Bitter End Coffee House — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

Bitter End is BITTER TODAY!

I come here often for their Chai Tea, however, today will be the last. The barista Emily was rude because she had to remake my Chai tea. If you listened to the customer (VOTC) the first time you wouldn'y be so sour. She raises her voice at me, then w/attitude snatched my debit card. When I asked to speak with the manager, she asked why, what is it that you need now? The employee goes to the back to the shop and I can hear her giving an inaccurate narrative. Emily comes back out stating the manager refuses to comes out, she's busy. Disappointing and apparent that customers aren't valued. Then, the barista escalates the interaction with me. Now! The entire coffee shop is leaning in acknowleding the poor customer service and rudeness. Finally, the manager appears, although uninterested in my experience. And stated the buck stops here and no intention to address my areas of concern nor an apology. Then suggested I must be having a bad day deflecting the issue at hand. Train your employees to execute customer service with excellence.

I will not return. Every customer's experience should matter

DO NOT COME HERE ON SUNDAYS!!

RESPONSE TO OWNER: Surprised! Be honest - you're not surprise. How can you be surprised when I told you I would write a review regarding my exchange, PERHAPS, this would explain why you didn't provided the correct name of your barista.

Correction: You nor your barista offered no apology. The line. The line grew due to your refusal to come out to extend service to a customer. If I conducted myself as you suggested you would've responded immediately. The truth of the matter is I was calm and collected despite the aggressive behavior of your employee when she returned from speaking with you in the back. You weren't far and could clearly hear, as I heard your barista speaking to you. When you did finally come out, you stated the bucks stopped here, and what did I want, that I must be having bad day and excused the behavior of an employee. Deflecting my experience to me having a bad day instead of an learning opportunity for an employee.

If you were to inquire of any of your other employees about the Chai tea lady (I always state 3/4 chai w/oat milk, whip cream w/cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkled on top) they would tell what a great customer I am, how they enjoy my presence and a great tipper.

It was clear you didn't care about me as a customer then. And in this response trying to express parallel to what you did on Sunday, that somehow I was at fault, and should be appreciate that my drink was remade (I use to come in weekly and order the same drink and never had an issue); that somehow I am a 'mad black woman' who was extremely difficult. When in fact I was courtesy and patient, as one of your customers who sat at the window came out to tell me.

It's apparent as a very small business owner you don't value the customer experience, and regrettably, as a minority-woman owned business you wouldn't value the voice of another woman of color, but try to stereotype me and the encounter. Clearly, a lack of professionalism, leadership, cultural intelligence, etc. DO BETTER!

And, yes, I found a phenomenal Chai Tea - Sparrow Coffee & Tea on...

I take the quality of my coffee drinks very serious, so this review is not without reason.

The aesthetic of the cafe is gorgeous, and I could spend a few hours in here. The concept of the cafe being open 24 hours is unique, and I love it. I actually came across this cafe on Instagram, so I was stoked to check it out.

But that does not matter if the drinks aren't meeting the standard. I was in town hours away from home with family, and the menu looked great upon coming inside. We had a big order, and most were smoothies since the weather was hot and we wanted to cool down. I was watching the drinks being made, and were so confused upon how they were made. According to the menu, smoothies are made with real fruit purees, but this barista made them with syrups. We were highly disappointed in the quality of the said smoothies, and couldn't even finish them all. My Mayan Mocha (iced) drink was decent, but could've been made better and not in a cup meant for hot drinks. Maybe it would've tasted better being a hot drink rather than an iced, so I'd give the coffee a try again.

Oh, and another thing. The barista was incredibly slow (almost 40 minutes on this order alone), as if he didn't know his way around making the drinks. Maybe he's new, or maybe he's just tired as heck. But then, he complained to someone about our big order...not knowing that this someone is actually a family member waiting to grab the rest of the "big order". So yeah. Sucky baristas if they complain to customers about orders. Not professional or welcoming at all.

Not worth your time or money if you care about the quality of your drinks, and how they were made, and how professional the...

I used to have a thing for this coffee shop when I first discovered it. You could actually say I liked it a lot, maybe even loved it for the weird and interesting memories I had while drinking a cup of tea or coffee. But my last experience I had while at the Bitter End was my very last.

After being a loyal customer of two years, I stopped in with 3 other friends. Everyone ordered a drink but me as I had just had coffee not long ago and was mostly going because a friend wanted to stop in for a while. As soon as we sat down I was ordered to buy a drink or leave. I told the barista I would leave and started to get up and leave my friends before my one friend offered to buy me tea so I could stay.

Never had I had an experience like this. Not at any other service place had I been treated like I was just a profit that needed to be made.

I could not believe the service, and how awful it made me feel. What once was a home was now a place I absolutely despised.

To be honest, the coffee is horrid: made with too much sugar and syrup I feel like I'm about to get sick from it.

They also have a sign outside now (as I drove past it recently) that says "One drink minimum. No public restrooms." Wow. Just wow. So I can't take a couple friends and we better not stay long enough for someone to have to go to the bathroom. One of the biggest disappoints ever.

Please if you have some decency go to any of the other lovely local coffee shops like Rowsters, Lantern, or Lyon Street Cafe. They have lovely baristas who are kind and not strangling...