Seven Stars Bakery - Rumford — Restaurant in East Providence

It was my first and last time going to this bakery. I was excited to try this place as I work near the area but was heavily disappointed with my experience.

First I could see how genuine and caring the cashier was when taking the order of the people in front of me was and had pretty high hopes with this bakery, but all of sudden when it was my turn it seemed like his hospitality went out the window. He almost seemed annoyed that I was there. I took notice quickly and watched how he interacted with the people afterwards and he immediately went back to his genuine/caring hospitality.

At first maybe I thought it was because I was a brand new customer and the people before and after me were regulars so he added a bit more enthusiasm? But I came to the conclusion it was not.

I had ordered a matcha and ham & cheese croissant, the drink came out quickly and I waited on the side for the croissant so I wasn’t in the way. Mind you I watched the cashier already have amazing customer service for the people in front of me, I figured I just had to wait on the side so he could grab the croissant. He started taking the order of the people after me, again going above and beyond for their service and gave them everything they ordered. Meanwhile I was still waiting for my pastry. 5 - 10 mins go by and I notice he would look at me then continue doing his behind the counter work. Eventually I came up to tell him I was still waiting for the croissant and he says “oh sorry” puts it in a bag and gives it to me all within 5 seconds.

So I had waited that extra time for him to “forget” my order as I watched him give excellent customer service to the people before and after me.

The croissant was actually good but I won’t be back unfortunately. And I advise if you are a person of color like me be prepared to potentially have different customer service than the other customers. To be fair I was the only “minority” there in heavy street clothes while everyone else there was fairly nicely dressed Caucasians. Maybe they’re not used to my demographic but regardless the service shouldn’t be that heavily different.

I can’t say for certain if that was the cashiers intention or just happened to be a one bad time experience but I just wanted to share...

BEWARE, NO WIFI!! Visiting town for a family emergency, but needing to do some remote work, so they sent me to this place. Lo and behold, after we order, and ask for the WiFi password, the staff proudly (with a bit of an attitude) says, "we don't have WiFi." Check for networks and I see "Seven Stars" available, so I ask another staff person for the password, and I get the same message, that the chain "wants people to have conversation," and so they don't offer WiFi. As if this is going to make a difference in the world. So had to pick up my bags and head to the nearest Starbucks. What a ridiculous idea! You can't force people to have conversation. As someone who works hard to build community, there are much better ways to promote that, if you really cared about it. For a business like yours, perhaps there are other ways of making a difference, like doing more sustainable things to have less impact on the environment. But when it comes to what has now become an essential service (especially with the pandemic), you should consider the issue of digital equity. What if a student or group of students needed to use your space to do some homework and needed Wi-Fi? Oh, but do you think of them when catering your services, or lack of thereof? I respect this chain's values, but honestly, I'd like to call this for what it is, BS! There were plenty of customers doing work, but they had access to the Internet. You should at least have some big signs letting customers know what to expect before they drop the big bucks on your expensive drinks and pastries, and actually DO something about building community, rather than withhold the password of your network to paying customers, sponsoring your business....

I have been to this place and brought friends here more times than I can count. It’s a little pricey, but I figured that was a combination of the in-house baking and paying their employees well. The staff is excellent, I have never had a bad interaction.

Recently, I found out that they lowered the staff’s wages to $9 once they saw how substantial tipping was during the pandemic. It seems that they spin it as a position that pays $15/ hour when they’re only paying $9- they count on customers who think they’re tipping above a living wage for excellent service to make up the rest. This is a large business with 5 locations and a distribution deal with Whole Foods, not some small local business trying to get their footing in the food service industry. The hourly wage for these employees is way below other RI cafes. The owners should be absolutely ashamed.

They made a big show of accepting the union (I remember seeing the post and applauding it), but that was all for show- they’re still not willing to pay their staff what they deserve. It seems they want to cash in on looking like a business that values their staff without ever actually doing...