The Coffee Trader — Restaurant in Gunnison

At 3:31 on December 30th I stopped by The Coffee Trader with a friend. My first time inside. Two little old ladies getting something warm to drink on a cold day. We were greeted by a very friendly young man. The name on the receipt is Will. Will deserves five stars for his great customer service! He even laughed at our silly old lady jokes. I have two grown sons, and that is the way I have always taught them to treat people. I feel bad about giving this review because Will was so awesome.

However, I really need to make a point!

My friend and I were in a joyous mood. We were admiring the decorative mugs, and cracking up at the greeting cards and dog and cat impersonation pictures. We were commenting on what a great place this is.

But our mood quickly became somber. The young female Barista seemed to take exception when I asked what type of sweetener was in my drink. The mood started to change.

When Will came back, I went back up to the counter to ask what the policy was on exchanging my drink. Once again, Will went out of his way to be nice. However, the young lady had a bit of an attitude. When I couldn't think of the name café au lait she got impatient. Up to that point, I was overlooking her attitude. But then she called out after me as I was walking away in a very snippy tone We're closing in 10 minutes. My friend noticed her rude tone, and we commented to each other on it. We were both feeling tense at that point, and got very quiet.

I almost forgot something important. When I went to get the drink that the Barista remade for me I thanked her, and she ignored me. So I said Thank You louder, and without looking up she said Yep, as if she were annoyed. That's when we realized that she was going out of her way to be rude.

Then the young lady gave us a 2-minute warning, (this time in a nicer tone). I don't know the policies of this shop, but most dine-in establishments will close their doors and put up a closed sign. They don't rush customers out that are already seated. But she rushed us out of there. We had to put on our coats and take our drinks with us. I think that's a bit ridiculous. If employees have to be a little inconvenienced for a few minutes while seated paying customers finish up their warm drinks, that's just good customer service.

Maybe a little more training? If you're going to work in the service industry, you shouldn't take yourself too seriously, be easily offended, or get impatient with...

In my opinion this little coffee shop has taken away most of the frustrations that come to the cold arctic Gunnison valley and waiting in line for your hot cup of joe and or in a car through the drive-thru at the west side of town, it's kind of old, especially when the coffee from the other purveyors, with exception to the excellent establishment on Main Street (I also give 4 stars), this coffee trader is spectacular. I would give them five stars if they did not get some of their food items from Sysco, and had condiments for their breakfast sandwiches. Sysco is the worst commercial food distributor, IMO. Restaurants that serve pre-made Sysco foods all taste the same, no matter if it's Mexican, Asian, American Faire, it all has a similar undertaste and aftertaste. Yuck! I give the staff 5 Stars. Best in Gunnison. Great...

Nice new building near City Market and the hospital. Friendly staff, nice decor with many coffee choices, a few cold beverage and sweet tooth options as well. This location needs some improvement on the hot breakfast food quality, as the breakfast burrito I tried did not seem very freshly made. This being a new restaurant and because of my support of local businesses, I will give the hot food option another try in the future in hopes that the food quality improves. Until then I'll stick to the coffee as it...