Hobnob Coffee and Wine Bar — Restaurant in Des Moines

I actually was going to look at the Speakeasy on the property as my law firm is looking to rent out a space for an event. We had to get to the speakeasy through the Hob Nob. The employees who showed us the event space were incredible - super knowledgeable and kind. The employees in the speakeasy were also incredible. However, the lady working at the Hob Nob was unbelievably rude, unprofessional, mean, and degrading to employees…in front of two potential customers seeking to rent out the space. She said one of the individuals showing us the space was just a housekeeper so there was no reason she should be going to the speakeasy. She then rudely questioned the other employee going to show us the space asking her who she was and accusing her of not even working there, despite her clearly working there for YEARS as she knew all the history of the place. The Hob Nob employee was yelling and even tried to stop us from going downstairs to see the space, despite the employees having a key. I cannot imagine bringing my coworkers into such a hostile space for an event so we will not be renting it out. If we did not have to go through the Hob Nob to get there I’d consider it, but not while such a unpleasant individual is greeting everyone with blatant disrespect. If she is degrading and bullying other employees IN FRONT of customers, completely unprovoked, I can only imagine what it is like working with her behind closed doors. I see other reviews complain about a rude individual working here as well and I have no doubt it’s the same person. There isn’t a chance in hell I will go back to this coffee shop after...

Very cute, easy to find breakfast spot attached to the Hotel Fort Des Moines! Wasn’t more than half full when we were sat. Server came over right away, took our orders, and we got our breakfast pretty quickly. Then not even a bite into our breakfast a different server came over and just dropped our check off. Didn’t ask if everything was good or if we needed anything else. Also weird the check got dropped so early because we both wanted coffees to go, but felt like the bill was already rung up and that was that. Our original server never stopped by after again to check in after either. I ordered Avocado Toast add on Salmon, as you can tell by my photos there was no salmon, very let down, especially because no one checked in to make sure everything was okay or if we needed anything else. Our server also didn’t write down our orders or repeat them back which is probably why she forgot or didn’t hear the add on salmon I ordered. We dropped our card on the check and time went by we ate our entire meal and then had to ask someone how to check out, oh we had to go up to the counter, which again, no one told us, and the place wasn’t busy so we never saw anyone else check out at the counter. The French toast compote stuff on the top was super weird. They used the frozen strawberries and sauce and then added a couple fresh cut strawberries to make them look fresh? The frozen strawberries were so gross looking and didn’t get ate. All in all super weird experience, I will not be back, but maybe it was an off day for everyone. They also don’t put ice...

My partner was asked to reach out via email to the owner Sean, following our awful experience here. She did reach out many weeks ago, and she never heard back.

If I could I’d give it no stars. We tried Hobnob the day I moved here. I was excited to eat in what is a very beautiful space not far from my place. And to be honest we never got that far because of the icy environment, and due to our waitress who made it very clear that she did not want us there… slamming our menus down and glaring at my partner who happened to be the only person of color there at the time. It was extremely uncomfortable from the get go. Since moving to Des Moines in September, this has honestly been the only bad dining experience that we’ve had.

As I mentioned in the beginning, the owner gave us an email to reach out to, but we never heard back, so the initial response to my partners review really comes off as disingenuous, and makes one question if they even cared at all. I sincerely hope that measures have been and are being taken to improve the experience of your guests. No one should ever be made to feel so uncomfortable and on edge that they feel they have to leave.. We...