Bean Traders — Restaurant in Durham

The coffee was good and the food was delicious. Service is pretty quick, especially considering how crowded they were. Most of the staff was friendly. One male server there was extremely rude, to the point that I actually questioned whether I had known him in a previous life and had done him wrong or something because he was directly impatient with me more than once. I drove here from Greensboro to meet a friend who lives in Durham and didn't want to meet me at a standard Starbucks and wanted to show me some flavor of Durham. I ordered a cream cheese and honey over blueberry bagel and after 5 minutes went over to the food counter and collected what my friend and I both thought was my order. He was obviously irritated and said did you order a honey cream cheese plain bagel or a honey cream cheese blueberry bagel, and I told him blueberry. He said the one you just got is a plain bagel and you can see that it has someone else's name on it. I told him I was sorry and that I couldn't find a name anywhere on the plate, and sure enough there also was not a name on my correct plate nor my friends plate when we got our orders. Either way, whether there was a name or not hidden somewhere on the plate, I'm not sure why the attitude was necessary. Everyone makes mistakes, and I think one of your main goals would be to make your customers feel comfortable in your establishment not chastised. And then when I got ready to leave, and was placing mine and my friend's dirty dishes into the dishwasher bin, I noticed that it was completely full and if I had put the porcelain plate into that bin, it would have fallen and broken. So I walked at the counter and asked if I should hand it to them and in a very rude attitude he said there's another bin on the other side of the restaurant where you can go put that dirty plate. I just don't see why the attitude or this response is necessary; he could have easily just taken the dirty plate that I obviously was trying to keep from getting broken by the fact that their dishwasher bin was overflowing. Not everyone would have taken the time to ensure that your plates...

I have gone here for breakfast and coffee most days, like seriously almost every day, for like a year, but recently less and less and now I'm ready to say goodbye. Throughout the past year I cannot tell you how many times the staff forgot to start the bagel and let me wait 30 minutes before I ask and am told they didn't start it. This coffee shop makes me consistently late to work so of course I have literally no choice but to stop going and I was probably one of their most frequent customers. The last time I went I waited behind 5 people just for the cashier to start a long convo with the final person in front of me, having several chances to wrap up the convo and instead watching me walk out the door. Today after a couple weeks I decided to give it a try again and ordered my coffee, threw several dollars in the jar, got my coffee, drank my entire coffee, realized 30 minutes had gone by and now had to cancel my order. the cashier said she must have been signed in as someone else who left when she rang me in and could not even provide a refund. I wish I hadn't tipped so generously but I'm not the type of person to ask for that back. now I have to go somewhere else to get food, my boss was expecting me at 2, I had to explain to her that I will be late and I didn't even get a refund and lost 30 minutes. This has been my experience way too many times and as much as I love the bagel it's supposed to be convenient, it's five minutes from my house, it's super easy to make, and it's never done in less than 30 minutes. I'm so tired of y'all trapping me in your shop waiting for NOTHING. That is incredibly rude and inconsiderate, most people grab coffee and a bagel on the way to work. for a $5-10 tip every single time, being completely forgotten about most times is crazy. just...

I really like this coffee shop! I've lived nearby for ages but wasn't drawn to it because of the strip mall vibe. I finally checked it out and realized I was missing out. It's a great place to hang out and work. I study and work from here with my laptop and I never feel like I need to keep ordering stuff or leave. I also like the bagels. The coffee drinks are not anything special but perfectly fine.

Pros: -Spacious - three rooms of seating. One room tends to be noisier and one quieter. There is also outdoor seating. -Good wifi -Good food options. Not an extensive menu but I appreciate they have more than just a couple pastries. Bagels are solid. -Multiple bathrooms -Real mugs! -Bike racks

Cons: -Can be really noisy and hard to work at times (this is only a con if you are trying to work. This tends to be more on Fridays and the weekends so fair enough!) -There seems to be something lacking in their order system. I've had my drink messed up more than once, which only really matters because I am lactose intolerant and have been given a latte of cow's milk rather than oat milk. -The food takes a while. Probably a staffing issue, like everywhere. I've had my food order apparently simply go into the great beyond and never get come out of the kitchen until I've inquired, though, too. -Apparently no "to stay" option for food - it is always served in a wasteful "to go" box. -Bathrooms can definitely be on the grimey side

All and all, a solid coffee shop and I am more than content with the few cons to have a laid back place in my neighborhood where I can hang with my laptop in my workout clothes without any pressure to order more than a...