The Cup Coffee Lounge — Restaurant in Gig Harbor

As a new resident of Gig Harbor and having been a coffee connoisseur for more than 50 years which led me into having a company which commercially roasted coffee for 18 years, I am picky about my coffee and this review will not apply to many.

I ordered a 12 ounce latte. It is not my preferred drink, but it is my first drink of choice to do a comparison of coffee shops. The latte lacked a solid and good coffee flavor tasting more like steamed milk.

I understand many drinkers of espresso drinks prefer the taste of steamed milk over a truly great latte. A truly great latte starts with the bean selection and ends with the talent of the barista.

In this case, I do not think enough attention to detail is paid to all the details in the many steps between the selection of the beans to the making of the drink and it shows making this coffee shop less than average for the notable lack of passion that goes into a great coffee shop.

I also had a warmed vegan chocolate berry muffin, warmed in the microwave. It was a little too long in the microwave and in the future, I'll go a block down the street and get my muffin at the market.

When I am ordering my preferred latte, I order it with oat milk but like I said, I ordered the latte I did so I can make a fair comparison as I evaluate all the coffee shops in my new home town.

The up charge of $1.00 for oat milk is extreme in my opinion. Taking into account that we are talking about 9 ounces of pre-steamed regular milk they are not paying for and then adding 9 ounces of oat milk, the high up charge yells rip off to me.

Update: It was 4 months ago when I wrote my review. I just got notification from Google that over 500 people saw my review. One gave it a like, most did not.

I know negative reviews hurt business (those 500 silent people who saw my review in 4 months). My desire is not to hurt a business.

While the owner responded, I am not about to put good money after bad money spent to risk taking my time trying them again. The time and money of a lost customer is valuable time and money that was waisted once.

A better response is to come in and talk to (name) who will do all they can to show me the changes and improvements while making things right by the writer of a bad review. There needs to be a reward for the review writer for taking the time to give them another try if things have changed and improved.

Coupon rewards can turn bad review writers into new repeat customers if changes and improvements are...

Updated: A manager reached out to me and offered for me to try them again. I finally made my way in and placed a coffee order. I was helped by a different batista than last time, one who seemed well trained and she was very friendly and helpful. My coffee came out just as ordered without issue. Given the customer service of management and the new experience going as one would hope, I have updated my rating to reflect the experience. Thank you to the staff at The Cup.

Original review: It left something to be desired. The flavor of the coffee was good. I believe however that the barista may have been new and undertrained. On the plus side, she was friendly. Everyone is new and learning the ropes at some point. What that translated to though was an excessive amount of time to make my drink, she forgot to add an ingredient, and when I walked out through the parkinglot I realized that my "hot coffee" (to go) was only slightly warmed haha. It was no where near typical latte temperature. I would guess it was around 110°. So, maybe chalk it up to needing some additional training and a properly calibrated thermometer? It's not enough to dissuade me from trying them...

Date: 1/7/2023 Time: 12:40-12:50

Arrived inside the establishment which seemed like any other ( Starbucks, etc ) and there were 3 females behind the counter seemingly busy. We had never been there so were unsure where to place our orders so we asked one of the customers who pointed us over to the left portion of the counter near the cash registers. We waited patiently for a staff member to acknowledge my wife and I while reading the menus posted near the bakery items. After a few minutes, a white lady walks up to the right of us, one of the staff instantly walks up to her, and her order is taken. Even the lady who showed us where to stand had a confused look after it happened. The employee was a blond white female, while the other two were white as well. If this establishment fosters/caters to neglecting interracial couples and/or the employees treat their customers this way, I will not be back or provide any positive reviews for the place. My wife and I shortly left after what occurred and walked to Starbucks down the street.

If any questions or comments on the validity of what occurred, check your cameras on the date and time posted at the top...