Battle Grounds Bakery & Coffee — Restaurant in Harpers Ferry

Hi,

visited Harpers Ferry and decided to get some coffee & breakfast at Battle Grounds Bakery & Coffee. from the outside this place looks quaint and lovely and the interior matches.

However the menu's are chaotic and all over the place, many offerings.. Coffee, Ice scream, lunch, breakfast, monthly specials etc. All in different places.

When I got to the register to order I asked for 2 breakfast sandwiches on croissants and was politely informed they had no croissants. So I decided to substitute for a bagel and pumpernickel. I was then told sorry I cannot give you pumpernickel as we try to conserve that bread type for our lunch menu.. I was also informed at this point in time that sausage was a breakfast option while the menu on the wall by the bar and stools only lists Bacon or Ham as options.

I also ordered a black coffee and a s'mores latte. the coffee was just okay and the s'mores latte was essentially a cup of sweetened milk with almost zero espresso in it.

the line was consistent, I wouldn't say that the place was extremely busy just consistent business. While waiting at the bar my buzzer never went off and 2 other customers received their food prior to me while they ordered easily 5 customers after me.

They returned the sandwiches as the order was incorrect and the girl who took my order brought them out to me and asked if they were mine and I kindly asked If they could just be re-made.. They had already been opened and in the hands of other people.. Obviously trying to be safe here.

I then waited about another 15 mins and others were receiving food and I was not. I decided to walk up to the counter and ask and she blankly looked at me and asked what I ordered again and I kindly repeated my order and she said okay no problem we will make it again.. Mind you I had been here almost 40 mins at this point.

I see one of the other employees put the food in the oven and when she went to pull it out it appeared that she dropped one of my sandwiches on the floor and had to remake it again. I went back to the counter to ask for an ETA because I had almost been here 1 full hour. I was told theyre backed up and hadn't even remade it yet.. I asked for a refund I had to go.. I couldn't wait another 15-20 mins. By the time the girl at the register could find my slip to refund it the food came to the counter and I was told to take it in order to not waste it and the refund would still occur.

I left and opened the sandwiches and had a raw bagel with cold sausage, egg and a pile of melted cheddar on it. and I a sour dough bread sandwich barely toasted with the same as the bagel.. cold sausage, cold egg and a mountain of cheddar cheese melted on top.

I was surely disappointed as this place was one of the highest reviewed breakfast and coffee places in the area for quite awhile and others had posted great reviews but the food was very sad and the coffee was lackluster.. Honestly Starbucks offers better coffee and I would definitely expect better from a local spot. As someone who enjoys visiting local places and supporting local restaurants, shops and coffee I hope this review is taken as constructive criticism to assess the processes in place and the food quality being served to attract consistent customers and for people to "hype" up the location on google / yelp to inspire others to visit such a great town and...

Do not pass this bakery by, you MUST try breakfast, lunch, or dinner here! I promise you will not be disappointed.

Please read on...

First time in Harpers Ferry, we hiked around a good bit and needed a little something to eat.

We reviewed a lot of restaurant menus and the Battle Grounds Bakery & Coffee's sandwiches peaked our interests.

We walked in and notice it was a cozy, cute place with outdoor seating as well.

The staff was absolutely so kind and the  friendliest. Extremely helpful.

But it doesn't stop there.

We ordered the Mountain Top and London Fog Lattes for each of us. One had the Sourdough and I had the wheat.

Lets start off with, this was the BEST sandwich I have ever had in my life. And I do not use that term lightly. I get it, how could a sandwich be that good? I asked the same thing to myself. I bet I'll be dreaming about it.

Second, the size of this sandwich was so huge we could have shared one, but decided to take the other halves for dinner this evening and skip our reservations elsewhere (Yes! That good) which they graciously wrapped them up for us and gave us a cup of ice to keep them cold until we got to our hotel.

The bread is freshly made, and was the softest, most fantastic flavor. We sampled each other's breads to brag who had the best. The bacon was crisp, the turkey was thickly layered (see pictures), the cheese they did not skimp on and was sharp and creamy, great tasting avacado, and the perfect amount of mayo, not too much, not too little. Just right.

The London Fog Latte was absolutely perfect the most perfect combinations of flavors.

We did not get any pastries, and I regret that decision now.

I could not rave enough about this place! I'm sad we live 5 hours away. But I am so grateful to have had the pleasure to experience this place and able to tell you all about it.

To help you out, I took pictures of the menu and listed their fall menu of...

We visited this coffee shop on a fairly quiet Tuesday morning after Memorial Day. There was not another customer in sight. There were two employees working, one appeared to be prepping sandwich fixings, the other was prepping stuff for smoothies. Neither one of them greeted us. We waited for about three minutes and finally one of the employees said, “someone will be right with you”. Both employees went on prepping ingredients for the day. Neither appeared to be working with on an actual order, or doing anything that was immediately pressing. I’d decided after about three more minutes that I wasn’t going to order anything. My husband at this point had already opened a can of seltzer water and taken a drink. When one of the employees finally came over to help us, my husband paid for the can of seltzer ($3!) and also opted not to order anything. We had planned on getting a pastry, sandwich, coffees, and a smoothie. But I don’t like to to give my dollars to businesses that operate in this way. It was almost as if the employees could not be bothered with us. I don’t need to be doted on, but I believe it’s important to acknowledge customers and to put aside tasks you’re working on in order to help them in a somewhat timely fashion. It’s always what I did when I worked food service. It’s a shame for the business, which I know likely relies on tourism for a large portion of their revenue, and also for the employees, because we are...