didn't even look at me, acknowledge me, ask me, or look inside the cup before he took it and rushed off with his back towards me. It was such an obvious awkward moment that the 2 ladies sitting right next to me to my right saw this exchange, abruptly stopped talking mid sentence, and looked at me in shock and also with pity and with an apologetic look. Especially as they had witnessed the previous obvious dismissive interactions I had with the staff.

Do note the tables started filling up fast while I was there and they were now all full so you could say that staff were rudely trying to get rid of everyone and turn the tables over as quickly as possible but at no time the whole time I was there did any staff member ever go up to any other table surrounding me who were all there before I had even sat down who have all clearly finished eating long ago and were all just lingering chatting while I was actually there still actively eating and wasn't there long at all and lingering, etc.

I most definitely felt singled out and picked on to rush me out of there while everyone else was happily lingering and chatting with no awkward or rude interactions from staff to hurry them along to get them out of there. They were not being treated the way I was.

I have taken the final hint that I am not welcome and won't be back and will spend my money elsewhere. I've gone there a few times now and don't think I'll be back. The not so great review is due to the following: 2) Only three sides are included in that $20 price to choose from. Just a little condiment container. 3) The 10% added "quality" charge. That should just be baked into the pricing of your product. 5) All the times I have been there the staff was always helpful and friendly until this last time I was there. The person taking my order was awful and purposely went out of his way to make me feel belittled and unwelcomed. I felt horrible and uncomfortable after the encounter with this person. Like I meant nothing, not only as a customer, but as a...

Leven makes delicious food. Their bread is some of the best I have ever tasted, their tomato soup is incredible, sandwiches are fantastic, and their desserts are delicious. There are good options for whatever you are feeling.

We ordered Leven to the hospital the day my son was born.

The food is incredible - there are plenty of great restaurants in town, but their customer service Is what sets them apart.

Let me tell you a little story about Leven.

Mother’s Day 2024. I wanted to get my wife the same Leven breakfast we enjoyed the morning before our 2nd child was born. This mother’s day our 4 year old had a stomach bug and was throwing up all night and morning, our 8 week old was fussy and not having it, and it was pouring rain.

I placed our order for delivery (with ample time) and weathered the storm (figuratively and literally). Like many restaurants Leven is beholden to outside delivery vendors. In this case - DoorDash. I received updates from DoorDash: first - your order has been picked up, second: your driver is 5 minutes out, finally: your order has been delivered.

Unfortunately, my order wasn’t delivered. Nothing on my doorstep, nothing on my Arlo. The 30 odd dollar delivery fee and tip was on my credit card however.

I called Leven and was connected with Ryan the manager. I explained my conundrum and he immediately presented me with a solution. We are remaking your order and one of my assistant managers will deliver it. Wait what? I told him I could try and pick it up. He told me “I have my hands full and we want to make this right”. No extra charge and it arrived 20 minutes after we hung up.

Next time you go to Leven - besides excellent food - this is what you are getting. Incredible service and incredible community. Even before this experience we always commented about the stellar staff. Leven isn’t just promoting great food, they are promoting a great community.

Needless to say they have a customer for life. Now go any enjoy one of their tahini brownies and take a loaf of sourdough (unsliced) home. You...

Food is great and I had a wonderful experience the first time that I’ve tried this restaurant but the second time that I tried it out I did not have as well of an experience. We ordered our food after waiting in line for around 20 minutes or so then things started to get crazy as we were waiting, people were coming in. There was no place to stand or sit. I was constantly moving around in a circle trying to let people get into the line as soon as they enter the building (they thought we were in line when we were waiting for food), I also decided to buy a drink after I made my order and I asked one of the employees if I could pay in the pick up area instead of waiting in line and for some reason not sure if he was trolling, but he said only if I complemented his body he’d help me out and I am a man that’s straight. I took this really weirdly And felt super uncomfortable. I don’t know if he was joking or not but I played along with it and just said that he needs to hit the gym but that’s not something that you randomly just say to people so the guy with the mustache needs to cool it down . Also after we waited for our food for nearly 30 minutes or 40 minutes they were trying to find us at one of the tables after we clearly told them that the food was to go my brother goes up to this lady with a tray of food and she looks like an alcoholic and asks if the order is for Sam and she rudely tells him no That it’s not for Sam then as she’s walking around like she’s confused I stop her and I say hey this is our order and it was supposed to be to go because there’s nowhere to sit and then she just says OK sorry about that and gets our order bagged up after another 10 minutes of waiting I just couldn’t believe it. The service here is ridiculous. They need to work on whatever is going on but this place definitely needs some help. I love the atmosphere and the food but the last time I showed up just wasn’t it and for the price that I was paying for the food, I don’t think I will ever be...