203° Fahrenheit Coffee Co. — Restaurant in Kirkland

A coffee shop that doesn’t prioritize serving coffee only what’s convenient for them. Stopped by and asked for a simple cup of drip coffee, only to be told the machine was already shut down one hour before closing.

When I asked why, I got attitude instead of a real answer. First, I was told it’s not because it’s harder to clean than the espresso machine (which is true). Instead, the reason was “We just don’t make coffee because not a lot of people order it after 3pm. And then we just have it sitting there and it’s a waste.” Since when does a coffee shop not make coffee because “not enough people order it”? That logic is ridiculous.If you’re worried about waste, why not just make smaller batches? If you’re a coffee shop, why not keep the most basic coffee option available until close? It makes no sense. The whole point of a coffee shop is to serve coffee not when it’s convenient for the staff.

I was offered a pour over, which I thanked for but by that point, the attitude I got made it clear they were annoyed I even asked. And when I asked about the coffee’s texture and aesthetics in pour over, I got a dismissive response like I was speaking another language. If you work in a coffee shop and don’t even understand why someone would ask about the quality of the brew, then maybe you shouldn’t be in coffee.

Imagine walking into a coffee shop a place literally built to serve coffee and being told, “Oh, we don’t bother making that because not enough people order it at this time.” It’s not my problem if their coffee sits there. It’s their job to have it ready for the customers who do want it. And their logic is even worse because if they’re so worried about waste, they should be shutting down the espresso machine first since it requires more maintenance and cleaning.

The real issue? They don’t care about service. They care about what’s easiest for them. It’s lazy, entitled business practices that come from knowing customers have fewer and fewer options. And the attitude? That’s just the cherry on top. It’s like they think you should be grateful they even showed up to work. This is what happens when you let businesses operate however they want and when raising minimum wage forces cost-cutting at the expense of customers. Less service, fewer options, and an entitled attitude from staff. If this is the future of service, it’s only going...

203ºF Coffee Co. in Kirkland / Totem Lake. Last week we went to see the movie "Red One" at the Cinemark in Kirkland (great movie which I highly recommend by the way, but since this isn't a movie review blog 🤔.. I'll move right along 🎬😇 ). We were looking to grab a bite after the movie. Our first instinct was Kati Vegan Thai but we dropped by during the couple hour window that they're closed during the day sighs. So instead, we opted for a coffee fix at 203ºF Coffee Co.. We were pleasantly surprised at seeing a couple of vegan labeled items in their display case, a Quiche and a Burrito, and decided we had to give them both a try.

Both items were really good, had a nice "bite"/flavor kick when biting in, definitely Quiche and Burritos .. done right 😋.

We also purchased some type of coffee drink, I don't remember which specific item ... maybe just a latte with oat milk. We were asking about which items were vegan and the person working the counter didn't seem overly familiar enough to assist us. No problem, we asked if it was possible if we could see the ingredients on the bottle maybe and the barista working in the back gave a bit of an annoyed eye roll (it was so overt that it was obvious lol). Honestly, I really never intend to be "that vegan/customer", we're just trying to live our best lives, trying to make the most informed decisions based on our values ... not bring grief to anyone working incredibly hard at making a living. So, part of me feels bad because I don't wish to make anyone's day worse while at the same time, if an employee is going to roll their eyes (we're all human, I get it) they should probably save those moments for the privacy of the back area. With that said, the coffee was great, tasty, super pretty design on top, so there's that (if I was a barista, I have no artistry skills so I'd be like "would you like a blob in your coffee...

First time customer and most likely not to return. I keep on trying to give them an excuse and maybe I was wrong but I can't come to the conclusion.

In my case the service more than likely influenced the quality of the drinks I ordered. My name was taken down wrong by the order taker and we aren't blaming her. The mistake came into conclusion when 1 of my beverages was ready and a name similar to mine was called, so I approached the barista counter and asked, "I'm sorry, is the blue dolphin along with the purple tiger?" My question was answered by her making my second drink. I followed with, "Timothy is the name. I think she took it down wrong."

To my surprised I received a shrug a few words that just expressed that she didn't care what it was. I would had preferred to be called by a number.

So the service threw everything off. The using of the name idea was probably taken from Starbucks. Now Starbucks name idea was taken from KFC generally here in the West Coast of the United States. KFC out here had very strict scripting guidelines which included the last line in an order taking script and that was "So I can call you when your order is ready, what is your name?" Customer immediately answers because naturally we want our order! But this was design for the customer service personnel to build on the relationship extension with the customer. How often we love visiting the business that knows our name! So please I recommend this business go to using numbers for the customer's name because I do believe that every single employee isn't customer service based unless they went through an extensive interview Q&A that questions that is designed to find people for the occupation that included skill trait such as relationship extensions skills.

*Please note I changed the name of drinks and my name to just...