Cool Moose Cafe — Restaurant in Jacksonville

So please tell me how in God's name this place can charge me a 10% they call it a fair wage service fee when I literally walked in and did my to-go order and they make you do it on a kiosk yourself but considering it was my first time she helped me because I had never been there before. But tell me how you do everything yourself and get the order to go and yet you have to pay these people a 10% fee as if I sat there and dined!? I am completely and utterly appalled right now that is so disrespectful to do that and not even tell me that you're going to charge me this fee! Fast forward to a couple minutes. I opened my food box and I am absolutely flabbergasted. I drove all the way across town to try this damn food but unfortunately the food looks absolutely nothing like the menu smh what do you know. This Mexican Benedict and my so-called poached eggs were a disgrace. The avocados were brown and rotten literally 95% of the avocados on that plate were rotten and he had the audacity to try to insult my intelligence and tell me that the damn avocados were grilled! Are you freaking kidding me! There is a huge difference between grilled which does not penetrate the entire freakin avocado, to completely freaking rotten! And the nerve of this guy to try to convince me that I'm wrong just pisses me off even more. I know what a rotten avocado looks like I am a vegetarian I eat lots and lots of vegetables including avocados and I know darn well what they look like when they're grilled and that was rotten dude. And don't get me started with this sad excuse for brioche French toast. They didn't put no powdered sugar on it and I don't know what the hell they're talking about this custard they dip it in but that would be egg nothing more nothing less. Blueberries were completely soggy it's just pathetic. Just completely disappointed with this whole experience man. They claimed that they have given me a refund for my troubles yet the receipt doesn't even say anything about a refund or anything about my debit card or anything to that nature and the lady that gave me my receipt back told me to keep the receipt for some reason. So I really hope I get my money back because this was not worth spending 33 dollars on including a freaking 10% fee. What a joke and what a waste of my time. I am honestly so freaking disappointed that I wasted my time driving all the way over there all because of the pictures on the menu. Ugh stop lying to people and stop telling people those are poached eggs when we know damn well they're not. Poached eggs are not supposed to look like they were thrown in a microwave and set on 30 seconds. SMH no pride in their food quality whatsoever. Just disappointed. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Unfortunately I'm having to come back and add to this post because of course as expected, they did not give me my refund back. I had to drive all the way back across town and get cash handed to me and when the lady pulled up my receipt order she told me it had been voided this whole time. So that means that I was not even going to get my refund back I would have just been waiting and waiting and waiting.Thanks a lot for having me once again have to waste my time and gas to go back up to physically receive my refund that clearly never had intentions on being returned. The sad part about it is the owner actually gave me direct contact and I was telling them that I did not get my refund and what do ya know, crickets after that. What a surprise. This whole establishment is clearly not ran on a good foundation and I would advise no one to waste their time...

My husband and I came here today (6/9/22) to enjoy a good brunch. Unfortunately, it wasn't the best experience. Don't get me wrong, the people there were very nice, and I love what they are doing trying to provide livable wages and benefits. And for that alone I give them 3 stars. But I think the issue is how they've gone about it.

It started by no clean tables being available despite being told to sit anywhere. Ok, no big deal. It was prime brunch hours, so maybe they were just busy. Plus, they came and cleaned one pretty fast. But then it came time to order. They want you to do this QR code scan to order. Um, no thanks. The other option is to get up and go to the counter and order. Again, not a huge deal on its own, but not really a sit down restaurant type of ordering. So we ordered and sat back down. At no point did anyone mention that we had to go get our own coffe drinks, so we sat waiting for a while until I happened to see someone else getting theirs. Then, our food arrived, except we didn't know it because someone dropped it off at the table behind us. Why? I have no idea, that table was empty. We sat there a few minutes more wondering why people who got there after us were getting their food when I looked behind us and mentioned that food looked kind of like our order. The staff apologized, but now our food has been just sitting for a good 5 minutes. So we eat, and the food is OK, not great, but decent. When considering why the cost is as it is, I don't mind the price, but it could have had more flavor. We had three different servers (I guess that's what they were anyhow) continually checking on us to see if we needed anything, and I do mean continually, overly so, within seconds of one another. Considering we couldn't order with a server, we had to get our own drinks, and the only thing they brought us was water and our food (kind of), I can't fathom what exactly it was they planned to get for us.... more water we didn't want to begin with? We couldn't even pay the server, as there again they wanted us to use the QR code or go up to the counter. The whole process made no sense! It's like they are trying to maintain the restaurant feel without actually providing any of the benefits of sitting down at a restaurant!

Look, I get most people have phones now, and maybe the code thing works for some. But there are plenty of us that have no desire to be forced to pull our phones out just to order a freaking meal, or pay for it for that matter. Some of us utilize meal times as phone free times. And when I sit down at a restaurant, I expect the server to bring me menus, take my order, and bring ME (not a table near me) my order, provide refills where applicable, and take my card to pay the bill. If they aren't serving the table, then what am I tipping for? I tip the server because they are doing all that. If I have to do 75% of the work, I'll just...

Decided to go check this place out based on the reviews. First off, for a Sunday brunch at 11:00, there is plenty of street parking , and no wait. Maybe that should have been my first flag. The place is eclectic in decor and clean. While the chalkboard has what appears to be specialty coffee drinks, they offer brewed bottomless coffee that is self serve. If they had a barista , this place would be packed. The staff was friendly , attentive and overall efficient. One reviewer reported the best brunch in Jax another raves about the pancakes. We are breakfast people & love a great well cooked breakfast. Breakfast is the most difficult meal to serve and has the most alterations The eggs ordered over medium were (& often are) over easy. We typically order an additional egg or two but @ $2.99 each we opted out. We were glad we we recieved our orders the eggs were small, very little white. Bacon on my cool moose breakfast was ordered cooked well and dry. Arrived very greasy and so thin it was transparent. I requested extra napkins to blot the grease off. My partners whole wheat toast was so thin. My English muffin was small and orange from the spread that they put on. I am a real butter for my meals out. This cafe offers margarine. My mistake was not asking in advance.The pancakes were flat and just okay. The syrup was in a plastic cup and my guess was fake. I did not try is but it came at the same time as my margarine cups. The menu did not state real maple syrup or butter. I requested my cheese grits in advance, they arrived right away, lumpy and cold. Bottomless coffee was $3.00 self serve. No sugar or spoons are on the tables. Figured out why patrons were using paper cups with lids. It was to keep it warm. I had to give my grit spoon to my partner who was using a knife to stir sugar into the not hot okay coffee. If initially you got your own then the staff offered refills the price might not be so bad. Perhaps rising food costs may have this great little cafe fighting to stay open. If they served espresso drinks, and homemade pasties this place would be packed. They have mimosas and bloody Mary’s on the chalk board, plus frozen mochas & coffee. No one in the place had any on their tables and frozen beverage machine no where in sight. There were a couple of cases of Prosecco on top of a cabinet. Breakfast for two ran us $26.60 plus tip , the tiny portions and ingredients used did not add up to great flavor or value. Three stars for the servers not for the...