Rubi's Coffee and Sandwiches — Restaurant in Great Barrington

I observed this: The person at the register was taking money and credit card touching her face, touching her belly when she showed her belly necklace, touching dirty dishes and touching peoples food without washing hands or wearing gloves. Me: excuse me but could you NOT cut my sandwich and leave it wrapped. I’m having surgery and you are cross contaminating the food. Waitress: this place has germs ….maybe you shouldn’t come to this restaurant for your protection Manager Eric : is there a problem bc we are busy Me: yes I asked her not to unwrap my sandwich bc she is not washing her hands or wearing gloves and cross contaminating food. He was not happy with me!!! So before I left she washed her hands, put on the gloves cut my sandwich!!! Looked at me and said, “I cut your sandwich.” She looked a little stunned. On leaving I said to the manger: you should know that if the board of health saw this you could be shut down. It’s called cross contamination. I don’t know if he had a clue but he did then say you should wear gloves to the waitress. My opinion is if you don’t mind this type of occurrence then go there. The food itself is good if they don’t cross contaminate. Keep an eye out. Isn’t that the law when touching...

Not really sure what is going on in my little town of GB. I have been to Rubi's and keep coming back trying to support the local stores and shops. It has not gotten better and shame of me for second and third chances. I order a grilled cheese and grilled onion sandwich. Paid for it and waited for 30 minutes. The staff was not engaging at all and borderline rude. I paid $14.44 for the sandwich with a $3.00 tip (trying to support those who work for minimum wage). The sandwich could barely be eaten and the onions were not even grilled. But during the time that I was present, two employees who were there, made their own sandwiches (which looked pretty good) and then left. One had finished her shift and the other came from the outside and saddled up behind the counter in the cafe. I or I am hoping the we as a community want to support our local businesses. It is my hope that the owner of this establishment has a conversation with his staff about quality of food and service that the staff provides. The building is beautiful but it will go empty like so many others if people are paying a premium price for poor quality food...

I try not to leave negative reviews for businesses, but I was very put off by the actions of the management I witnessed while getting breakfast at Rubys. I was sitting there and heard one of the employees mention that somebody who was unhoused was sleeping outside the store to a manager. I was expecting some form of concern for this persons safety, but instead, the manager shook his head and stormed out to investigate, saying something along the lines of “Not surprised.” Luckily when I went out to check on the situation it looked like whoever was outside had managed to leave.

I understand there may be more to the situation than I am aware of, but the response given just seemed deeply discompassionate and unconcerned for the persons situation, who was clearly facing a crisis. I hope they are safe wherever they are, and I’m hoping they will be treated with more respect in the future.

Regardless, the coffee was good and the sandwich I ordered was well made. And despite the actions of the manager, the baristas who served me were very pleasant to interact with, and probably the most delightful part of...