Stella's Coffee Haus — Restaurant in Denver

Just moved to the area, and had very high hopes when we saw all the five star reviews. Unfortunately, we had exactly the opposite experience.

The coffeeshop itself was cute, seemed to be well-maintained, and was convenient. However, the two female employees were laughably bad. Normally, we have a few problems getting people to write down to be Deaf accessible, but these girls downright refused to and just kept talking behind their masks, making up ASL and trying to sign to us, and being 100% unhelpful.

I texted on my phone to order a small, hot, dirty chai, and after a long struggle, they told communicated that they didn't have any chai and suggested the turmeric latte, which I agreed to. I also ordered a lemon-poppyseed scone. My partner ordered a medium hot coffee, black. Now, I've had many turmeric lattes in the past few years, but this tasted like water and protein powder. It was also the wrong size, they bumped it up to a medium and charged me for is. My partner tried his coffee and just said it tasted like it was brewed with a half or quarter of the proper amount of coffee grounds. If I would have thought that these girls would have been at all willing to help us replace these drinks, we would have gone back inside, but with their obvious lack of training and public exposure, we just gave up and left. When I got back to the car, we tried the scone; and it was stale. Not just dry, but obviously stale. It also tasted like a Lemon-flavored LaCroix... flavorless.

Normally, we would brush it off as another bad experience and simply never go back, but the coffee and food was actually so bad and the service was so incredibly far from what they are legally required to provide (equal to accessibility as hearing people), that we are actually pursuing a refund for our order. We threw out the food and went to Bardo's.

Overall incredibly frustrating experience. We get a lot of bad service on a weekly basis, but this takes the (very stale) cake. We will be following up with this coffee shop's owners about a refund and about their legal obligation to provide accessibility training for their employees. Unacceptable, and frankly,...

I used to be a regular at Stella's, spending at least three days there every week for four years and I considered it to be my favorite coffee spot in Denver. About a month ago, I was approached by the manager, Colleen, about a personal and private conversation I had been having in the shop that she overheard. Instead of approaching me like a valued customer, I was yelled and cursed at within earshot of several other customers. Despite my sincere attempts to apologize, she was aggressive, hostile, and unnecessarily rude. While raising her voice, she threatened me and told me she would have me banned from Stella's for the rest of my life. This is not how a manager should be treating a loyal customer, let alone a human being. I am severely disappointed that this interaction was not addressed in a professional manner. I now know that Stella's does not value their customers and does not care about treating people with respect.

EDIT: I tried to go back after 3 months in hopes that we could reconcile, but I was quickly banned forever because of the honest review I gave (I was outright told it was because of the review, which does not seem like an ethical business practice as the review was completely honest and accurate, which they did not deny). Colleen continued to prove that she lacks any sort of compassion or decency, and was unwilling to have a conversation with me. I truly hope that other customers are able to feel safe around her, because I know that I don't. I am so sad to have lost a place that was near and dear to my heart, but I am so disgusted by the management that I will not recommend this establishment to anyone and I will continue to advocate for her immediate dismissal.

The response by the "owner" (most likely Colleen herself) to this review stands behind Colleen and her abusive behavior. It is no wonder she felt entitled being aggressive, unprofessional, and inappropriate to me. I had been having a private conversation expressing concern over a loved ones medical condition. If you believe that I was deserving of such hostility for that, then you are an equal part of...

This place gives me college vibes, the kind of place you went to during your early 20s, where you'd meet your friends to discuss life and discover your emerging personality while dealing with crippling debt and anxiety over the state of the world, the future, dating, not being controlled by the man/machine/patriarchy, all the while unbeknownst to you, you were probably playing right into it. At least those are some of the convos I've overheard while sipping confusingly watery drinks, soaking in the sun, eating pastries you'd enjoy if you have the taste buds of an elementary child raised on can soda and boxed desserts.

☆ - space, it is large and spacious. It's structured like a quaint house ☆ - fun, board games to play with, community and local art hanging on the walls ☆ - service, lots of baristas at the counter, all doing their part.

Lots to like about it. But everything for the taste buds misses the mark for me. I'd like to sit here and not eat or drink. I've had a lavender tea latte, a cafe au lait per another reviewers outstanding recommendation, and a croissant. Maybe it was off on the days I went. But it was all so watery. I could not honor my grandmother and finish the plate or cup. If I was a cat, I'd enjoy...